The Weather Smiled on the Peoples' Climate March April 29, 2017
Adapted from OPALPDX:
On April 29th, we marked 100 days of a US administration which represents the economy of the past.
The Portland People’s Climate Movement is grounded in the following principles, based upon those of the National People’s Climate Movement and rooted in the principles of a Just Transition.
People of color, low income communities, and rural and tribal people are at the front line of environmental and climate injustice- our communities must lead the efforts to address climate change. Climate change is only a symptom of much deeper crises that are happening worldwide- the ecological crisis, economic crisis, and the crisis of empire. These crises come from the current dominant economy, created by a system that only works for a few which relies on exploitation and extraction of resources. We must create a system that works for everyone, based on cooperation, close communities, and regenerative processes.
Our communities demand a transition to:
On April 29th, we marked 100 days of a US administration which represents the economy of the past.
The Portland People’s Climate Movement is grounded in the following principles, based upon those of the National People’s Climate Movement and rooted in the principles of a Just Transition.
People of color, low income communities, and rural and tribal people are at the front line of environmental and climate injustice- our communities must lead the efforts to address climate change. Climate change is only a symptom of much deeper crises that are happening worldwide- the ecological crisis, economic crisis, and the crisis of empire. These crises come from the current dominant economy, created by a system that only works for a few which relies on exploitation and extraction of resources. We must create a system that works for everyone, based on cooperation, close communities, and regenerative processes.
Our communities demand a transition to:
- Enable frontline communities to forge the path to a new economy. We are exploited workers, whose natural resources are extracted, destroyed, and polluted, whose community wealth is shipped away and privatized, and who are targets of militarism, patriarchy, and white supremacy.
- Directly and rapidly reduce greenhouse gas and toxic pollution to successfully combat climate change and improve public health
- Mandate a transition to an equitable and sustainable New Energy and Economic Future that limits the temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels
- Provide a Just Transition for communities and workers negatively impacted by the shift to a New Energy and Economic Future that includes targeted economic opportunity and provides stable income, health care, and education
- Demand that every job, in every industry, pays a living wage, protects workers, and provides a good standard of living, pathways out of poverty, and a right to organize.
- Ensure investments are targeted to create pathways for low-income people and people of color to access sustainable jobs and improve the lives of communities of color, indigenous peoples, low-income people, small farmers, farmworkers, women, and workers.
- Make bold investments in the resilience of states, cities, tribes, and communities that are threatened by climate change; including massive investments in infrastructure systems: water, transportation, housing, and solid waste, the energy grid and safe, green buildings and energy efficiency to create millions of jobs in the public and private sector
- Re-Invest in leadership of front-line communities, communities of color, low-income communities, workers and others impacted by climate, economic, and racial inequity to drive towards sustainable energy and a new economic future, not the corporate driven race to the bottom.
- Policy mechanisms must come from those they impact, protect human rights and critical native ecosystems and reduce pollution at source