Sunrise Movement (Statement of Support, Not Official Endorsement)
On the day originally scheduled for the Providence Ward 1 general election, we want to congratulate John Goncalves as the presumed incoming City Councilmember. We look forward to working with John, and the rest of the City Council, to create and implement a Green New Deal for our city.
The Green New Deal was a key element of John’s platform, and in talking to residents he stressed his commitment to halting all new fossil fuel projects and fighting against environmental injustice and racism in Providence. We especially appreciate John’s vision–informed by his experience as an educator–to work with universities, community colleges, and trade schools in Providence to develop training programs for the thousands of good, clean jobs the Green New Deal will create, and to ensure that fossil fuel industry workers are the first to receive this retraining and job placement.
As the COVID-19 crisis makes abundantly clear, our economy and society is deeply unequal and unjust. The Green New Deal is exactly the kind of recovery we need, and we are eager to fight alongside John to make it a reality.