I am signing this petition to urge you to support HB 1937, the Green New Deal Act, and HB 2292, the Moratorium on new fossil fuel infrastructure when it comes before your committee during the General Assembly in 2021.  We need to plan for a Just Recovery for Virginia. Our economy is being rocked as it has not been since the Great Depression of the 1930’s, and we need solutions that match the scale of the problems we face.

In 2018, we were in a climate emergency. The very nature of an emergency requires bold and decisive action. Climate scientists behind the IPCC Report said we had 12 years to reduce our carbon output or face global climate catastrophe. The same year, the Trump Administration released the Fourth National Climate Assessment stating we must act now to prevent the impending economic and environmental crisis due to climate change. In September of 2019, the Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA) unanimously passed resolutions endorsing the Green New Deal Virginia, and a net-zero, carbon emissions clean energy economy for Virginia.

Two years later, we continue to face a climate emergency on top of a global pandemic, economic devastation and a crisis in social justice. The COVID-19 pandemic has created devastation across the commonwealth, while exposing deep inequalities that predated the pandemic. While we are all in this pandemic together, the systemic inequities inherent in our society have starkly illustrated that we are not all in this equally. Low-income communities and communities of color have borne a disproportionate impact from the pandemic, as a result of longstanding inequalities in many sectors.  Environmental injustice in where polluting facilities have been situated for decades have exacerbated health disparities, leaving low income communities and communities of color more vulnerable to the pandemic. Working people are losing their lives and their livelihoods, and the pandemic has revealed the interconnection between the climate crisis, our economy and our health.

It’s very important to keep that in mind that careful planning and policy design at the beginning of the transition is going to be critical to accomplish what we need to do in a way that brings the most economic benefits to the ones that are building this new green economy. What’s clear, is that different approaches - different policies and priorities at the beginning of this transition - are going to result in significantly different resource mixes, and it’s important to be intentional about what differences in policies make, so that we can chose sensibly between these policy pathways.

Progressive members of the General Assembly are motivated this session to meet the intersecting crises of the climate emergency, economic devastation and the need for social justice. Other members are looking for excuses to avoid “controversial” votes in an election year. Some members are just plain tired after Special Session and don't want to make the time commitment to fight for real results. We get it -  we are tired too, but now is not the time to rest. Now is our time to push even harder for solutions that match the scale of the problems we face. The nation is poised to receive some relief in the form of a vaccine, but Virginia needs a jobs program on an unprecedented scale starting right when social distancing ends. We need a Just Transition for Virginia to tackle these crises head on. Virginia has the opportunity to create thousands of good paying, green jobs that will provide safe and healthy homes, invest in renewable infrastructure, and create community resiliency that simultaneously restarts our economy and tackles climate injustice. These jobs and resulting investments must be made available to the communities hit hardest by both the climate crisis and the COVID-19 crisis.

I hope I can count on your support of HB 1937, the Green New Deal Act, and HB 2292, the Moratorium on new fossil fuel build out in the state. Thank you for your time and consideration of my request.

Sincerely yours,