The Green New Deal: Finally climate policy informed by science
The proposal from Democrats is the most comprehensive response yet to the scientists’ warnings, to implement it would be realism, not radicalism
By William J. Ripple, Dominick A. DellaSala and Franz Baumann
Our nation has a long history of scientific innovation that has produced the computers that run our businesses, new discoveries in medicines that can extend our lives, and the rockets that take us to distant worlds in search of other life. Photo: Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and senator Ed Markey present their Green New Deal resolution to reporters (Credit: 350.org)
In short, science is our best hope to enable informed choices about our future. Big ideas like president Roosevelt’s New Deal also gave our nation hope for reversing the downward economic spiral of the 1930s with government programmes that still benefit us today. However, when it comes to a safe climate, science and policy have operated in a vacuum.
The Green New Deal in Congress provides an opportunity for bringing both science and policy together in shaping a sustainable future for our nation that avoids a pending crisis to the planet’s life support systems if we do not act boldly and promptly.
For decades, scientists have been monitoring the planet’s life support systems using satellite images of how we are transforming forests, rivers and oceans over vast areas, and thousands of instruments around the globe to track the climate. Reading these signals like the warning lights on a car’s dashboard, 1,700 eminent scientists were alarmed enough to issue a warning in 1992. “A great change in our stewardship of the earth and the life on it is required,” it stated, “if vast human misery is to be avoided.”
A second warning was issued in 2017 that the planet’s climate and natural systems were indeed worsening. It was signed by more than 21,000 scientists from 184 countries. Referring to these same signals, Sir David Attenborough, the 92-year-old naturalist and broadcaster, a man not given to drama or hyperbole, opened the UN’s Katowice Climate Conference in December 2018 by stating: “If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilizations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.”
Fortunately, forward-thinking members of Congress recently introduced a bold resolution that responds to the climate challenge at scale. Aptly named a Green New Deal, it is as ambitious as president Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930s. It comprehends the magnitude of the climate threat humanity faces, and we see it as a sign of realism – not radicalism – that the problem is viewed in its totality and with urgency.
The Green New Deal recognizes that environmental policies are an important part of a broader social and economic fabric that must work together to transition the economy to renewable energy empowered by innovation, a “green” workforce, and proactive businesses. While there are gaps to be filled, by calling for carbon-free energy, clean air and clean water and an economic system that addresses inequalities, the proposal is the most comprehensive response yet to the scientists’ warnings.
As daring and impudent as a moonshot, the Green New Deal is a breath of fresh air in changing the political conversation to how we should quickly address the climate crisis. As a first priority, there is an urgent need for Congress to follow up with immediate legislation to curb greenhouse gas emissions with a fair, equitable and effective scheme for carbon pricing and by enlisting nature in comprehensive climate solutions.
National forest roadless areas and older forests on public lands also need to be protected as climate insurance. These pristine areas absorb massive amounts of carbon dioxide, helping to cool the planet, and they provide clean drinking water to millions of citizens that will only become even more precious with extended droughts. Tidal wetlands and mangroves buffer communities from rising seas and they too need to be properly stewarded and restored. Agricultural lands can do their part in storing more carbon in soils through minimum tillage and providing wildlife habitat with landowners rewarded through Farm Bill incentives. In sum, the Green New Deal is a means for leveraging these important outcomes.
Guided by science, policy makers now need to solicit input from social-environmental justice, labour and other organizations to fine-tune and activate the Green New Deal as a unique opportunity to turn the planet’s warning lights off. It’s the best deal we have for a safe climate, equitable society, and thriving planet.
William J. Ripple, PhD, distinguished professor of ecology, Oregon State University, was the lead author of the 2017 World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice. Dominick A. DellaSala, PhD, chief scientist, Geos Institute, Ashland, Oregon has over 200 science publications and has been an expert witness at forest and climate change hearings. Franz Baumann, PhD, former United Nations assistant secretary-general, is a visiting research professor at New York University.
