And the old, the formerly incarcerat incarcerated, the Business Owner and the day laborer. Every american deserves to have their voice heard. As a person of faith i believe that every person has a devine purpose and divine value. We have a responsibility to treat our sisters and brothers equally and to do everything within our power to help everyone achieve their god given potential. I am proud to join with the members of the drafting committee and members of this community to ensure that our National Platform, our partys statement of principles and values is forged with consideration of every voice in our party. Today we will continue the substantive exchange of ideas that we began last week in washington, d. C. And i look forward to hearing the voices today and more important by the hearts of democrats about our policies, about our party and how we can adopt issues that will build on the success we have experienced over the last eight years. As republicans focus on what divides us, we will focus on how we can bring americans together and expand access and strengthen ladders of opportunity for all americans. Thank you. Thank you very much, leah. I like to thank the individuals you will hear from today for making time to share their perspectives and recommendations on the issues confronting americans. Beappreciate you sharing your expertise and we look forward to hearing from you throughout the forum. Im also delighted to thank the more than 1,000 individuals from 43 states and the district of columbia who have taken the time to share your comments or post written and video testimony on the dncc website. In addition to welcoming those of you here in fee niphoenix, a, im delighted to acknowledge those through the dncc live stream of demconvention. Com. As democrats were committed to addressing concerns at the heart of peoples lives. The problems that they face every day, and challenges. The problems that their children face, their childrens education and the wellbeing, the health and the safety of seniors, the opportunities available in our communities, in our nations future. Among others we began last week by hearing testimony and recommendations on leveling the Playing Field, moving america forward. And americas role in the world over the next two days we will hear from policy experts, Community Leaders and advocates on energy and the environment, health and safety. And protecting the and expanding our democracy. The Democrat Party platform is not about any one of us sitting around this table. It is so much bigger than all of us. It is about the people. And with the platform being a covenant of our shared collective values, its important that the process captures the energy and the breadth of the party. This Diverse Group will allow us to bring together our partys best thinking with a focus on solutions. And so it gives me great pleasure, we are really pleased to have a special guest with us today, that is the mayor of phoenix, mayor greg stanton. Mayor stanton, since taking office in 2012, mayor stanton has worked tirelessly to build a modern economy that works for every Phoenix Family by boosting trade with mexico, investing in biosciencens and lifting up local small businesses. Mayor stanton is leading the way to create an innovation based export economy built to last. Mayor stanton is committed to making our community a more welcoming and open place. Under his leadership phoenix became the first u. S. City to end chronic homelessness among veterans. Phoenix also earned National Recognition as the leader on lgbt issues and became the first arizona city to earn a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign municipal equality index. Mayor stanton, thank you very much for being with us and well hear from you now. Thank you for that kind introduction. Members of the Platform Committee. Welcome to the greatest city in the United States of america, phoenix, arizona. We dont give up easy. We fight in phoenix. We finished second in the competition for the 2016 Democratic Convention. I want to be the first to welcome you here to the 2020 Democratic Convention here in phoenix. Also welcome to the Fastest Growing big city postworld war ii here in america. Phoenix is the future of the United States of america in so many ways. Were blessed to have incredible diversity here in our city and im confident with the intellectual and policy fire power than this committee is going to provide to our party,er going to be successful in the most important election in our lifetime. And congressman you mentioned a couple of the issues that are so important to the people of this party and therefore the people of this country and certainly important to the people of the city. Thank you in advance for your support of the veterans across the United States of america, which i know will be an important part of our platform in phoenix. We were so proud to accept president obamas challenge, challenging every city to end chronic homelessness among or veterans. And phoenix was the first in the United States of america to end chronic homelessness among our veteran population. I want to thank this committee to show support for people. You understand that supporting people is great for the economy of the United States of america. We understand that in cities. Thats why when i became mayor the support for the Lgbt Community was so important. And phoenix arizona last three years has gotten a perfect score by the human equality index, same as chicago, new york, los angeles or any other cities. Phoenix, doaarizona, we accomplished that. We think of Climate Change in the context of how it affects cities on the coastal areas because of the rising tides, rising ocean lines. But in phoenix with the heat youre going to experience over your few days here, earlier than we normally get, rising temperatures, drought is a huge issue in this community directly as a result of Climate Change. The policies that you adopt here, the policies of our party, the Successful Party in this upcoming election are going to benefit us here in the Desert Southwest on the issue of Climate Change and climate resill genesee. I want to thank you in advance for that regard. Phoenix received the award as having the strongest Climate Change policies in the United States of america as a city. Congressman cummings, i want to thank you so much for you leadership on comprehensive Immigration Reform. As i told you privately, when it is successful, no city in the United States of america will benefit more economically from comprehensive Immigration Reform than phoenix, arizona because of the wonderful diversity that were blessed to have, including a city thats soon to be a latino majority city here in arizona. Also thank you for the Infrastructure Investment. In phoenix we just passed the largest transportation Infrastructure Investment in the United States of america by the voters of phoenix, a 35year, 32 billion transportation Infrastructure Investment. Were going to trip tl amount of light rails, significantly increase the amount of bus service, a thousand miles of bike lane, make the city for walkable, dial and Ride Services for our citizens that happen to have disabilities. Were going big on transportation because we know how important it is to connect people to education and jobs, those that are not in a position to afford a car or those that might not want to utilize their car. How important that is for the future of our economy. For that and so many other reasons, i want to thank this committee. The policy recommendations youre going to make are going to be great for cities across the United States of america and great for our country. Welcome to phoenix. Have a great few days of meetings. Youre going to hear from some of the most talented people in our community, the leaders that i have the benefit to work with as mayor of the city. We have a great thriving active passionate and successful Democratic Party here. Thank you so much for letting me say a few words. I want to thank you. As i listen to you, i was saying to myself so often in washington we hear a lot about what cant be done. Thank you for doing things and creating models for the entire nation. We certainly appreciate your hospitality. Thank you so much. Before i get started i wanted to have them introduce themselves, the members of this distinguished drafting committee. They are putting in a tremendous amount of time, taking time away from their families and from their normal jobs because they want to make sure that we, as a party, create a very meaningful platform, not just with regard to the next four years but for the next generation and beyond. So it gives me tremendous honor to have them introduce themselves, the members of the drafting committee, of the Platform Committee. Thank you mr. Chairman. Im warren gunnels, the policy director for senator bernie sanders. Its a pleasure to be here in phoenix. Thank you. Thank you, plmt chairman. Im state representative alicia reese from the battleground state of ohio and it is great to be here. Thanks for welcoming us. Debra parker. Im a member of the tribes and i just want to thank the southwest indigenous tribes for honoring us and allowing us today. