Green New Deal’s 55 promises that have little to do with climate change: The full list
David Mastio, USA TODAY
The Green New Deal promises to solve all our problems. That's certifiable.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal promises to overhaul the U.S. energy sector and replace all fossil fuel use with clean, carbon-free energy in 10 years flat without destroying the U.S. economy in the process. That’s preposterous.
Regardless, the preposterous plan is grabbing public attention and, now, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he's going to hold a Senate vote on the 14-page resolution.
Beyond committed ideologues, few people think the freshman New York lawmaker’s plan (co-sponsored by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.) is a realistic outline of what the United States can or should do to address climate change.
But Ocasio-Cortez and at least three Democratic presidential candidates who have signed onto the proposed congressional resolution have bolted onto their central unrealistic promise another 55 promises with little or nothing to do with climate change.
Here’s a list of what they're going to provide and who they're going to help:
1) Guaranteed jobs for all
2) That will be high quality union jobs
3) Paying prevailing wages
4) Hiring local workers
5) That offer training and advancement
6) Wage and benefit parity
7) Family leave
8) Medical leave
9) Paid vacation
10) Retirement security
11) Economic security
12) With strengthened unions
13) Stronger safety regulations
14) Stronger health regulations
15) Tougher anti-discrimination rules
16) More stringent wage and hour standards
17) Ending wage stagnation
18) Increasing socio-economic mobility
19) Reducing income inequality
20) Narrowing the racial wealth gap
21) And the gender earnings gap
22) While trade deals add rules to protect the environment and labor
23) The transfer of jobs overseas is stopped
24) Domestic manufacturing grows
25) Businesses don’t face unfair competition
26) Ensuring economic development
27) While diversifying business and industry in local and regional economies
28) While eliminating pollution
29) Cleaning up existing hazardous waste and abandoned sites
30) Providing education, including higher education, to all
31) While boosting community resiliency
32) Fighting racial injustice
33) Fighting social injustice
34) And generally making things better for indigenous peoples
35) Migrant communities
36) Deindustrialized communities
37) Depopulated rural communities
38) Women
39) The elderly
40) The unhoused
41) People with disabilities
42) Youth
43) And family farmers
44) While making sure all buildings are safe
45) All buildings are affordable
46) All buildings are durable
47) And all buildings are comfortable
48) Public transit is clean
49) Affordable
50) And accessible
51) All people have high quality health care
52) And access to healthy food
53) That is also affordable
54) And adequate housing
55) And also provide access to nature.
Whew. Of course, we all want public transit to be clean and folks to have access to healthy, affordable food, but you can't wave a magic wand to make it happen with a congressional resolution.
Claiming to solve one giant mess of a global problem like climate change with a revolutionary plan for change that doesn't take into account basic economics, civil rights and democracy is dishonest.
Claiming to be able to solve that problem and every other problem you can think of at the same time is certifiable.
David Mastio is the deputy editorial page editor of USA TODAY. Follow him on Twitter @DavidMastio.
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