Generation Green New Deal

If you're suddenly hearing more about climate politics these days , that's no accident. A new generation of activists have pushed the issue to the top of voters' minds and politicians' platforms. This is the story of the people doing the pushing.Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgnd

In the past two years, climate change has gone from the backburner to the center stage. Why? It all started with a protest in Nancy Pelosi’s office in 2018. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez teamed up with a then-obscure youth activist group called Sunrise Movement to launch the fight for a Green New Deal. It took a lot of planning, courage, and also luck to make it happen, and we’re bringing you the inside story. Featuring Varshini Prakash and Sarah Duckett of Sunrise Movement and Waleed Shahid of Justice Democrats.Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgnd

What motivates young people to dedicate their lives to climate activism? Fear of the future under climate change is one motivation… Another is the opportunity to build a better future under the Green New Deal. Featuring Varshini Prakash and Alex O’Keefe of Sunrise Movement, and three of the young activists who had a viral confrontation with Senator Dianne Feinstein in early 2019.Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgnd

In 2018, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, and the Green New Deal became her signature policy. But how did a bartender end up defeating a powerful incumbent? Meet the group of former Bernie Sanders campaign volunteers who decided to shake up Congress, and recruited AOC and the #Squad to run for office. Featuring Alexandra Rojas and Waleed Shahid of Justice Democrats, and former chief of staff to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Saikat Chakrabarti. Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgnd

What is it like to spend your whole life in California, only to have the state you love more deeply than anything turn into a hellscape of wildfire?Meet 23-year-old Sunrise Movement activist and writer Nikayla Jefferson. In this episode, she describes her life growing up in San Diego, experiencing the rise of wildfires, and how she found her voice in activism and writing.Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgnd

Amy Westervelt of the DrillIed podcast co-hosts this episode as we delve into the question of why it's taken so much time, and a movement led by teenagers and 20-somethings, to push politicians to get serious about climate action.Featuring bestselling authors Naomi Klein and Bill McKibben.Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgnd

Detroit is a microcosm of many of the issues the Green New Deal is trying to solve: it’s faced flooding and extreme weather and has suffered severe consequences of pollution, environmental racism, deindustrialization, and austerity. In the Green New Deal, many community activists in Detroit saw hope. Featuring Detroit activist Theresa Landrum and former Detroit health commissioner Abdul El-SayedSupport GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgnd

The 2020 Presidential Election Campaign has been unprecedented in a number of ways -- including how much it has been driven by the climate crisis. A look at how the Green New Deal has shaped this election and how the climate movement has pushed Joe Biden, who is running as a pragmatist, to adopt an ambitious, even visionary climate plan.Featuring Sunrise Movement’s Alex O’Keefe and Varshini Prakash, Saikat Chakrabati of Building the Dream, VOX’s David Roberts, and Joe Biden’s Director of Climate Outreach David Kieve Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgndRead Joe Biden’s Climate Plan: https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/Join The ‘Biden Climate Voters’ Group: https://joebiden.com/climate-voters/Mobilize Voters with Sunrise Movement: https://www.mobilize.us/sunrise/

University of California at Santa Barbara Political Science professor Leah Stokes is a renowned expert on U.S. energy & climate Policy—and she’s also a young person, living through climate change in California. Hear about Leah’s journey to becoming one of America’s most outspoken climate-academics, as well as her thoughts about the historic 2020 election, and the prospects for climate action and the Green New Deal under the incoming Biden-Harris administration. Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgndSubscribe to GenGND's newsletter: https://generationgnd.substack.com/subscribeListen to Leah’s Pod, A Matter of Degrees: https://www.degreespod.com/Buy Leah’s Book, Short Circuiting Policy: https://www.leahstokes.com/bookBuy All We Can Save: https://www.allwecansave.earth/Read Biden has a Climate Mandate in the Boston Globe: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/11/08/opinion/biden-has-climate-mandate/Read Climate Change in My Backyard in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/opinion/california-floods-mudslides-climate.html

Young Americans voted in record numbers during the 2020 election and played a key role in tipping the scales to Joe Biden. The Sunrise Movement and other environmental groups mounted extensive campaigns to register and mobilize voters to oppose President Trump and vote climate champions into office. Biden’s climate platform isn’t the Green New Deal plan that many climate activists called for, and Democrats will have a tough time passing progressive climate policies unless they win both Senate runoff races in Georgia. Still, Donald Trump’s defeat gives the planet a better chance of avoiding an apocalyptic future. Political Climate's Julia Pyper speaks to first-time presidential election voters, Troy Distelrath in Michigan and Gabriela Rodriguez in Florida, about what they want to see next from their political leaders.Plus, while Biden’s win represents a new era in the climate fight, the United States remains deeply divided and the policy path forward remains murky. So in the second half of this episode, Julia speaks to Andreas Karelas about his critically acclaimed new book Climate Courage, and how to advance climate solutions in these polarized times. Listen and subscribe to Political Climate on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play or wherever you get podcasts!Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgnd