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Im bonnie shaffer. Im from two battleground states, florida, north carolina, happy to be here. Im congressman luis gutter reez from the city of chicago. Happy to be here with all of you. Teacher and citizen. Im president of the center for American Progress and its great to be here. Im wednesdndy sherman delig to be here. Thank you for the very warm welcome. [ laughter ] that was very good. Paul booth, American Federation of state, county municipal employees of phoenix. Welcome us all here and im glad to be here too. Barbara lee, member of congress, i represent the progressive 13th Congressional District of children. Happy to be here in fee mix. My late mother lived in sun city, arizona for many years. Ive visited your city many times. Thank you for your hospitality. Bill mckib bonn from vermont. Senior policy adviser for hill clinton, honor to be here. Thank you very much. Howard berman could not be with us today and Keith Ellison will be joining us later in our proceedings. And so again, i want to thank all of the Committee Members for being a part of this very important committee. Also seated with us are two of the many individuals giving us Staff Support throughout this weekend, Andrew Grossman and patrice taylor. Andrew so the National Platform director and patrice is the director of the dncs office of Party Affairs and delegate selection. The staff has been absolutely wonderful and done a tremendous job. Let me take this moment also to thank debbie washerman schultz for her tremendous leadership. She and i have been talking almost every day to make sure these proceedings are transparent, open and fair. I want to thank her for her tremendous support. Finally, our par men tarn. Hopefully she wont have too much work to do. Helen is the dncs par mel tarn and served in this role for many years and can help us investigate any parliamentary issues that may arrive. Today and tomorrow helen will be serving as our time keeper. And i remind the audience and members that today were going to be hearing from 41, 41 witnesses. So were going to be moving kind of rapid he because we want to hear from everyone. Let me just take a moment, too, to remind us that what we do is so important. The idea that just a year ago today in South Carolina at Emanuel Church nine people were slain while sitting in a church basement. And so we have to really look at our nation and try to figure out how do we address these issues. And we cant just continue to turn our heads away from them. Though we now, the purpose of the hearing today and same as the one last week, its to solicit testimony from individuals and organizations regarding the content of the partys 2016 National Platform. Each speaker has been given three minutes for a formal statement. Following each presentation or at the conclusion of the last panel speaker, time will be allowed for questions from the Committee Members. Now i want to remind the speakers that we have your written testimony and so you dont have to read your testimony. You can just come and give us a summary. Because i think most of the members want to theyll have some questions. Were not going to be able to get to all of the questions but well do the best we can. We have a busy and compact hearing schedule today. Each presentation will be timed and the speakers should adjust their remarks accordingly. Once again ill remind us that the undertaking is a serious business. As democrats we need to keep in mind that the differences we may have are relatively small. While we may be passionate our opinions and beliefs, let us conduct this with respect for each other and for those who are taking time to speak to us. So we will begin today this would be session four. Today we begin the energy and environment part of our presentation, a theme that touches each and every one of us, whether we live in cities, suburbs or communities, all americans want to know Energy Sources that Energy Sources are available and Cost Effective. And the environment is respected and preserved for our children and our childrens children. Someone once said that we do not inherit our environment from our ancesto ancestors, we borrow it from our children. Our first group of speakers will share with us some of the approaches and vehicles needed to make that happen. Our first witness will be madeleine foot, the league of conservation voters. Shes with an organization that work to turn environmental values into national, state and local priorities. During her five years with the lcv ms. Foot worked to draft legislation on mnged chemical policy, reform programs and advocated for clean water change. Welcome. Thank you. Good morning. Is your mike on . I believe so. There we go. It is on. Great. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Sit an honor for lcv on behalf of our more than 1. 3 million members to inform the committee about our top environmental priorities that we believe should be included in the 2016 Democratic Party platform. These priorities include reducing the pollution that is warming our planet, adapting to a changing climate, ensuring that all communities have access to clean air and water, invest in the clean energy economy, protecting Public Health from toxic chemicals and preserving the special places in wildlife that we hold dear. President obama and his administration have made incredible progress in advancing Environmental Protections, especially on the issue of Climate Change. As we look to the future, we must continue to build on this progress. We have a moral obligation to protect our planet and the Democratic Party should lead the way ensuring that we leave a clean and safe planet for generations to come. The urgent need has never been more clear and the platform should include taking aggressive measure to reduce the pollution fueling Climate Change, including from power plants, the oil and gas sector and cars and trucks. The platform should commend the International Agreement forged in paris and recognize the threats that Climate Crisis poses to communities across the country, especially low income families and those of color. We must also leave most fossil fuels in the ground. We urge the platform to recognize that the management of federal lands and waters should protect our National Heritage whiled a advantages the production and distribution of clean energy. The tragic situation in flint, michigan has demonstrated that we cannot take Safe Drinking Water for granted. Cities across the u. S. Have experienced elevated levels of toxic lead in Drinking Water and those fall on those most vulnerable. Protecting and providing Safe Drinking Water for all communities should be a platform area as well as for funding necessary improvement to ours Drinking Water and wastewater infrastructure. Toxic chemicals have become pervasive in our homes and body and environment. Fortunate lit congress recently passed legislation to give the epa information on those most vulnerable, children, workers and others who are disproportionately exposed. We must support the epa. Lastly, americas public lands and open spaces are some of our nations most prized possessions. The platform should enchurch landscape Level Conservation while protecting our wile life. We must also continue to bolster the diversity of the sites, stories, visitors and workforce of our National Public lands so that all people in the country feel welcome in them. In conclusion we encourage the Platform Community to make safeguard organize environment one of the pillars of the platform and we thank you for the opportunity to testify. Thank you. Any questions . Thank you very much. Thank you. Dr. Michael mann, professor of atmospheric science, joint developments in the earth and Environment Systems institute. Hes director of the penn state earth system. His research involves the use of theoretical models and International Data to better understand the earths system. Welcome. Thank you, congressman cummings and Committee Members. Im honored to speak to you today about this critical issue, the issue of Climate Change and climate policy. My name is michael mann. Im a distinguished professor at penn state. I spend my time teaching, advising students and engaging in effort to inform the public. Ive spent much of my career with my head buried in observational climate data trying to tease out the signal of human caused Climate Change. What is disconcerting to me is that these tools that weve spent years developing increasingly are unnecessary because we can see Climate Change, the impacts of Climate Change playing out in real time in our Television Screens in the 24hour news psych. Regardless of how you measure the impacts of Climate Change, food, water, health, national security, our economy, Climate Change is already taking a great toll. And we see that toll in the damage done by more extreme floods, like the floods just over the past year in texas and South Carolina. We see anytime the devastating combination of Sea Level Rise and more destructive hurricanes which has led to calamities like Superstorm Sandy and what is now the perennial flooding of miami beach. We see it in the unprecedented droughts, doubling of the area of wildfire, fire burning in the western u. S. , and indeed many the record thaet that we may very well see this weekend here in phoenix, arizona. The signal of Climate Change is no longer subtle. It is obvious. And like the tip of the proverbial iceberg, further changes, line enough melting of the ice sheets may already be locked in simply from the carbon weve already burned, simply from the warming already in the pipeline due to the burning of fossil fuels. There are some tipping points in the climate system that we may have crossed but there are likely many others that we have not yet crossed and we can still avoid. It is still possible to avert catastrophic and potentially irreversible changes in climate but only in moving forward, building on the progress that has been made in recent years in accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels towards a clean energy economy. The stakes could not be greater in this next election. The future of our grandchildren, our children and grandchildren literally hangs in the balance. Nor could the contrast be any more stark. We have a Republican Party whose standard bear, donald trump and a vas majority of their representatives continue to deny that Climate Change even kpess. We have on the other hand a Democratic Party that understands full well that while we can debate the policy specifics, we cannot bury our heads in the sand and ignore the growing threat. Its my hope that the platform will contain a statement regard the dire threat and the statement about the importance of putting a price signal in the market, a price on carbon. It is my hope that the platform will acknowledge the progress that has been made by the Obama Administration and promise to build on that legacy by defending the Clean Power Plan against attacks by the congressional republicans. It is my hope that the platform will acknowledge the vital role of the u. S. In helping lead Ongoing International negotiations to avert the changes made at the Climate Summit this last december in paris. It is time to move forward and its up to the Democratic Party to make sure that that happens. