The sweeping policy proposal might be the answer for cities seeking infrastructure funding In the wake of a series of dispiriting climate reports, the debate on climate change?and climate action?has new urgency. Nowhere is that more evident than in the excited discussions around the Green New Deal, an emerging plan to reorient the economy along sustainability.
Purposefully recalling Franklin Roosevelt?s Depression-era package of infrastructure investments and legislative changes, the Green New Deal would usher in significant investment around renewable power and new, resilient infrastructure, such as a smart electricity grid.
While details for the nascent proposal are far from being finalized, the general idea is mobilizing the country away from fossil fuels and creating tens of thousands of new jobs. The Green New Deal wouldn?t just decarbonize the economy and end the burning of fossil fuels, according to leading advocates such as freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has released a set of policy goals for the plan, but would create a more fair economy in a matter of decades. While the chances of passing this plan through a Republican senate, and getting President Trump?s signature, seem slim at best, the excitement over the proposal has quickly resurrected policy debates around rebuilding the country?s infrastructure. Vox?s David Roberts has said it has been surprising to see how quickly the idea has grabbed the public?s attention.
As Democrats begi...