Green New Deal

The Green New Deal (GND) is a socialist manifesto that seeks to fundamentally “transform America." Important details on how a transition of the GND’s magnitude will occur are missing, including how we will pay for this pie in the sky aspiration. The GND attacks American jobs and our way of life.While many of the mandates found in the GND are laughable, this dangerous proposal must be treated seriously given 16 declared and potential Democratic candidates for President and more than 100 Members of Congress have cosponsored or endorsed this proposal.

•  H.Res.109, by Democrat Socialist Ocasio-Cortez, is a bill that seeks to implement the GND.
•  The bill calls for a 10-year national, social, industrial and economic mobilization effort.
•  Proponents of the GND want all American power to come from wind, solar and batteries.
• GND footprint is large as solar & wind power need 90-100 times more space than gas.
• GND proponents want to eliminate use of hydropower, nuclear, oil, natural gas & coal.
• All gas & diesel vehicles to be replaced by electric vehicles, mass transit & high-speed trains.
• Upgrading & replacing every home & building will cost $2.5 trillion in the first 10 years.
• Rail has to be laid in a straight line. Eminent domain would be used on a massive scale.
• The GND includes an expensive job guarantee.
• The GND includes an expensive housing guarantee.
• The GND includes an expensive health care guarantee.
• The GND includes an expensive education guarantee.
• The cost of the GND health care guarantee is $32 trillion in the first 10 years alone.
• The GND will cost American households $65,000 annually.
• The GND is projected to cost $93 trillion in the first 10 years alone.
• Achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions will cost $11 trillion in the first 10 years.
• Americans will spend $155.5 billion to replace furnaces & $11.9 billion to replace gas dryers.
• Americans will spend $50 billion to replace water heaters & $26 billion to replace stoves.
  
• The GND will cause significant harm to our health care, transportation, energy & agricultural sectors.
• The GND will significantly increase taxes for all Americans.
• The GND seeks to authorize the government to control every aspect of our lives.
• The GND aims to replace planes & combustion engines with electric cars, rail & transit.
• If the $77 billion bullet train can’t connect LA & Bay, high-speed rail can't connect rural America.
• Rep. Ocasio-Cortez attacked agriculture, cows, planes and hamburgers in pushing the GND.
• Ocasio-Cortez also questioned if people should have kids due to future environmental disasters.
  
• A carbon tax could end up being included in the Green New Deal.
• Ocasio-Cortez proposed economic security for all, including those unable or unwilling to work
• The GND has no plan for the trash that will result from millions of appliances, buildings & batteries.
• Nothing in the GND specifies how this legislation will actually be paid for.
• The GND includes a liberal trade regime.
  
• The GND will kill 10.3 million O&G jobs, 600K aviation jobs, 1.4 million hyrdro jobs, 100,000 nuclear jobs, 50,000 coal jobs.
• Click here to read the Green New Deal FAQs Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's office provided to NPR.
• Click here to read Green New Deal FAQ’s posted on Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's website that was deleted.

• Ban plastic straws.
• Ban hydraulic fracturing.
• Reinstate Obama Admin's Land and Water Grab (WOTUS Rule).
• Reinstate Obama Admin's attack on baseload energy (So-called 'Clean Power Plan').
  
• End oil exports.
• End leases on federal lands.
• Ban groundwater irrigation by large-scale agribusiness.
• Reduce current farming practices and land use by 70% by 2050.
• Spend a lot of money on pedestrian travel, bicycle travel and mass transit.
• Allow zero-net waste by 2040.
• Attract new Democratic voters.