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. [ applause ] bill mckib bonn. My Committee Members should know that dr. Mann has been not just a great scientist but a staunch activist on these issues who has the battle scars to show for it. Could you explain why climate scientists increasingly say that we need to leave something in the order of 80 of the coal and oil that we know about underground. You are quite a here ro to so many of us in your efforts to inform the Public Discourse over Climate Change. The idea that we need to keep 80 of fossil fuels in the ground is actually based on pretty rigorous science. We can calculate how much carbon we can continue to burn, what our carbon budget is if we are to keep warming below catastrophic levels. What we tend to equate with 2 degrees celsius, if we want to keep warming below that level, we need to keep 80 of the fossil fuels in the ground. Were already more than halfway there. We dont have a huge window to work with. We need to engage in fairly dramatic reductions in our Carbon Emissions. It is essential that we engage in efforts to transition, exc accelerate the transition to green energy in were to do that. One of the arguments that we hear too often in washington is that its not going to make any difference, even in light of the paris, what happened in paris. They say well, you know, what we may do here will not have tremendous impact. What do you say to that in. Thanks for the question. Too often theres quite a gulf between what we hear in washington, d. C. And what we scientists know to be true based on scientific research. Based on science. Based on science. If you look at the agreements that were reached in paris, those agreements from nearly 200 nations around the world to reduce Carbon Emissions are enough to get us to where we would have been heading, 9 degree fahrenheit warming of the globe by the end of the century, halfway to where we need to be to holding that warming below the dangerous 2 degree level. There in that agreement we made enough progress as long as countries made good on their kmutmentes to get halfway to where we need to be. Its easy to see a road, a path where we get all the way to where we need to be by building on that very important agreement. And indeed, its part of the reason that this next election is so critical. If we are to build on that agreement, rather than, you know, move backwards, we obviously will need a president and a congress that embraces the objective of avoiding dangerous Climate Change. Yes. Wendy sherman. Just a very quick question. How important is American Leadership to that purpose that you just named . American leadership could not be more important. We in this country have had the luxury of cheep access to dirty fossil fuels for two centuries. And who are we to tell the rest of the world that they too are not entitled to cheep dirty energy if we dont have our own house in order. I think we lend tremendous moral authority to this discussion and that is so why it is so important that we lead, not just in engage in the negotiations but continue to lead as president obama as done and hopefully our next president will do as well. This will be our last question, mr. Gunnels. Thank you very much and thank you very much for your testimony. Really appreciate it. Really appreciated in your testimony youre talking about a price on carbon. How important do you think a price on carbon is, how quickly do you think that we should enact it and what will happen to our planet if we dont enact a price on carbon . Thanks for the question. Really the only reason to achieve the sorts of reductions that we will need to avoid catastrophic warming of the planet is for there to be a price signal. Weve been in an environment where we have a congress that is in denial, Republican Leadership that is in denial of Climate Change and there has been an absence of not only leadership but the possibility of climate legislation to put a price signal on the burning of carbon np in the absence of that weve seen them douse progress at the municipal looefl, the local level, here in phoenix and through executive actions, through the actions of the 0 bam that administration. But if were going to tackle this problem thoroughly, we need to put a price on carbon that will require a congress that is willing not only to accept that Climate Change is real but to act on it through legislation. Thank you very much. We really appreciate your passion. Peggy shepherd, successfully combined grass roots organizing, Environmental Advocacy and research to become one of the most highly respected environmental advocates in the country today. A pioneer in urban communities to ensure that the entitlement of clean air and water extends to all people in all communities. A lead within new york city and the National Environmental justice moment, cofounder and executive director of the we act for Environmental Justice based in west harlem which has a 24year history of affecting environmental and Environmental Health policy and practice locally and nationally. Thank you. Thank you very much. Morningtocumming and the distinguished members. The challenge that ive been offered is that all residents should have access to clean water, clean air Environmental Protection and equitable distribution of benefits, burdens and resources. Many are sick and dying from disproportionate environmental exposure to pollution, toxins and policies that have scarred the hemt and lang scapes and indigenous areas of america. Yes know that place matters. That your zip code or tribal status often determines your Health Status and the conditions that characterize the communities. For example, cancer alley is 100mile stretch of land between baton rouge and new orleans that have taken over plantation lands with 700 oil refineries. Small african communities of 300 and 400 people are sandwiched between these industrial plantations with no evacuation routs. In new york city, Public Housing is home to over 600,000 people of color, living in shameful kons of mold, pests and housing deterioration causing chronic disease. In north carolina, black farmers share a fence line with combined animal feed. Dont go outside your home because you might be sprayed with the manure when you go to your car. Farm workers in california and their children are working in fields sprayed with a spray banned by the epa but still allowed to be used in farming where the most vulnerable are working. Today Climate Change is our greatest challenge. Cap and trade systems are opposed by Environmental Justice organizations for two reasons. They do not reduce the copollutants and secondly, they can facilitate an outcome of some plants buying credits rather than reducing their emissions which results in communities not reaping the benefit of reduced emissions. The next administration really advance interdisciplinary approach. We cannot have sustainable communities, a sustainable america without our transportation, open space, Health Systems Environmental Enforcement insync. We need to revision the Energy Future to advance Energy Investment and infrastructure that keeps housing and Homes Affordable so low income residents dont lose their homes. We need to launch a federal Healthy Homes initiative to work with local governments and Community Based organizations to eradicate mold and truly get lead out of homes and Drinking Water so there are no more flint disasters. Underserved communities need an advocate at the white house who is knowledgeable and concerned about these issues, not simply about public engagement. But about creating change. And we need a council on Environmental Quality that is empowered or restructured to provide coordination and outreach that is effective, informed and helps to develop the changes we need. So i thank you and we are submitting longer recommendations today as well. Thank you very much. Thank you. [ applause ] congresswoman lee. Its very important that youre here today with your testimony. Thank you very much. Let me mention first of all, i was born and raised in el paso, texas. Npr, some of you may have heard the story several years ago about the smelters in el paso. My cop temporary wes, the majority of them have passed away or they got lung disease, multiple sclerosis, my sister have multiple sclerosis, all kinds of diseases that led to premature death ore disabilities. And we knew it was the smelters in el paso where we lived that somehow was part of the problem. And thats what happened to my contemporaries. Know the issue very well. I wanted to ask you, now here we are in 2016 still with lead in water, toxic dump sites in low income communities. In my community were talking about transporting lead through the black and not lead, excuse me, coal through the black and latino communities. Im wondering if youve had a chance to look at the environmental and Health Impacts of coal and then secondly, with these environmental injustice decisions that have being made, these are decisions that lead to environmental injustice, have you looked at civil rights decisions and do these decisions come under the Civil Rights Act or could they . Absolutely. Theres a title 6 element of the Civil Rights Act and it says that if states that receive federal funding discriminate that federal funds can be taken from them. However, theres been a backlog of title 6 cases at the epa for over 20 years. Many of them dismissed out of hand. The title 6 area is one that needs to be strengthened and epa needs to be given the mandate to ensure that these cases are adequately reviewed. What about coal . Have you studied that at all . Certainly we know that burning of coal exacerbates asthma and respiratory disease. In new york city we had an environmental bond act some years ago that actually transformed over 400 Public Schools that were still using coal fired furnaces with our children