University of Massachusetts.
DARTMOUTH – Introduced and sponsored by firebrand freshman U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) and U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), the proposed Green New Deal hasn’t seen much social support or any legislative success.
Following a “bungled” rollout of the Green New Deal that collected a total of zero votes in the Senate, one local university isn’t giving up on the Congressional resolution.
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth will be hosting a Town Hall Meeting on the Green New Deal on Tuesday.
Organized by Richard Stang, of Regenerative Ecology, LLC, the meeting will discuss the ins and outs of the proposal, claiming that the fossil fuel industry has been driving misinformation about the deal.
“What is the New Green Deal? Don’t be fooled by the fossil fuel industry and their elected politicians, come and find out first hand,” Stang wrote in a press release about the meeting.
“At its core, the Green New Deal is a Congressional resolution calling for the creation of a comprehensive economic stimulus package (think Franklin Roosevelts “New Deal”) to address, head-on, the grave and imminent national threat of accelerated climate change (on par with the national threats faced by President Franklin Roosevelt – The Great Depression and accelerated pace of a world war). In particular, the Green New Deal calls on the Federal government to mobilize all sectors of the United States and all of its people to not only neutralize this threat but come through it as a more environmentally and economically resilient and socially just nation.”
The meeting will cover what Stang lists as five “broad ranging goals” to be reached through a “10-year national mobilization.”
Stang says those goals will require a series of projects, which are listed as follows:
-Repairing and upgrading US infrastructure;
-Expand and upgrade existing renewable power sources and deploying new capacity;
-Support family farming by investing in sustainable farming and land use practices and building a more sustainable food system; and
-Removing greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere through proven low-tech solutions that increase soil carbon storage, such as preservation and afforestation.
Stang goes onto explain in the release that in order to achieve these goals within the 10-year timeframe, the Green New Deal calls for a number of specific actions, including:
-Ensuring the Federal Government takes into account the complete environmental and social costs and impacts of emissions;
-Providing resources, training, and high-quality education;
-Public investments in R&D of new clean and renewable energy technologies and industries;
-Deepen and diversify industry in local and regional economies, and build wealth and community ownership;
-Stop the transfer of jobs overseas;
-Grow domestic manufacturing in the US; and
-Ensure every business person is free from unfair competition and domination by monopolies.
Stang goes on in the release to defend the Green New Deal against perceived criticisms by its detractors.
“In a nutshell, the Green New Deal is a no bullshit outline of specific goals and projects that need to be immediately undertaken to avoid us reaching an ecological and environmental death-spiral point of no return,” said Stang in the release.
“In other words, it is a very needed beginning. We all need to urgently get on with it and not delay or stall it through disinformation campaigns. If you don’t like a particular part of the Green New Deal, come up with detailed alternatives.”
Stang also says the meeting will cover what he describes as made up, or falsified impacts of the Green New Deal proposed by supporters of, and politicians tied to, the fossil fuel industry to discourage public support of it.
What the Green New Deal does not do:
-Stop you from eating meat;
-Take away your cars;
-Strip away your freedoms; and
-Turn you into a socialist.
“The people and institutions that want you to believe this directly benefit from killing The Green New Deal and preserving the status quo,” Stang said.
“Unfortunately, these people and institutions have and control tremendous wealth, resources, and influence – precisely because they have perpetuated and depend on this status quo. They will do everything they can to convince you to hate The Green New Deal. For your children’s and their children’s sake, don’t let them.”
The Green New Deal Town Hall Meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 23 from 7:00 p.m. through 9:00 p.m. at the UMass Dartmouth Charlton College of Business.
On March 25, Senator Markey’s version of the resolution failed to advance in the U.S. Senate in 0-57 vote.
By TIM DUNN, CapeCod.com News Center
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