• Green New Deal Costs
• Green New Deal Environmental Impacts
• Green New Deal Property Rights & Eminent Domain
• Green New Deal Jobs Impacts
  
• Green New Deal Transportation Impacts
• Green New Deal Energy Impacts
• Green New Deal Agriculture Impacts
  
• Green New Deal Socialism
• Green New Deal Democrat Supporters
• Western Caucus Alternative Vision
  

The February 27, 2019 Western Caucus Policy Forum and Press Conference provided the first in-depth public review of the Green New Deal (GND) by Congress and closely examined this proposal in order to gain a better understanding of its details and implications. Members of the Western Caucus and outside witnesses were adamant that a transition of this magnitude cannot occur in 10 years, expressed concern about the estimated $93 trillion cost of the Green New Deal and other mandates that will be imposed on American families, and made clear that the Green New Deal is a Trojan Horse for socialism that will have significant negative impacts on jobs, society, the environment, the economy, as well as on our agriculture, energy and transportation sectors.

All members of the Western Caucus, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and all cosponsors of H.Res.109, as well as outside organizations on both sides of this issue were invited to participate in this forum (Witness list below). Rep. Ocasio-Cortez initially accepted the invite and RSVP'd for the event prior to cancelling the day before forum.

More about Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's no show HERE. 

More pictures from the forum and press conference can be found HERE.

• Michael Zehr, Federal Policy Advisor, Consumer Energy Alliance (Testimony)
  

• Myron Ebell, Director of Global Warming and International Environmental Policy, Competitive Enterprise Institute (Testimony)
  

• Katie Tubb, Policy Analyst for energy and environmental issues, Heritage Foundation (Testimony)

• Rick Manning, President, Americans for Limited Government (Testimony)
  

• Mandy Gunasekara, Founder & President, Energy 45 Fund (Testimony)
  
  
• Marc Morano, Director of Communication, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) (Testimony)
  

• Dr. David Legates, Professor of Climatology, University of Delaware (Testimony)
  

• Thomas Pyle, President, American Energy Alliance (Testimony)
  

• Bill Imbergamo, Federal Forest Resource Coalition (Testimony)
  
  
• Demond Drummer,Co-founder and Executive Director of New Consensus (Invited)
  
  
• Sierra Club (Declined)
  
  
• Sunrise Movement (Invited)
  
  
• Paul Krugman (Invited)
  
  
• Laborers' International Union of North America (Declined) Provided previous Statement

Select Quotes from Witness Testimony at the Green New Deal Forum:

Michael Zehr, Consumer Energy Alliance:

"American consumers need practical energy solutions that come from our nation’s existing mix of affordable energy resources. As it stands, the Green New Deal does not offer cost-efficient or sustainable solutions for hardworking families and businesses across our country." Mr. Zehr also testified that the Green New Deal is estimated to cost hard-working Americans $155.5 billion to replace furnaces, $50 billion to replace water heaters, $11.9 billion to replace gas dryers and $26 billion to replace stoves." 

Mandy Gunasekara, Energy 45 Fund:

"The only thing serious about the Green New Deal is how dangerous it really is for the nation. For those willing to set aside politics, Congress has an opportunity to work collaboratively with President Trump and focus on solutions that enhance market-driven innovations without limiting our position as an energy superpower. Our entire economy is built on successful production, efficient development and affordable use of fossil-based energy resources. The path of the future is not to shut off use of these resources, but to continue to develop them in the cleanest, most efficient way possible and then share these innovations with the world."

Katie Tubb, The Heritage Foundation:

"The ‘Green New Deal’ resolution is filled with lessons. It is exactly how not to successfully enact desperately needed infrastructure investment. It is exactly how not to enact a progressive agenda to address our nation’s dangerous income inequality. And it is exactly how not to win support for critical measures to curb climate change… According to the resolution, a ‘Green New Deal’ would require every car to be electric-powered and ban all fossil fuels, among other proposals. It is difficult to take this unrealistic manifesto seriously, but the economic and social devastation it would cause if it moves forward is serious and real."

Bill Imbergamo, Federal Forest Resource Coalition

"Solely focusing on reforestation as the Green New Deal does largely misses the mark if your goal is to increase carbon sequestration, storage, or emissions reduction from our public forests.The best way to accomplish that is to actively manage the portions of the National Forests that are open to management – a relatively small percentage compared to the 36 million acres of wilderness and nearly 60 million acres of roadless lands. By harvesting trees, you can store carbon in long-lasting wood products, or displace fossil fuels through renewable biomass, and reestablish fast growing young trees that can suck up even more carbon. If you do it before fires burn, you can improve wildlife habitat and protect water quality in the process."