having the asthma epidemic that we have throughout new york city. We also know that coal slurry in appalachia has contaminated ground water and waterways there. The impact on appalachia has been very significant. Thank you so much. Not just for your testimony but for a real lifetime of work. One of the things that worries me sometimes is that when people hear about Something Like flint they get all upset an alarmed, as they should be. But imagine that its just some kind of one off anomaly. Could you talk a little bit about how we should really think about what happened in flint in a National Context . Certainly. I think the Environmental Justice movement believes that it is a prime example of environmental racism. We believe if this had happened in an nx arbor, this would not have happened. They would not have switched to a contaminated water supply. We believe that people of color who complain about these issues are not given the review and attention that they should be. We know that the epa in that region let me say that the epa regional directors, that whole epa region administrators need to be restructured because they are not accountable to outcomes and they do not seem to be accountable to the administrator in washington. But we know that the epa had information that they did not act on. So again, when people of color have these complaints they are not taken seriously. And until a pediatrician came in and did some of the research and began to raise this issue, nothing was done. But the other issue is that we now know that there are at least 19 other cities in this country that have levels of lead in the water that approach flint or higher. So these issues have been going on for many years. And because these cities are not making the investment or because the federal government is not giving the investment and funding that some of these cities that are, you know, have financial issues, because of that, they are not taking care of these issues. So Water Quality is very key. Yes, thank you for your testimony. How can we bring back Environmental Justice to tribal nations . Because we have people of color in different areas, rural areas and so forth but we have tribal nations that have, they have a whole separate set of laws, sovereign nations, government to government. But often we see a lot of the pollutants and big oil and Coal Companies coming on to reservation lands because often theres a lack of authority or law that protects tribal nations. What have you found in your studies and what can you recommend to our Platform Committee . I know that the national ad visitry council to epa has had strong indigenous representation and has had a separate indigenous working group. And throw that body we have been able to affect some of the issues on tribal lands. But we really need strong voices in congress, because there are leaders and tribal leaders who have a Certain Authority that the federal government cannot contravene. So there are those kinds of issues. But theres a lot of strong advocacy on tribes. Theres the Indigenous Environmental Network out of minnesota that has been taking on these issues. I think in a very effective way. But we need strong congressional support. Thank you very much. Mr. Booth. I think your point about the environmental racism in the case of flint, i would underscore it by reference to the fact that the emergency manager who made these decisions in flint imposed by the state was one of eight Emergency Managers. Yes. Across michigan which somehow coincidentally have been imposed on the cities and the boards of education that are majority black population, no coincidence there. But i also heard you reference the financial dimension of what we learned in flint. Could you concur that in addition to the racial dimension of it theres always the austerity Economic Policy that is at the root of the short sided decisions that were made in flint, the systemic over a period of years depletion of state aid to cities, not just plint but other cities in michigan played a role in straight jacketing the options available and then they made this terrible, terrible decision to save a few bucks by diverting from the previous water supply thats caused this calamity thats going to last for years and years. The kids in flint who are growing up are going to grow up with all of that lead. But the fiscal decisions are crucial here, that we need to invest in the infrastructure of our cities. Absolutely. We certainly know that our infrastructure is famg throughout the country. And im hoping that the dnc and the next administration will make that investment in our infrastructure. These Emergency Managers throughout michigan have only be, for the most part, put into cities that are primarily African American or people of color. Austerity measures seem to fall heavily on communities of color as well. Democracy literally has been snatched from the people in these cities with no review or resource. Austerity measure, the financial nevadament by the federal government is very curable to maintaining Environmental Quality. Let me just say this. I cant let you go out saying this. When i grew up in a very poor neighborhood. All of my six brothers and sisters had as asthma. People died early from cancer. We thought it i think the things that youre doing that makes people aware that thats not normal and i lot of people dont realize that. Theres some folks that are living in situations that they should not. And she talks about poverty. People want to talk about poverty, if somebody is sitting all the time its kind of hard to have to move forward. But i want to thank you for your advocacy. But the other thing i wanted to ask you is a president in the congress hopefully will do things but i was just wondering how much of this involves educating people so do they know that things can be better and absolutely. Grass roots education and residents that live in your districts can come in and talk to you about these issues and brief you and your staff about these issues is crucial. We cant have important mobilization without an informed residence. I would also say asthma is not normal. The National Institute of Environmental Health sciences will be crucial. The funding to the childrens Environmental Health centers around this country has reduced incredible research that looked at the impact of air quality of vulnerable populations. Its looked at the impact of air quality on asthma and heart disease. So we now have the research. And now we need the political will to transform our health. Thank you very much. Thank you. Mark ruffalo is an american actor is he here . Im on skype. Im joining you from the low carbon Digital World today. There you are. How are you . Real good. Well, its an honor to be here with the dnc today speak about these issues, especially with the speakers that you have lined up. Many of them are my heros and so i am deely honored to be here as a lowly humble actor. So thank you for the chance to speak today. First i want to recognize the democratic primary that honestly the choices in front of us is each of our candidates share a goal of 100 clean energy. This commitment among others give me hope that as a party we will not turn attention from the challenges facing our country today. Unlike others running for president , we will not turn away from each other we will Work Together to solve these tough problems. Well give 100 for 100 of our citizens. Now the old dirty fossil fuel system and the dark money it pumps into our policies is a toxic mess killing more than 40,000 americans each year. 1,500 of them in arizona alone. Researchers estimate that each american will save more than 8,000, 6,000 for people in arizona every year by moving to 100 Clean Energy Instead of the billions of dollars that are being put into the pockets of the 1 , that wealth could be shared by all. Meaning less money spent on wars to protect our dirty fossil fuels and more money on schools, roads and our communities. So the good news is, that we don have to dream anymore about wind, water and sunpowering our lives. Scientists from stanford, uc davis and cornell have proven that 100 clean energy is absolutely possible today. Its Cost Effective and its possible with the technology that we have today. Wind is the cheapest form of Energy Available in the United States. Solar is cost competitive and the result of making that switch nearly 600 billion saved, okay . Not to mention the gains that well make in fighting Climate Change but theres an economic argument to be made and i hope the dnc can understand this. 600 billion saved. Let new industries that flourish. 10s of thousands of lives saved a year and a nation where every state develops its own local god given harvestable and never ending power source. No longer are we sending our Energy Dollars out of state and out of country the only thing is Political Leadership and courage. Its simply no longer an economic issue or technological issue. We are not 20 years away from being able to do this. Its happening now. Today joined the ceo of apple, general motors, the mayors of san diego, california, and americans are making 100 energy for employers, neighbors and families across the country right now today. And as a party we can pick up that pace. Making sure that every american household, school, and business has access to clean energy all while creating more good stable jobs than we lose in the process. 