Here Is the Green New Deal in Handy List Form

I gather that Matt Whitaker is being quite the asshole in his testimony before Congress today:

I’m seeing a lot of smart people here say that Whitaker will regret sassing Nadler this AM. Without IN ANY WAY condoning Whitaker’s dickish and unprofessional behavior, I sadly don’t see how that is the case.

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) February 8, 2019

Sadly, I didn’t watch the hearing. However, Hannah Levintova has more here.

In the meantime, I thought I would compile a list of everything included in the Green New Deal that was released yesterday. This is just for future reference:

1. Commit to net zero greenhouse gas emissions within ten years
2. Provide “millions” of good, high-wage jobs
3. Repair and upgrade US infrastructure
4. Provide everyone with access to clean air and clean water
5. Repair historic oppression of indigenous peoples, communities of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities, and youth
6. Protect against extreme weather events
7. Eliminate pollution and greenhouse gases “as much as technologically feasible”
8. Meet 100 percent of power demand via renewable and zero-emission sources
9. Upgrade to smart grids
10. Upgrade all existing buildings for maximum energy efficiency
11. Invest in public transit and high-speed rail
12. Mitigate the long-term health effects of pollution and climate change
13. Restore fragile ecosystems
14. Clean up hazardous waste sites
15. Provide higher education to all
16. Invest in R&D of new energy technologies
17. Build wealth, community ownership, and good jobs in marginalized communities
18. Create union jobs that pay prevailing wages
19. Guarantee living wage to everyone
20. Guarantee family and medical leave, paid vacations, and retirement security to everyone
21. Improve union bargaining strength
22. Strengthen labor and workplace safety standards
23. Enact trade rules that increase jobs but don’t transfer pollution overseas
24. Reform the use of eminent domain
25. Ensure that all business are free from unfair competition
26. Provide all people of the United States with high-quality health care
27. Provide all people of the United States with good housing
28. Provide all people of the United States with economic security
29. Provide all people of the United States with healthy and affordable food
30. Provide all people of the United States with access to nature

This is really more of a social democratic manifesto than a climate change plan. Perhaps instead of Green New Deal, it should just be called “Finish Up the New Deal”?