Looking Local: Focusing Green New Deal Efforts at the Small Scale for Big Impacts
Mridhu
Khanna
March 22, 2022
Image from Mayors of Europe

In mainstream discourse, the “Green New Deal” (GND) commonly refers to the fourteen-page federal resolution put forth by Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey in 2019 to address the worsening climate crisis. The GND has received a lot of attention at the federal level, but implementing the promise of the GND will be slowed down by the inevitable politicking of Congress. 

Federal action may at first seem the most logical way to address a large-scale crisis like climate change, but cities across the United States (U.S.) and around the world have shown that local governments have the ability to provide effective and equitable answers to some of the entrenched injustices the GND seeks to address. Momentum is building at the grassroots level for more localized GND policies in cities, towns, and regions — not only to address the impending climate crisis, but also to tackle economic and racial injustices that are deeply implicated in continuing to do business as usual. Looking local opens up opportunities to address the root causes of social, economic, and environmental injustices in a way that has a material impact on residents' daily lives.  

Advocates for a Detroit Green New Deal show their support. Image from Urban Affair Reveiw

Why Lead Locally?

A lack of leadership and transparency from federal (and often also state) governments on critical issues like voter suppression and catastrophic climate change has left many Americans disillusioned with our most visible political leaders. Slow-moving processes, complex bureaucracies, lobbyist influence, and political posturing at the state and federal levels have kept really transformative legislation from even being passed into law, let alone implemented. 

A Gallup poll from last year found that fully 71 percent of U.S. adults trusted their local government, which is over four times as many as those who trusted decision-making from Washington. 

But this lack of federal leadership opens the door for local governments to lead on climate justice with policies and programs that are both impactful and necessary. Local governments are more nimble, closer to the people, and enjoy more trust — a Gallup poll from last year found that fully 71 percent of U.S. adults trusted their local government, which is over four times as many as those who trusted decision-making from Washington. 

In comparison to federal and state governments, cities and other local governments are more practical (most are required to balance their budgets), impactful (they run the programs most visible to residents), accessible (in terms of information and physical offices), and are most knowledgeable about local needs. This makes them best equipped to respond faster and more effectively to citizens’ requests. Compared to national representatives, municipal leaders are also more directly accountable to their constituents, often hailing from and living in the neighborhoods they serve. 

Cities also have legislative powers that more directly affect their residents. For example, a city can control development, land use, local transportation, parks and greenspace, property taxes, education, roads, utilities, energy, climate resilience, community services, public safety, and numerous other services that directly impact residents. They also have direct influence on local economies, job markets, and environmental quality, as well as racial and social equity. 

Hundreds of people gather at a town hall meeting in Seattle, Washington to discuss rent control with City Councilmembers, illustrating the more accessible nature of local government. Image from Real Change News, Credit: Oliver Hamlin

Despite only covering around 3 percent of the Earth’s surface, cities and their resource needs are responsible for over 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

Not only are cities uniquely positioned to implement a GND, but their success around climate justice policy will also create the biggest impact. Despite only covering around 3 percent of the Earth’s surface, cities and their resource needs are responsible for over 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

Cities also exhibit some of the most extreme cases of income and racial inequality: in St. Louis, Missouri, Black children are 10 times more likely to visit the emergency room for asthma each year than White children, as cited by Congresswomen Cori Bush in her introduction of the Green New Deal for Cities Act of 2021 legislation. A 2017 investigation found that the median household net worth in Boston was $247,500 for Whites and $8 for Black Americans, a startling disparity that is part of a national pattern. These statistics are jarring, but give more cause to the work being done in cities to combat economic inequality, racial inequality, and the climate crisis in a way that embraces the intersectionality of these issues. 

In the past, cities have often tackled areas like housing, education, public health, and transportation in siloes, without considering how these essential policy arenas can work in tandem to create healthy, equitable, and resilient communities. The GND framework and the ongoing work of grassroots organizations can drive forward the change needed, not only to respond to the consequences of climate change, but to also empower communities in the face of the climate crisis.

Laboratories for ChangeLocal governments are also the ideal scale at which to pilot new policies and technologies, acting as laboratories for change. One relatively new policy experiment is the creation of eco-districts in land use planning. Already adopted across many cities including Austin, Denver, Miami, D.C., Boston, and Detroit, eco-districts are intentional land use and development plans for neighborhoods. These plans include the remediation of toxic land, building and using sustainable energy sources, affordable housing, and nature-based resiliency measures with the goal of creating zones with complementary and comprehensive systems. 

Katowice’s eco-district of the future
Plans for an eco-district (Nowy Wełnowiec) to be built on the site of a former metallurgical plant in Poland’s industrial region of Silesia. Image from Mayors of Europe

Eco-districts are an example of what could be possible with progressive climate politics at a larger scale. Testing policies at the local level also provides an opportunity for city officials, developers, urban planners, and residents to identify lingering challenges, inequities, and areas for improvement before wide-scale implementation.

Other cities have already implemented effective policies at the local level. In Los Angeles, the city has partnered with an electric bus manufacturer and local unions to build electric city buses and employ people from the community. The Portland Clean Energy and Community Benefits Fund provides financial resources for energy efficiency and clean energy improvements through a tax on big business. Vancouver has recently instituted an “Empty Homes Tax” on housing that sits empty for more than six months to help fund affordable housing.

Building Momentum

Momentum is building across the United States and abroad for action at the local level. Cities like Seattle, Portland, Durham, Boston, and Jackson have already established coalitions of grassroots organizations with a common goal for more equitable climate solutions. Regional movements, like ReImagine Appalachia, Southeast Climate & Energy Network and Gulf South for a Green New Deal are bringing together cities and towns to achieve transformative policy. By centering frontline communities, renters, workers, and families these coalitions aim to advance local control over public services and build an economy that can provide prosperous and safe jobs. 

The vision of a Green New Deal has also permeated climate action in Europe, where pan-European campaigns like the Green New Deal for Europe are pursuing solutions that “protect frontline communities, empower workers, and redress Europe’s historic role in resource extraction around the world.” Regardless of where GND movements hail from, they should be guided by a key set of principles that ensure the policies and programs created to fulfill its promise are people-centered, democratic, and participatory. Local governments provide the ideal arena to embrace these principles given their proximity to voters, their ability to act quickly, and the broad suite of powers they can employ. Cities, counties, and other local governments can leverage the trust their residents have in them to act boldly in the public interest. 

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