100 clean energy is not only possible. Its happening. Its a personal issue for those that pay utility bills that have to go to work for myself. To play out in streams and rivers and have clean air and clean land and clean water. With my father i want them to grow up in a Clean Environment like you do. Like every american tuz. And the quicker the rest of the world will follow us. America leads the way. We all know this. This primary season has shown us that the people of the country create all leadership. In a move to 100 clean energy is not only bold, its also smart. Smart for our health. Smart for our employ, smart for protecting our water and air and smar for global kmurt. And our ability to transition away from old dirty fossil fuels and the Democratic Party should be at the front lines of this transition. We deserve to have 100 clean energy from 100 of our people. That means everybody. And this also deals with an environmental racism as well. An economic racism. Thats why im here to urge the dnc to adopt a goal of achieving 100 clean energy from wind, water and sun by 2050. The time is now. Thank you. Thank you. I failed to give you a proper introduction so i want everybody to know who you are. Well, thank you. Mr. Rufalo is an american actor who has starred in multiple critically acclaimed roles. During his acting career he has received numerous awards and nominations including an oscar nomination for his role in the 2015 drama spotlight. He always has a long history of activism and humanitarianism and speaks out in support of lgbt issues clean water initiatives and vierenvironmental preservat and he sais also the founder of water defense. Nonprofit organization dead kated to clean water and rooted in the belief that access to clean water is a fundamental right. Any questions . He started turning green in his role as the hulk. Mark, just to make absolutely clear sometimes there are people who have described natural gas as clean energy for america. Could you describe what you mean by clean energy. Could you talk about the campaign that you helped wage in new york state. Sure. For a long tile people in the Environmental Movement felt it was going to be the bridge to the future. What we came to find out and what science has proved is natural gas is a more rapidly changing climate. Natural gas is 100 times more damaging a green house gas, heat trapping gas than co2 in a 70 year period which makes it particularly dangerous and we cant seem to be able to keep it from leaking no matter how hard we try and where we try to do it so any kind of gains we thought we were making by transitioning to natural gas have actually basically exploded in our faces. I dont think its any accident that Climate Change has accelerated much beyond what many of our climate scientists were saying while at the same time we were building up this giant natural Gas Infrastructure and shift. We dont need natural gas. We have to keep 80 of our carbon in the ground. We also have technologically advanced such a point that we can leapfrog over natural gas. We can hang glide to the future instead of carrying the natural gas as a bridge. Which leads me he to new york and why new york is such an important example of how to wage this coming struggle. In new york we had the promise of natural gas and this is during the natural gas boom. When there was very scant information on how bad natural gas was and how dangerous fracking was in the communities. We were getting information but we didnt have all the science in yet. While at the same time we understood that we need power. We want to live in a modern world. People dont want to shut off their lights or turn off the air conditioning and so on and so forth. They want to live moderately. We want to come up with a way forward that was equitable to people. So as Health Studies were coming in and showing that natural gas and fracking were not everything they were cracked up to be and dangerous we were proving we can take this state to 100 energy and he adopted that and since then new york state is now leading the nation in the build up of solar win and water generation. We are moving faster than any state in the nation and we dont exactly have all the sun that you have in arizona by the way. Or people have in florida but were doing it. Were doing it because we created a space by saying well move to 100 Renewable Energy and that gave politicians a place to move and gave citizens a place to move and it gave a future that is bright. That has promise. The promise is jobs. That doesnt send our kids overseas to fight wars, energy wars and people are linking this together. People think they have to turn off their lives. They will create more jobs and spread the wealth. We are going to take two questions. Representer reese and miss schafer. Thank you for your testimony. I wanted to follow up on what was said earlier and i know that earlier this week in ohio our chairman called in and this was an issue that kale up from those that attended on the issue of racial Environmental Justice so i guess my question to you as we heard about flint. We heard about low income communities and particularly African Americans would get cancer or ms as my mother had ms and they just deal with it and they dont come together and say what caused these things. Do you think in our platform, i know both candidates are firm on the issue of Environmental Justice but should there be some mention and what is that to deal with racial and economic Environmental Justice . What would you recommend . Because i think theres a disconnect in the urban areas and low income areas about what is Environmental Justice. They just deal with all the ailments that come from it . Yeah. So in my travels theres people in plants and drilling in transportation of these fossil fuels. Its been my aim to empower those people. I think theyre putting it together. In los angeles you have hundreds of drilling wells happening in neighborhoods and theyre informed and when you lift up their voices they do a good job of speaking to themselves. We have to create a system to rescue these people but these people, they want to fight for themselves too. But we dont give them the tools to do it. We push it off to big organizations. And its a building around the issues and because we can communicate through this beautiful tool called the internet. Keep it open and free for all people. What i think is what were speaking about is the Economic Opportunities by making this transition. Ill make some materials available to you but well have a 3. 5 million gain in jobs by transitioning to 100 Renewable Energy. Thats a net gain so any job lost in any other sector because of the transition will be gained many fold but, you know i think the more you can tie it to jobs, opportunities, economic opportunity, and were seeing an he enormous amount of people of color coming into that field and its a great Playing Field and upward mobility and the Fastest Growing economic plain in the United States. Its where all the new wealth would be and so i think its a two prong thing. Offer the jobs so we understand our connection to the change and give them the tools to fight. Thank you so much. I was just told by deborah that were all upset that youre not here in person but call me crazy but what i dont quite understand is if we have the answers and were all on the same page and upset about the same issues, why isnt it fast enough . It seems as if were speaking to you and chasing it. Things are happening faster than we expected. I have a hope in florida. I dont see levels rising. And what youre talking about too why arent we doing it. Its been politically as a system that most of our regulations have been built around protecting. Our military mite has been tied to it so we have a system thats very old and were going to have to make people really uncomfortable. Our leaders are going to have to be strong and theyll have to fight. Its literally creating a space where people become so uncomfortable that they have to move off the position theyre in. Theres so much fossil fuel money pouring into our political system and its corruptive. It just simply is. So i think we just have to fight. Our leaders have to take off the gloves and tell it like it is and be brutal. When they march make the media take notice. Thank you very much. Thank you. An expert on Energy Policy and economics. Specializing in the electric and gas industries. She has consulted to companies, governments, nonprofits and other organizations in Energy Markets as well as economic and environmental regulation strategy. Thank you so much. Its great to be here. Im not a movie star but i spend all my time on Clean Energy Issues these days. I recently moved to colorado. Im a rockies girl now after being in boston for 35 years. Thats a big head change but its very nice to be in the west. We know that americans want clean, reliable and affordable energy. So the great news i think is that in the past well, certainly since the Obama Administration has come in we have been able to get all three of those things happening. I think thats driven by a combination of factors. One of them is the price pressure that natural gas has placed on coal which has tremendously driven coal out on the market and the carbon initiatives associated with that. And we just heard how strong sitcoming on and that is also contributing to this reliable, affordable and energy mix weve had and clearly dressing toxic emissions from power plants have been a tremendous effect there. Let me just give you a couple of the signs of progress that we have seen in the past few years and these are all me tricks that i hope i wont bore you too much but they are things we have done since the Obama Administration has come in, into washington. We are 12 down in terms of Carbon Dioxide emissions. We have had a threefold growth in wind generation. A 30 fold growth in solar power generation. Those are tremendous. Renewable energy and smart grid technologies on the wires. That enable integration of renewables. Those together attacked 450 billion in the last few years. The renewable sectors with smart grid investments are the Fastest Growing Energy Related part of the job creation. So t lots of progress and all of this is happened and theyre lower than they were prior to the Obama Administration coming in and they had world class reliability. Access to energy for n a tremendous way. Part of this story also makes huge gains in Energy Efficient sy and thats also contributed to the story i just described. Vehicle economy thanks to the administration and other representatives in washington decreased rapidly after being flat for two decades so thats a tremendous increase in the Value Proposition for americans who have saved billions of dollars associated with these investments in energy efficiency. Today compared to 2008, americans