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Climate Leadership
from Greenpeace
We are in the midst of a climate crisis, yet for the last several elections, even the politicians who claim to care about our future have done little more than say they believe climate change is real.
Talking points won’t cut it anymore. If we are all going to make it out of this crisis, January 20, 2021 must be the first day of a new reckoning against the fossil fuel industry.
That’s why we need to elect a real climate leader to the White House who is willing to take bold, ambitious action by saying “yes” to a Green New Deal and the promise of a clean, thriving economy for all — and “no” to the dirty and destructive fuels of the past. A leader who will put justice for working people and vulnerable communities at the center of the transition to a clean and prosperous future.
We expect every Democratic candidate for president to stand up for communities facing climate disaster — and against fossil fuel executives — by committing to end the era of coal, oil, and gas, and championing a Green New Deal. Not only will this transition slow the tide of climate catastrophe, it will also create millions of new jobs that sustain families while protecting community health.
Like the original New Deal, the Green version won’t be the result of just one law or one year of work. We need to elect leaders that will be persistent in confronting the climate threat over the coming decade, demand they pass strong laws and then follow them up with smarter, better, more effective laws. We need leaders who are accountable to the most impacted communities and who won’t rest until the job is done, not just at the federal level, but in states and cities, schools and communities.
Fossil fuel money was able to kill off strong ballot initiatives in Washington and Colorado in the last election, so we know that we have our work cut out for us. But as always, when we build power from the frontlines of climate catastrophe, politicians will follow. They’ll have no choice but to do the right thing because of our strength.
The 2020 election is the most important in our lifetime if we want to lessen the risk of climate catastrophes -- like superstorms, wildfires, flooding, and massive population displacement.
With your help, we can push all the Democratic presidential hopefuls truly discuss what climate action that meets the scale of the problem by engaging in a nation-wide pressure campaign that reaches millions of voters.