Twelve years ago, on the cusp of a new administration, I crafted a list to save the world from climate crisis.
Here we go again, during a lethal pandemic born of that same climate crisis, led by fascists more naked than before. In other words, we are all out of time to fuck around, and so is the Biden administration.
The time to get our asses fully to work was during Biden’s eight years in office, alongside Obama. That didn’t happen, for so many stupid, selfish, seriously psychotic reasons. It’s no wonder we got stuck with a psychopath when those eight years were over.
The last four have been even worse. So there is no more time for me to call, as I did after Obama’s 2008 election victory, the Center for American Progress, the Natural Resources Defense Council, or any other (reported) environmentalists and policy experts, about what exactly to do.
We fully know what we need to do. Now we must do it.
So I kept the follow-up list below as simple as possible. The first sentence was our wonky suggestions in the less ambitious epoch of 2008. The second is for now.
Like, right now.
1. Direct the Environmental Protection Agency to allow California to require carmakers to reduce emissions from cars sold in the state.
Fuck that: Electric vehicles only, period.
2. Tell the EPA to declare carbon dioxide a pollutant under the Clean Air Act.
Annihilate carbon dioxide emissions.
3. Propose a cap-and-trade plan on global warming.
Fuck that: Zero emissions, we said.
4. Smartly apportion billions as part of an economic stimulus and recovery package.
Green New Deal, Medicare For All, Cancel Debt, Universal Income, Defund Police, Abolish Ice, no excuses.
5. Make the White House as a case study in green living.
Zero emission White House, or GTFO.
6. Stimulate smart agriculture.
Ban factory farming, #LandBack to the Indigenous.
7. Green America’s fleet.
Decarbonize, or die.
8. Pave the way for clean tech.
Defund the death industry: Oil, gas, coal and nuclear.
9. Make Big Oil pay.
The Hague.
10. Modernize the grid.
Memo For Obama: Save Earth
Zoonosis: Climate Crisis and Coronavirus
Dead Zone Slows, But Does Not Stop
Unhappy Earth Day: The Seas Still Rise
