Issue Position: Climate Crisis

Issue Position

LEGISLATIVE IMPERATIVES:
Pass a Massachusetts Green New Deal and commit to 100% renewable energy by 2030

Fund the MBTA and make the T free--to create a safe, frequent, and reliable transportation system

Ensure communities and workers most affected by climate change lead the transition to a green economy

MY PLATFORM:
Planet Earth is in crisis. Leading scientists have given humanity 10 years to dramatically transform the way we live and rely on energy to maintain a habitable planet for generations to come. The current reality is no accident. For too long, a selfish few driven by the greed and power inherent in our capitalist economy have funded and incentivized the destruction and pillaging of resources. The threat of the climate crisis is enormous, but the answers are clear and action, not deliberation, is demanded now.

Even in 2020, Massachusetts relies on burning dirty fossil fuels, imported from fracking sites out of state, to power our grid and heat our homes. We must transition quickly away from fossil fuels and source our electricity from local sustainable solar and wind generation. The benefits extend well beyond a thriving planet as cleaner air will reduce healthcare costs and a transition to clean energy will be critical to lift Massachusetts out of the recession caused by COVID-19.

It is impossible to talk about climate change without acknowledging the racial injustices inherent to the warming of the earth. Communities of color are more likely to experience health impacts related to pollution and to be disproportionately impacted by climate change, both economically and in terms of their physical safety and well being. Reparations for this disregard must be front and center in any climate change response.

This is deeply personal for me. I am 33 years old. In my lifetime this planet will change immensely, even more than it already has. I have been aware of the disregard with which aggressively profit focused corporations treat working people since a young age. I grew up one mile away from a former Dow Chemical facility and hazardous waste site. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health discovered statistically elevated incidences of breast cancer for residents near this site. This is just one of an endless number of examples in which corporations abused limited liability protection and put their profits above the health and safety of neighbors. Human beings have caused climate change and it is up to us to take the radical action necessary to allow our planet to heal and to develop sustainable practices that allow humanity to live in harmony with nature rather than gluttonously dominate it.

The climate crisis and its urgency guide me on what kind of leader I want to be. Humanity has run out of time for half measures and incremental change. My north star in running for elected office is to think about how my children will look back on what I did. Will I be able to live with myself? And did I do everything in my control to stop this crisis? I was deeply engaged in designing the Sunrise Movement's "Which Side Are You On?' campaign for 100% renewable energy, and I have conducted training for members of the Sierra Club and 350 to advocate for environmental issues at the state level. My experience working with environmental advocacy groups and unions makes me well positioned to champion a Green New Deal for Massachusetts. As your representative, I will fight everyday with the urgency that our tenuous future demands, I will fight everyday for your children and future generations, and I will fight for our beautiful planet.

WE WILL FIGHT FOR:
A Massachusetts Green New Deal

A modern transportation system that is fully funded, expanded, and free to use

Revenue neutral carbon tax

100% renewable energy by 2030

A moratorium on the construction of any new fossil-fuel infrastructure

Environmental justice, which guarantees equal protection from pollution and toxins to all those within the Commonwealth

Strong regulations on pesticides and herbicides that harm pollinators

The protection of old growth forests throughout Massachusetts

Source