Sunrise Movement rallies for legislators to sign green pledge
CHICO >> Sunrise Movement’s Chico chapter joined events around the country Wednesday calling for lawmakers to promise to pass legislation on behalf of ensured green jobs.
A group of about 20 rallied in front of the Chico City Council Chambers on Wednesday evening.
“We’re calling on every member of Congress and (President) Joe Biden to sign our ‘ Good Jobs for All’ pledge, which means they’ll commit to doing everything in their power to pass legislation that ensures the U.S. government will guarantee that every American who wants one can have a job building a just, sustainable, and people- centered new economy,” organizer Kyle Brine wrote in a news release Monday.
Sunrise organizer Jacob Bendicksen said Wednesday the organization’s Chico chapter is specifically calling on Rep. Doug LaMalfa (RRichvale) to sign the pledge, knowing climate disasters have taken place in Butte County with the Camp Fire and North Complex fires followed by a series of very dry winters. He added the pledge has a focus on the need for jobs with awareness of local climate change effects on fire fighting and vegetation management.
Bendicksen emphasized the need for working with local nonprofits and the work already underway locally to create more green jobs.
“We have the ability to create those green jobs right here in Chico and be a model for other communities to emulate,” he said.
“The ef fects of climate change and unemployment are super visible in Chico and in Butte County,” Bendicksen said. “Committing to this pledge would show LaMalfa takes these crises seriously and that he recognizes they can be solved simultaneously.
“Climate change is not some theoretical thing here in Chico, it’s here.”
He said it was hoped other lawmakers in Butte County will also show up and consider the pledge’s proposals.
Several Chico community leaders spoke at the event, including former
Bidwell Park and Playground Commissioner Aaron Haar, Pamm Larry of Butte County Food Network and Chico Councilor Alex Brown, who released the Chico Green New Deal policy proposal in October 2019.
“We’ve got no shortage of work to do to address the climate crisis and design a better society that works for all of us,” Reilly said. “Some of the work ahead includes building smart power grids, training and constructing buildings to achieve maximum efficiency, decarbonizing our transportation and agricultural sectors, cleaning up hazardous waste sites and habitat restoration.”
The Climate Action Commission will hold electrification workshops, with presentations on what that means for building and economic development, with the community at its regular virtual meeting 6 p.m. Thursday.