Biden: Declare a climate emergency
The climate crisis is wreaking havoc in communities around the world with record-breaking temperatures, deadly floods, and wildfires. We’re hurtling closer and closer to climate catastrophe. Working class people and communities of color are facing the worst of the crisis. To stop it, we have to cut our emissions in half in the next 7 years. That’s why we urgently need an all-out mobilization of our government to create green union jobs and end the fossil fuel era.
President Biden must declare a climate emergency and use every tool at his disposal to mobilize the U.S. government to stop the climate crisis and save lives.
We’ve already achieved some big wins: the Inflation Reduction Act was the biggest climate bill in U.S. history and the American Climate Corps will create 20,000 green jobs in its first year. But politicians like President Biden think they can have it both ways — tell young people they are taking climate change seriously while they line their pockets with fossil fuel money and green-light new oil wells and pipelines.
It’s our job to organize and take action so it’s impossible for him — or any President — to ignore us.
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what we want
Our demands
We’re calling on President Biden to declare a climate emergency and confront the climate crisis by creating green union jobs, ending the fossil fuel era, and preparing for climate disasters.
Green union jobs
Corporations are raking in record profits while we struggle to pay the bills. Fossil fuel executives are bringing in record paychecks, while our homes burn and flood. The President needs to lead an all-out, Green New Deal-style mobilization of the government to make sure everyone has a good paying job, a safe home, and a livable future. That means creating tens of thousands of green union jobs to build the renewable energy economy.
- Unleash the full power of the Defense Production Act to direct American manufacturers to build renewable energy and clean transportation technologies needed to decarbonize at the scale and speed that science demands. Guarantee that manufacturing invests in jobs and clean energy products in frontline communities and offers good-paying union jobs to the workers powering the transition to renewable energy.
- Ensure the American Climate Corps is fully-funded and is a model for what Green New Deal jobs should be:
- American Climate Corps members should be provided a life-sustaining wage, plus healthcare, childcare, and educational benefits that would help Corps members and their families thrive.
- Corps members should receive technical and vocational training during their service, including through pre-apprenticeships in partnership with local union chapters, to open pathways to stable careers.
- Advance the Justice40 initiative by directing 40% of American Climate Corps resources to communities on the frontlines of the fossil fuel economy and climate change.
End the Fossil Fuel Era
Our country is burning on the west coast, flooding on the east coast, and baking in the south. Millions of lives are under threat. But politicians are trying to have it both ways — they tell young people they are taking climate change seriously while they let the fossil fuel industry run wild and build new oil wells and pipelines. Despite some progress, the simple fact is that the US is producing more fossil fuels than ever before.
- Halt new fossil fuel development by:
- Reject federal approvals for new fossil fuel projects. New fossil fuel infrastructure and export approvals are no longer compatible with a stable climate. Every new oil, gas and coal project thus fails to pass the national and public interest tests required by existing laws like the Natural Gas Act, Deepwater Port Act, and the Clean Water Act, and they should be rejected.
- Phase out oil and gas production on federal public lands and oceans as quickly as possible while protecting workers and communities.
- Use emergency powers to reinstate the crude oil export ban and end all exports of fossil fuels to the extent possible under current law
- Use emergency powers to halt the hundreds of billions of private dollars that fund coal, oil, and gas projects abroad
- Direct the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute fossil fuel companies and other polluters for their role in creating the climate crisis and misleading the public about the role fossil fuels play in the climate crisis.
Prepare for Climate Disasters
The climate crisis is making storms stronger, fires more frequent and heat waves more intense. Death tolls are rising and Black, brown, and working class communities are being hit the hardest. The government is fighting climate-fueled disasters with hundred year-old tools designed for a different climate. The President must overhaul the government’s disaster response plans, ensure everyone has a safe, healthy home to weather the climate crisis, and redirect the military to making this work happen.
- Overhaul the federal government’s disaster preparation and response policies to use the full force of the federal government while investing in equity.
- Overhaul workplace safety laws to protect workers from extreme weather such as heavy rain and wildfires.
- Reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s approval processes for aid to make sure that all applicants are treated equitably. End the extensively-documented racial disparities in assistance. Mandate that disaster relief funding builds communities back fossil-free.
- Use emergency powers to open up additional resources to fund pre-disaster resilience, like building resilient renewable electricity grids and repairing broken infrastructure.
- Use the Public Health Services Act to provide free healthcare to people affected by climate disasters and ensure equitable access to care post-disaster.
- Use the Defense Production Act to prevent price gouging during disasters, including prohibiting utility rate hikes.
- Confront the growing housing crisis. Revamp our approach to housing after disasters and make sure that all people have safe, healthy homes to live in and weather the climate crisis.
- Issue eviction moratoriums and utility shut off bans in the wake of climate disasters
- Use the Individuals and Households Program to build new affordable housing when disaster strikes
- Activate the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) resources to help move people experiencing homelessness into permanent, affordable homes.
- Update building codes in line with International Code Council standards to ensure buildings are energy efficient and resilient housing, saving renters and homeowners alike.
- Redirect the US military and reserves to prepare climate vulnerable communities for disaster and build renewable energy.
- Order members of the Ready Reserve to active duty to prepare climate vulnerable communities for disaster and build renewable energy by building community resilience hubs and deploying homes with energy efficiency technologies and distributed energy resources like rooftop solar, storage, and microgrids.
- Use the Military Construction Codification Act to direct the United States Military to build a stronger climate resilient electrical grid throughout the country.
