Centuries ago, I sat on the board of Vancouver City Savings Credit Union. Toward the end of my tenure, in the mid-1990s, we provided a significant amount of seed money to help get a brand-new, left-wing version of the Fraser Institute off and running.

It’s called the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives—an independent, nonpartisan research institute focused on social, economic and environmental justice.

For many, many years, I had the pleasure of sitting on the board of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives as the Vancity liaison.

I was so pleased recently to see that the CCPA had commissioned a poll on what kind of economic recovery British Columbians want to see post-pandemic. Now the results are in: an astounding 73 percentage of the respondents indicated they want to see “a more equitable and sustainable economy”.

If you want to see a real plan for a just and sustainable economic recovery, take a look south of the border at Joe Biden’s just-released plan for same.

I have long been a supporter of the Sunrise Movement, the hugely inspiring organization of young people in America who are determined to stop climate change and create good-paying jobs in the process. They were largely supportive of Bernie Sanders in both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns.

Now, the Sunrise Movement has come out very strongly in support of Joe Biden’s bold green economic recovery plan. They assess it as being more progressive and more substantive than even Bernie’s climate action plan in 2016.

Here are some highlights from this very ambitious $2-trillion, four-year plan, according to National Public Radio:

• Get to zero carbon pollution from the US electricity sector by 2035.
• Create millions of good, union jobs rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure.
• Shift major cities toward public transportation.
• Upgrade millions of buildings and homes to increase energy efficiency.

Bernie Sanders withdrew from the US 2020 presidential race much earlier than he did in 2016. This time, part of the deal with the Democratic Party was that he would be able to make significant contributions to the Democrats’ 2020 election platform. This bold, green economic plan is no doubt a result of that cooperative deal.

Look what good can come about when politicians abandon the kind of confrontational “my way or the highway” politics like we see way too much of lately, and collaborate for everyone’s benefit.

Sounds like a plan to me.

Daily atmospheric CO₂ [Courtesy of CO2.Earth]

Latest daily total (Jul. 20, 2020): 414.00 ppm

One year ago (Jul. 20, 2019): 412.2 ppm