Bianca Evans ’22
The Green New Deal is a national initiative to develop environmental health and significantly decrease carbon emissions. Here is why such an initiative can save Philadelphia from future environmental and economic destruction.
The Green New Deal is an extensive nationwide initiative designed to advance environmental health and significantly decrease carbon emissions through renewable energy investment while providing economic support for jobs and training. Democratic legislators like Representative Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Markey have backed the initiative as our last hope for avoiding environmental and economic disaster. However, the initiative generally lacks bipartisan support from Congress.
As states and cities wait for federal legislation, some municipalities have taken matters into their own hands and are using the initiative to create their own regulations for decreasing carbon emissions and improving the environment and the economy. Currently, Philadelphia has not implemented its own municipal-level green deal initiative. However, local politicians are looking to those states and cities that have instituted such initiatives for inspiration, like New York, Los Angeles, and Baltimore. When it comes to saving the future of Philadelphia, legislation like the Green New Deal is the most viable means of reducing carbon emissions, saving the environment, addressing societal inequities, and improving the economy. Explained here is why Philadelphia should institute its own Green New Deal initiative, what a Green New Deal would like in Philadelphia, why you should care about it, and what you can do to support it.
What is the Green New Deal?
New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Senator Edward J. Markey introduced the initiative in February 2019, calling on the federal government to create a Green New Deal. However, variations of the initiative have been around for years. Think tanks, the Green Party, the United Nations, President Obama, and New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman all have had plans titled the Green New Deal challenging climate change. The name became popularized after the 2018 midterm elections by a grassroots organization called the Sunrise Movement, which held a sit-in at the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA 12th) and demanded action. Representative Ocasio-Cortez joined the protestors and, following the sit-in, she began to lay the groundwork for what ultimately became the initiative.
The goal of the Green New Deal is to decrease greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the consequences of climate change and target societal problems. The Green New Deal relies mainly on reports by the United Nations and government scientists that warn about such consequences if global temperatures continue to rise. The main provisions of the fourteen-page initiative contend that the U.S. needs to be at net-zero emissions by 2050, meaning any carbon emitted into the atmosphere after that date must be recaptured. If the U.S. is to achieve this goal, it must take the lead in reducing emissions because of its technological capabilities and its historical contribution to the disproportionate amount of greenhouse gases already accumulated in the atmosphere. The Green New Deal also calls on the federal government to create high-paying jobs; ensure clean air, clean water, and healthy food are fundamental human rights; and address social justice, including ending all forms of oppression.
The Green New Deal also calls for a ten-year mobilization in which the U.S. sources all the country’s electricity from renewable and zero-emissions power, transportation is mainly electric vehicles or high-speed rail, and buildings nationwide are upgraded to be more energy efficient. The initiative likewise states that the government must provide adequate job training to all Americans and invest in new economic development, specifically for communities that rely on employment from fossil fuel industries.
The exact cost of the plan is unknown, but it is estimated to be as high as $93 trillion. Wary of the deal’s cost, critics contend other alternatives are available to decrease emissions, such as a revenue-neutral carbon tax. However, advocates of the deal believe the government should not be concerned about the costs, as the federal government can spend money on public priorities without raising revenue or destroying the nation’s economy. While costly, it could lead to significant savings down the road. According to the federal government, climate change will cause more than $500 billion in economic loss in the U.S. alone by 2050.
A Green New Deal for Philadelphia
Most of the support for a Green New Deal in Philadelphia is backed by advocates, activists, and lawmakers, including the City Council’s Committee on the Environment—a group of councilmembers in Philadelphia who support creating a Green New Deal and are working to build a healthy, equitable environment. Philadelphia residents elected several progressive councilmembers in the 2019 election, including Councilmembers Katherine Gilmore Richardson (chair of the Committee on the Environment), Kendra Brooks, Jamie Gauthier, and Helen Gym. “We are building the structure to create a Green New Deal that’s community-led and community-driven, not something that’s top-down,” stated Councilmember Brooks. In August 2020, Councilmember Brooks, State Senator Nikil Saval, and several city organizers traveled to Baltimore to tour community gardens, land trusts, composting facilities, and a food co-op. Councilmember Brooks said the following about her trip: “Going to Baltimore gave me some hope…I realized that people are siloed in this work, so we definitely need to find ways to bring it all together.” Brooks says such collaboration only comes from education and outreach.
So, what exactly would a Green New Deal look like in Philadelphia? While it would take some work, progress would have to happen gradually since the City’s legislative process involves changes to specific City codes. Previously proposed reforms by advocates who have supported a Green New Deal have included: (1) expanding SEPTA service in predominantly working-class neighborhoods; (2) making the Regional Rail more affordable; (3) ensuring public schools are clean and safe; (4) organizing community composting; (5) creating affordable housing initiatives that would build and update public housing for low-income individuals and help homeowners pay for repairs; (6) forming a community land bank that turns empty lots into community-controlled green spaces to increase access to fresh food and capture stormwater runoff; and (7) making changes to the City’s zoning code, so it is more difficult to site industrial operations in marginalized communities.
