On Tuesday morning, as part of a
national day of action that saw around 400 separate actions across the country,
Sunrise RI visited United State Representative
David Cicilline's office to ask him to "stand with
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
Justice Democrats, and
Sunrise Movement and support the creation of a select committee on a
Green New Deal."
Under the New Green Deal Plan, the
United States would have ten years to:
- Generate 100 percent of national power generation from renewable sources;
- Build a national, energy-efficient, “smart” grid;
- Upgrade every residential and industrial building for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, comfort and safety;
- Decarbonize the manufacturing, agricultural and other industries;
- Decarbonize, repair and improve transportation and other infrastructure;
- Fund massive investment in the drawdown and capture of greenhouse gases;
- Make “green” technology, industry, expertise, products and services a major export of the United States, with the aim of becoming the undisputed international leader in helping other countries transition to completely carbon neutral economies and bring about a global Green New Deal.
The activists were greeted at Cicilline's office by District Director
Christopher Bizzacco.
"Currently here are 11 members of the House who have come out publicly in support [of the Green New Deal]," said
Brown University student
Emma Bouton to Bizzacco. "We are hoping Representative Cicilline will do the same, either through a public statement or on Twitter."
"This is a really critical moment," said Brown University student
Lauren Manus. "To have as much support from Congress as possible. To have a lot of traction and support... We are asking the Congressman to express his support and we are wondering when we can have an answer."
"I can't speak for the Congressman but it's definitely something we will seriously look at with our legislative staff in Washington," said Bizzacco. "He'll be back in DC next week so I'm sure he'll run into Representative-Elect Ocasio and have a conversation about it. So, timeline, I'd be lying to you if I gave you a specific day but it's obviously something we will look at very quickly."
Bizzacco added that Cicilline is "passionate" about doing something about the climate crisis.
"When we're 'passionate' about something we act on it," said
Nicole Lena. "We know the science. It's time to take action. So if [Cicilline] wants to say he's passionate, he should demonstrate that through his actions."
After leaving Cicilline's office Sunrise RI visited United States Representative
James Langevin's office.
Here's the video:
Approaching the office:
https://youtu.be/DrpGvtq7fSk
The meeting with Bizzacco:
https://youtu.be/enyLJKPHsc0
Afterwards, two members of Sunrise RI told stories about how climate change affected their lives:
A story about the devastating fires in Los Angeles that have claimed so many lives and so much property:
https://youtu.be/dU1Qhoj9yh0
Lily Gordon talked about living in New York when the power went out during a hurricane:
https://youtu.be/jG039g1eHAo
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