A Green New Deal for Richmond!

In January of 2023 Sunrise Richmond got back to work, and now a year later we are launching our campaign for a Green New Deal in Richmond. The city of Richmond passed the RVAGreen2050 plan in February of 2023 after many years of planning, but while it's a strong start, it is not going to be enough to save our city from the climate crisis and ensure environmental justice for ourselves and our neighbors. First off, it's just a resolution. This means it's not binding like countless other plans the city uses every day. The result? The city's office of sustainability is underfunded and unheeded, the city is already falling behind on its commitments, housing prices are going up, gentrification is rampant, Richmond has the country's second highest rate of evictions, the storm water system keeps backing up into folks houses or dumping sewage into the river, the city has some of the highest rates of asthma in the country, public schools are growing mold and struggling through failing heating and cooling systems, food deserts abound, one of the nation's oldest pipe systems is leaking dangerous methane across the city, and the scars of racist segregation are everywhere from the bus routes to lack of tree cover on Southside. Employers like environmentally taxing data centers, Amazon "fulfillment centers", and the attempted casino are increasingly looking to call RVA home at a time where we desperately need good paying Green Jobs . To make things worse, word has it that the 2025 budget will underfund environmental justice even further, and the RVAGreen2050 plan only ever got us to 89% emission reductions in the first place. In other words, Richmond is trying, but the result is nothing new. Our leaders have laid plans a day late, and a dollar short, and we won't risk that. This year Sunrise Richmond is going to fight to enshrine RVAGreen2050 into city code as an ordinance, pass a Green New Deal at city council, and make elected officials from Mayor Stoney on down pay if they bargain away our future. Each month we will focus on a different sector of life in RVA that needs to be transformed. We will fight alongside the coalition that won RVAGreen2050 in the first place and our new public utilities commission, the unions bargaining for better wages in city government, our siblings fighting the genocide in Gaza, and the rest of a People's Coalition. Our core of powerful and committed organizers is growing in skill and community every day, and we hope you join us to win the dignified present and livable future that we deserve. CALENDAR: | March - Economy | | April - Land Use | | May - Energy | | June - Health & Waste | | July - Food Justice | | August - Housing | | September - Education Justice | | October - Elections | | November - Elections |