PEOPLE’S CLIMATE MOVEMENT
CORE TALKING POINTS
"To Change Everything, We Need Everyone, Everywhere!"
1. We need to take decisive action against climate change now.
● Manmade pollution has caused the Earth to warm, putting us and all future generations at
risk.
● We are the first generation to see the effects of climate disruption and the last generation
that can take action to solve it.
● We need our elected leaders and the private sector to step up and protect both people
and the planet from further harm.
● We can prevent the Earth from becoming uninhabitable for our children.
2. We demand a just transition to a clean energy economy and bold investment that will
address both the environmental degradation and the economic crisis that impacts so many
communities.
● A clean energy economy will provide new jobs and training for workers hardest hit in the
transition from fossil fuels.
● Dollar-for-dollar, clean energy technology creates three times as many jobs as fossil fuels,
and the wind and solar sectors are among the fastest growing in the economy.
● Investing in energy efficiency, clean energy technology, and sustainable infrastructure will
revitalize the manufacturing and construction.
● Politicians and the private sector must increase investments in clean energy jobs and job
training and they must do it now.
3. Climate change disproportionally impacts low-income people, workers, and communities of
color around the world.
 Low-income communities and developing nations are often hit hardest by the impacts of
pollution and climate change, while wealthy communities and nations disproportionately
contribute to the problem.
 Hurricane’s Katrina, Rita, Sandy and Irene cost billions of dollars and led to thousands of
deaths, overwhelmingly in low-income and working class communities and in communities
of color.
 Workers in a number of industries, from agriculture and ranching to recreation and
tourism, will experience job loss and more difficult working conditions as a result of climate
change.
 We must protect low-income and working class communities as well as communities of
color from the impact of environmental degradation while respecting the rights of
indigenous people and their communities.
4. We need to build a multi-sector broad-based movement.
● The climate action movement is growing and getting stronger every day.
● Climate change is too big for any one organization or sector to address alone – we must
build a multi-sector broad-based movement.
● Movement leadership must include leaders of communities most impacted by the climate
crisis, including front-line community members with a particular focus on young people of
color, other youth, and women.
● No matter where we call home, workers, farmers, parents, youth leaders, business owners,
interfaith leaders, indigenous communities, immigrants’ rights advocates, social justice
groups, and environmental activists understand that this fight belongs to all of us.