Resolution #34: Ecosocialist Green New Deal Priority
Affected Items & Short Rationale
Resolution #34
We are facing ecological catastrophe and have a monumental opportunity in the Green New Deal for a revolutionary socioecological transformation of our society. It’s time for DSA to take this planetary crisis seriously by making an Ecosocialist Green New Deal an organizational priority with national support.
Why Is Build Endorsing Resolution #34?
Ecosocialist Foundation
DSA isn’t an ecosocialist organization yet, but we can change that.
Climate change was bumped as a national priority in 2017 despite broad support for organizing around this issue. Prioritizing work on an ecosocialist Green New Deal (GND) is an important step towards making DSA an ecosocialist organization.
The national Ecosocialist Working Group has demonstrated the knowledge and capability for bottom lining and coordinating this work at the national level with effectiveness and democratic participation.
Hope is a Muscle
It’s a scary time, but we have the opportunity to make a better world.
The GND is a historic opportunity to push for the better world we want and need. Putting resources and support behind building an ecologically sustainable society is how we get there.
Everything But the Kitchen Sink
We have so much to do in order to save the planet.
An ecosocialist GND must embrace a variety of tactics in order to succeed. We have to adapt to a changing world while we work to fix it. We have to save ecosystems, help each other, and build power.
We must also build relationships with allied groups in a variety of areas who are already fighting on this front if we are going to succeed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Concern: The GND is about federal legislation; will this proposal just be a federal electoral campaign?
Answer: We want to support federal GND legislation, but the GND is not just that--it’s ideological terrain. It’s an inroad to engage people on ecological issues and organize for ecosocialism. Our local struggles can cohere into larger movements for regenerative agriculture, disaster relief, labor organizing, housing justice, pipeline resistance, electoral campaigns, and much more. The climate emergency demands a bold strategy and multiple tactics that play to our strengths at the local, regional, national, and international levels. These tactics and individual campaigns should cohere toward larger, collective wins nationally, while still building power locally.
Concern: A national priority campaign will be top down and not responsive to local needs, conditions, and campaigns.
Answer: The DSA Ecosocialist Working Group takes an inclusive and democratic approach to organizing. This resolution is written with the explicit intention that it can tangibly support ecosocialist organizing in all types of chapters, regardless of geographical location or size. This resolution also supports the varied local work DSA chapters are doing around ecosocialism; we need to do many different things in order to both reverse and adapt to ecological breakdown.