The climate crisis is our third world war. It needs a bold response. Critics of the Green New Deal ask if we can afford it. But we can’t afford not to: our civilisation is at stake
- Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize Winning Economist
This article presents an overview of two progressive Green New Deal policies from Europe and the US, and draws a comparison with conservative policy - Carbon Dividend which is not a Green New Deal but shares many of the core pillars. The policy which has received the most attention from lawmakers and closest to becoming law is the Green Deal for Europe from the EU commission, which shares some but not all features from the Green New Deal for Europe (which was drafted by an NGO coalition). Further reading references are presented at the end of this article by popular authors who have written extensively on the subject.
What is a Green New Deal?
A Green New Deal is a progressive stimulus program that matches the scale of the challenge of transitioning the economy away from fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are such an integral part of the way that modern economies operate that the business-as-usual incremental reform approach to policymaking will not be sufficient to achieve the scientific requirements to limit warming to <1.5C. The scale and speed of what is required is a challenge not faced in modern times. The prospects of such rapid changes may appear threatening and what scientists are saying is that some industries and businesses are not climate compatible and should cease to exist. Such disruption must be managed, and the cost of this disruption should not shift to those least responsible on the front line communities and in the working class. Progressive and redistributive policies ensure that the transition is just and equitable and progress is still maintained on eliminating poverty and improving public welfare. Such large scale state directed initiatives are also opportunities to make over-due investments in infrastructure, education, public health and social services.
Green New Deal for Europe
EU Commission - Green Deal https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/european-green-deal-communication_en.pdf
1 MEETING THE SCALE OF THE CHALLENGE
The science is clear: We must limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees and reverse the collapse of our ecosystems, or risk it all.
2 PRESSING IDLE RESOURCES INTO PUBLIC SERVICE
The Green New Deal calls on public institutions to drive the economic and ecological transformation. The burden of our transition should not fall on the shoulders of working families.
3 EMPOWERING CITIZENS & THEIR COMMUNITIES
Europe’s green transition will not be top-down. It must empower citizens and their communities to make the decisions that shape their future.
4 GUARANTEEING DECENT JOBS
The Green New Deal for Europe provides a decent job to all those who seek one.
5 RAISING THE STANDARD OF LIVING
The Green New Deal for Europe lifts all communities towards greater prosperity, security and liberty.
6 ENTRENCHING EQUALITY
The Green New Deal combats financialization and entrenches equality at the heart of Europe.
7 INVESTING IN THE FUTURE
The Green New Deal is more than an environmental adjustment programme. It is an investment in the future of our societies, and an opportunity to reimagine it.
8 ENDING THE DOGMA OF ENDLESS GROWTH
We must abandon GDP growth as the primary measure of progress. Instead, we need to focus on what matters: health, happiness and the environment.
9 SUPPORTING CLIMATE JUSTICE AROUND THE WORLD
The environmental crisis is global in scope, and the Green New Deal must be, too. Europe must support others in combating environmental destruction and the supply chains that power Europe’s green transition must be grounded in principles of justice.
10 COMMITTING TO ACTION TODAY
The Green New Deal is not a framework, a treaty or an agreement. It is a set of concrete actions that move us quickly towards our climate goals.
Green New Deal
Bernie Sanders US Presidential campaign position
Bernie Sanders presented his Green New Deal plan as part of his campaign for US President in 2020. The themes in Bernie's plan are similar to the European Green New Deal such as meeting the scale of the problem with ambitions emissions reduction targets, federal jobs guarantee, public works programs, investing in ecosystem services and conservation, renewable energy investments and phase out of the sunset industries.
Transform Our Energy System to 100 Percent Renewable Energy and Create 20 Million Jobs
End the Greed of the Fossil Fuel Industry and Hold them Accountable
Rebuild Our Economy and Ensure Justice for Frontline Communities and a Just Transition for Workers
01 Reaching 100 percent renewable energy
for electricity and transportation by no later than 2030 and complete decarbonization of the economy by 2050 at latest consistent with the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change goals – by expanding the existing federal Power Marketing Administrations to build new solar, wind, and geothermal energy sources.
02 Ending unemployment by creating 20 million jobs
needed to solve the climate crisis. These jobs will be good paying, union jobs with strong benefits and safety standards in steel and auto manufacturing, construction, energy efficiency retrofitting, coding and server farms, and renewable power plants. We will also create millions of jobs in sustainable agriculture, engineering, a reimagined and expanded Civilian Conservation Corp, and preserving our public lands.
