Climate Equity: a new definition of conservation
An analysis of the climate equity bill by Devanshi sood
“Since entering the global agenda in the mid-1990s, climate change has moved from being considered a largely technical and environmental issue to one rooted in more social and economic circumstances of vulnerable populations.”-Michael Mikulewicz, environmentalist.
Climate justice focuses on local impacts and experience and inequitable vulnerabilities. This theme of environmental justice and climate equity,in respect to the vulnerable and oppressed races in the United States of America ,was a very integral part of the new climate equity bill which was forged by senator Kamala Harris and congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez .
Both women being passionate climate activists ,who belong to minority classes,articulated a climate bill which may mean many new things in the sphere of environmental protection for the United States and may have spillover effects on the rest of the world. Under the new proposed plan, any environmental regulation or legislation would be rated based on their impact on low-income communities, which are disproportionately affected by climate change because they are often in flood zones, near highways or power plants.
This plan is an extension of the New Green deal , one of the main environmental bills proposed by the Democrats and formulated by AOC.Stressing the importance and inclusion of climate justice in bills pertaining to protection of environment , Harris said, “We cannot accept a status quo where children of color are drinking toxic water or breathing toxic air.This systemic environmental injustice will only get worse and become more ingrained if climate and environmental policies like the Green New Deal do not specifically focus on lifting up these communities.” The Green New Deal in addition to the climate justice bill brings many new progreessive elements into display including the explicit mention of indigenous rights, the reference to preventing corporate consolidation, mention of reducing carbon emissions given out by food and agriculture industries ,and the strengthening of democratic processes by increasing accountability in matters concerning environment degradation especially in respect to frontline communities .
The resolution is framed around the recognition that the Green New Deal must be developed in collaboration with frontline communities.These front line communities ,as defined in the climate equity bill, refer to those communities that have experienced systemic socioeconomic disparities, environmental racism, and other forms of injustice.
This bill seeks to prioritize the health and survival of communities whose air, water and environment have been polluted .Despite having all its positives; the bills are very vague in nature and do not lay down any concrete plans for any of the above mentioned reforms.Some of its noticeable flaws include its lack of specificity concerning language which cause it to fall short of what is needed to meet its target in an equitable and just manner.The deal also emphasizes on US becoming carbon neutral by the year 2030, without laying out solid plans for the achievement of this goal.Further the deal makes no mention of fossil fuels,whose withdrawal and alternatives must be planned for any effective plan to avert the climate crisis.Further the resolution does not include a national greenhouse gas reduction target, let alone one that is grounded in an equitable approach toward global emissions reductions and takes into account the United States’ large share of both total historical emissions and total global wealth. Without a target, the proposal is simply a ‘map without a destination’.The resolution also contains no mention of funding and the entire feasibility of the project.These bills which are viewed as a stepping stone towards a new tomorrow by their supporters and seen by their opposers as socialist ploy to ‘take away your ice cream’, are a mixed bag . The Green New Deal and the Climate Equity Bill ,despite being vague in terms of implementation and funding ,do contain some progressive ideas which could bring about positive changes in the sphere of climate politics in the US and in retrospective the world .
The bill however needs to have several amendments for specification of terms and funding for it to even cause a dent in the current state of the environment.
Bibliography-
(viii) https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/climate-change/is-kamala-harris-a-reliable-climate-leader--73379
(xi)https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315911572_Politicizing_vulnerability_and_adaptation_on_the_need_to_democratize_local_responses_to_climate_impacts_in_developing_countries
Works Cited
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Friedman, Lisa. “Kamala Harris and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Release Climate 'Equity' Plan.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 29 July 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/07/29/us/politics/kamala-harris-aoc-climate-change.html.
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Kurtzleben, Danielle. “Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Releases Green New Deal Outline.” NPR, NPR, 7 Feb. 2019, www.npr.org/2019/02/07/691997301/rep-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-releases-green-new-deal-outline.
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