Such initiatives, however, are not new to Philadelphia. Councilmember Gilmore Richardson has stated that the City has made significant strides in sustainability, including Mayor Kenney’s creation of the Committee on Environment, the publication of his Climate Action Playbook (the administration’s first steps in committing to carbon neutrality by 2050), and recently the launch of Environmental Justice Advisory Commission (another historic step in the City’s commitment to supporting the leadership of frontline communities in addressing environmental harms). Additionally, the City now requires energy benchmarking for building projects, has instituted a solar rebate program, launched a solar career and technical education program at Frankford High, and runs the Green City Clean Waters program, which aims to create healthy waterways and improve neighborhoods through stormwater management and increased green space. Philadelphia also has the Office of Sustainability, previously established by Mayor Michael Nutter in 2008, which oversees Greenworks Philadelphia, the City’s comprehensive sustainability plan that shares many of the same goals of a city-scale Green New Deal.
However, a Green New Deal in Philadelphia is not simply about creating a more sustainable city with a stronger economy. Most of the work must also be centered around environmental justice, meaning doing what we can to rectify discrimination, marginalization, and inequity that has made lower-class residents the most defenseless against the harms caused by climate change. If legislation is to be implemented and have the most significant effect, Philadelphia residents need to have a better understanding of what the City’s environmental problems are and how we can solve them.
Why Should You Care?
So why should you care about climate change in Philadelphia? Mainly because it will hit inner-city, low-income communities the hardest. Currently, Philadelphia communities already have higher rates of adverse health conditions. Current disparities will only be exacerbated by climate change as low-income communities generally have less access to information, resources, and other necessities to prepare for and avoid the health risks of climate change, leaving them vulnerable to its effects. Lack of health insurance further exacerbates the consequences for such communities, intensifying the risks of illnesses. For example, heart and lung disease, heatstroke, and bacterial infections are some health consequences of climate change.
Climate change in Philadelphia will have significant environmental and public health impacts. Hotter temperatures will significantly impact low-income communities. In the 1900s, Philadelphia had an average of four days above 95°F annually. By 2100, that number could increase to fifty-two days. In 2015, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health created a Heat Vulnerability Index which showed that some neighborhoods are 22°F hotter than others. Such neighborhoods are generally redlined areas that have historically been home to people of color and low-income individuals. As the planet warms, those in such heat island neighborhoods will experience more heat than the wealthy simply because of where they live.
Several factors contribute to rising temperatures in these neighborhoods, including more buildings, less vegetation, less tree cover, and higher population density. Studies have shown that these factors can affect a city’s temperature. Such neighborhoods are more likely to be communities of color and low-income. According to the EPA, this is highly alarming for Philadelphia, as heat is the biggest weather-related killer of Americans. As a result of rising temperatures, chronic conditions for residents will become worse. Respiratory conditions will become aggravated. High heat, worsening air quality, and humidity will trigger conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Precipitation and sea levels will also significantly increase as there will be more rain in warmer months and increased snowfall during wintertime. As a result, the depth and degree of flooding will increase along the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers. Severely impacted areas will include communities near the Philadelphia International Airport, FDR Park, the Navy Yard, Eastwick, and Manayunk. Such increased rain and storm intensity will affect the quality of our source waters, stress drainage systems, degrade streambank stability, and lead to more combined sewer overflows. Severe storms like this will flood new parts of Philadelphia, making transportation (like SEPTA) less reliable and delayed, threatening aging infrastructure and critical facilities, costing Philadelphia hundreds of thousands of dollars to recover, and further aggravating health risks for our low-income communities. Climate Central, a nonprofit news organization that analyzes and reports on climate science, estimates that Philadelphia area waters could rise 19 inches by 2050 and 4 feet or more by 2100, putting nearly 2,000 homes and 3,200 people at risk. Convincing people that climate change is real is one of the hardest things to do. However, these immediate, direct effects on our lives should be enough to convince anyone that climate action like the Green New Deal is needed to save Philadelphia.
What Can You Do About It?
It is essential to emphasize that large-scale societal change like the Green New Deal requires a great deal of time, effort, training, and infrastructure. The best path for personally supporting the New Green Deal is to first push for a discrete change via grassroots efforts. These efforts would include growing the movement to pass local, state, and national policies, electing progressive leaders, encouraging local elected officials currently in office to support pro-environment and pro-worker legislation, and mobilizing citizens who want legislation like the Green New Deal. Several grassroots organizations support legislation like the Green New Deal within Philadelphia, including 350 Philadelphia, Citizen’s Climate Lobby, and Philadelphia Climate Works.
Another critical point to emphasize is that much of the foundational work needed for the bill to pass involves voting rights. For the initiative to pass, Philadelphia voters must ensure that local politicians represent their interests. The Green New Deal will only work with strong local governments responsible for implementing the policies. This means investing in our community, reaching out to neighbors and friends, showing up at local town halls, and volunteering for grassroots movements like those listed above.
While this may seem like a great deal of work, which it is, it remains our responsibility as significant contributors to global emissions to build the type of government that is likely to pass sweeping justice-focused climate legislation. It is alluring to imagine the Green New Deal as this instantaneous transformation in which we wake up overnight to wind turbines, solar panels, and higher wages, but that is not yet our reality. Such change will only happen little by little from the ground up, with time, hard work, and energy from people who care about saving the future.
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