get 13 more Gross Domestic Product out of their electricity dollars so we have seen a much better efficiency. Thanks to the Clean Power Plan. Things like the fuel economy standards. Slated to bring in historic reductions and use of gasoline. We continue to see this platform of progress going forward. So all of those things have helped to provide the United States with the credibility and the leverage that helped us see the Historic Deal in paris. So we had tremendous progress and i encourage them to recognize the gains that we had and fight together to defend against the push back we are seeing on fuel economy standards on methane emissions control regulations. I encourage everyone around the table to Work Together to defend against that flank. And we are already seen in the United States and we have to do so in a way that assures affordable and reliable supply of the Energy Resources and products and services that americans demand and we have to do that in a way that assures that no one is left behind. To me, and im a principle pragmatist that means that we have to use all the tools we have available. As much as i personally would love it, we dont have a magic lever in this area to meet our clean energy and climate goals smart federal standard and appropriate signals to investors in markets and innovation. Personally i think its very important to defend against backsliding on the climate process we have seen to date and to me that means we have a very strong commitment to ensuring that safely operating existing Nuclear Plants continue in the mix. Nuclear plants today represent 2thirds of the zero carbon emitting electricity in the country. We have already seen losses in vermont and other places around the country. Another announced in the middle of the country. Every time one of those plants retired in the real world thats being released with a fossil fuel generation. So prematuring retiring such plants creates a much bigger challenge than we have already gotten. I think that the federal government has so much to look forward to and to continue to do in working with states and localities. We have heard today about the kinds of progress that those groups have made in this area and they continue to provide us with tremendous examples of the la brother toirs of democracy and they, with the support in washington can be the engines for change in this new energy economy. We need to increase federal investment in Energy Infrastructure and that includes electricity emission as well as mass transit and invest in research and development for zero Carbon Resources into the future and that would include seeing the direction of advanced nuclear and Carbon Capture an sequestration. Democrats have so much to offer in terms of leadership on the issues and i really hope that we can keep the white house blue in this fall. Too many republicans deny Climate Change or they doubt americans ability to address these challenges that we have been hearing about and they ignore the impacts of fundamental targ fundamental Market Forces on the industries is that is seeing the shift to a cleaner economy in rapid fashion. Democrats know American Ingenuity and entrepreneurism is up to the task. We hope that well Work Together. Thank you for your service. [ applause ] being a magic bullet. The platform thats going to be persuasive to the American People do you think that and if you can describe it for us, he me here, that theres a way for us to simultaneously commit the Democratic Party to the Ambitious Goals that some of the prior witnesses have properly called us to grab on to. Not just the changes that are there but much more ambitious even than those and at the same time, communicates so many workers and working families around the country that were throwing them under the bus in the transition. Theres a path to achieve both those goals and preserve the livelihoods of people that are working in the electricity and other branches of the economy today. I cant tell you that i heard every single word and i think i got the jest. And that goes to my point that we have to make tremendous progress on this you are general issue of Climate Change. And a world in which energy is in the hands of the private sector in the United States. We need to make sure that we send signals to investors to make the changes that were describing. And there is big progress and we still need the tool there is because there are a variety of jobs in the new economy an we need working people around the country. And i agreed with many things you said in your testimony. One area well have to agree to disagree is Nuclear Power and senator sanders has been a strong opponent of Nuclear Power. And one of the main reasons is where do you store of Nuclear Waste . We still have not resolved that issue. There was i know that there was a situation with the indiana Power Nuclear plant in new york. Which is 25 miles away from new york city where 10 Million People live and there have been many errors found to have happened at that plant. One of the main question is where do you store the Nuclear Waste of our Nuclear Power facilities. It happens to be something that i have been looking at for 30 years and we have a continuing challenge and right now around the country that is where were storing it. That said, like senator sanders, for many, many years, i was opposed to Nuclear Power. Look at my age. I was of a group where there was tremendous protests surrounding the Nuclear Plants. The carbon problem that we have globally is what changed my mind on this issue. And the Nuclear Waste that exists at the existing plants is existing already. And we have to figure out how to resolve it. Science has moved to identify much more safe in place storage. Compared to when i first started 30 years ago but we need a permanent solution eventually. That said, premature retirement of safely operating Nuclear Plants will put us back so far on our climate goals. Were very pleased to be j n joined i feel like im the face of the clima change today. I went out for a run in the heat. I didnt appreciate what the heat would be like and took a tumble. So i am a little banged up. And this will heal. Thank you so much for joining us and thank you for all of your work. And it was something that i posed for a very, very long time but as i took on climate and the dangers of the climate that opposed to me that i couldnt pose a carbon free source of energy at this point in time as we transition and the base load specifically because that is something that is really challenging as we try and transition away from certain types of energy. How do we maintain base load while we bring in the new other carbon sources of energy. So right now the Nuclear Fleet of 99 reactors around the country as i said provides today just under 2thirds of the generation without Carbon Emissions at the plant. Those plants tend to operate around the clock. And they operate around the clock. 90 to 95 reliability. When the plant goes out the next day all around the country and thats the thing that is the swing fuel. Calculations i have done is in order to replace that base load amount of supply you have to come up with orders of magnitude and more investment in Renewable Energy just to replace it. Renewable wind might have a 40 as opposed to 95 output for every piece that you put in the ground. Solar is close to less than 20 so that means that you have to have four to six to eight times as much investment in those in order to replace something going off line. We need to make forward progress so i would love to see us building a transition on these reactors that enables forward progress that we have already seen on cost reductions on renewables. But replacing on that scale is really hard in terms of backsliding. Thank you so much for the honor. [ applause ] Anthony Rogers wright. Mr. Wright is the policy and organizing director and environmental action. He has taken part in a variety of progressive organizing campaigns for 8 years. He worked as a policy analyst and urban planner in san diego, s angelsless and denver. In addition to ensuring that projects complied with environmental statutes such as the National Environmental policy act, clean air act, clean water act and Emergency Planning and community right to know act mr. Rogers wright was also responsible for evaluating with executive order 12989 Environmental Justice. Thank you for being with us. Thank you for this community. Its my hope that you will head this calls from these speakers that travelled to offer you narratives about humans greatest advantage. Global climate disruption or Climate Change. Our planet and front line communities of color are looking to be a platform that has the need for radical change. While Climate Change effects all of us it does not effect us all equally. As dr. Ro bert bullard reminds Us Communities of color are hit first and worse by tim pacts of Climate Change. The response of our government is usually pass and last. In their work the wrong complexion for protection remind us that environmental and Public Health threats from natural and human made disasters are not distributed. Healthy places and Healthy People are highly correlated and they are the worst health and live in the most degrade and adverse environments. Theres nowhere in the country experiencing this reality more profoundly than the fwufl south region of the United States and no industry that has this worse than the fossil fuel industry. Its imperative to call for off all shore grilling operations and specifically in the gulf of mexico as part of the party platform. Right now theyre considering five year leases that will allow Big Oil Companies to access designated areas in the arctic and the gulf. While there has been much discussion about the plan to the arctic and its polar bear and cause for mainstream environmental groups theres been less attention to the plan to the kbufl coast with its black and brown people. This despite the fact that of the 13 potential leases 10 are in the gulf and 10 in the arctic. This further proves that the gulf is one of if not the preferred sacrifice zone of the United