Tom in the News — October 1, 2020

Tom’s fight for climate action is wedded to his fight for racial and economic justice.

The COVID-19 pandemic and recent natural disasters have exacerbated long-standing injustices in our society — economic, environmental, and racial. As Tom continues to push for urgent climate action, a safe COVID-19 recovery, and a progressive 2020 election sweep, he keeps the fight for justice front and center. Take a look.

• Tom Steyer: The climate crisis is now threatening the health and safety of every American — Fast Company
  “Millions of African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans have been dealing with climate realities for much longer, with far less Twitter attention. Climate is inseparable from racial justice because America has consistently and deliberately concentrated our toxins and pollution in communities of color…But anyone still denying the climate disasters and environmental injustices, anyone still unaffected by climate, lives in a bubble of privilege — and that bubble is popping.” Read more here.
• Joe Biden Wants to Make Almost Every Policy a Climate Change Policy — Wall Street Journal
  “He’s providing a comprehensive answer to overlapping problems in society,” said Tom Steyer…one of Mr. Biden’s top climate advisers. “And he’s communicating it in terms of how it affects human beings.” Read more here.
• Tom Steyer on His Fight for a More Inclusive America — Spectrum News 1
  “We’re at a precipice, certainly on climate, certainly on race, certainly on economic justice. We’ve gone to a place that is, in my mind, absolutely in need of redress and reparations. And I’m deeply committed — there is a better way…I want us as a society, as a country, as a people, to do better, and I don’t like to see suffering. My motivation in this is to be part of the group of people contributing to a more just, fairer, more positive, prosperous America, with more inclusion.” Watch more here.
• Video: Tom Steyer discusses Gov. Newsom’s plan to stop the selling of gas-powered cars — FOX 11
  “It goes right to the heart of greenhouse gas emissions in our state. It is an important, substantive change for us, and it is a symbol to the whole world of what we think can be done — the kind of innovation and leadership and job creation and product creation that California’s famous for…There’s going to be huge competition for this, and it’s going to drive jobs — good-paying, middle-class jobs here in California…We’re in a crisis related to climate change. And so there are two things that we have to do simultaneously. One is to adapt to the problem that we’re in, which is to mean different forestry management, trying to make sure we contain the fires, prevent the fires, and we help the people affected. Absolutely. But we also have to go after, not just the symptom, but the root cause.” Watch more here.