Rick Manning, Americans For Limited Government:

"Socialism is always a failure. It deprives people of freedom, choice, property and opportunity. The Green New Deal is nothing more or less than a new rationale for a failed government system that has always resulted in enslavement and deprivation of the people — and it must be rejected."

Marc Morano, Director of Communication, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow:

"The environmental Left has been using green scares to push for the same solutions we see today — wealth redistribution, central planning, sovereignty limiting treaties — since the overpopulation scars of the 1960s and 1970s."

Dr. David Legates, Professor of Climatology, University of Delaware:

"The New Green Deal is not about stopping climate change. Climate always changes and always will. The United States has cut back on greenhouse gas emissions by about 13% since 2005 to virtually no effect. The net effect of reducing the United States carbon dioxide emissions by 80% by 2050 will only have an effect of lowering global averaged temperature by 0.1 degrees Celsius in 2100. Even reduction by 100% will have little effect on the climate, but the policies proposed by the New Green Deal would make Karl Marx proud. But realize this; any draconian changes such as these would necessarily change our fundamental way of life."


Thomas Pyle, American Energy Alliance:

"For nearly a decade now, the United States, long blessed with vast natural resources, has benefited from the greatest energy expansion in the history of the world. Our energy producers have delivered the low cost, affordable and reliable energy that has fueled economic growth and opportunity for all Americans, no matter their race, sex, creed, or color. We have drilled our way to prosperity here at home and, as this energy revolution continues, the U.S. will lift millions of people out of energy poverty around the globe. The reason the Green New Deal is so dangerous is because it threatens the lifeblood of our economy and our way of life. The Green New Deal, put simply, is politically impossible, technologically infeasible, and economically illogical."


Myron Ebell, Competitive Enterprise Institute:

"The Green New Deal is neither green, nor particularly new, and is about as bad a deal as can be imagined. Its name hearkens back to the romantic memories many Americans have of the New Deal. The New Deal of the 1930s was a series of relatively modest ad hoc programs intended to put people back to work and lift the economy out of the Depression. But the Green New Deal is much more ambitious than the New Deal."

What Opponents Are Saying About the Green New Deal

• "The green dream, or whatever they call it, nobody knows what it is, but they're for it, right?" Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Politico 2/7/19.
  
  
• "What in the heck is this?" Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin on MSNBC’s Morning Joe 2/20/19.
  
  
• "We can’t green the economy without the power of the free-market system." Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) in Roll Call 2/21/19.
  
  
• "I think the Green New Deal would be loser. There’s an argument that you don’t destabilize a society by doing too much change at once." Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) to CNBC 2/19/19.
  
  
• "The ‘Green New Deal’ resolution released today is filled with lessons. It is exactly how not to successfully enact desperately needed infrastructure investment. It is exactly how not to enact a progressive agenda to address our nation’s dangerous income inequality. And it is exactly how not to win support for critical measures to curb climate change… According to the resolution, a ‘Green New Deal’ would require every car to be electric-powered and ban all fossil fuels, among other proposals. It is difficult to take this unrealistic manifesto seriously, but the economic and social devastation it would cause if it moves forward is serious and real." Terry O’Sullivan, General President of the Laborers’ International Union of North America in press release 2/7/19.

• "An aspirational climate policy wish list." Democratic Socialist Ryan Cooper in The Week 2/13/19. 
  
  
• "A needlessly long wish list." The New York Times’ David Leonhardt 2/13/19.
  
  
• "An untrammeled Dear Santa letter without form, purpose, borders, or basis in reality," National Review’s  Charles C. W. Cooke 2/12/19.
  
• It "overreaches in its desire to deliver a raft of expensive new entitlements -- guaranteed jobs, benefits, health care, housing, education, income and more." Bloomberg Opinion columnist Noah Smith 2/12/19.
  
