Share this on social media
Critics say the Green New Deal is too costly. Here’s the cost of the status quo.
(Nexus Media News, 5 Mar 2019) Taxpayers are spending billions subsidizing polluting industries.
To hear the Wall Street Journal columnist Kim Strassel tell it, the Green New Deal would spend trillions of dollars while eliminating jobs, travel, delicious food and family time.
The Green New Deal “means every Democrat in Washington will get to go on the record in favor of abolishing air travel, outlawing steaks, forcing all American homeowners to retrofit their houses, putting every miner, oil rigger, livestock rancher and gas-station attendant out of a job, and spending trillions and trillions more tax money,” Strassel wrote after progressive Democrats put forward a resolution calling for a bold plan to zero out U.S. carbon emissions. “No jet fuel, no trips to see granny…[The Democrats] may not prove able to eradicate ‘fully’ every family Christmas or strip of bacon in a decade, but that’s the goal.”
In the weeks since the introduction of the Green New Deal, much of the right-wing pushback has mirrored Strassel’s. Pundits have dismissed the projected costs and panicked that a shift to clean energy will eradicate the hallmarks of American life. A lot of this hysteria has been in bad faith, based not on the resolution, but on a tongue-in-cheek FAQ that has since been deleted.
Right-wing pundits worried about costly policies that threaten our quality of life might take a look at some of the laws that are already on the books. Taxpayers are currently spending billions to support industrial agriculture, incentivize pollution-intensive air travel, and keep fossil fuels in business. A Green New Deal might actually cut some costs while delivering cleaner energy and healthier food.
Nexus Media News, 5 Mar 2019: Critics say the Green New Deal is too costly. Here’s the cost of the status quo.