Meteorologist-turned-climate-writer Eric Holthaus is an outspoken advocate for climate justice. He’s also the first parent we’ve had on GenGND Conversations, raising his two young children in Minnesota, one of the fastest-warming states in the U.S.In our interview with Eric, we’ll hear about his path from studying climate-change as a meteorologist to writing about it as a journalist, his thoughts on the prospects for climate action during the incoming Biden-Harris Administration, and the climate-fueled extreme weather we’re now constantly seeing around the globe. In his new book, THE FUTURE EARTH, Eric delves into a hopeful 30 year plan for reversing the effects of climate change. And in his newsletter, THE PHOENIX, you can read Eric’s musings on topics such as ‘Focusing on a Just Transition’ and why it’s terrifying that ‘The Arctic’s refusing to refreeze this winter.’Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgndRead Eric’s latest, subscribe to The Phoenix: https://thephoenix.substack.com/Buy Eric’s Book, The Future Earth: https://bookshop.org/books/the-future-earth-a-radical-vision-for-what-s-possible-in-the-age-of-warming/9780062883162Subscribe to GenGND's newsletter: https://generationgnd.substack.com/subscribeEpisode transcript available at generationgreennewdeal.com

Jamie Margolin is a climate organizer from Seattle and freshman in college. As a 14 year old high school student, she co-founded the youth climate activist group Zero Hour and went on to help organize and lead the massive Youth Climate Strike in the fall of 2019. Jamie was a surrogate for Bernie Sanders during the 2020 Democratic primary, and is also a plaintiff in a climate lawsuit against her home state of Washington. Jamie also recently authored an amazing new book called “Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It.” The book is a fascinating sort of DIY manual for activism and in each chapter, Jamie interviews another youth activist about a particular aspect of activism. Our conversation with Jamie is stitched together from a couple of different interviews, and it touches on how she came to activism at a young age, sparring with Republicans on Capitol Hill, writing her book, and dealing with burnout. Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgndBuy Jamie’s Book: https://bookshop.org/books/youth-to-power-your-voice-and-how-to-use-it/9780738246666Get involved with & support Zero Hour: http://thisiszerohour.org/Subscribe to GenGND's newsletter: https://generationgnd.substack.com/subscribeEpisode transcript available at: generationgreennewdeal.com

We’re now more than a month removed from the 2020 elections, and a little more than a month away from President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris officially taking office...So, what do we know about their plans for tackling the climate crisis? What’s been happening on that front during these last five weeks? And, most importantly, what could happen over the next four years? Well, quite a lot, actually...In this episode, co-hosted by Sam Eilertsen and oral historian Maggie Lemere we hear answers to those questions and more from Senator Ed Markey, Sunrise Movement political director Evan Weber, climate journalist Kate Aronoff (co-author of A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal), and Data for Progress Vice President Julian Brave Noisecat. Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgndSubscribe to GenGND's newsletter: https://generationgnd.substack.com/subscribeEpisode transcript & more available at: www.generationgreennewdeal.comMobilize voters in Georgia with Sunrise Movement: https://www.mobilize.us/sunrise/

In this **SPECIAL** holiday-bonus pod, we run through the nominees rolled out last weekend, including the ground-breaking Rep. Deb Haaland for Secretary of Interior, and Gina McCarthy who will hold the new office of National Climate Advisor at the newly formed Office of Domestic Climate Policy, fulfilling a key demand of progressive climate activists.Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgndSubscribe to GenGND's newsletter: https://generationgnd.substack.com/subscribeEpisode transcript & more available at: www.generationgreennewdeal.comRead more about President-Elect Biden’s climate-team: https://buildbackbetter.gov/nominees-and-appointees/climate/

In this conversation (the first of two parts) oral historian, filmmaker, and GenGND story consultant Maggie Lemere speaks with Samoan youth climate activist Brianna Fruean and Thelma Young-Lutunatabua of 350.org. Brianna and Thelma launched a newsletter and online space called Radical Reimagining, which tries to look beyond the potential dystopias in our future and instead look at the ways in which a better world is possible, and look for communities where it is already starting to emerge. This conversation touches on how the two of them became activists, what activism looks like in the Pacific Islands, and finding hope and joy in difficult times. Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgndSubscribe to Radical Reimagining: https://radicalreimagining.substack.com/Subscribe to GenGND's newsletter: https://generationgnd.substack.com/subscribeEpisode transcript & more available at: www.generationgreennewdeal.com

