Thread by @VarshPrakash

Today I find myself caught between two truths:

@POTUS  infrastructure plan is an historic step forward that would not have been possible without our movement, and so, so much more is needed to truly transform this country at the scale necessary to stop the climate crisis.

🧵:

Biden's speaking our language + using our framing. His plan won’t stop the climate crisis as is—but it could be a stepping stone to a Green New Deal.

It's clear to me: we've got a lot more power to build to realize that transformative vision & meet the climate crisis at scale.

There are a lot wins for us in this package: a Civilian Climate Corps, passing the PRO Act, finally delivering 100% universal clean water, a Clean Energy Standard, prioritizing disadvantaged communities, & more.

And still a greater scale of transformation is needed.

We’ve always said that the Green New Deal wouldn’t be just one bill, and the only thing worse than not meeting this moment at scale, would be not meeting it at all.

So here’s the deal: we're prepared to agitate and shift the ground under politicians feet to ensure Congress strengthens this package & gets it closer to the scale and scope our country and our planet demands, but ultimately pass it.

And we need @POTUS to do more, too.

Biden has said he wants to have a ‘Rooseveltian Presidency’ and that tackling climate change would be his Presidency’s top priority. At the peak of WWII, America spent 40% of our GDP in one year—equivalent to $8.5 trillion in 2021 alone. We're just asking for a fraction of that.

Roosevelt’s original CCC employed around 300,000 young Americans per year at a time when the US population was ~40% what it is now. $10 billion for Biden’s CCC over the decade could probably only put only about 10-20,000 Americans to work a year.

If @POTUS wants to be like FDR, he must use his bully pulpit to build the political will to meet the moment, like FDR did.

Biden must tell the truth about the scale of the climate crisis—as he’s done w/ COVID—and work to rally the political will to lead the world in stopping it.

We’re up against a lot — a GOP that won’t even vote for Covid Relief, fossil fuel executives more interested in profit than people, and an urgent climate emergency that’s worsening with every passing day.

Whatever happens, we must pass something, as soon as possible, so that the transformation can begin, and we can create the political capital for more victories along the Decade of the Green New Deal.

We cannot miss this moment.

Join us on Apr 7: sunrisemovement.org/campaign/day-o…

Learn more about the American Jobs Plan and how @sunrisemvmt believes it relates to our fight for a Green New Deal here: sunrisemovement.org/movement-updat…