Democrats Who Party Like it’s 2008
From Patricia Castellanos, Chair, CCSP New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman recently argued in a Sunday magazine cover story "I think that living, working, designing, manufacturing and projecting America in a green way can be the basis of a new unifying political movement for the 21st century." It does not have to be a liberal or conservative issue, he writes, and I agree. But when it comes to a bold environmental initiative known as the Los Angeles Clean Trucks Program, it sure looks like the rising stars and ranking leaders in the Democratic Party are heeding the call. Democratic presidential nominee hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are both on board. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) cheered Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for his leadership and determination to enact a comprehensive policy. LA City Councilwoman Janice Hahn refused to let "green-washing" stand in the way of a truly sustainable solution for Southern Californians. And in an article in the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Kristopher Hanson reports that Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi just took her endorsement straight to the Federal Maritime Commission. Think about that: The Speaker of the House is lobbying on behalf of the LA Clean Trucks Program. Pelosi wants the first-of-its-kind model replicated in other port markets and is urging a federal agency to ensure that a few industry obstructionists don't stand in the way of clean air for everyone. What is it about this particular green-growth strategy that has caught the eye of so many Party leaders? The 21st century policy will fix - not slap a band-aid on - a deeply broken port trucking system that has polluted the air we breathe, kept thousands of workers in poverty, and risks national security at a major world trade hub. The plan's environmental and public health gains will be sustainable over the long-term as the industry transitions into a more mature, asset-based model. And let's not forget the key value-added for Wall Street: Powerful incentives for alt-fuel trucks will drive down the current cost of clean technology vehicles and jump-start a new market. Friedman cautions us that in an era of global warming and a globalized economy, we must embrace "The Power of Green" before it's too late. "[I]f we want to continue to be who we are, enjoy the benefits and be able to pass them on to our children, we do need to fuel our future in a cleaner, greener way." We know the revolution isn't taking place inside the Beltway. So here's to the new generation of Democratic leaders who possess the moral courage and political will to get this party started on the docks of LA. |
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The emerging paradigm of the 21st century
As Castellanos suggests in referencing Friedman, the "green growth" model is the emerging paradigm for democratic capitalist economies in the 21st century. As we have all shockingly been reminded since 9/11, dependence upon foreign derived fossil fuels makes the U.S. and Western Europe vulnerable to national security threats, i.e. we are constantly intervening, to terrible effect, in oil producing regions of the world, exacerbating hostility toward us.
Moreover, and closer to home, "green growth" points the way to good paying jobs right here while simultaneously remedying the pollution and public health problems that unplanned growth have engendered. It's no accident that Barack Obama has proposed creating five million such jobs in the near future. Los Angeles's decimated manufacturing base, once the powerhouse of the region's booming economy, could be re-ignited building solar panels and mass transit trains--and the same is true in Muncie, Reading, and Youngstown, once proud cities in the nation's "rust belt."
It's remarkably prescient that CCSP's plans for the LA/LB ports are right on the cusp of this conceptual strategem for our entire economy. Here we can model for the country the clean air/good jobs/alt fuels/democratic planning road that the entire country--and a good part of the world--must take. The LA Clean Trucks program is our region's opportunity to reconcile our relationship to the natural world, while rationally allocating the resources that we produce from the material world.