A ‘Green Stimulus’ Could Battle Three Crises: Coronavirus, Economic Injustice and Climate Emergency

By Jessica Corbett

“As a nation we face three converging crises: the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic recession; the climate emergency; and extreme inequality.”

That’s the warning from progressive policy experts, climate leaders, and academics who have joined together to support a new “Green Stimulus” plan that calls for “at least $2 trillion that creates millions of family-sustaining green jobs, lifts standards of living, accelerates a just transition off fossil fuels, ensures a controlling stake for the public in all private sector bailout plans, and helps make our society and economy stronger and more resilient in the face of pandemic, recession, and climate emergency in the years ahead.”

The 11 co-authors — many of whom have ties to the think tank Data for Progress and various 2020 Democratic presidential campaigns — call for automatically renewing the stimulus at 4% of GDP annually, or about $850 billion, until the economy is fully decarbonized and the unemployment rate is below 3.5%. Their proposal aligns with the previously published “5 Principles for Just COVID-19 Relief and Stimulus” that’s backed by more than 300 environmental, justice, labor and other progressive groups.

Given that other advocates and groups are working on emergency efforts to stabilize the economy to prevent harm from the ongoing pandemic in an equitable way, the Green Stimulus plan aims to address “the longer-term challenge of jumpstarting economic recovery and transitioning to a more sustainable economy.”

According to the letter, posted to Medium: “This is an inflection point for our nation. This is a pivotal moment to put tens of millions of Americans back to work, building a healthy, clean, and just future.”

The plan, which points to the popularity of the Green New Deal based on Data for Progress polling, sorts proposed policies into eight categories:

• Housing, Buildings, Civic Infrastructure, and Communities
• Transportation Workers, Systems, and Infrastructure
• Labor, Manufacturing, and Just Transition for Workers and Communities
• Energy System Workers and Infrastructure
• Farmers, Food Systems, and Rural Communities
• Green Infrastructure, Public Lands, and the Environment
• Regulations, Innovation, and Public Investment
• Green Foreign Policy

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