Liberals have been going on about how upset they think conservatives are about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ (AOC) ancient dancing video. In the meantime, most of us have barely noticed, although it would be nice if the Daily Wire’s Andrew Klavan would stop talking about how he doesn’t care about how cute he thinks she is.
More interestingly, the Democrats have shoved AOC out in front as the spokes-maven for all of their most ambitious and hare-brained socialist ideas. The latest is a so-called “Green New Deal.” The plan would have the US completely dependent on non-fossil fuel by the year 2030.
Right off the bat, you’ve probably noticed that its name is reminiscent of The New Deal, which has made the poor massively dependent on welfare and destroyed the family unit. So, if that’s not warning enough for you, here are five major flaws with the Green New Deal that are probably a bit too technical for their moon-eyed Washington advocate to understand.
The GND includes programs that have nothing to do with renewable energy. Supporters of the plan are spending most of their time perseverating about the renewable energy mandates that it includes- but those mandates are far from the whole story. AOC’s proposal calls for both single payer healthcare policies and a number of basic income programs. You’re probably wondering what those have to do with green energy. The answer is, ‘precisely bub-kiss.’
The GND would also call for a federal jobs guarantee. That means that the government would artificially create jobs to be given to people who aren’t smart or talented enough to find work on their own. So, if you’ve ever seen a road crew where half of the workers are standing around “supervising” the others- yeah, it would look a lot like that.
It would have no effect on “global warming.” The main reason for the GND, supposedly, is to curtail the effects of climate change. However, there is no reason to think that their projections on climate change are even remotely accurate. Even if the US were to cut emissions by 100%, those of Africa, China, and India would more than make up for it. In other words, only the US is expected to participate in any of the green initiatives the program would create. That’s a bit like trying to fight a lion with your farts.
It would give money to many left-wing interest groups. Written into the GND is a boatload of handouts to left-wing political initiatives that have little or nothing to do with green energy. In the language of the proposal, there are a number of provisions calling for the creation of new labor unions and related programs. According to the proposal, the GND would, “deeply involve national and local labor unions to take a leadership role in the process of job training and worker deployment.” It also promises “funding for massive investment in the drawdown of greenhouse gases.” Yeah, it actually used the word, “massive.” It seems rather that AOC’s ghostwriters are just as fairy-brained as she is.
Renewable energy is way more expensive than fossil fuel. Contrary to popular liberal belief, so-called renewable energy is a hell of a lot more expensive than fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are far more powerful and efficient than solar and other so-called green energies. What’s more, the high tech electronics needed for the new infrastructure call for new development in battery technology- and battery manufacturing is one of the dirtiest and least environmentally friendly processes there are. What’s more, high tech green energy devices call for a huge increase in strip mining for rare minerals. And the chemical process to make advanced alloys- is a major source of pollution. But don’t tell AOC that. She would probably just cry or call you a racist.
It would blast the national debt into orbit. If all of that nonsense doesn’t kill the deal, there’s also the price tag- which comes in at about $40 trillion in the first ten years. Imagine, the hit that the basic income policy would deliver to businesses- add to that the burden of an economy drained flat by the cost of this insane program. The Mercatus Center says that the healthcare component of the GND would cost more than $35 trillion.
With a cost breakdown like that, it really can’t rightly be called a green energy initiative. It’s a healthcare initiative + $5 trillion in high tech pork.
