Antonio Delgado and the Green New Deal

To the editor:

I was privileged to attend Antonio Delgado’s recent town hall in Germantown, where the question of a Green New Deal came up. Mr. Delgado said he hasn’t signed on to the Green New Deal because, “We are now living in a time when we live in headlines. When you put something out there and you are not clear about what it actually is, in this environment, people put in it whatever they want and then throw it on you.”

“Concrete, practical, pragmatic steps towards a bold vision. That is what I am for,” Delgado said.

But “this environment” is not an accident.

As climate scientist Michael Mann said in a recent article: “[ExxonMobil and others] have used their immense resources to create fake scandals and to fund a global disinformation campaign aimed at vilifying the scientists, discrediting the science, and misleading the public and policymakers. Arguably, it is the most villainous act in the history of human civilisation, because it is about the short-term interests of a small number of plutocrats over the long-term welfare of this planet and the people who live on it.”*

These cowardly attacks have gone on for decades; they’ve delayed action to the point that scientists tell us we have only 12 years to avert the most catastrophic, irreversible effects of climate chaos. A green jobs study may be concrete and pragmatic, but it is very far from a bold vision, Congressman. The Green New Deal is that vision. Please sign on.

Patricia Goldsmith

Livingston