There’s been a lot of buzz about the Green New Deal since members of the Sunrise Movement organized a sit-in outside Nancy Pelosi’s office in December. They were joined by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), which should come as no surprise to those that followed her primary campaign. As early as June 2017, she spoke of the importance of climate change and “switching our energy economy.” That same day, she pushed for a select committee on the Green New Deal, much to the shock and chagrin of older members of the House, who balked at the notion of a freshman changing the way things are done in Washington.

A mere month later, one cannot go a day without hearing about the Green New Deal, even on Fox News where it has been reduced to “banning cows and airplanes.” So what is it, exactly? For those who are interested in the full language of the document AOC released, I have transcribed the section that details the goals of the project below:

Click Here to Show the Full Details of the Green New Deal

*Transcribed from the original document, with some verb tense changes to make it more concise Repair and upgrade infrastructure in US and ensure that any new infrastructure bill addresses climate change Eliminate pollution and green house gas emissions as much as possible Guarantee universal access to clean water

Meet 100% of power demand through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources Expand and upgrade existing renewable power sources and deploy new capacity

Build or upgrade energy efficient distributed and smart power grids

Make affordable access to electricity available

Upgrade all existing buildings in the US and building new buildings to achieve maximal energy efficiency, water efficiency, safety, affordability, comfort, and durability

Spur growth in clean manufacturing, remove pollution, green house gas emissions, and expand renewable energy in existing manufacturing

Work with farmers and ranchers to eliminate pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector Support family farming Invest in sustainable farming and land use practices that increase soil health Build more sustainable food system ensuring universal access to healthy food

Overhaul transportation systems to eliminate pollution and greenhouse gas emissions Investment in zero emission vehicle infrastructure and manufacturing Clean, affordable, and accessible public transportation High speed rail

Mitigate the long term adverse health, economic, and other effects of pollution and climate change by providing funding for community-defined projects and strategies

Remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and reduce pollution through restoring natural ecosystems via proven low tech solutions that increase soil carbon storage such as preservation and afforestation

Restore and protect threatened, endangered, and fragile ecosystems through locally appropriate and science based projects that enhance biodiversity and support climate resiliency

Identify other emission and pollution sources and create solutions to eliminate them

Promote the international exchange of technology, expertise, products, funding, and services, with the aim of making the US the international leader on climate action and help other countries achieve their own Green New Deal

Develop Green New Deal through transparent and inclusive consultation, collaboration, and partnership with frontline and vulnerable communities, labor unions, worker cooperatives, civil society groups, academia, and businesses To Achieve the Green New Deal Goals and Mobilization, a Green New Deal Will Require the Following Goals and Projects: Provide and leverage in a way that ensure that the public receives appropriate ownership stakes and returns on investment, adequate capital (including through community grants, public banks, and other public financing), technical expertise, supporting policies, and other forms of assistance to communities, organizations, Federal, State, and local government agencies, and businesses working on the Green New Deal mobilization

Ensure that the Federal Government takes into account the complete environmental and social costs and impacts of emissions through Existing laws New policies and programs Ensuring that frontline and vulnerable communities shall not be adversely affected

Provide resources, training, and high quality education, including higher education, to all people of the US, with a focus on frontline and vulnerable communities, so those communities may be full and equal participants in the Green New Deal mobilization

Make public investments in the research and development of new clean and renewable energy technologies and industries

Direct investments to spur economic development, deepen, and diversify industry in local and regional economiies, and build wealth and community ownership, while prioritizing high quality job creation and economic, social, and environmental benefits in frontline and vulnerable communities that may otherwise struggle with greenhouse gas intensive industries

Ensure the use of democratic and participatory processes that are inclusive of and led by frontline and vulnerable communities and workers to plan, implement, and administer the Green New Deal mobilization at the local level

Ensure that the Green New Deal mobilization creates high-quality union jobs that pay prevailing wages, hires local workers, offers, training and advancement opportunities, and guarantees wage and benefit parity for workers affected by the transition

Guarantee a job with a family-sustaining wage, adequate family and medical leave, paid vacations, and retirement security to all people of the US

Strengthen and protect the right of all workers to organize, unionize, and collectively bargain free of coercion, intimidation, and harassment

Strengthen and enforce labor, workplace health and safety, antidiscrimination, and wage and hour standards across all employers, industries, and sectors

Enact and enforce trade rules, procurement standards, and border adjustments with strong labor and environmental protections To stop the transfer of jobs and pollution overseas To grow domestic manufacturing in the US

Ensure that public lands, waters, and oceans are protected and that eminent domain is not abused

Obtain the free, prior, and informed consent of indigenous people for all decisions that affect indigenous people and their traditional territories, honor all treaties and agreements with indigenous people, and protect and enforce the sovereignty and land rights of indigenous people

Ensure a commercial environment where every businessperson is free from unfair competition and domination by domestic or international monopolies

Provide all people of the US with High-quality health care Affordable, safe, and adequate housing Economic security Access to clean water, clean air, healthy and affordable food, and nature.



However, in summary, the Green New Deal is a proposal for a 10 year national mobilization effort to overhaul the energy economy through a combination of upgrading and expanding current energy infrastructure, as well as building new infrastructure. It involves research and development, working respectfully with indigenous and “frontline and vulnerable communities”, in other words women, elderly, homeless, youth, people with disabilities, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, and depopulated rural communities. The Green New Deal is bold in that it seeks to meet 100% of our power demand through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources, but it is also empathic in that it is pro worker, pro union, and seeks to guarantee not only a federal job with family and medical leave and paid vacation, but health care, housing, access to clean water, clean air, and food for all people of the US. Yes, it’s ambitious. But as JFK once said, “if not now, when? If not us, who?”

Currently, the Green New Deal is just a policy proposal or a “nonbinding resolution.” It does not detail particular legislation at this time. However, it may still be up for a vote in the Senate, as Mitch McConnell and the GOP intend to use a vote to ridicule Democrats for what they are painting as an attempt to take away cars, cows, and airplanes. While the resolution itself has no mention of this, they seized on a document released from AOC’s office in error, which does in fact address some of these concerns. The sensible interpretation is that AOC and her office were referring to reducing the harmful emissions of our current transportation system, rather than removing it entirely, which would be the most absurd proposition of the modern age. She has since joked on her twitter about how she likes visiting her family in Puerto Rico too much to ban airplanes. Furthermore, Mitch is seeking to take advantage of the disparity between progressives and centrists in the Democratic party by forcing Democrats to take a stance that might be at odds with AOC and other progressives supportive of the Green New Deal.

The good news is that recent polls show that 80% of registered voters support the Green New Deal, which means that yes, majorities in both parties support this resolution. That’s even more support than the 70% of Americans that support Medicare for All. While it’s possible that this could change, it’s promising, and certainly more unifying so far than any other policy proposals we’ve seen in a while.

Sources Not Linked in Post:

https://apps.npr.org/documents/document.html?id=5729033-Green-New-Deal-FINAL https://www.npr.org/2019/02/12/694060405/mcconnell-plans-to-bring-green-new-deal-to-senate-vote https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/403248-poll-seventy-percent-of-americans-support-medicare-for-all