President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the New Deal – job creation and social programs that helped pull us out of the depression. This year, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, introduced the “Green New Deal” – a resolution to create economic justice and mitigate the worst effects of climate change.
Like the New Deal, the Green New Deal calls for a nationwide mobilization to accelerate the replacement fossil fuels and provide millions of new jobs. It’s an effort akin to our mobilization for World War II.
U.S. Congressman Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, and U.S. Senators Tom Udall, D-New Mexico, and Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico, haven’t endorsed the Green New Deal. Hopefully they will join Congresswoman Deb Haaland, D-New Mexico, in her support.
The Green New Deal is doable from both a technical and social perspective. The costs in dollars and lives, of allowing climate change to get worse will far outweigh the challenges and occasional hardships of transitioning to a clean energy economy.
Chris Clemens
Santa Fe