We demand a Green New Deal for California that guarantees a future where all people have what we need to live dignified, healthy lives. That means making sure that we all benefit from the resources that make that future possible: our land, air, and water.
No matter who you are or where you come from, everyone deserves to thrive. We deserve safe, healthy homes and neighborhoods where we can raise our kids and grow our roots. We deserve dignified work that contributes to the well-being of our communities and pays family-supporting wages. Our youth, and all future generations, deserve clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and a healthy and safe planet on which to live and thrive.
But for too long, greedy corporate interests have stood in our way. They’ve manipulated the system and profited from the three major crises we’re facing today: devastating climate disasters; extreme levels of wealth and income inequality; and systemic racial injustice. They’ve concentrated power in the hands of a wealthy few, and poverty and pollution in communities with the fewest resources to respond, putting our whole planet at risk.
Together, we have the power to create a new, regenerative economy that begins to fix the harms to our air, water, and soil caused by the old economy. That new economy will support our communities instead of exploiting them, and will nurture our connections to one another and the planet. We all deserve healthy and just communities. Only by transforming our communities will we achieve a zero-carbon economy that can overcome the climate crisis.
A Green New Deal for California must be founded on climate, racial, and economic justice. The California Green New Deal Coalition proposes that we create a vibrant zero-carbon economy for all Californians, at the speed and scale necessary to address the climate emergency, as detailed in the latest scientific reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) aimed at keeping global temperature increases below 1.5°C.
Transforming our economy must be accomplished as soon as possible, and must be well underway by 2030 in order to avoid catastrophic climate change. We must make sure this transition benefits everyone and that the decline in fossil fuel production is carefully managed. Workers must be guaranteed good, union jobs and meaningful support through this transition, and the communities on the frontlines of the struggle against climate change must receive urgent assistance to reverse existing injustices and protect them from the ravages of the climate crisis.
By prioritizing 100% clean, renewable energy and reductions in air pollution and the use of toxic chemicals in an equitable way, California can restore the ecosystems that support life on Earth, phase out fossil fuel production, and repair the injustices that have propped up this extractive economy for centuries.
In order to achieve climate, economic, and racial justice, a Green New Deal for California must be built not on promises, but on real guarantees.
The Green New Deal in California will guarantee the right to:
1. GOOD JOBS
Contribute our labor to the common good in a safe workplace, to protect existing union workers, and the right to organize in a union and be paid wages that allow us to prosper.
2. A HEALTHY AND REGENERATIVE ENVIRONMENT
Breathe clean air, drink clean water, eat healthy, nutritious food, live in a stable climate, and access nature and natural outdoor spaces.
3. RESILIENCE
Withstand systemic crises and disasters that disrupt our communities, and participate in a just recovery that transforms harmful systems and creates opportunities for all communities to thrive.
4. RACIAL JUSTICE
Focus state policies and resources on identifying and eliminating all racial disparities in life outcomes.
5. IMMIGRANT JUSTICE
Advance equity and full inclusion of immigrant and refugee communities in a just society, and to address conditions at the root of forced migration.
6. INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY
Recognize and adhere to Indigenous rights including self-determination, sovereignty, and stewardship and governance of ancestral lands.
7. A STRONG PUBLIC SECTOR
Participate in an abundantly funded and accountable public sector that provides state and local services, as well as well-functioning infrastructure like parks, transit, libraries, and schools.
8. HOUSING
Stay in a home we can afford, in a safe, healthy and stable community.
9. HEALTH CARE
Receive universal single-payer health care.
10. EDUCATION
Receive free and quality public education, from cradle to college, and to learn the skills we need for clean energy and zero-emission jobs.
11. PUBLIC GOODS
Rely upon clean, affordable, and reliable utilities, including renewable energy, water, and communications services that are accountable to the people.
12. MOBILITY
Move freely within and between communities, and access to safe, affordable, zero-emission and reliable transportation choices, including public transit.
13. DEMOCRACY
Organize and to have an equal say in the decisions that affect our communities and workplaces.
14. POLLUTERS PAY
Recover just compensation and restoration from polluters and corporations for harms they cause and to require private actors to pay the full social costs of their actions.