kers to take back power, leveraging their skills and collective power for a fossil fuel-free, labor-oriented future.
The numerous pieces of this puzzle are in place, ready to be connected to the greater climate and labor movements. Though decarbonizing and expanding bus transit is not a unilateral solution to the larger problem of fossil fuel infrastructure, it is one policy proposal that could meaningfully contribute to a larger plan for the just energy transition. The petroleum industry has posed a roadblock to progressive climate policy for long enough, and it’s time for Governor Brown to take climate action in line with science and justice, instead of continuing to issue new oil and gas extraction permits. Exxon and its capital may have Governor Brown’s ear at the moment, but the workers, marginalized and angry have the collective power to demand systemic reform in line with climate and labor justice.
Ishana Ratan is a PhD student at UC Berkeley. Her research interests focus on trade barriers and their role in the rapidly globalizing international economic landscape.