Green New Deal Discussed in Belleville

“I think there are a lot of people in the County who are very much concerned about the state of the environment. And I think a lot of us feel that there are things the municipality can do to protect ourselves from the disasters that are going to happen if we don’t get our CO2 levels down.”
— Lynne Rochon, Council of Canadians

County residents take part in Green New Deal talks

GETTING GREEN-Community members discuss the Green New Deal in Belleville Monday Night (Sarah de Jonge for the Gazette)

On Monday, Belleville was host to a town hall meeting as part of the non-partisan coalition called the Pact for a Green New Deal.

Approximately 75 people attended this event along with several Prince Edward County residents concerned about climate change and its effects on the human race.

According to the United Nations (UN) there are only 11 years to cut our carbon emissions by half in order to avoid unprecedented environmental catastrophes caused by warming global temperatures.

Cutting emissions in half within the next decade, while protecting jobs, is only one of the Green New Deal’s mandates. Many of the concerns highlight the relationship between environmental and social justice issues.

The Green New Deal is a an idea perpetrated by a group of people and organizations devoted to changing the conversation from one that revolves around whether or not climate change is happening to what can be done to mitigate the effects of climate change and stop it from progressing.

With over 70 organizations involved and over 60 notable endorsements, such as that from environmental activist David Suzuki and musician Dan Mangan, the movement is quickly gaining momentum.

Environmental issues from coast to coast may vary in their scope and definition but what many people in each region of this country have in common is concern with increasing environmental disasters.

In an aptly named “town hall” event, one of many that is an organized group of events taking place across the country, a local group of citizens met to voice their concerns and write down what they believe needs to change in order to effectively reverse and/or mitigate the effects of climate change.

Many of these concerns highlight the relationship between environmental and social justice issues.

Once the data from the town hall events across the country has been collected, it will be collated into a pact which can then be distributed to political parties who will, hopefully, incorporate some of the concerns into their agenda.  MORE

RELATED:

Council votes to declare climate emergency, re-establish EAC

The Green New Deal Debate Is Coming To A Town Hall Near You

Sunrise Movement activists are planning roughly 100 town halls and a 10-stop nationwide tour.

The Green New Dealers are going local.

Sunrise Movement, the youth-focused climate justice nonprofit whose protests late last year helped spawn the Green New Deal, is planning to expand its upcoming 14-stop tour of the United States into a nationwide campaign with roughly 100 town hall meetings organized by its swelling ranks of local chapters, the group told HuffPost.

The events are aimed at drumming up support for the Green New Deal by explaining the local benefits of a sweeping national industrial plan to zero out greenhouse gas emissions and reduce poverty. The tour will include 10 big-ticket stops in cities including Boston; Des Moines, Iowa; and Paradise, California, which became ground zero for the state’s deadliest wildfire in history last year.

Members of Congress, activists and scientists are expected to speak at the events. A Sunrise Movement spokesman declined to confirm whether Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the authors of a joint resolution on the Green New Deal, would attend. MORE