1 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:08,719 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Game Changers. I'm Matt Goldman. As 2 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:12,640 Speaker 1: the Earth is facing an increasingly consequential climate crisis, thinkers 3 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:16,280 Speaker 1: around the world are racing defined solutions. Many of them 4 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,120 Speaker 1: have been able to translate their Eureka moments into action 5 00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:21,799 Speaker 1: at a greater pace and scope than we might have thought. 6 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: In this four part miniseries, we've been meeting the visionary 7 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: minds attempting to sculpt the future of sustainable energy and 8 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: save our global resources. In this fourth and final episode, 9 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: A Green New Deal, because today is the day that 10 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:48,279 Speaker 1: we truly embark on a comprehensive agenda of economic, social, 11 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: and racial justice in the United States of America. That's 12 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: what this agenda is all about, because climate change, climate 13 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: change in our environmental challenges are one of the biggest 14 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: existential threats to our way of life, and in order 15 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: for us to combat that threat, we must be as 16 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: ambitious and innovative in our solution as possible. Since it 17 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: was announced in February, the Green New Deal has sparked 18 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: intense debate, championed by New York Representative Alexandria Occasio Cortez, 19 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: who you just heard. It contains a plethora of ambitious ideas. 20 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: The Green New Deal maps out a plan for the 21 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: US to step away from its dependence on fossil fuels, 22 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: but also to create high paying jobs in the process. 23 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: Many have praised it. Here is Canadian author Naomi klein Well. 24 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: I think it is the first time that we have 25 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: politicians putting a response to the climate crisis on the 26 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 1: table that is on the scale of the actual crisis. 27 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: But many have vocally opposed it, like Utah Senator Mike Lee. 28 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: Unlike some of my colleagues, I'm not immediately afraid of 29 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: what carbon emissions on address might due to our environment 30 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:12,920 Speaker 1: in the near term future or our civilization. Rather, after 31 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 1: reading the Green New Deal, I'm mostly afraid of not 32 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 1: being able to get through this speech with a straight face. 33 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: There's no doubt the Green New Deal has accomplished one thing, 34 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:28,640 Speaker 1: generating attention to the global climate crisis. But much of 35 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 1: the plan that has attracted so much attention and political 36 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:36,399 Speaker 1: jockeying was actually drafted by a political newcomer. My name 37 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,360 Speaker 1: is Rihanna Gunnright. I'm the director of Climate policy at 38 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,679 Speaker 1: the Roosevelt Institute UH and I helped develop the Green 39 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:46,920 Speaker 1: New Deal. Rihanna only had three years of political experience 40 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 1: when she accepted the task of writing the Green New Deal. 41 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, she originally cut her teeth as 42 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: a policy analyst for the Detroit Health Department, and Detroit 43 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: is a hotbed for environment to injustice. When I was 44 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: working there, there was an incinerator in the middle of 45 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: the city right and around that area. Asthma rates were 46 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:13,920 Speaker 1: like three times the state average. Residents were complaining that 47 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: they couldn't go outside because it smells so bad, etcetera. 48 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:22,079 Speaker 1: It just became clear that these things had health effects. 49 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 1: In the aftermath of the Flint water crisis, Health Department 50 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: Commissioner Abduel el Sayed decided to run for governor. Rihanna 51 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: joined his campaign. L say Ed's race was unsuccessful and 52 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: Rihanna moved on applying for law school. But she needed 53 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: something to do for the rest of the year. So 54 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: I emailed Representive Okazy, the Cortes's campaign manager, because she 55 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: had endorsed a duel, and I just reached out to say, hey, uh, 56 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: do you all need any support on policy? Do you 57 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: think you will want support in Congress? You know, just 58 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: doing what I have to do to try to get 59 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: a job, and they email me back consent. So we 60 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: are developing a Green New Deal, which is a World 61 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: War two style mobilization on