States of america and proves why we must as a Global Community cease thinking about Climate Change as a natural phenomenon. Its also a system of oppression that forms the intersection of racial, economic, and ethnic injustice. You cannot address climate disruption without addressing disruption to all forms of justice. The gulf coast includes cancer alley, sinking land, denial of sovereign tribal nations and tribal lands. Its also the home to the first u. S. Climate migrants who have lost 98 of their land to the gulf waters due largely to oil and gas Drilling Operations and the gulf coast is still one of the poorest regions in the country. These are all the availables that contribute to Climate Changes in the gulf and communities nationwide including native communities. Now while i applaud many of mr. Obama and the democrats efforts to address Climate Change its still important to distinguish between acknowledging on Climate Change and acting on Climate Change and this was on full display last career during the summit in paris. And we believed it will important to be giving global attention and residents of the gulf coast. While theyre offering their narrative to the world, back home the president and lifting the crude Oil Export Ban and in place since the 1970s. And pleas by video by Democratic Senators and must stand to no avail. And the president and democrats calls to address Climate Change we knew would lead to more offshore drilling than the gulf of mexico. So heres a truth i must share with all of you. Climate denial is not limited to gop boogie men because by allowing it to be lifted democrats too are denying the signs of Climate Change. We must keep 80 of remaining fossil fuel deposits from the ground and our friends inform us that the five year offshore programs to over 50 year which is is the equivalent of cars on the road over the next period. And justice was denied and ignorance prevailed and made to feel that society is an organized and neither persons or property will be safe and this is why were see sog many take to direct action risking their Freedom Safety and their lives to disrupt the fossil fuels as douglas and has allies used to abollish slavery. Climate change pillaged time from all of us including our time to act. Theres no time for half measures or proclamations or policies derived. It rekwiers radical action. The gulf coast cannot afford another blowout. Another oil spill and the people will no longer allow themselves to be captive to injustice that robs them of clean air, land, economic elasticity. Until we see it in the fwufl and the arctic the words of mr. Douglas will be vindicated as communities and nations and the entire planet will be of safety. Ill lead you for these truths as we head into the season. According to a poll, 68 of voters of color favor immediate action to address Climate Change and a survey conducted by the Strategy Group and informed us that 85 have global commitments to act on lie mat. Also predicted that Climate Change will be a major issue for our nations 17. 8 million black voters in the 2016 election. And 82 after latino and reduce Carbon Emissions. No democratic candidate for the presidency in 1964 with lyndon b. Johnson is 39 . The dnc and the democrats are totally dependent on the participation of people of color for success. The dnc must prove hah the health and health of our communities are as important as our votes. It will be an essential step. Theres only one choice moving forward. Offshore drilling must be replaced by offshore wind. A Just Transition to a fossil free future. They can no longer use the excuse that Energy Production is too expensive. Even Bloomberg News not a progressive bashing of publications concluded that the cost of wind and solar are falling too quickly to dominate the global sale. The only thing keeping us from a revolutionary and Just Transition of fossil fuels. A line in the sand has been drawn and i call on the dnc to exercise political valor. Write a chapter in u. S. History. Write a chapter in World History and include a call for all offshore drilling in the United States as part of the party platform. I welcome your questions. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. One of the two or three or high points and that was good fun and thats where i wanted to take you for a moment. You talked about the demographic realities for the party as were sort of imagining the Democratic Party of the future can you talk a little bit about your sense of young people and their relation to these issues and maybe help us think beyond just novembers election, what do we need to have in mind if were going to be a party that 5, 10, or 15 years from now is competitive. Absolutely. It was great to see you in paris and thank you for addressing the students. I do think we have seen it this primary season between Younger Voters of color and older voters of color and im turning 40 next week so thats starting to mean something new to me. That said there is a heightened amount of urgency that were seeing from younger people. They dont like the idea that theyre going to be potentially inheriting an uninhabitable planet. We see it in how they vote and disrut and through direct action as i mentioned. As were moving forward we also have to think about down ballot elections and i would specifically talk about the senate in this case. In his latest book, Steve Phillips brown is the new white discussed how a lack of investment in the communities of color largely lead to the loss of senate and house seats in 2010 and 2014. So i would behoove the Democratic Party to not also treat red states as sacrifice zones because of voting patterns. Invest in these communities and you will find that these communities are very, very keen on Climate Change and thats really important because sister peggy was asked about the Civil Rights Act and unfortunately in we wont call it a Landmark Supreme Court decision but the Supreme Court increased the burden to use the Civil Rights Act so high that its virtually impossible for especially front line underfunded communities of color to bring suit against the fossil fuel corporations and in the presence of sister deborah here that that lack of recognition here procolludes them from getting justice from bp and many people think that is politically motivated because had they if they were federally recognized they could tell bp they could not drill on their land. And were seeing the same program happening in Seattle Washington and native communities all across the country. Thank you so very much. You have given us a major challenge in terms of the ways in which the Democratic Party at times itself has been come police sit with some of the things were concerned about. It reminds me of my beloved colleagues in princeton. They talk about the value gap and practices of inequality. Even when we talk about ecological prices and precious life. Brother or sister on the reservation or in the hood has less value than that of a precious white brother or sister in the suburb. So the challenge is twofold. Can we seriously deal with impending ecological crisis without there being some diminishment in Corporate Power and corporate influence on government. We come over an over again in this issue. We dont have the political will. The people want it. The people want it. Well, something is standing in the way. Theres major impetments here. Is it Corporate Power and corporate greed in which those in the corporate greed are able to deal when theyre not as greedy but when they are greedy profit, profit, profit rather than public life, public life, public life and a smaller version of that question is can we deal with crisis and at the same time support ttp . Thank you so much for the question. I would be remiss if i didnt say that my mother had my education to enforce your teachings andly also be enforcing your teachings and his education so thank you so much. I want to, you know, you were talking about corporate influence and it doesnt just have to do with our politicians because i mention this transition of urgency. It has to do with how were fed information and our major news sources are controlled by five or six corporations and for instance we have been talking about flint, flint, flint. We were here. And 7 gallons of water today. We dont talk about it. Its just not a part of our consciousness. That might have something to do with corporations. I think this is very, very important. In my eyes or my view its all about the expansion. And you look at the countries involved specifically japan which is one of the largest quarters in the world and that with the natural gas act of 1990 or 92 which compels the United States to fast track national gas exports and you can see where were going with this equation. I do not believe that you can act on climate while promoting Free Trade Agreement which is are engines and contributors to emissions of fossil fuels and the distraction and use of fossil fuels. And over the safety of them. Were about a half an hour behind and it becomes very unfair to the people that come at the end because they will have no time to testify and no questions. So just want to make that answers brief and the questions brief, please. Great. Ill be brief in my question. I really want to thank you for your focus on the Environmental Concerns and how this issue is which is really vital and i also noted your criticisms of president ball balm and i want to ask you what are attitudes of African Americans toward president obamas environmental record. I would say that Environmental Justice circles, youll find some discrepancy and specifically on the one hand, you know, this Free Trade Agreement could lead or will lead to more fracking an someone else is going to talk more to that but we also know that fracking impacts communities of color including native communities so i think that they would maybe take some with a policy like that and while we were in paris, people like bill an miss brown herself fighting for a Global Climate policy while this is going on back home watching unfortunately democrats and being lifted and was also very, very disappointing. We