The Green New Deal
- ywacc.ngo
- Jul 22, 2020
- 2 min read
Hi everyone! We are back from our little break and can’t wait to continue with our weekly posting schedule. Today’s post will dive a little into the current political climate and specifically discuss the Green New Deal that Biden recently endorsed.
So to start, what is the Green New Deal? The Green New Deal combines economic ideas from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal that struggled to bring America out of the Great Depression in the 1930s, with environmental justice as the means. This proposition is a package of United States legislature that was introduced by Senator Edward J. Markey in February of 2019. The New Deal is a congressional resolution to attempt to tackle and challenge issues of climate change and environmental justice. The Green New Deal also encompases matters related to socio-economic disparities and racial inequalities as well.
The proposed plan will certainly not be cheap. It is estimated to cost about $73 trillion US dollars, a number most people can not even comprehend. But the results will certainly outway the costs. Of course the environmental impact remains at the forefront, but it is also worthwhile to discuss the economic impact. The Green New Deal is estimated to create about 30 million jobs, especially for people of color who have been significantly impacted by environmental racism in this country. If you want to learn more about environmental racism and environmental justice, check out our last couple of blog posts.
The New Deal is often only endorsed by the left wing, take New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Democratic candidate Joe Biden for example. Republicans have voiced that the Green New Deal is a “socialist takeover” and refuse to seriously discuss issues of climate change, despite the growing threat to our planet.The annual rate of increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide over the past 60 years is about 100 times faster than previous natural increases, and the actions our actions are purely to blame. To quote Trump’s exact words about the Green New Deal, “Venezuela-style socialists are going to take away the American way of life – doesn’t work.” The fact that the president of the United States associates climate change with the American way of life, should be alarming and telling enough.
The Green New Deal and climate change should not be a political issue or an issue with a difference in opinions. The Green New Deal is based on scientific facts and data and we will pay the grave price if we do not change our actions quickly.
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