FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2022
Contact: Sumer Shaikh, Green New Deal Network, sshaikh@greennewdealnetwork.org, 774-545-0128
Green New Deal Network Endorses Slate of Congressional Candidates for 2022 Midterms
GNDN endorses six candidates running for Congress with proven track records fighting for bold action on climate, jobs, and justice
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Green New Deal Network (GNDN) announced its newest and largest slate of endorsements to date for candidates running for Congress in the 2022 midterm elections. The endorsed candidates are: Nida Allam (NC-04), Erica Smith (NC-01), Charles Booker (U.S. Senate, KY), Attica Scott (KY-03), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), and Brittany Ramos Debarros (NY-11).
Congress has failed time and time again to deliver on President Biden’s promise of sweeping legislation to invest in climate, jobs, and justice. It’s more crucial than ever that voters elect officials who will stop pandering to self-interested corporations and instead deliver on what voters elected them to do: protect our planet and our people. All six of these candidates have proven that they prioritize GNDN’s mission to fight for climate, jobs, and justice, and GNDN is eager to see them continue fighting on our behalf.
“In the coming weeks we must turn out to elect leaders who will protect the planet and its people instead of the profits of corporations.,” said Maurice Mitchell, National Director of the Working Families Party. “These progressive champions are fighting for what our communities urgently need: combatting the climate crisis, making prescription drugs cheaper, protecting abortion access and reproductive rights and ensuring childcare is affordable. The Working Families Party is proud to have their backs.”
“The stakes are too high to let the fossil fuel industry and other lobbies decide who should represent us in Congress. We need champions who understand the interlocking crises of climate change and social and racial injustice, and who will prioritize bold climate action,” said Leah Greenberg, Co-Executive Director at Indivisible.
“Communities across the country are fighting for the future of our nation, and we need leaders that will actually fight alongside them in Congress,” said Varshini Prakash, Executive Director of Sunrise Movement. “We are up against fossil fuel money, corporate influence, and power that is trying to prevent progress, but young people won’t stand for a world where we lose our reproductive freedom, where climate disasters take more lives each year, and we are not done fighting. We need to elect Green New Deal champions across the country, who understand that it takes bold solutions to solve the crises we face, and like us, won’t back down.”
GNDN endorsed these candidates because they believe in rejecting the influence of the fossil fuel lobby; creating jobs that mitigate, address, and avert the climate crisis; and in justice for communities impacted by fossil fuel pollution and the climate crisis. The candidates also had to have a history of — or a credible commitment to — being a climate champion and the backing of local movements for climate justice.
While some more moderate Congressional democrats claim that a Green New Deal is too radical for their constituents, the data show a different story. According to polling by Data for Progress, Green New Deal policies are popular with most voters and appeal to conservative, liberal, and independent voters alike.
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About the Green New Deal Network
The Green New Deal Network is a nationwide network of organizations committed to transforming our politics and economy with policies that address the climate crisis, that create good, union jobs, and that repair past harm and advance justice. The Network includes coalitions in 25 states, as well as a coordinating team of 15 national organizations: Center for Popular Democracy, Climate Justice Alliance, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Greenpeace, Indigenous Environmental Network, Indivisible, Movement for Black Lives, MoveOn, People’s Action, Right To The City Alliance, Service Employees International Union, Sierra Club, Sunrise Movement, US Climate Action Network, and the Working Families Party.