• "Other aspects of the Green New Deal seem wildly out of place for an environmental resolution. Consider the promise of massive new entitlement programs that could only be achieved through a radical redistribution of wealth. Here, the proposal shows its true colors. This is not some run-of-the-mill progressive policy – it is a Trojan Horse for socialism." President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Thomas J. Donohue in Above the Fold 2/18/19.
  
• "It’s just impracticable." President Obama’s Secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz on NPR 2/7/19.
  

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today,members of the Western Caucus released statements denouncing the unveiling of the Green New Deal by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and Senator Ed Markey (MA):

Chairman Paul Gosar (AZ-04): "The Green New Deal is another climate change, socialist pipedream that attacks American jobs and our way of life. This extreme proposal revealed today seeks to end domestic flights on airplanes, remove non-electric vehicles from our streets, give more money to those that are unwilling to work, put union bosses in charge of all new energy jobs, eliminate nuclear power and fossil fuels, get rid of cows, as well as provide universal healthcare, housing and education. Democrat socialists made clear today that they want to use climate change as a means to abolish capitalism and implement massive taxation, expropriation and government control. This bill and the accompanying FAQs page are so detached from reality that they are already trying to blame ‘farting cows and airplanes’ for unrealistic emissions goals 10 years away. The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money. The problem with the Green New Deal is that the sun doesn’t always shine, the wind doesn’t always blow and with a nearly $22 trillion debt, we don’t have any more money to borrow to pay for this exorbitant fantasy."

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Republican Rob Bishop (UT-01): "We have yet to see any practical details of how a Green New Deal would operate. The original New Deal did not work until World War Two started and hopefully the historical precedent will not be replicated with the Green New Deal. I guess I need to start looking at cutting back on my air travel now as well as curtailing other daily activities like eating hamburgers. Energy innovation and American ingenuity have allowed our country to become a global leader, but also a leader in carbon reduction. Our unmatched free markets will keep the United States at the front of the pack. However, the Green New Deal is a socialist superpackage that could end up bringing a negative impact on jobs without any positive impact on global temperatures. I hope I wake up out of this twilight zone."

Executive Vice-Chairman Scott Tipton (CO-03): "The Green New Deal is so extreme and poorly thought out that even Speaker Pelosi dismissed it. At a time when U.S. carbon emissions are falling due to market-driven innovation and technological advances, while emissions from countries like China are once more on the rise, the last thing we should do is consider policies that would kill at least one million American energy jobs, put our entire electric grid at risk, completely stifle U.S. innovation, and impose a massive tax increase on hardworking Americans. Instead, we must focus on planning for our future energy needs and implementing an all-of-the-above approach that includes responsible development of all energy resources using the most efficient and modern technological advantages available."

Vice-Chairman for Indian Affairs and Oceans Don Young (AK-At Large): "I have fought for decades to secure the rights of Alaskans to develop energy on their lands as they see fit. Not only will this Green New Deal raise costs and reduce access to the vital energy sources Alaskans depend on, it will also eliminate good paying jobs and limit opportunities for Alaska’s next generation. Alaskans are both responsible energy developers and good stewards of the environment, and a Green New Deal simply won’t work here."

Chief Infrastructure and Forestry Officer Bruce Westerman (AR-04): "Democrats’ Green New Deal is neither green nor a deal. Its provisions would be more aptly represented by the bright red color of socialism, and the resolution is nothing more than a federal overreach and an untenable PR stunt. The most environmentally powerful tools we have are vast forest lands that clean our air, filter our water and provide critical wildlife habitat. Instead of spending our time on extremist roadblocks, why don’t we apply sound science to make our existing forest lands green, vibrant and resilient?"

Chief Regulatory Reform Officer Andy Biggs (AZ-05): "The Democrats’ Green New Deal takes us further to the left of President Obama’s prior war on American energy production. For too many years, the energy industry has faced duplicative and unnecessary regulations that have killed jobs, limited innovation, and resulted in higher energy costs for Arizona families. Thankfully, the Trump administration has reversed much of this overreaching executive action. America must only pursue conservative, free-market solutions that will renew faith in American ingenuity and technological development. To my Democrat colleagues who are endorsing the Green New Deal: I echo President Trump’s statement from the State of the Union Address: 'America will never be a socialist country.'"

