In 2014, the legendary activist, progressive movement strategist and long time California State Senator Tom Hayden (1939-2016), gave a poignent, moving and incredibly prescient address as part of a Climate Leadership symposium that Bioneers hosted. In his remarks, Hayden delves into the history of the New Deal, the movements and drivers that presaged its development and the pressing need for a modern version, a Green New Deal, to be enacted to deal with climate change, the major existential crisis of our time. Pointing out the progress that California has made in many arenas, Hayden outlines the need for a movement that takes the road of justice, serves the needs of communities of color and labor, and realigns the political parties away from the funding and influence of the fossil fuel industry.

Hayden begins his presentation at 5:09 in the video.

Introduction by Bioneers Co-Founder and CEO, Kenny Ausubel.

This speech was given at the 2014 California Climate Leadership Summit. Explore all the talks from the summit here or download the free California Climate Leadership e-book.

Visit the Bioneers Green New Deal Media Collection.