What You Need to Know About the Green New Deal

The words, “New Deal," seem to transport me back to my high school history class in which we would discuss the Great Depression and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s attempt at economic recovery. These words have recently resurfaced. The term “Green New Deal" first began to circulate starting in 2007 with journalist Thomas Friedman’s use of the phrase in his articles in The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine. The term is based on Franklin D. Roosevelt’s series of initiatives and public works projects that sought reform and offered steps to move forward after the Great Depression.

The Green New Deal and its predecessor, the New Deal, are similar to the in the sense that they both are aimed at creating programs to boost the economy; the main difference lies in the way the Green New Deal attempts to do so. The programs implemented in the Green New Deal aim to achieve economic efficiency while working towards making the United States a “zero-emission" country.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a newly elected congresswoman from New York. She proved to be incredibly popular with young voters in the polls. Following the 2016 election, the movement of The Green New Deal began to grow in the democratic platform. After her election to Congress in January, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (often referred to as AOC) presented a resolution which received support from many of her colleagues and demanded the attention of the press.

On February 7, Representative AOC along with Democratic Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts submitted a fourteen-page resolution that represents the ideals of the Green New Deal. This resolution attempts to establish a “living" wage as well as universal healthcare. We can expect to see a lot more coverage of this resolution in the coming weeks. It is exciting to hear the possibility of legislature that could have lasting impacts on the welfare of many Americans.

There is a bipartisan appeal to the deal as well. Many Republicans can get behind the investments in infrastructure this deal offers. Democrats are in support of the creation of more jobs for the middle and lower classes that this bill would bring as well as the clean air and water portion of the deal.

Many who are in opposition (both Democrats and Republicans) believe that the deal would be far too expensive. There are also arguments that it would hurt the farming industry by requiring companies to abide by low emission standards, driving up costs of production and in turn driving up the cost of many products consumers can find in a grocery store.

Senator Mitch McConnell believes that voting on the resolution in the Senate will stop the momentum in which the bill had been receiving. Many Democrats have been pushing to hold the vote on this deal until 2021 with the hopes that they will receive a majority in the House and the Senate. It is not yet known when the vote will take place but it is deemed to be unlikely to pass under a Republican-held Senate in conjunction with a Trump presidency.

There are concerns with the resolution due to the cost for the average household to become a “zero-emission" nation. Many believe these concerns are outweighed by the benefits it will have on our country, but the consensus is still up in the air. The big takeaway is that there are many incredibly important issues being discussed in this resolution and bringing them to the forefront of the discussion is an important step forward. Whether or not this resolution passes, the topics and discussions brought about will be paramount for the many other issues relating to working-class Americans.