Washington, DC– Climate Justice Alliance applauds Senator Warren’s Green Manufacturing Platform. Elements, including a pledge to invest $2 trillion in green research, is the scale of investment that demonstrates Warren’s level of commitment as a candidate who is serious about addressing the climate crisis. In response to Sen. Warren’s Green Manufacturing Platform, the Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) Executive Director Angela Adrar released the following statement:
We look forward to more specifics on how Senator Warren’s $2 trillion Green Manufacturing Platform will be allocated to prioritize frontline workers, cooperatives and communities disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. We also look forward to how it can work to scale up solutions by the frontline communities who already have solutions to curb the climate crisis and work toward a Just Transition.
“Given the Senator’s emphasis on establishing the United States as a global, clean energy leader, CJA is looking for firm commitments that Warren’s Green Manufacturing Platform will not include specious initiatives like cap and trade already introduced in state-level Green New Deal (GND) policies like Oregon’s proposed HB2020. CJA is also looking for assurances against false technological promises like carbon pricing and geoengineering. We shouldn’t forget that incinerators, nuclear, natural gas and carbon capture and storage (CCS), carbon capture, use, and storage (CCUS), bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), biochar, and solar radiation management are already backed by the fossil fuel industry that continue polluting and maintaining energy dominance.
Warren’s ‘Green Industrial Mobilization’ component should build on its aggressive baseline to ensure workers are protected — especially Black workers and other workers of color disproportionately displaced from jobs. That component should create financial incentives for consultation, implementation and evaluation to assure that vulnerable communities and those most impacted by manufacturing losses are prioritized. The Green Manufacturing Platform should also be strengthened by geographically specific guidelines for working with Indigenous communities to reach Just Transition goals. Respecting the sovereignty of Tribes and prior informed consent is also of paramount importance.
Warren’s ‘Green Marshall Plan’ seems to hit the mark in most cases, but it should be implemented with caution. For instance, solar and wind energy are an important step towards energy efficiency. Although they are readily available, they are not financially accessible to all. Additionally, predatory lending and loan packages to adopt clean energy must be avoided to protect against replicating programs that interfered with National Sovereignty and indebted countries to the dismay of their populations.
Overall, Senator Warren’s Green Manufacturing Plan seems to be on the right trajectory to fight the bad and build the new. CJA is encouraged by the Senator’s platform and believes she has set a standard that other candidates will have to adhere to if they wish to be seen as serious actors in addressing the climate crisis. We are happy to see references to frontline concepts that paved the way for a GND like the Jemez Principles, Principles of Environmental Justice and Principles of Working Together, and we look forward to working with Sen. Warren and others to ensure these concepts are exercised at all levels of government and via grassroots, bottom-up organizing power.”
# # #
The Climate Justice Alliance is a growing member alliance of 67 urban and rural frontline communities, organizations and supporting networks in the climate justice movement. CJA is dedicated to building Just Transition away from extractive systems of production, consumption and political oppression, and towards resilient, regenerative and equitable economies.