In this conversation (the second of two parts) oral historian, filmmaker, and GenGND story consultant Maggie Lemere speaks with Samoan youth climate activist Brianna Fruean and Thelma Young-Lutunatabua of 350.org. Brianna and Thelma launched a newsletter and online space called Radical Reimagining, which tries to look beyond the potential dystopias in our future and instead look at the ways in which a better world is possible, and look for communities where it is already starting to emerge. In this second half of the conversation Maggie, Thelma and Brianna discuss the relationship between the US climate movement and the Green New Deal and the international climate movement, along with their vision of what a Green New Deal could look like.Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgndSubscribe to Radical Reimagining: https://radicalreimagining.substack.com/Subscribe to GenGND's newsletter: https://generationgnd.substack.com/subscribeEpisode transcript & more available at: www.generationgreennewdeal.com

When former Rep Joe Kennedy decided to launch a primary challenge against Senator Ed Markey, pundits began writing Markey’s political obituary. He was trailing badly in polls and a lot of his own constituents had never heard of him. But Markey is the co-author of the Green New Deal resolution, and the GND movement mobilized to his defense. Along the way the 74-year-old Senator acquired a large fanbase of Very Online Teenagers, and Markey’s victory helped convince Democrats that climate action is a winning issue.GenGND looks at the story of Ed Markey with Senator Markey himself, Evan Weber and Alex O’Keefe of Sunrise Movement, and Shanaz Uddin of Students 4 Markey.Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgndWatch The #GreenNewDealmaker: https://twitter.com/EdMarkey/status/1293986122318610435Subscribe to GenGND's newsletter: https://generationgnd.substack.com/subscribeEpisode transcript & more available at: www.generationgreennewdeal.com

GenGND host Sam Eilertsen's full interview with Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, from December of 2020. This is a preview of the type of bonus content we'll be releasing for our Patreon subscribers, for more exclusive interviews, subscribe now at Patreon.com/GenerationGND.Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgndWatch The #GreenNewDealmaker: https://twitter.com/EdMarkey/status/1293986122318610435Subscribe to GenGND's newsletter: https://generationgnd.substack.com/subscribe

In 2019 Charles Booker, a 35-year-old Kentucky state representative decided to challenge Mitch McConnell, the most powerful Republican Senator, by running for Senate on a Green New Deal. But the Democratic establishment already had a preferred candidate, Amy McGrath. As the campaign got underway Booker looked like the longest of long shots. And while he did not ultimately win the primary, Booker shocked the world by very nearly defeating the best funded Senate candidate in history, winning 43% of the vote in a state many had written off as impossible for a progressive candidate. GenGND tells the story of Charles Booker’s incredible 2020 campaign and the lessons it holds for how the Green New Deal movement can win even in states the Democratic party has abandoned. Featuring Charles Booker himself, Charles’ former Deputy Campaign Manager (and Sunrise Movement Electoral Politics Director) Shante Wolfe, Sunrise Political Director Evan Weber, and Creative Director Alex O’Keefe. Support GenGND: https://www.patreon.com/generationgndSupport Charles Booker’s organization Hood to the Holler: https://hoodtotheholler.org/Watch Sunrise Movement’s videos for Charles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEb_pVZ05V0https://www.youtube.com/watdch?v=2MWCHSx6WwoSubscribe to GenGND's newsletter: https://generationgnd.substack.com/subscribeEpisode transcript & more available at: www.generationgreennewdeal.com

In this season one finale of Generation Green New Deal, host Sam Eilertsen reflects on how far the climate movement has come over the past few years, and what the coming years might look like with best-selling author and activist Naomi Klein, Sunrise Movement Co-Founder and Executive Director Varshini Prakash, and renowned writer and Co-Founder of 350.org Bill McKibben. They discuss how they’re feeling after the first month of the Biden Administration, and the path to making the 2020s the ‘Decade of the Green New Deal.’ We want your feedback on the show! Take our listener survey: https://forms.gle/c99rJdUHUok3j4pd9Support GenGND on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/generationgndSubscribe to GenGND's newsletter: https://generationgnd.substack.com/subscribeEpisode transcript & more available at: www.generationgreennewdeal.com