Grand Rapids group hosting Green New Deal town hall

Wind turbine stock

Wind turbines dot the farmland in Tuscola County’s Gilford Township. (MLive file photo)MLive.com File Photo

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Supporters of the Green New Deal, an ambitious plan to invest in renewable energy and phase out fossil fuels, will host a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at Trinity United Methodist Church in Grand Rapids.

The meeting is being hosted by the Grand Rapids chapter of the Sunrise Movement, a grassroots group that wants to stop climate change and create jobs by upgrading the nation’s infrastructure.

“We want people to know this is possible, it’s out there, and there’s a lot of power in power of the people,” said Drew Stapleton, a Grand Rapids resident who’s helping organize and increase awareness of Thursday’s town hall.

The town hall will feature three speakers: Seth Barnard, an artist and community activist; Joel Campbell, a community organizer and activist with the Democratic Socialists of America; and David Benac, an associate professor of history at Western Michigan University who lost the 2018 Democratic primary for Michigan's 6th Congressional District.

The Green New Deal is a non-binding resolution introduced in October by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. As part of a 10-year “national mobilization” strategy, the plan calls for expanding and upgrading renewable energy sources, with the goal of meeting 100 percent of the county’s power demand through clean, renewable and zero-emission energy sources.

It also calls for investing in research and development of new clean and renewable energy technologies.

Stapleton, 28, said the event is expected to last about two hours. A news release promoting the event says that in addition to investment in renewable energy, speakers will also touch on the importance of building “safe water infrastructure.”

While the Green New Deal has drawn opposition, including from Republicans and the AFL-CIO union group, Stapleton says he believes the Green New Deal can become a reality.

“The bottom line is most Americans support legislation to fight climate change,” he said. “People are talking about this and I have a lot of faith.”

Trinity United Methodist Church is located at 1100 Lake Dr. SE.

The Sunrise Movement has held similar town hall events across the country and in Michigan, Stapleton said. In April, members of the group pushed for U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, to sign onto the Green New Deal.

A page on the Sunrise Movement’s website shows two members of Michigan’s congressional delegation have signed on as co-sponsors of the Green New Deal resolution: Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township, and Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit.

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