climate to restructure the US 62 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: economy and reduce emissions, uh and also create I think 63 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: at the time it was zero waste, zero poverty, zero 64 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 1: racial wealth gap. And so they were like, oh, so 65 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:26,480 Speaker 1: you can write this whole thing in like four months, right, 66 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:30,720 Speaker 1: And I was like, no, but maybe if you give 67 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:35,839 Speaker 1: me to research assistants which can draw uh. And so 68 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:46,160 Speaker 1: that's what we did. Zero waste, zero poverty, zero racial 69 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,039 Speaker 1: wealth gap. Therein lies the origin of much of the 70 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,600 Speaker 1: praise and ridicule of the Green New Deal. The fourteen 71 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:55,839 Speaker 1: page document covers a lot of ground and goes beyond 72 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 1: just counting parts per million. It not only promises to 73 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 1: get carbon emissions to zero, but to add thousands of 74 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:06,599 Speaker 1: green new jobs and makes the argument that climate issues 75 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: like fossil fuel emissions are social justice issues. This is 76 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:13,600 Speaker 1: why Rihanna was the perfect pick to write the text 77 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:17,599 Speaker 1: for her. Pollution and social issues go hand in hand. 78 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:23,479 Speaker 1: I've always been interested in working on systems, so I 79 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,920 Speaker 1: care a lot about specific issues, but ultimately what I'm 80 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: interested in is how do you change conditions? Right, Because 81 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:36,280 Speaker 1: conditions actually shape what happens. Because if you think about it, 82 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: for most people, when we talk about climate change, and 83 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,359 Speaker 1: I feel like this was one of the biggest innovations 84 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:45,039 Speaker 1: if there was one for a Green New Deal, is 85 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,840 Speaker 1: that most times people were talking about super scientific stuff 86 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:55,479 Speaker 1: carbon footprints, parts familiar, how much carbon is in the atmosphere. Right. 87 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,679 Speaker 1: But the fact is that most people experience climate change 88 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: is economic effects and health effects. They experienced it as 89 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:08,479 Speaker 1: Hurricane Katrina, right. They experienced it as the wildfires in Paradise. 90 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:12,440 Speaker 1: They experienced it as this heat wave where they don't 91 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:16,360 Speaker 1: have money to afford air conditioning. For Rihanna, it all 92 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:19,760 Speaker 1: comes down to racial inequality. People of color are more 93 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:22,839 Speaker 1: likely to live near power plants and other polluting factories, 94 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 1: and they suffer higher levels of asthma and greater risk 95 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:30,119 Speaker 1: of early death from air pollution. For Rihanna, this hits 96 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:32,479 Speaker 1: close to home. So when I was growing up, I 97 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:36,480 Speaker 1: had asthma, and I had asthma to the point that 98 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:39,799 Speaker 1: by the time I think I was in like third 99 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: or fourth grade, I was out for like a week. 100 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: Every spring I would get sick. I would have to 101 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:50,920 Speaker 1: be put on like a breathing machine, one of those nebulizers. Uh, 102 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: and I would be out of out of school. We 103 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 1: know today that Rihanna's asthma, like many other children should 104 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:58,520 Speaker 1: grew up with, was most likely linked to the air 105 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: pollution in her neighborhood. This had enormous consequences. Now, my 106 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:08,719 Speaker 1: mom was a single mother who had her own nonprofit right, 107 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: so every year she had to take off time to 108 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: take care of me. There was always a limit on 109 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: how much time she could take off because she didn't 110 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: have childcare. My mom, in a lot of ways, was 111 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 1: sort of protected from the worst of our sort of 112 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: economic system. She had a college degree, right, she ran 113 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 1: her own business. She could control her own time off. 114 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: But the situation for a lot of other kids was 115 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 1: that their parents worked hourly jobs. Right, So every time 116 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:38,520 Speaker 1: your child is out of school, not only are you 117 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: hurting their educational outcomes, you have mothers trying to figure 118 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: out what to do about childcare right, how to take 119 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 1: care of their babies. They're getting docked at work. The 120 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 1: fate of the Green New Deal is up in the air, 121 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: but Rihanna is busy putting thought into action via the 122 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: Green New Deal Network. A coalition of movements and activists, 123 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:07,920 Speaker 1: and there's no shortage of issues to tackle. A stark 124 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: example of the domino effect pollution can bring is the 125 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: story of Lucy Valez. I thought, you know, my cough 126 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: was just a cough. All these uh congestion issues in 127 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: colds were just things that normally, you know, most people experience. 