This story was originally published at Climate Home News on March 19, 2019. Also published at The Ecologist and the Corvallis Gazette-Times.
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Robert Macnee, Ph.D. is Deputy Director of Resilience Services at Climate Resilience Consulting, where he helps governments, institutions, and communities reduce climate risk in equitable and practical ways. He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Management focused on climate change impacts on health and communities, and brings over a decade of experience spanning economic development, resilience planning, and implementation.
Samantha Medlock is President of Climate Risk Advisors, helping communities and organizations advance equity, sustainability, and resilience. Her career began chasing floods as a local official in Texas Flash Flood Alley—a hands-on experience that still shapes her approach to climate and disaster risk management.
Arsum is the Senior Adaptation and Coastal Resilience Specialist for the National Wildlife Federation’s Southcentral Region. In this role, she advances climate adaptation efforts, with a focus on nature-based approaches to address the impacts of climate change and extreme events across the Gulf region. She has authored and co-authored numerous publications on climate impact assessments and adaptation solutions. Additionally, she regularly participates in state-based coastal resilience and hazard mitigation planning across the Gulf, collaborating with regional and local stakeholders.
Jim is a multilingual world traveler. Based in Bavaria during the 1970s, Jim spent most of this period in India, Afghanistan and Nepal, where he founded and operated a charitable medical clinic serving Tibetan Refugees. He settled in Oregon in 1983 on a forested ranch in the Umpqua National Forest.
Dr. Micah Hahn is an Associate Professor of Environmental Health in the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. She received her joint PhD in Epidemiology / Environment and Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her MPH in Global Environmental Health from Emory University. Subsequently, she was a postdoctoral fellow for the CDC Climate and Health Program, and in this position worked collaboratively with the CDC Division of Vector-borne Diseases and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Her research focuses on understanding the health impacts of climate change and working with communities to develop locally-relevant adaptation and resilience-building strategies. Dr. Hahn is also on the Management Team of the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center.
Michael is a former Founding Principal of Resilient Cities Catalyst, a global non-profit helping cities and their partners tackle their toughest challenges. He is currently the Executive Director of Climate Resilience Academy at the University of Miami.
Dr. Quintus Jett is a consultant, educator, and strategist for public causes. He has a doctorate in Organizations & Management from Stanford University, and a two-decade faculty career which spans schools, departments, and programs of business, engineering, liberal studies, divinity, and public and nonprofit management. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Dr. Jett launched a volunteer project in New Orleans, which enlisted residents, students from over a dozen colleges and universities, and hundreds of others to field map the city’s Gentilly district, Lower Ninth Ward, and New Orleans East. Dr. Jett is an innovator in higher education, bridging the divide between academic research and the other priorities of the modern university, including student access and diversity, community engagement, and providing foundations for life-long learning in today’s rapidly changing world.
Scott is Monfort Professor of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. He has written about 100 publications in the peer-reviewed climate literature, is a former editor of the Journal of Climate, and served for five years as founding Science Chair of the North American Carbon Program.
Linda has many years of experience in disaster preparedness and resilience. She has been an elected official on the Linn County Iowa Board of Supervisors, Chair of the Metropolitan Planning Organization, the East Central Iowa Council of Governments, the statewide Mental Health Developmental Disability and the Linn County Board of Health. Langston is a former president of the National Association of Counties (2013-2014).
Ken works with families and organizations as a mediator, organizational consultant, trainer and facilitator. Along with his passion for helping people prepare for and reduce climate change, Ken also volunteers as a mediator through Mediation Works and is passionate about supporting youth through mentoring with Boys to Men of Southern Oregon.
Matthew is a retired high school teacher who was once honored as Oregon High School Social Studies Teacher of the Year. Before his teaching career he was in the restaurant business in Portland. He is also a lawyer who has been a member of the Oregon State Bar Association since 1980.
Andrea is the Resilience Policy Advisor for the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency. She works across state agencies and with local governments to increase the state’s resilience to the impacts of climate change.