Chief Agriculture and Business Officer Doug LaMalfa (CA-01): "The Green New Deal is so far out of touch with reality, it cannot possibly be taken seriously. The same plan that proposes upgrading or replacing every single building in the country also seeks to eliminate air travel entirely – a trillion dollar industry that employs millions across the country – in favor of high speed rail. The costs associated with this plan would be completely unreachable. Eliminating nuclear power, as this plan proposes, would remove one of our cleanest and most dependable energy sources and would likely lead to increased emissions. This proposal legitimately suggests that we ‘get rid of farting cows’. This isn’t a serious attempt at creating policy or solving problems."

Chief Rules Officer Dan Newhouse (WA-04): "The Green New Deal framework released today demonstrates a polarizing approach to reduce the United States’ carbon emissions that should not be taken seriously by this Congress or by our global partners in this important effort. It is outrageous to put forth objectives like eliminating the U.S. airline industry, which accounts for 10 million American jobs, or upgrading and replacing every building the United States when our existing infrastructure is already crumbling – especially when the framework calls for ‘massive’ government funding and discourages the private sector investment. As a farmer, I believe we have to be responsible stewards of our land and practice conservation efforts wherever possible. However, attempting to convert to 100% clean and renewable energy sources by ignoring the benefits of nuclear power and without any mention of hydropower, which currently generates about 70% of the renewable and affordable electricity in Central Washington, is not the approach we should be taking."

Republican Study Committee Chairman Mike Johnson (LA-04):"The United States is on a path to energy dominance where our reliance on foreign nations has been reduced and our economy has benefited from a bigger presence in the global market. The so-called ‘Green New Deal,’ would destroy that progress and send America backwards. On top of that, the proposal has the potential to completely eliminate sectors of industry and cost millions of hardworking Americans their jobs. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so terrifying. Republicans have real solutions to help reduce pollution and improve air and water quality that don’t require blowing up the economy and causing millions of people to suffer."

Rep. Ken Calvert (CA-42): "Socialism disguised as radical environmentalism is still socialism. As Democrats admit, the Green New Deal seeks a ‘massive transformation’ of America. The proposal would expand the reach, size and cost of our federal government to levels that would leave our Founding Fathers rolling in their graves. The only conceivable way to fund the Democrat’s Green New Deal government-state is through tax increases on all Americans, including the middle-class. Green New Deal supporters acknowledge it will likely require a carbon tax and that even if they took the revenues of every billionaire and business in the country, it would not be sufficient to fund the plan. If Speaker Pelosi brings the Green New Deal to the House floor, I will proudly vote against this socialist fever dream."

Rep. Ron Estes (KS-04): "The Green New Deal is a massive government takeover of every facet of our lives. This proposal is anything but serious and exposes the priorities of those bent on increasing taxes and expanding the size of government to impose an agenda on every American family, farm and business. Kansans know how to protect our environment and quality of life without being told what to do by government officials in Washington, D.C. and I stand with them in opposing this bill."

Rep. Louie Gohmert (TX-01): "If you need any more proof that these climate change proposals are a complete farce, look no further than the Green New Deal’s plan to eliminate air travel within 10 years. The Democrat leaders in the House and Senate include some of the most frequent fliers anywhere and are chauffeured about in massive SUVs. Perhaps it would be more accurate for them to just come on out and boldly say what they really believe: The Green New Deal should help make the U.S. a socialist country where the poor suffer and only the liberal, self-crowned socialist leaders are allowed to use massive quantities of carbon fuel in planes and big SUVs."

Rep. Morgan Griffith (VA-09): "The framework of the Green New Deal is a radical reshaping of American society in the name of utopian environmental policy. Although the proposals right now are vague and poorly reasoned, their aims are clear: if implemented, they would decimate industries, jack up prices for consumers, and take away choices that rightfully belong to the people of this country. We can care for the environment, reduce carbon emissions, and improve air and water quality without subjecting the country to this disastrous concept."