128 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: Like Rihanna, Lucy suffered from persistent medical issues that could 129 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: be traced back to pollution. Some of Lucy's health problems 130 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 1: were likely linked to the Peace Bridge connecting Buffalo to Canada, 131 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:38,840 Speaker 1: where cars released emissions into the surrounding neighborhoods. In the 132 00:08:38,920 --> 00:08:44,000 Speaker 1: year I getta house and I thought that that house 133 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: was was good, in good condition. And about the year 134 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:53,120 Speaker 1: two thousand and sixteen, I started to get a lot 135 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: worse and the I was hospitalized with like a long 136 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 1: and brown kill infection. And when Lucy returned from the hospital, 137 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:05,600 Speaker 1: so I went into a room which happened up in 138 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: my office at the time, and uh, as I walked in, 139 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 1: there was this black, fuzzy mold. That's when a member 140 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:18,320 Speaker 1: of the organization People United for Sustainable Housing or PUSH, 141 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:22,559 Speaker 1: knocked on Lucy's door one day by complete chance pushes 142 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 1: associated with the Green New Deal network, and they were 143 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:28,240 Speaker 1: able to help Lucy fix her house. This is pushes 144 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 1: John Washington. It took a while to figure out how 145 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:34,840 Speaker 1: to find different funding sources to add up to the 146 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 1: amount of money it was required to fix Lucy's home 147 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:40,560 Speaker 1: because it was in pretty bad shape. The clost to 148 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:45,959 Speaker 1: my house was dollars, which is really unheard of because 149 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: that is more than most grants out there. They had 150 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:53,199 Speaker 1: to look for a second grant to cover the things 151 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 1: that I needed. So Lucy got her home fixed. She 152 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:58,560 Speaker 1: got the resources to get her home fixed. But a 153 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:01,280 Speaker 1: few months later, if she gets a she gets a 154 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:03,920 Speaker 1: thing from Key Banks saying that they're redoing her mortgage. 155 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:06,040 Speaker 1: Right because the value of her home has gone up, 156 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 1: they're redoing her mortgage, and now her mortgage payment was doubled. 157 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: I didn't have the money. I couldn't find the money 158 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 1: to pay for you know that kind of that kind 159 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,240 Speaker 1: of jump. And ultimately we were not able to win 160 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:20,559 Speaker 1: that fight. And so she used part of her burial 161 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 1: fund to pay her taxes so she could keep her house. 162 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:27,560 Speaker 1: That's exactly the type of systematic domino effect the Green 163 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: New Deal is trying to prevent summer calling Joe Biden's 164 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:39,600 Speaker 1: one point seven trillion dollar Green Initiative plan his spin 165 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:42,760 Speaker 1: on the Green New Deal. But Rihanna still knows she 166 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: has a long, hard fight ahead of her to achieve 167 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:49,720 Speaker 1: her goal, because ultimately changing an entire system means getting 168 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,640 Speaker 1: citizens to realize their own power over that system. You 169 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 1: ran into a lot of people who would talk about 170 00:10:56,440 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 1: how they felt powerless, and so I think that's just 171 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:05,559 Speaker 1: like really important to remember. We all have the ability 172 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:09,760 Speaker 1: to emotionally affect another person to make them feel connected, right, 173 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: and that is powerful. There is always an element of 174 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:17,120 Speaker 1: power that you have that no one can take away. 175 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:29,440 Speaker 1: This episode of Game Changers was produced by Magnus Henrykson 176 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:33,440 Speaker 1: and presented by Yours Truly Matt Goldman. It was based 177 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:36,880 Speaker 1: on reporting by Michael Bihaf. For a visual experience of 178 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:40,200 Speaker 1: Game Changers, check out our videos at Bloomberg dot com 179 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:44,400 Speaker 1: slash Green. Francesca Levi is the head of Bloomberg Podcasts. 180 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening.