St. Paul City Council advocates for a Green New Deal
Spurred on by students from Macalester College and other young people, the St. Paul City Council on Wednesday voted 6-0 to call on Congress to enact a 'Green New Deal.'
The resolution, authored with the help of the Sunrise Movement Twin Cities — the Macalester-based chapter of a national youth-led environmental movement — was sponsored by council members Saura Jost, HwaJeong Kim and Nelsie Yang.
Progressive politicians from U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., to Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein have called without success for a raft of federal environmental policies aimed at simultaneously combatting economic inequality and rising global temperatures.
St. Paul in 2019 adopted a 'Climate Action and Resiliency Plan' with the stated goals of carbon neutrality in city operations by 2030, a 50% reduction in citywide carbon emissions by 2030 and citywide carbon neutrality by 2050.
The resolution calls for the city to align its policies — including the 2050 Comprehensive Plan and a renewal of the existing Climate Action plan — with the values of a Green New Deal, in part by allocating future proceeds from utility-related franchise fees toward 'making St. Paul a more climate-resilient city.'
The resolution also calls for the city clerk to send copies of the resolution to U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, and U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum.
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