What are the goals of the Green Mountain New Deal?
The Green Mountain New Deal is a first step in a much longer process, where future legislation and action will be necessary to address climate justice issues. The State on Vermont should work to implement a Green Mountain New Deal program with a specific focus on energy, infrastructure, transportation, agriculture, land use, economic justice, demilitarization, inequality, indigenous sovereignty, and financial reform in accordance with the Just Transition Framework of the Climate Justice Alliance.
Who initiated the GMND?
The proposal for the GMND followed a larger discussion of the national Green New Deal in the local context of Vermont at a town hall meeting organized by Sunrise Movement Burlington on April 29th 2019.
Who are the main supporters pushing for the Green Mountain New Deal as of now?
An independent, non-profit organization based in Burlington, VT. 350Vermont is affiliated with 350.org. Their mission is to organize, educate, and support people in Vermont to work together for climate justice – resisting fossil fuels, building momentum for alternatives, and transforming local communities toward justice and resilience.
Sunrise Movement Burlington and Middlebury
A youth led climate activist network, fighting to stop the climate crisis using the power of people and elected officials. The mission of the Sunrise Movement is to fight for the rights of marginalized communities and to be a leader in the charge to radically reform the energy infrastructure of the United States by 2030. Within the fight against climate change, along with the goals for total energy transition, Sunrise works to tackle corruption in the fossil fuel industry. A priority of the Sunrise movement is to ensure the creation of thousands of jobs in the process.
The Sunrise Movement Burlington Hub was started by Maggie Friel, a UVM college first year student at the time, before being joined by co-coordinators and UVM students Emma Page and Clarissa Sprague.
Sunrise Middlebury is a hub of the National Sunrise Movement on the Middlebury College Campus who focus their attention on local Vermont Issues. The members of Sunrise Middlebury identify as young people from “all walks of life, from all over the planet, who are united by [their] shared love for Vermont and this Earth”.
This organization mobilizes the farmworker community to build the voice, capacity and power of the Vermont farmworkers, to engage community partners in organizing for economic justice and human rights. The members of Migrant Justice have highlighted the denial of rights and dignity within significant community problems. Their priorities include building a movement that secures fundamental human rights to:
- Dignified Work and Quality Housing
- Freedom of Movement and Access to Transportation
- Freedom from discrimination
- Access to Health Care
The largest nonprofit consumer and environmental advocacy organization in Vermont, founded in 1972. For over 40 years, VPIRG’s mission has been to empower average Vermont citizens and bring their voices to public policy debates concerning the environment, health care, consumer protection and democracy.
The Vermont Progressive Party is an independent party in the United States. They currently have eight members in the Vermont Legislature and work to bring awareness to statewide issues and ensure that their voice is heard by all other candidates.
How can we compare the Green Mountain New Deal to the National Green New Deal?
The Green Mountain New Deal is a plan that has been proposed following the proposal of the National Green New Deal. It adopts the missions of the National Green New Deal, placed in the local context of Vermont and focuses on the movements, priorities and people at a local state level.
What is the Green New Deal?
“For now though, the Green New Deal is just asking our leaders to acknowledge the scale of the problem we face.”
Vox
“The Green New Deal is a long shot, but right now it’s also the only plan that acknowledges what we know is coming.”
Vox
The Green New Deal is a plan that has yet to be written, which exists to combat the effects of climate change. Its resolution is 14 pages long. It is not a bill, not legislation, not a policy proposal. It is not anything you can pass and make law. It is a first step to acknowledgement and accountability in the role of the United States within the larger context of the Climate Crisis.