What is a Just Transition or the Green New Deal? 

 As climate change continues to worsen, it is becoming more and more apparent that we need to transition away from fossil fuel-powered energy -- the largest cause of climate change -- to renewable energy. So far, global temperatures have risen an average of 1 degree Celsius, mostly due to the mining and burning of coal, oil, and natural gas. This seemingly tiny amount of warming has already impacted communities around the world, from devastating hurricanes to wildfires, like the Thomas fire here in our backyards. To avoid even more catastrophic climate change, we need to cut global greenhouse gas emissions (the heating gases emitted from fossil fuels) in half by 2030. The only way to do that is stop producing new oil and gas. 

At the same time, workers employed by the fossil fuel industry are concerned about job loss and inability to provide for their families if new fossil fuel production is blocked. Oil jobs are often part of unions and can be well-paying. Similarly, some proposals for renewable energy don’t address the issues many communities are faced with by fossil fuel extraction and production. 

In order to transition our energy systems -- and to protect workers and communities through the transition -- we need to build a just transition. To do that, some people are proposing building a Green New Deal. Like the original New Deal, it would be a systemic package that provides the funding, resources, and direction to make this transition; only this New Deal will be inclusive of all people.

So what does it look like to have an actual just transition in our county? What would a Green New Deal include? The purpose of these house meetings is to have a conversation with friends, family, and co-workers about their vision for a Santa Barbara or Ventura County Green New Deal / just transition. 

This process is meant to be bottom-up: that means that we’ll take these ideas and use that to push for actual changes in the county.