Jay Inslee Isn't Going Away

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Jay Inslee is no Greta Thunberg. The 68-year-old governor of Washington state is a founding father of the climate movement, a man who speaks with the wonky wisdom of experience, not the moral outrage of a 16-year-old girl who sees her future stolen by greedy and corrupt politicians. And whereas Thunberg has inspired millions of activists to take to the streets, Inslee never rose above two percent in the polls during his short-lived campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. But in the long run, Inslee’s contribution to fighting the climate crisis may turn out to be as important as Thunberg’s.

He was the first serious presidential candidate in history to make it the central theme of his campaign. His six-part climate plan is by far the most ambitious and thoughtful road map to solving the crisis that has ever been put forward by a presidential candidate. It not only forced other Democrats to up their climate game, but large parts of it were immediately borrowed by other candidates, including Elizabeth Warren. So even if Inslee’s presidential campaign was a failure, his larger campaign to push U.S. climate politics to a new level of sophistication and ambition was a raging success, providing the policy DNA for the next generation of climate leaders.

I don’t think anyone in the climate movement expected a 16-year-old girl to galvanize millions of people. How do you explain the power of Greta Thunberg?

It’s quite a unique occurrence, when you think about social movements. Has there ever been a moment where one person captured the whole world? Gandhi caught one subcontinent. You might argue that Nelson Mandela caught the world’s heart, changed the course of history. In some sense, Greta’s in that realm because the movement she started is worldwide; it’s organic; it is based on a high moral sense of justice and a combination of undeniable, useful morality coupled with a sense of rage, which is justified and understandable. It’s a unique moment. The world is in peril. And being saved by children is maybe not such a bad thing.

-more-

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/jay-inslee-climate-plan-influence-902461/

[brer cat]

1. I didn't support Inslee for president

but I'm very glad he ran. He put climate change front and center where it needs to be.

[pscot]

2. Definitely not going away

Link to tweet

?s=20

[progree]

4. + + + Ha ha

[caraher]

3. I would like to see him address the Protectors of the Salish Sea

On one hand, it seems that what the group is demanding does exceed his powers. But on the other hand, showing up in person to address the group would bring attention to the issue and mitigate some of their criticisms of the governor.

At first, their presence drew the attention of police. On the first night of their demonstration, Indigenous activists like Wagner set up “tarpees” (described by the activists as teepeelike Indigenous structures) on the building’s steps. By the next morning, police had removed most of them.

But Wagner and a couple dozen other activists didn’t leave. They set up a campsite a few miles from the building and have continued to rally daily outside of the Capitol with signs (one read, “Jay Inslee, Your Words Are Empty”). Wagner, who is Saanich First Nations, leads Indigenous songs of prayer multiple times each day. He says he won’t leave until Gov. Jay Inslee responds to their demand to declare a climate emergency.

“Right now, we’re staring at the end of a livable future,” Wagner says. “We are here to stand in front of that destruction in a prayerful and good way.”

The demonstration began Sept. 24, when Wagner, other activists with the group Protectors of the Salish Sea and their supporters ended their 40-mile march from the site of a liquefied natural gas facility in Tacoma to Olympia, demanding that Inslee make the declaration. Since then, activists from all over the Pacific Northwest have congregated at the Capitol building for daily demonstrations.