The Green New Deal
Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't been writing for a while. I was getting ready for school and taking some writing time off. I'll try to be more consistent from here on out. In this blog post, I'll be giving you the facts about the Green New Deal, a very controversial piece of legislation that not a lot of people know about, which the infographic below highlights.
What is the Green New Deal?
The Green New Deal is a 10-year goal to mobilize every aspect of American society to 100% clean and renewable energy by 2050, a guaranteed living-wage job for anyone who needs one, and create economic prosperity. The Green New Deal is supported by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA).
Where did its name come from?
The Green New Deal takes its name from the New Deal launched by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to help the United States recover from the Great Depression by using public-work programs and financial reforms.
Five Main Goals of the Green New Deal
1. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid the worst consequences of climate change
2. Create high-paying jobs and ensure prosperity and economic security for all people of the United States.
3. Invest in the infrastructure and industry of the United States to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
4. Secure clean air and water, climate and community resilience, healthy food, and a sustainable environment for all.
5. Fix societal problems like economic inequality and racial injustice
What doesn't it say?
There is some confusion about what the Green New Deal says and doesn't say. AOC's office initially sent to reporters a fact sheet that included some controversial ideas, like guaranteeing economic security including to those “unwilling to work.” The Green New Deal calls on the federal government to make investments in policies and projects that would eventually change the way we design buildings, travel, and eat. Take cows as an example. To reduce methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that cows and other livestock emit, the resolution proposes “working collaboratively with farmers and ranchers in the United States to eliminate pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector as much as is technologically feasible.”
What are the costs?
President Trump claimed it would cost $100 trillion. Supporters of the Green New Deal say climate change could be equally costly to the American economy. Modernizing the electrical grid across the United States could cost as much as $476 billion, yet reap $2 trillion in benefits, according to a 2011 study issued by the Electric Power Research Institute. AOC has acknowledged that the Green New Deal is going to be expensive, but she hopes the plan will pay for itself through economic growth.
Critics haven't come up with alternative proposals yet, but some Republicans have called for a more technology oriented solution (3) to climate change. No critic has come up with an alternative that matches the scale of the Green New Deal, though.
Stay tuned for my next blog post!
Resources:
1. https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-resolution/109/text
2. http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Green-New-Deal-December-2018-2a.png
3. https://newconsensus.com/projects/green-new-deal
4. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/climate/green-new-deal-questions-answers.html
5. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/opinion/climate-carbon-tax-innovation.html
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