AOC is certain that the world is going to end in 12 years if we don't undertake a World War II type effort to remove all carbon emissions in the United States. I wrote about all of this recently in my blog post, "Belief or Blather?"
I wrote that she could not possibly believe this blather.
After reading her Green New Deal proposal the blather has reached a whole new level.
It is undoubtedly the most inane, idiotic and insane public policy statement I have ever read in my life. David Harsanyi of The Federalist actually has an article out on "The 10 Most Insane Requirements of the Green New Deal".
I guess I should not be surprised in that the 29 year-old Ocasio-Cortez was tending bar 12 months ago. However, she actually got a United States Senator (Edward Markey-D, MA) to co-sponsor this with her and 8 other DemocratSenators have already signed on. 60 other Democrat House members have also signed on as supporters of the measure.
In rapid order the following Democrat candidates for President have also endorsed the proposal.
Elizabeth Warren
Cory Booker
Kirsten Gillibrand
Kamala Harris
There will undoubtedly be more Democrat candidates that sign on.
It is surreal. It defies imagination. We really have entered The Twilight Zone.
Bear in mind that all of the costs of this proposal will be paid for with federal government funds. Where is the money going to come from? There are no details on that little detail but even AOC admits the costs will be TRILLIONS and TRILLIONS and TRILLIONS of dollars.
This is the from the Q and A that accompanied the proposal.
How then is it going to be paid for? She seems to suggest that the Federal Reserve can just print all the money that is required.
To believe that any of this would accomplish anything you would also have to put aside the fact that the United States is responsible for only 14% of all global carbon emissions.
The United States is also already leading the world in reducing CO2 emissions.
As you view the proposals below ask yourself what good it will do if the other 86% of the world (most particularly China, India and third-world countries) continue to increase carbon emissions? All of the spending, all of the costs, all of the inconveniences, will be for naught.
All we will succeed in doing is wrecking our economy, our standard of living, our way of life and our future. No big deal. If anyone thinks that any of this will save the planet they simply are not thinking.
If you have not seen the details of the Green New Deal (GND) let me summarize the key elements of the proposal.
Keep in mind that all of this is supposed to be accomplished over the next 10 years to meet the goal of a net zero carbon emissions economy by 2030.
- Upgrade or replace every building, factory, apartment and home with state of the art energy efficiency. At a minimum, this would require that every furnace, air conditioner and hot water heater would have to be replaced. It is unclear what that state of the art technology would be since I am not sure it exists right now. It is also unclear where all the tradesmen would come from to do all this work.
- Replace every internal combustion engine car, truck, boat or airplane. Electric cars and trucks would be powered through charging stations that would be built "everywhere". There is no explanation as to how boats and airplanes would be powered.
- The airplane question is answered in the proposal by the fact that the GND will build out "high speed rail at such scale where air travel stops becoming necessary." Left unsaid is how people would travel to Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Europe or other points on the globe.
- It is unclear where the fuel (wind, solar, water, geothermal?) is going to come from to power the electrical generating capacity for all of those electric cars, trucks and trains not to mention our home HVAC systems, our manufacturing plants or charging our iPhones. Coal, oil and natural gas would be banned. No new nuclear plants would be built and current plants would be decommissioned.
- Repair and upgrade all U.S. infrastructure. This alone is estimated in the document to cost a minimum of $4.6 trillion. It is the only item in the proposal that has any cost estimate attached.
- Eliminate cows (they fart) and the methane they emit into the atmosphere. It necessarily must follow that beef and diary milk would eventually be eliminated from the food supply.
Somehow all of this is still not enough to solve the problem. To really accomplish the objective it seems it is also necessary for the Green New Deal to also be used to implement the socialist dreams of Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez.
The following proposals are also all part of the Green New Deal. It seems that it is not possible to save the planet unless it is done with social and economic justice and security in mind as well.
- A government-guaranteed job that includes a “family-sustaining wage, family and medical leave, vacations, and a pension.”
- Education provided for life including college and trade schools
- Safe, affordable, adequate housing provided for every American
- High-quality health care provided for all
- Healthy food provided by the government in supermarkets
- All Green New Deal jobs created would have to be union jobs at prevailing wages.
Philip Klein had a great tweet on Twitter that I thought nicely summarized the lunacy of all of this.
I am not sure where all of this ends.
AOC claims that 92% of Democrats and 64% of Republicans support the Green New Deal.
We shall see.
Ocasio-Cortez is telling us the world is going to end if we don't do this over the next 10 years.
I see this proposal a little differently.
AOC claims that 92% of Democrats and 64% of Republicans support the Green New Deal.
We shall see.
Ocasio-Cortez is telling us the world is going to end if we don't do this over the next 10 years.
I see this proposal a little differently.
Are we looking at the beginning of the end of the Democrat party or of the United States itself?
The next two years will go a long way to answering that question.
I know one thing.
The people of the United States have never had a starker choice on what future they want for themselves, their children and grandchildren.
Update: Since I began writing this post Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has already begun to backtrack on some of her proposals as the plan has been ridiculed by conservatives and received some pushback from traditional liberals. For example, the original Q and A posted on AOC's Congressional website page suggested that economic security would be provided to all who are unable or unwilling to work. (my emphasis). I did not even include that proposal in my write-up above because it received so much pushback immediately. This is a screen capture of the original document that has since been taken down.
You can be sure that there will be a continuing effort to try to put more lipstick on this pig of a proposal to make it sound sensible and reasonable. My advice, even for those who believe in the theory of AGW, is to be very careful about embracing this proposal or anything close to it. The real intent of its proponents has been put out there for everyone to see from the outset. Do not be deceived. Do not be used. We are talking about your future. Your family's future. Our country's future. Don't bet your future on a flimflam proposal like the Green New Deal.
I know one thing.
The people of the United States have never had a starker choice on what future they want for themselves, their children and grandchildren.
Update: Since I began writing this post Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has already begun to backtrack on some of her proposals as the plan has been ridiculed by conservatives and received some pushback from traditional liberals. For example, the original Q and A posted on AOC's Congressional website page suggested that economic security would be provided to all who are unable or unwilling to work. (my emphasis). I did not even include that proposal in my write-up above because it received so much pushback immediately. This is a screen capture of the original document that has since been taken down.
You can be sure that there will be a continuing effort to try to put more lipstick on this pig of a proposal to make it sound sensible and reasonable. My advice, even for those who believe in the theory of AGW, is to be very careful about embracing this proposal or anything close to it. The real intent of its proponents has been put out there for everyone to see from the outset. Do not be deceived. Do not be used. We are talking about your future. Your family's future. Our country's future. Don't bet your future on a flimflam proposal like the Green New Deal.
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