It’s Now or Never for a Green New Deal
By: Carbon Radio
Tags: Environment, Future, Design, Sustainability, Climate Change

Some sports fans will remember Doug Flutie’s epic Hail Mary throw in the final seconds of the Orange Bowl in 1984. The throw was an act of desperation as there were only 6 seconds left at the beginning of the play, and a field goal was not an option as Boston College was down by 4 points. Flutie called the “55 Flood Tip” play, which sent three receivers straight down the field in the hopes that if one didn’t get a clean catch, another receiver might tip ball in their favor. This is of course not a perfect metaphor for our current climate situation, but the notion of a Hail Mary play should resonate with an American audience.

As a society, we only have a small set of options moving forward in the context of climate change. The first option is to do nothing. That would be the equivalent of Doug Flutie taking a knee without even attempting to move the ball forward. The second option is to solely invest in climate adaptation, and effectively forfeit against the challenge of addressing climate change. This option would be the equivalent of Doug Flutie calling a run play in the final seconds of the game, essentially accepting the loss, but finishing out the game respectfully. The third and most exciting option is to throw our Hail Mary. This is the Green New Deal. A set of truly massive federally funded programs that drive our carbon emissions to net zero.

The phrase ‘massive federally funded programs’ is undoubtedly politically contentious as progressives and liberals will celebrate these new programs and fiscal conservatives will cringe at the thought of more taxes, more debt, more spending, and more government. Unfortunately, the reality of climate change is uncomfortable and requires our attention, our time, our dollars, and that of future generations as well. The planet is ours to maintain, and it isn’t cheap. There is of course a lot to be done by individuals, local governments, state governments, corporations, and non-governmental organizations. But, we have a time constraint that necessitates federal involvement in a big way.

When we refer to Green New Deal programs, we shouldn’t think of them as a single piece of legislation or a single bill being advocated for by one Congresswoman. We need to think about Green New Deal programs as a myriad of initiatives that will continue until we reach a steady-state net zero emission economy. This means that over the next 30–50 years, we are going to develop countless programs and initiatives designed to address climate change and reduce our carbon footprint to net zero. And then, after we achieve a net zero carbon footprint economy, we will have to maintain it. So, this means that many of these programs and initiatives will exist forever, and even more will have to be created for the specific purpose of maintaining the promise of a sustainable future.

Given the results of the 2020 Presidential Election in the United States, it is time for Americans to rally behind a Green New Deal… forever.

It is conceivable that the political pendulum in the United States will continue to swing back and forth, which means in 4 to 8 years, America might vote in a fiscal conservative that de-prioritizes addressing climate change. If that is a possible future, then it makes even more sense to support massive investments in Green New Deal programs now. Imagine spending 4 to 8 years passing incremental legislation and investing modest amounts of money in emissions reductions, and then shifting to fiscal conservative control of Congress and the White House in 2028 having only made small emissions reductions.

It is no longer reasonable to be fiscally conservative, because of the reality of climate change. If it is conceivable that America could elect a fiscally conservative Congress anytime in the future, then it is upon this new Congress and Administration to make any future Congress and Administration irrelevant in the fight to address climate change.

In other words, we don’t have the luxury of going back and forth anymore. The planet cannot withstand the long term impacts of the American political pendulum continuing to swing in and out of its favor. This new Congress and Administration must make the pursuit of a sustainable future permanent and disconnect that pursuit from the turmoil of politics. We need a Hail Mary play, not to win, but rather to just stay in the fight against climate change. We need that Hail Mary play to last a century, and we need it to work, which means we need some redundancy. Doug Flutie didn’t send one receiver down field. He sent three. We need to develop and deploy hundreds of programs and initiatives that address climate change, and send them off into the future with permanent and sufficient funding.