03 Directly invest an historic $16.3 trillion public investment
toward these efforts, in line with the mobilization of resources made during the New Deal and WWII, but with an explicit choice to include black, indigenous and other minority communities who were systematically excluded in the past.
04 A just transition for workers.
This plan will prioritize the fossil fuel workers who have powered our economy for more than a century and who have too often been neglected by corporations and politicians. We will guarantee five years of a worker’s current salary, housing assistance, job training, health care, pension support, and priority job placement for any displaced worker, as well as early retirement support for those who choose it or can no longer work.
05 Declaring climate change a national emergency.
We must take action to ensure a habitable planet for ourselves, for our children, and for our grandchildren. We will do whatever it takes to defeat the threat of climate change.
06 Saving American families money
by weatherizing homes and lowering energy bills, building affordable and high-quality, modern public transportation, providing grants and trade-in programs for families and small businesses to purchase high-efficiency electric vehicles, and rebuilding our inefficient and crumbling infrastructure, including deploying universal, affordable high-speed internet.
07 Supporting small family farms
by investing in ecologically regenerative and sustainable agriculture. This plan will transform our agricultural system to fight climate change, provide sustainable, local foods, and break the corporate stranglehold on farmers and ranchers.
08 Justice for frontline communities
especially under-resourced groups, communities of color, Native Americans, people with disabilities, children and the elderly – to recover from, and prepare for, the climate impacts, including through a $40 billion Climate Justice Resiliency Fund. And providing those frontline and fenceline communities a just transition including real jobs, resilient infrastructure, economic development.
09 Commit to reducing emissions throughout the world
including providing $200 billion to the Green Climate Fund, rejoining the Paris Agreement, and reasserting the United States’ leadership in the global fight against climate change.
10 Meeting and exceeding our fair share of global emissions reductions.
The United States has for over a century spewed carbon pollution emissions into the atmosphere in order to gain economic standing in the world. Therefore, we have an outsized obligation to help less industrialized nations meet their targets while improving quality of life. We will reduce domestic emissions by at least 71 percent by 2030 and reduce emissions among less industrialized nations by 36 percent by 2030 — the total equivalent of reducing our domestic emissions by 161 percent.
11 Making massive investments in research and development.
We will invest in public research to drastically reduce the cost of energy storage, electric vehicles, and make our plastic more sustainable through advanced chemistry.
12 Expanding the climate justice movement.
We will do this by coming together in a truly inclusive movement that prioritizes young people, workers, indigenous peoples, communities of color, and other historically marginalized groups to take on the fossil fuel industry and other polluters to push this over the finish line and lead the globe in solving the climate crisis.
13 Investing in conservation and public lands
to heal our soils, forests, and prairie lands. We will reauthorize and expand the Civilian Conservation Corps and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund to provide good paying jobs building green infrastructure.
14 This plan will pay for itself over 15 years.
Experts have scored the plan and its economic effects. We will pay for the massive investment we need to reverse the climate crisis by:
Making the fossil fuel industry pay for their pollution, through litigation, fees, and taxes, and eliminating federal fossil fuel subsidies.
Generating revenue from the wholesale of energy produced by the regional Power Marketing Authorities. Revenues will be collected from 2023-2035, and after 2035 electricity will be virtually free, aside from operations and maintenance costs.
Scaling back military spending on maintaining global oil dependence.
Collecting new income tax revenue from the 20 million new jobs created by the plan.
Reduced need for federal and state safety net spending due to the creation of millions of good-paying, unionized jobs.
Making the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share.
Baker-Schultz Carbon Dividend Plan
The Baker-Schultz Carbon Dividend is NOT a Green New Deal, however it incorporates some of the main aspects such as meeting the scale of the ambition, pricing the carbon externality and a progressive redistribution scheme to pay the proceeds of the carbon tax as a dividend to citizens.
Components of the Carbon Dividend Plan :
A Gradually Rising Carbon Fee $40/ton introduction + 5% above inflation annually
Carbon Dividends For All Americans
Significant Regulatory Simplification
Border Carbon Adjustment
Further reading
Joseph Stiglitz, "Wanted : A Global Green New Deal"
Kate Raworth "Doughnut Economics"
Naomi Klein "On Fire: The burning case for a Green New Deal" https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Burning-Case-Green-Deal/dp/1982129913
Ann Pettifor "The case for the Green New Deal" https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/19/case-green-new-deal-ann-pettifor-on-fire-naomi-klein-review
Comments