always want more of our politicians and of course we want more from our president s and thats why this election is so important. And were going to be asking for more. An imple mental policies and all the approach which the president previously adopted is not going to work to overt Global Climate catstrophe. I want to thank you for bringing this into the conversation and its hugely important and clearly communities of color and the modern industrial like and thats simply unacceptable and i want to thank you for the work you do and theyre a very, very important part of building the movement to address Climate Change and i beg to differ with you there are many things we can point to and the next president to your point will need a congress. Theres things you can do and we should make sure that happens. And we need a differ congress and i think that your discussion about the down ballot is particularly important. We cannot continue to collect climate deniers to the senate. This is a long way of saying thank you very much for what youre doing and i encourage you to keep up the good work. Thank you so much and thank you everyone for this tun. Thank you. I probably shouldnt say this, ill get slammed but it begs the question that if al gore had won the election way back, we wouldnt be behind the 8 ball. Thats my comment. Thank you. Thank you very much. Sonja. A director of Government Affairs for the building and served as the deputy of Government Affairs. And ramirez served for over 60 years as Government Relations representative and worked as the federations chief lobbiest and has been a resource to working families in the Latino Community and serving as Community Advocate and Civil Servant and Government Affairs representative. Its an honor to discuss our future and combatting Climate Change and good paying jobs throughout the country. Comprised of 14 national and International Unions representing three million craft skilled professionals in the United States and canada. On behalf of our members we welcome the way to describe our volume based Business Model in our world class training capacity plays a role in the construction and maintenance of americas production and delivery infrastructure. And 50 of our membership in the United States and canada is employed in Energy Related industries. And the most highly trained and crafted work force found anywhere in the world and the tune of roughly 1 million annually. A nationwide network of 1,600 local joint nations. We are also successful of working with Community Organizations and partners to hef raj public and private investment to create structured Career Training opportunities for historically underserved communities such as women, communities of color and veterans. Through these efforts and others we boast 100 apprenticeship readiness programs which prepare applicants for the challenge of being a Union Apprentice in the construction industry. It means that in right to work states like south dakota specialized trades members working on Energy Projects averaged 35 an hour and workers are able to provide for their families while receiving union provided health care and pension benefits. Theyre committed to building a 21st Century Energy system that provides affordable and Reliable Energy for American Families and businesses and creates good paying middle class jobs and meets the climate challenge before us. Thats keeping all options of reducing emissions on the table. Nuclear power provides 60 of all zero carbon in the United States and supports tens of thousands of union jobs. Building trades members are leading the charge and improving efficiency in municipal buildings schools and hospitals. And patients by Cutting Energy waste. Its the lowest levels in more than 20 years. And health gains by cutting local air pollution all by lowering energy cost to consumers. We strongly support the growth of Renewable Energy and want to ensure that were creating the kind of high road jobs that can he support a middle class family in the process. The kind of jobs our members currently enjoy in the nuclear oil and gas and coal industries. A common sense partnership between labor, industry and government can make that possible. Through the engagement of state and local governments are california Buildings Trade Council has ensured that utility scale renewable projects and highly skilled women and men through direct contractor engagement california buildings trades union and incumbent in unemployed workers are retained all to reap the benefits of the Economic Growth and job creation. These jobs in the Energy Sector put a noor underneath the middle class. Through prevailing wage and project labor agreements we can guarentee our members rights are protected. The local Community Concerns are addressed and the safest most highly Trained Work Force in the world is able to build a new generation on time and under budget. We support an Energy Policy in which the commitment to fwroe our economy and rebuild our middle class and protect our environment all go hand in hand. That means raising working standards. Fostering common sense reforms and unlocking the trillions of dollars sitting on sidelines to build the Energy Infrastructure and it means taking advantage of all options. And to deliver affordable and Reliable Energy while reducing emissions and meeting the climate challenges. And over middle class jobs and practical shugss and stop taking options off the table. And leaves this world a better place for our children and our grandchildren an generations to follow. Thank you very much. Any questions . Yes. [ inaudible ] incredibly well versed in what they did and they were great so thank you for all the training. Thank you. Michael is the founder and president of clean line energy. He started the company to help bring about thousands of megawatts of new Renewable Energy and founding clean line and wind energy from a two man company to a National Leader in u. S. Wind industry. Buy wroe mass and wind Energy Projects in Central America and global and he is a board member of the American Wind Energy association. Thank you. Thank you very much. Its an honor to be here. My mom would be very proud. I became a democrat when we shortly after we moved here from ireland when i was a small child because my mom wanted to vote against Richard Nixon so we all became citizens. Id like to talk a little bit about the state of play in wind today and where we are and where we think we can get to and some of the challenges that the industry faces as we tackle the challenges that have been outlined today. So to start with, the tax incentives we had for the last 20 years paid off. Wind is now the cheapest source of new power in the United States. Costs have come down until 2thirds in the last six or seven years alone and because wind power is so cheap were saving consumers billions of dollars a year. On the jobs front, there are about 100,000 people working in the wind industry today. Those numbers will continue to grow. In fact, the Labor Department says that todays Fastest Growing Job Description is wind turbine technician and these are jobs that paid well. They almost always carry Health Benefits because its a very competitive market and Companies Work very hard to hang on to the wind techs that they train so its a fast growing field. Most of the wind projects built around the country are built in rural areas and they create an extra crop for farmers and ranchers and its happening. So we have talked about the different percentages that we can get to around the country. I live in houston, texas. On a good day in texas we get 40 to 50 of our electric power from wind energy. And other states have seen similar levels of penetration. Grid operators have now become accustomed to incorporating a variable resource like wind into the grid and theyre getting very good at it. In terms of environmental benefits, the wind projects that we have online today, power the equivalent of 20 million households and thats like taking 28 million cards on the road. Because of what we have seen over the last few years on the wind tax incentives we have seen in sourcing of manufacturing. Theres over 500 Million Manufacturing operations for wind in the u. S. And these are job and operations that are likely to stay here because Wind Turbines are all very large machines and very difficult to transport so its real natural to make them right here in the u. S. In terms of our priorities and years to come from the Public Policy side we have four prioriti priorities. One is a level Playing Field. An tax incentives for wind will be reduced and over that period of time, at the end of that period of time we hope to see policies in place that would provide us with the same sorts of benefits that polluting sources of energy currently receive. Workable permits and this is always a tough challenge for our industry because were working on projects and we have to strike a balance between different interests and we need processes that have time lines and take into account all of the variables. And thats what our company does. And go from the parts of the country to the coast. These are very complex projects that take a great deal of time. Many years to put together and a stable but effective permitting environment is absolutely the key to getting to the Renewable Energy goals articulated today and then finally power markets. If we can carey crate markets that effectively tap into the ability of wind and solar to compete in these markets we can see a lot more electricity in some of the areas of the country we see the greatest penetration of new renewables its areas where you have markets that allow new entrants to participate. Thank you and happy to take your questions. Questions. Do you have a sense of what that may be . Broadly speaking what that will get us is that will address the issue that i mention before and we can have a level Playing Field so that we are producing electricity that does not pollute. If those folks that do pollute pay the cost of the pollution it will help us compete much more effectively
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