"Green New Deal" Calls for a Zero-Emission America by 2030

It’s Finally Here

The Green New Deal, the ambitious climate-change prevention overhaul of the U.S. economy introduced by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey, made its way to the internet on Thursday.

The Green New Deal (GND), which is not a bill in itself but rather a resolution for the government to craft new laws promoting clean energy, was published online along with an FAQ sheet that highlights some of the proposal’s broad strokes. Particularly striking: an ambitious call for America achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Moonshot

The GND calls for a nationwide effort to embrace renewable energy, stop burning fossil fuels, retrofit buildings to be eco-friendly, and invest in reforestation to provide the world with carbon sinks. It also includes plans to provide education and job training to those in the areas and lines of work most impacted by climate change.

In short, the Green New Deal involves overhauling the U.S. economy in a drastic push to end the country’s massive contribution to global climate change.

Nuts and Bolts

Some of the Green New Deal’s goals may be more ambitious than practical, like the part about planting enough trees to suck up the carbon from extant emissions or the proposal to develop a high-speed railway to replace the bulk of U.S. air travel.

As a result, some have called into question how feasible these goals may be. The GND, as it currently stands, lacks the specific, actionable proposals necessary to accomplish its goals in such a short amount of time.

But it is the most ambitious push for progressive, environment-saving policy to hit the mainstream — and enjoys a great deal of public support in a nation with leadership that’s reluctant to address damage caused by our changing climate. The nuts and bolts can come later.

More on climate change: Report: Unless we Make Drastic Changes, We’re Headed for Climate Catastrophe

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