Paul F. Steinberg In 1973, Scientific American published an article by S. S. Wilson demonstrating that a human riding a bicycle “ranks first in efficiency among traveling animals and machines” in the energy required to move weight along a given distance. Cycling is more energy efficient than the mode of transportation employed by hummingbirds and…
Paul C. Stern, Kimberly S. Wolske, and Thomas Dietz The Green New Deal (GND) has multiple objectives: to reduce stress on the environment, create jobs, increase well-being, and reduce economic inequality. We focus here on the GND’s environmental objectives—such as shifting to 100% carbon-free energy, increasing the energy efficiency of buildings and equipment, and transitioning…
James Conca and Judith Wright Congressional members rolled out their “Green New Deal” (GND) in February 2019 that calls for a rapid shift to carbon-free energy. As laid out by Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Senator Markey (D-MA), the GND calls for drastic measures to cut carbon emissions across the economy, from electricity generation to transportation to agriculture to…
Luke Fowler and Monica Hubbard On Feb 7, 2019 Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey released a so-called proposal for a Green New Deal (GND). The resolution “recognizes the duty of the Federal Government” to reoriented America’s economy towards environmental sustainability, much like FDR’s New Deal of 1933 did to modernizing the U.S. economy…
Lennart Olsson In the 1920s, drought and unregulated policies created the Dust Bowl in the US Midwest. In the early1930s, rains failed in this notoriously drought prone region resulting in crop failures and soil erosion at an unprecedented scale. Hundreds of thousands of people starved and by 1940, around 2.5 million people had left the…
Ritwick Ghosh The New Deal set the foundation for today’s progressive movements, but not all its legacies are positive. In the agriculture sector, the path set by the New Deal is now holding back progressive actions. For the GND to effectively decarbonize agriculture, it must first undo the bad legacies of the New Deal. Agriculture…
Sanya Carley, Caroline Engle, David Konisky, and Savannah Sullivan The Green New Deal (GND) calls for an ambitious program to drastically reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Just as importantly, the GND emphasizes that the energy transition must be done in way that helps “frontline and vulnerable communities” (i.e., communities that are experiencing immediate disruption) cope…
Angela Adrar, Olivia Burlingame, Anthony Rogers-White and Fernando Tormos-Aponte Policies succeed when they have local buy in, especially from communities that are directly impacted by such policies. Climate change will impose asymmetrical costs across communities. Arguably, policies to mitigate climate change must take into account the concerns of these communities. For its legitimacy, this process…
Susan Park, Teresa Kramarz, Craig Johnson, and Stacy D. VanDeveer The GND has created a broad political debate on what it means to take climate action by linking the environment to social and economic policies in the United States. However, a GND cannot be struck by and for Americans alone. Many of the materials needed…
J. Mijin Cha Just transition is a core pillar of the Green New Deal, as is evidenced by the justice and equity focus of the resolution and the emphasis on creating high-quality jobs to replace lost fossil fuel jobs. In contrast to climate policies focusing only on carbon reduction, a commitment to just transition addresses…