Don’t Agonize, Organize

Big Ugly Bill Got You Down? Get Back Up And Get To Work

This opinion piece was originally published in The Greater Park Hill News, where the author is a monthly columnist. Previous columns can be found here: http://greaterparkhill.org/?s=tracey+macdermott

Last month, Congress passed Donald Trump’s self- declared “Beautiful Bill.” For anyone who cares about the environment, it is anything but “beautiful”. The legislation has been labeled by many as the most anti- environmental ever passed. It reverses electric vehicle tax credits, slashes wind and solar programs, and invites oil and gas companies to drill on federal lands — just to name of few.

President Trump has called solar farms “ugly as hell” (he previously, falsely, claimed that windmills cause cancer). Let’s look at ugly. This “Beautiful Bill” strips away green energy tax credits, and it grants even more breaks to the already subsidized fossil fuel industry. The head of the American Petroleum Institute, Mike Sommers, praised it as meeting “almost all of our priorities.” Putting aside for a moment the destruction of habitat, air and water quality and the risks to public safety, can you imagine what opening up four million additional acres of federal land to drilling will look like? Hint: Not beautiful.

The bill also weakens environmental protections. It cuts clean energy (a cheaper source of electricity), energy efficiency programs, rebates, incentives, and eliminates programs aimed at reducing pollution.

Already ranked 6th in the nation for ozone pollution, Denver experiences high levels of particulate pollution and is no stranger to wildfire smoke. We can’t afford a reduction in air quality standards. Clean energy such as wind and solar can help reduce Denver’s brown cloud. Cutting these programs will surely lead to dirtier air as well as a spike in consumers’ electricity bills.

Meanwhile, mass firings are continuing at the federal level, and this bill could lead to an additional  hundreds of thousands of job losses in the clean energy sector. Some 8,000 of these jobs in Colorado are in the solar industry. Arizona governor Katie Hobbs estimates nearly 69,000 jobs are at risk in her state.

These assaults on the environment, which were narrowly approved Congress, are devastating and can make things seem hopeless.

This is not the time for us to check out.

Recently I was reminded of this call to action: “Don’t agonize, organize!” Its origin is credited to Florynce Kennedy, the lawyer, radical feminist, civil rights advocate, lecturer, and activist in the turbulent 60s and 70s. Kennedy was a founding member of the National Organization for Women and the National Black Feminist Organization. She founded the Media Workshop to challenge racism and discrimination in media representation. Her life work encompassed heading into battle to fight injustices of all kinds.

You may find yourself agonizing over the passage of “the Big Beautiful Bill.” Now is not the time to give up. Follow Kennedy’s lead and get to organizing. Use your voice. Talk with your neighbors; run for office; get behind a candidate you believe in and help them win.

Many organizations — 350.org, the Climate Reality Project, Planned Parenthood, to name just a few — need your talents. Join them. They are not giving up and neither should you.

Email her at traceymacdermott@gmail.com

TRACEY MACDERMOTT

NFBPWC ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

COMMITTEE CHAIR (2024-2026)