Rep. Jeff Duncan (SC-03): "The Democrats apparently weren’t listening when President Trump said we would never be a socialist nation. The plan includes proposals like working towards eliminating air travel, to rebuilding every building in the United States, to a complete takeover of massive sectors of our economy. It is one disastrous, radical leap to have the government control every aspect of our lives. This socialist agenda is completely out of step with the American people, and will never have a place in our country. It’s not going to happen."

Rep. Brian Babin (TX-36): “Over the last century we’ve seen socialist governments around the world make the same empty promises of unlimited peace and prosperity if only their citizens would relinquish control of their affairs. The result has inevitably been the same: barren fields, crumbling infrastructure, broken economies, oppressed peoples, and, eventually, fleeing populations. This proposal, as grand in its scope as it absent in its specifics, betrays a shocking naivety and a total absence of understanding of basic economic principles and even our electric grid and infrastructure. Most importantly, the authors of this proposal fail to appreciate the love that the American people share for their freedom. They will never stand for such a radical socialistic restructuring of our economy, and it must be strongly rejected.”

Rep. Markwayne Mullin (OK-02): "The Green New Deal is socialism in its purest and most dangerous form. America is great because we believe in the exact opposite of what it stands for. As energy policy, it is so unrealistic it’s laughable. It manipulates the American consumer with claims of saving the world when it reality, it’ll do nothing but jack up their electricity costs and replace good energy jobs with senseless government jobs. The Green New Deal is reckless, expensive, and quite frankly—impossible."

Rep. Kelly Armstrong (ND-At Large): "The Green New Deal is a raw deal for North Dakota and all of America. It’s a ridiculous proposal from beginning to end – from upgrading or replacing every building in the country to eliminating gas engines. North Dakota grows the world’s food and produces the world’s energy, providing good-paying jobs and an honorable way of life to tens of thousands of Americans. This proposal would end North Dakota’s economy as we know it."

Rep. Duncan Hunter (CA-50): "We were elected to preserve and defend freedom, not be the means by which Americans have it taken away."

Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21): "What are House Democrats asking for in the Green New Deal?

•Mandatory rebuilding of most building in the United States
•Get rid of almost all engines currently in use
•Eliminate air travel
•Eliminate our current cheap energy sources
•Free everything
•Punishing taxes
•Mandatory union membership

All these requests (and there are more) will explode the national debt and tank the nation’s economy. While this seems like a completely reasonable agenda if you are Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, the American people can do better.”


Background:

Today, the framework of the Green New Deal was unveiled at a press conference with Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Senator Markey (MA) and a few of their colleagues.

Click here to read "an updated version" of the Green New Deal FAQs Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's office provided to NPR.

A screenshot of the blog post with Green New Deal FAQ’s posted on Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's website that has gone missing can be viewed here.

This sentence was contained in Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's FAQs page:
“We set a goal to get to net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast…”

Courtesy of the House Republican Conference

This week, Democrats really out did themselves by introducing a resolution that outlines the largest federal spending program and government expansion this country has yet to see—the Green New Deal.

Let’s be clear, the Green New Deal is a trojan horse for socialism. This resolution makes promises of new jobs, free college, and prosperity while calling for policies that we know will bankrupt our economy, destroy jobs, impede innovation in the free-market, and destabilize our great nation. The Green New Deal expands federal bureaucrats power far beyond the limits set forth in the Constitution costing Americans not only their hard-earned wages, but their civil liberties as well.

The Green New Deal would:

• Intertwine the federal government in every aspect of our daily lives,
• Overhaul American energy, manufacturing, and transportation sectors,
• Jeopardize jobs and take-home income of hundreds of thousands of Americans,
• Expand the power of federal bureaucrats far beyond what our Founding Fathers ever intended,
• Impede the energy efficiency and carbon capture research and development industry has invested in, moving America further away from our emission goals,
• Destabilize our electric grid and energy dominance and independence compromising our national security, and
• Undermine federalist principles our nation was built upon.

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