For Earth Day, Green Party Denounces Trump’s Attacks on the Planet and People
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Party Calls Upon State and Local Governments to Join the Trump Resistance
For Earth Day, the Green Party of the United States condemned the Trump administration’s ongoing assault on the environment, saying that it threatened humanity’s future on the planet. The Greens said it was critical that Governors, state and local legislators, Attorney Generals, law firms, and civil society commit to actively resist Trump’s denial of climate change and his efforts to enact authoritarian rule.
For Immediate Release:
April 22, 2025
Contact:
Gloria Mattera, Co-chair, Media Committee, [email protected], 202-804-2758
Rachel Braaten, Co-Chair, EcoAction Committee, [email protected], 701-491-2777
Mark Dunlea, Secretary, EcoAction Committee, [email protected], 518 860-3725
“While we hear the message in every presidential campaign that this election is the most important ever, Earth Day 2025 is the most important ever.The future of humanity on our planet is more imperiled than ever. Not only has global warming over the last 18 months breached the target cap of 1.5 degrees Celsius, with devastating extreme weather rampaging across the planet, but America has also once again elected a climate denier as President,” said Jason Call, national party co-chair.
"On election day in 2024, a majority of voters said no to the Trump agenda. Worldwide, 89% of voters want their governments to take more aggressive action to curb climate change. That is the mandate that our elected officials have been given, but instead, slow action on climate by our governments has led the UN Secretary-General to say that we have opened up the Gates to Hell,” said Mark Dunlea, Secretary of the EcoAction Committee of the Green Party.
The Green Party over the last decade has stressed that comprehensive system change is needed. Both the Pope and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have recognized that we cannot solve the climate crisis under a capitalist system that prioritizes profits over the common good and sustainability. True grassroots democracy is needed, as the problems of global warming, economic inequality, militarism, racism, and attacks on immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community are interconnected. To highlight the interconnection of these issues, the party has promoted Earth Day to May Day events nationwide.
The Greens said that Trump’s war on the environment, attacks on environmental justice and climate groups, and promotion of the fossil fuel industry needs to be countered by elected officials at every level. Not only states but cities and towns need to speed up the development of clean, renewable energy, while investing in decarbonizing buildings, battery storage, energy efficiency, and mass transit.
The Party has called for governments at all levels to step up efforts to make polluters – rather than taxpayers - pay for the damage they knowingly caused, such as enacting a robust carbon tax (with a major rebate to consumers) and Climate Superfunds, as well as litigation to hold fossil fuel companies liable. The Green Party also advocates funding for the transition to a clean energy future by raising taxes on the wealthy and slashing the military budget by at least 50%.
Law firms, instead of capitulating to the extortion efforts of Trump by agreeing to provide hundreds of millions of dollars of pro bono services to assist his authoritarian efforts, should instead commit to join the resistance and uphold the rule of law and the Constitution.
The media has reported that Trump may use Earth Day to announce plans to revoke the nonprofit tax status of many climate groups for opposing the expanded use of fossil fuels.
The Green Party called on state and local governments to enact ecosocialist Green New Deals (GND), such as the decarbonization initiative in Ithaca, NY. The original GND, first called for by the Green Party in 2010, is intended to not only speed up the transition to 100% renewable energy and zero emissions, but to ensure that it is affordable for everyone, including workers in the fossil fuel industry. It includes a strong Economic Bill of Rights, similar to what FDR called for in 1944: universal health care, living wage jobs and guaranteed income for all, free college education, and quality, affordable housing.
During Trump’s election, he told the fossil fuel industry that he would be their champion asking them to donate a billion dollars . The fossil fuel industry was exempted from Trump’s recent tariffs. Trump has declared war on many renewable energy sources, such as offshore wind turbines after he felt the turbines impaired the view from his golf course in Scotland. Trump not only has blocked new offshore wind projects but last week halted the existing project off of Long Island. Lee Zeldin, Trump’s new head of the EPA, feels no need to protect the environment or public health, vowing to slash his staff while repealing every step taken by his predecessor to reduce global warming.
“The Green Party is the only party committed to the radical action needed to avoid climate collapse. Under Biden and Obama, the Democrats continued to slow-walk climate action while making the US the world’s leading producer of oil and gas. Trump’s climate change denial and promotion of burning more fossil fuels is a crime against humanity. America and the planet need to vote for a party committed to putting the needs of humanity ahead of the greed of the 1%,” added Cassandra Lems, national party co-chair.
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