The Green New Deal - Julia Podkovko, Daria Stepanova, 111i, KNEU

2. The Green New Deal is a
plan to fight climate change.
It would reduce greenhouse
gas emissions, cutting them
in half by 2030. That's what
it would take to limit global
warming to less than 2.7
degrees Fahrenheit by 2100.
It's the Paris
Agreement’s most ambitious
climate goal.

3. The Green New Deal also calls for the creation of millions of jobs to
provide a job guarantee to all Americans, along with access to nature,
clean air and water, healthy food, a sustainable environment, and
community resiliency.

4. The name reflects
President Franklin D.
Roosevelt's national New
Deal effort to combat
the Great Depression. It
created programs
to create jobs, support
farmers, and boost
manufacturing.

5. On Feb. 7, 2019, Representative
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-
N.Y.), and Representative
Edward Markey (D-Mass.),
introduced a five-page
nonbinding resolution to the
House. Sixty House members
endorsed the plan. So did four
Senate Democrats running for
president. That ensures that
solutions to climate change will
be a major issue in 2020.

6. • Shift 100% of national power generation to renewable sources.
• Build a national energy-efficient "smart" grid.
• Upgrade all buildings to become energy efficient.
• Decarbonize manufacturing and agricultural industries.
• Decarbonize, repair, and upgrade the nation's infrastructure, especially
transportation.
• Fund massive investment in the drawdown and capture of greenhouse gases.
Adopting these goals would make "green" technology, industry, expertise,
products, and services a major U.S. export. As a result, America could become
an international leader in helping other countries transition to completely carbon-
neutral economies.

8. • Providing investments and leveraging
funding to help communities affected
by climate change.
• Repairing and upgrading existing
infrastructure to withstand extreme
weather and ensuring all bills related
to infrastructure in Congress address
climate change.
• Investing in renewable power
sources.
• Investing in manufacturing and
industry to spur growth in the use of
clean energy

9. •Building or upgrading to
energy-efficient, distributed,
and “smart" power grids that
provide affordable electricity.
•Upgrading all existing
buildings and building new
ones so that they achieve
maximum energy efficiency,
water efficiency, safety,
affordability, comfort, and
durability.
•Supporting family farming,
investing in sustainable
farming, and building a more
sustainable and equitable food
system.

10. •Investing in transportation
systems, namely zero-emission
vehicle infrastructure and
manufacturing, public transit,
and high-speed rail.
•Restoring ecosystems through
land preservation, afforestation,
and science-based projects.
•Identifying unknown sources of
pollution and emissions.
•Working with the international
community on solutions and
helping them achieve Green
New Deals.

11. Businesses can create a
profitable competitive advantage by
adopting Green New Deal goals.
States, like California and Hawaii,
have already set goals to become
carbon-free. Nations are seeking to
meet their goals under the Paris
Climate Accord. As the price for wind
energy and solar power falls,
companies that source renewable
energy may be ahead of those that
don't.

12. • The Green New Deal funds new jobs,
including installing solar panels, retrofitting
coastal infrastructure, and manufacturing
electric vehicles. It asks for new trade rules to
stop "the transfer of jobs and pollution
overseas."
• It could make universal health care available.
It also advocates a universal basic income.
This is a government guarantee that each
citizen receives a minimum income. It pays
enough to cover the cost of living.

13. • Surprisingly, the Green New Deal does
not include a carbon tax or programs thst
raise the cost of carbon fuels, like
gasoline. That could hurt lower-income
families more, especially those in rural
areas who rely on an automobile. It was
one reason the "yellow vest" protesters in
France opposed a gas tax.
• It also does not ban fossil fuels. Similarly,
it doesn't exclude nuclear energy and
hydropower which are often opposed by
environmental groups.

14. • The term “Green New Deal” was first used by
Pulitzer Prize-winner Thomas Friedman in January
2007. America had just experienced its hottest year
on record (there have been five hotter since), and
Friedman recognized that there wasn’t going to be a
palatable, easy solution to climate change as
politicians hoped. It was going to take money, effort,
and upsetting an industry that has always been very
generous with campaign contributions.
• Transitioning away from fossil fuels, he argued in a
New York Times column, would require the
government to raise prices on them, introduce higher
energy standards, and undertake a massive industrial
project to scale up green technology.

15. • Since then, “Green New Deal” has been used
to describe various sets of policies that aim to
make systemic change. The United Nations
announced a Global Green New Deal in
2008. Former President Barack Obama added
one to his platform when he ran for election
in 2008, and Green party candidates, such as
Jill Stein and Howie Hawkins, did the same.
• The Green New Deal was first introduced in
the 2016 presidential election by Jill Stein,
the candidate for the Green Party. It
committed to 100% renewable energy by
2030, costing $200 billion. It would create a
Renewable Energy Administration to create
up to 20 million new green-centered jobs. It
also included free education through college.

16. The Green New Deal is a big part of policy
debates in the country today largely due to the
remarkable ascent of Rep. Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman to be
elected to the House of Representatives
and already a favorite to run for president in
2024.Her ambitious and wide-ranging
proposal, which was a centerpiece of her
campaign, addresses an issue 60% of
Americans say is already affecting their local
community and promises to tackle economic
inequality through the creation of high-quality
union jobs. The Green New Deal has also
been helped by a grassroots outfit called
the Sunrise Movement.

17. • There are 111 members of
Congress who support the
proposal for a Select Committee
for a Green New Deal.
• There are hundreds of groups that
support the Green New Deal. One
of the most visible is the Sunrise
Movement. It focuses on stopping
climate change. Another supporter
is MN350, a Minnesota-based
global movement aiming to
spread awareness and education
on climate change.

18. • Republicans oppose the Green New
Deal. Republicans will argue that it will
increase the debt. But they have
overseen growing deficits, some of
which resulted from Trump's tax cut.
There are even moderate Democrats
who don't believe the plan is necessary.
• Physicist Christopher Clack estimates
constructing new generation would cost
at least $2 trillion. Others warn that it
would plunge the world into a second
Great Depression.

19. Other opponents accuse the
Green New Deal of ushering
in socialism because it
advocates universal education.
Some warn that it wants to get
rid of cows because they emit
methane. Still, others conclude
that the plan will end auto and
air travel because of CO2
emissions.

20. • A common rebuttal to opponents from
supporters of the Green New Deal is
that although it will be expensive to
implement, not doing so will be more
expensive in the long run.
• Over the past decade, the federal
government has spent $350 billion due
to extreme weather and fire events,
according to a 2017 report by the U.S.
Government Accounting Office. But it
will only get uglier, according to
experts.

21. Made by Yulia Podkovko and Daria Stepanova 111i