Understanding Climate Policy Jargon
There are two policies that you have probably heard a little something about: The Paris Climate Accord and The Green New Deal. Please allow me to translate the jargon.
Let's start with why the climate is changing and why we need policies? First world countries have a large appetite for energy. We use it to manufacture our goods, to power our businesses and homes, to grow our food, to drive, to travel, and so on. The problem lies in where the energy comes from.
Since the first half of the 19th century or the industrial revolution, we have been burning fossil fuels like coal, oil shales, natural gas, and petroleum to meet our energy demands. The keyword is burning because when you burn fossil fuels, it produces carbon dioxide, a super nasty greenhouse gas that traps heat in the planet's atmosphere.
Our home is heating up; every year is hotter on average than the previous for a 30-year upward trend. Both policies below are aiming to reverse global warming well before a 2°C (3.6°F) temperature increase. Humans have never experienced temperatures that hot; there are no scientific records to look back at and reference on how to adapt.
Paris Climate Accord
On December 12, 2015, representatives from 196 countries met in Paris, France, to sign a legally binding international treaty to address Climate Change. The treaty provides an ambitious framework for countries to model their climate goals. By 2020, each of the nations was to communicate their plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and to have an action plan to adapt to the impact of global rising temperatures, such as the sea-level rise and air pollution. By 2024, the countries must present a transparent report on actions they have taken and the progress they have made in climate change mitigation.
In my opinion, the treaty is a great place to start. It includes some excellent benchmarks, such as developed countries must help less endowed, vulnerable countries to meet their goals, especially since our actions in “the west” are making life on earth hell for them. A third party (kind of) oversees the agreement's implementation and promotes its effectiveness. Hopefully, the peer pressure between countries works, and it will be enough to start to reverse the effects of global warming.
We will pretend for a minute that the USA never left the agreement. 🙄 The new representatives have rejoined the treaty!! Wooooo Hooooo They will have to play some catch-up, but they have time to meet the markers if they get on with it! 🤞🏻🤞🏽 It would also be helpful if you push your local lawmakers to meet the ambitious goals set out in the Climate Accord. Read the full technical agreement in your language here.
The Green New Deal
Jobs for everyone in The Green New Deal
The Green New Deal is not yet an actual policy or a legal deal; it's a list of goals and guiding principles to address global warming, crumbling infrastructure, and financial stability, set forth by a handful of progressive American politicians. It's an incredibly ambitious plan, and I believe it's precisely the direction the world needs to be moving towards as soon as possible.
The deal addresses more than just environmental policy; it also includes universal health care, affordable housing, good-paying jobs for all, and substantial labor rights. On top of that, millions of new jobs will come from building new infrastructure and updating technologies to meet the needs of the 21-century!
Unfortunately, politicians on both sides argue that it's not affordable; they ask sarcastically, "where will we get the 💲💲💲 needed to implement the deal?" I say that we can not afford to sit around and wait until they have more money. In 2020, the American taxpayers alone paid $22 BILLION for "natural" disasters. The longer we wait, the more expensive it will become.
The Green New Deal is an opportunity for the United States to save face to the rest of the world and be the example of a smart, forward-thinking country. Sadly, this set of goals is not yet a policy proposal, and we can't vote to put it into law, but we can put pressure on our lawmakers to adopt the Green New Deal and act accordingly to meet the ambitious goals of the deal. You can read the 14-page document here.
Many Blessings, Sara Renshaw @ The Green Maya Project
P.S. Nature heals. Get some today.
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