There's a growing buzz around a "Green New Deal," spearheaded by newly-elected Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Although the details are in flux, currently the draft text calls for the creation of a 15-member "Select Committee for a Green New Deal" that would "have authority to develop a detailed national, industrial, economic mobilization plan" to make the U.S. economy "greenhouse gas emissions neutral." As if that weren't ambitious enough, the Select Committee's detailed national plan would also have the goal "to promote economic and environmental justice and equality." The draft specifically mentions spending $1 trillion over ten years, in addition to extensive taxes and regulations to steer the economy and society as the 15 committee members see fit. (To be clear, the draft text currently calls for the creation of the select committee, which in turn is then tasked with drafting legislation forming the "Green New Deal" itself.)
In this two-part series I will strongly critique both the spirit and substance of a proposed "Green New Deal." In the second article, I will focus on the specific proposals in the draft legislation. But in this first piece I will give the historical context and explain why the very notion of a Green New Deal is misguided, because it relies on faulty history and bad economics.
