Naomi Klein's On Fire Makes a Case for the Green New Deal
Gloria Steinem Chair to host town hall events to promote climate crisis policy
The way Naomi Klein sees it, society and the planet are facing a crisis on multiple levels – economic, social, ecological and democratic.
And the only set of policies able to address them and avoid climate collapse is the Green New Deal, a set of public policy proposals that will foster sustainable economic growth while reversing climate change.
That’s the argument the best-selling author, social and environmental justice advocate and Rutgers professor makes in her latest book, On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal, which hits shelves today.
We spoke with Klein, the Gloria Steinem Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies at Rutgers-New Brunswick, about her new book and the three town hall-style meetings she will host in New Brunswick this academic year for students, faculty and the public to highlight how these seemingly disparate crises are accelerated by climate change and how they can be quelled by sweeping policy changes in the Green New Deal.
The first, on Oct. 7 at the College Avenue location, focuses on the care economy – teachers, nurses, home care workers, disability rights advocates. The second centers around responsibly incorporating indigenous knowledge in land conservation and rehabilitation efforts. The third addresses immigration and the Green New Deal (dates and times will be announced soon).
“We zeroed in on these because they are under-theorized right now. Politicians are talking about the solar sector and renewable energy and energy efficiency and that’s all great,” said Klein. “One of the things I wanted to do at Rutgers is look at what low-carbon work isn’t receiving attention. Not surprisingly, it’s work that’s overwhelmingly being done by women.”
Who did you write On Fire for and what do you hope it will accomplish?
I think that my project focuses on broadening the tent. How do we reach people still telling themselves: "I’m not an environmentalist" or those who are intimidated by the science or working on other social justice issues already but don’t see a connection? I’ve been doing a lot more with people working on poverty alleviation, improving transit, housing, food justice and all kinds of labor issues. This book reflects that work to find a common thread in these different sectors. I think a big take away from On Fire is that we are never going to get anywhere if we try to have a competition between issues that are existential to the people experiencing them. To some, there’s nothing more important than climate change, but if you’re a single mom with three kids juggling three jobs to put food on table and struggling to pay rent and worried your kids might be shot on the street, those are existential crises for you.
You have been sounding the climate crisis alarm for more than a decade. Many tenets of the Green New Deal are not new to much of the global south, but they are just gaining traction in the United States. What is different about this moment?
It’s a breakthrough because there haven’t been powerful political figures who’ve championed this framework before. The “Squad” – the four progressive congresswomen including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – and the Sunrise Movement demanding bold action on climate change have created such momentum that most Democratic presidential candidates have made the Green New Deal central to their platforms. CNN had a climate-focused town hall event on Sept. 4 and MSNBC hosts their own Sept. 19 and 20. That is a lot of airtime where the candidates who do support the Green New Deal have the chance to make this real. It goes from a bumper sticker slogan to a line in a speech to something you need to have substance behind.
In On Fire you draw parallels between today’s Green New Deal and FDR’s New Deal and how the crises of that era galvanized and radicalized Americans to make that policy possible. What would need to occur for the Green New Deal or a similar set of sweeping policy changes to become reality?
Best case scenario is we end up with a Democratic candidate who is a champion of the Green New Deal and has a track record of fighting policy battles against wealthy and powerful interests. Because none of this happens without a pretty epic struggle with the fossil fuel companies and the banks that finance them. We need a president who has a real mandate to do what FDR did – to use those first 100 days for a flurry of lawmaking and constituency building – because there will be fearmongering and there will be pushback. To build those constituencies, it’s important to make the benefits real in people lives right away so they see what we are getting – such as good jobs in their communities, and better schools, health care and transit. If we get it right, the cost of the transition to a post-carbon economy won’t be passed on to working people. There will new rules and restrictions. Some will be hard, but there will also be huge benefits.
Rutgers is your first experience teaching students. What’s that experience been like? How are you working your research and writing into your teaching?
I love teaching Rutgers undergraduate students in communications and women and gender studies because the subjects I’m focusing on are issues that undergrads are grappling with all the time: How to prepare for the job market? How much time should they spend on social media? Is it shaping the kind of person they’re becoming? I’ve learned a lot from my students about how much pressure they are under, the role of social media and their lives and the kind of priorities they want to set. I’ve learned how important it is for undergrads to overcome that sense of inevitability when you teach them about really big problems. It can be disempowering if you’re not simultaneously exposing students to people who are trying to change the world and succeeding. One of my big takeaways from teaching is that I want to get the balance better. I’ve learned the importance of highlighting the fact early on that there are countervailing forces and people working to change these rules and not save that for the final classes.