Green Energy Makes A Cross-Country Race Towards the Election

Photo Credit: "green energy?" by wecand is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Environment is on the chopping block - in both the political climate and the natural one.

One of the key ways to combat the climate crisis is through the application of public policy which directly addresses the largest polluters and strains on global resources. In the United States, progressive politicians are working with scientists to promote laws that aim to transition those industries towards green energy initiatives and more sustainable modes of production.

What Does Green Energy Mean?

The transition to green energy is one of the core tenants of the Green New Deal. Everyone relates to energy and energy use differently, and the concept touches all corners of life. Energy is how you power your home and transportation, how we work and complete our jobs, and even what your job is.

According to the ‘‘Special Report on Global Warming’’ by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the November 2018 Fourth National Climate Assessment, Green New Deal co-sponsors show that “basic needs, such as clean air, clean water, healthy food, and adequate health care, housing, transportation, and education, are inaccessible to a significant portion of the United States population.”

The factor which links these issues and adds to the climate crisis is the emission of harmful pollutants into the earth and atmosphere. Authors of the Deal see a transition to green energy as a duty of the nation, because “having emitted 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions through 2014, and has a high technological capacity, the United States must take a leading role in reducing emissions through economic transformation.”

Who Is Fighting for Green Energy?

These topics are the core of the Green New Deal and are issues that many political candidates aim to fix with their time in national government. Access to reliable and environmentally sustainable energy sources is a key part of the Deal, which asserts that quality of life is higher in places where power and electricity are not in jeopardy and aren’t pollutants.

Addressing the failing power grid in the United States is a tenant of the Deal and one that many candidates across the country are building into their platforms. In California, corporations like Pacific Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison hold monopolies on electrical supply up and down the state.

Known for their failing power grid systems, long outdated above-ground power lines, and hazardous transmission boxes, these companies are responsible for thousands of fires each year. This year alone, two thousand wildfires and some of the largest in state history burned through California, and federal investigators believe failing power systems were responsible for more than one.

California elections this year are focused on the House of Representatives. Senator Dianne Feinstein holds her seat until 2025, and current Senator and democratic nominee for Vice President, Kamala Harris, holds her seat until 2023.

Incumbents in urban areas of the state are campaigning on furthering green energy policies in their communities. During this 116th meeting of Congress, Representative Maxine Waters of Los Angeles sponsored multiple bills aiming to mitigate climate change, including the 100% Clean Economy Act of 2019, which states that “Federal climate policy can and should be shaped to diminish economic inequality and expand the rights of workers.”

In Illinois, up-and-coming democratic challenger Marie Newman is running for Congress in the 3rd district outside Chicago where she won her March 2020 primary. Newman is running on the platform of a Green Stimulus Deal, and believes that investing in updated infrastructure and green energy resources in her community is the best way to build jobs and combat the climate crisis.

Newman sees the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis as intertwined, as residents suffer not only from the virus and joblessness, but from failing infrastructure. According to the 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, 19% of Illinois’ public roads are failing, and one of the highest number of unlinked transportation systems in the country.

Running against Newman is 15-year incumbent Daniel Lipinski. Congressman Daniel Lipinski took over the seat from his father, Congressman Bill Lipinski, who held the seat from 1988-2005. A member of the House Climate Solutions Caucus, Congressman Daniel Lipinski has pledged to develop and bring to market clean energy sources, and is a supporter of the Green Power Plan.

Across the country, candidates see green energy as a necessity for their constituents. Come November 3 and the following weeks as ballots are counted, races like these will see how their futures may be decided.