Members of People’s Action demonstrate at the American Petroleum Institute in Washington on April 20, 2015. (Photo: Courtesy of People’s Action)
Since election night 2016, the streets of the US have rung with resistance. People all over the country have woken up with the conviction that they must do something to fight inequality in all its forms. But many are wondering what it is they can do. In this ongoing “Interviews for Resistance” series, experienced organizers, troublemakers and thinkers share their insights on what works, what doesn’t, what has changed and what is still the same. Today’s interview is the 25th in the series. Click here for the most recent interview before this one.
Donald Trump’s latest executive order focuses on rolling back the climate protections that had been put in place toward the end of Barack Obama’s presidency. Key to that move was eliminating the Clean Power Plan — already a compromise that was far from enough to halt catastrophic warming. Jordan Estevao, a senior strategist at People’s Action, a network of community organizations in 30 states, has been organizing around a vision of climate justice that puts the most vulnerable communities at the center of the fight, and he spoke with me about the response to Trump’s cuts.
Sarah Jaffe: So, Donald Trump is trying to destroy the planet. Can you tell us what exactly his executive order on climate change was repealing?
Jordan Estevao: There are several regulations that he is attempting to overturn with this executive order, but the one that we are most interested in is the Clean Power Plan, which is the United States’ main contribution to the Paris Accords to reduce climate change. Every major emitter, including China, agreed to reduce carbon emissions by a certain amount in order to avoid catastrophe. The United States set a target…