Part 6: Combating the Climate Crisis and Pursuing Environmental Justice
1. Climate change is a global emergency
a. we have recently seen record-breaking storms, wildfires, and floods
b. Trump is denying the science
2. we need to build a clean energy economy that puts workers and communities first
3. reject the false choice between growing our economy and combating climate change – we can do both at the same time
a. I really love this idea! We can do both!
4. reverse Trump Administration rollbacks of climate and environmental protections
a. rejoin Paris Climate Agreement
b. restore protections for public lands and waters
c. follow science and the law by reducing harmful methane and carbon pollution
5. we must achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, no later than 2050
a. eliminate carbon pollution from power plants by 2035
b. expand solar and wind energy deployment
6. Build a modern electric grid
7. support energy efficient upgrades for homes in low-income and public housing
8. incentivize landlords to make energy efficient and clean energy upgrades
a. Seriously, this would be great. I mean how many of you have paid buckets in heating or cooling costs because the apartment or house you are renting has the cheapest and crappiest windows on the planet?
9. affirm CA’s authority under the Clean Air Act to set its own emissions standards
10. transition all American school buses to American-made, zero-emission alternatives within 5 years
11. install more public charging stations throughout the US
12. improve access to public transportation
13. Make sure FEMA has what it needs to appropriately function
14. protect America’s national parks and monuments, public lands and marine protected areas
a. codify the roadless rule
i. https://www.fs.usda.gov/roadmain/roadless/2001roadlessrule
b. reverse Trump Administrations rollbacks of protections for national monuments
c. ban new oil and gas permits on public lands and waters
15. fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund
Part 7: Restoring and Strengthening our Democracy
1. Protecting and Enforcing Voting Rights
a. against voter ID laws, purges of voter rolls, and closing polling places in low-income neighborhoods and in communities of color
i. Americans should never have to wait in hours-long lines to vote
1. Seriously. Early voting opened in Georgia the other day and people were reporting that they waited for 11 HOURS to vote!!! That is insane.
2. Voter ID laws…I can see both sides here. I think that it makes sense on some level to make sure a person is who they say they are when they vote, but on the other hand, there is an argument that it is discriminatory. This is a really interesting article with a research study done to see how badly this is really effecting people. https://www.wired.com/story/voter-id-law-algorithm/
b. restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act
i. challenge state laws that make it harder for people to vote
ii. support automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, early voting, and universal vote-from-home and vote-by-mail options
1. So Automatic voter registration just means that if a person interacts in some way with a government agency (getting a driver’s license, for example) they are automatically registered to vote. I don’t see a huge issue with this at all. And no matter how much Trump tries to claim that there is, there is simply no evidence that voting by mail is more susceptible to fraud that voting in person.
c. Make Election Day a national holiday to make it easier for people to vote
i. I think this is a fabulous idea. More holidays!!
d. implement the Help America Vote Act
i. require that polling places and elections are accessible for people with disabilities
ii. people who are released from jail or prison should be restored their voting rights without having to pay fines or fees
1. I so agree. We should not keep punishing people after they have served their time.
e. support mandatory post-election audits and full transparency of all election results and data
i. vote by mail voters must be informed of and provided an opportunity to fix any problem with their ballot
1. YES!!! Voting by mail is tricky, there are a lot of steps to get right and a lot of people mess up. I think it would be wonderful to get the chance to fix issues to make sure your vote counts.
f. end partisan gerrymandering in federal elections
i. redraw legislative districts after the 2020 Census
1. Ok this is interesting, because the Supreme Court just decided to stop the 2020 Census even though it’s not finished, which is kind of scary because the people who are most likely to be not yet counted are low-income and minority groups. We need to do our best to count EVERYONE if we want to draw these districts fairly. https://www.npr.org/2020/08/03/898548910/census-cut-short-a-month-rushes-to-finish-all-counting-efforts-by-sept-30
g. increase oversight of private election vendors to ensure voting systems are secure and worthy of voters’ trust
i. we will not tolerate election interference
1. This is because Russia interfered in the 2016 election. I highly recommend this article for more on that. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/putin-american-democracy/610570/
2. Reforming the Broken Campaign Finance System
a. Money is not speech, and corporations are not people
i. pass a Constitutional amendment that eliminates all private financing from federal elections
ii. crack down on foreign nationals who try to influence elections
iii. super PACs should be wholly independent of campaigns and political parties
iv. require full disclosure of contributors to any group that advocates for or against candidates
v. bar 501(c)(4) organizations from spending money on elections
vi. ban corporate PACs from donating to candidates and bar lobbyists from donating, fundraising, or bundling for anyone they lobby
3. Building an Effective, Transparent Federal Government
a. establish a commission on federal ethics to aggressively enforce and strengthen federal ethics laws, including rules around personal financial disclosures for Executive Branch officials
b. support requiring all candidates for federal office to publicly disclose at least 10 years of tax returns
c. re-establish merit-based federal contracting decisions
d. strengthen whistleblower protections
e. ban lobbying by foreign governments
f. “condemn President Trump’s determination to sow chaos and division by inappropriately deploying federal agents to American cities, where too many have used egregious tactics against peaceful protestors. We know federal agents can ably protect federal property while also clearly displaying badges, insignias, and identifying markings; without detaining Americans in undisclosed locations without cause; and without brutally attacking peaceful protestors. Democrats are committed to following the rule of law and will uphold the First Amendment right to peaceably assemble.”
i. I thought this quote was important to include because of what has been happening this summer in some cities where violence broke out. Here’s a good article recapping what was going on in Portland if you’re unaware. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53473732
g. need for structural court reforms to increase transparency and accountability
4. Make Washington, DC the 51st State
a. 700,000 people live there and pay more per capita in federal income taxes than any state in the country, but has 0 voting representatives in Congress
b. Congress can override budget decisions made by elected officials in DC
c. DC does not have control over its own National Guard units
d. citizens of DC already voted in favor of statehood
i. I have not formed an opinion on this but here is an article listing pros and cons. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/politics/dc-statehood-101/index.html
5. Guaranteeing Self-Determination for Puerto Rico
a. help the island rebuild and recover from recent hurricanes and earthquakes
b. invest in the island’s future
c. Puerto Rico should be treated equally with respect to federal programs like Medicaid, SNAP and Child Tax Credit
6. Supporting the US Territories
a. recommend changes that will allow for full and equal voting rights of US citizens that are residents of the territories
b. we should help territories recover from natural disasters
7. Strengthening the US Postal Service
a. fight all efforts to privatize it
b. make sure USPS is financially sustainable
c. maintain 6 day and doorstep mail delivery
d. support new revenue streams for the USPS, including allowing secure shipping of alcoholic beverages by mail
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