A newly published report says the Green New Deal, a series of policies pushed by far-left Democrats, would cost a typical Alaska family $100,000 the first year implemented, $73,000 for each of the next four years, and more than $67,000 each year thereafter.
The report comes from the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Power the Future, two pro-business groups with missions of influencing public policy. Power the Future has an Alaska coordinator, Rick Whitbeck of Anchorage.
The expansive set of policy changes would cost the American economy six times the world’s current gross domestic product, Whitbeck said.
The Green New Deal was introduced in the 116th Congress as House Resolution 109 and Senate Resolution 59. It has its genesis with the Green Party, with Green Party candidate Jill Stein championing it as early as 2012.
The Green New Deal would guarantee a job “with a family-sustaining wage, adequate family and medical leave, paid vacations, and retirement security.”
According to the Sierra Club, one of the Green New Deal’s proponents, the result would be:
- Millions of family-sustaining jobs: Whether replacing lead pipes, weatherizing homes, expanding railways, or manufacturing wind turbines, millions of workers will lead the transition to a new economy. The jobs created must be high-road, union jobs: with family-sustaining wages and benefits, safe working conditions, and training and advancement opportunities.
- Climate sanity: A Green New Deal would help us swiftly transition to a clean energy economy. By investing in smart grids for renewable energy distribution, encouraging energy-efficient manufacturing, and expanding low-emissions public transit, a Green New Deal would significantly reduce climate pollution.
- Clean air and water: A Green New Deal would replace lead pipes, clean up hazardous waste sites, and reduce toxic air and water pollution from oil, gas, and coal. Those benefiting the most would be the communities of color and low-income families who today endure disproportionate exposure to toxins.
- Lower costs: A Green New Deal would help working class families slash their energy bills and reduce their transit costs by offering more energy-efficient homes, access to affordable wind and solar power, and more reliable options for affordable public transportation.
- Community resilience: Communities need greater resources to ensure safety and growth amid rising climate risks. A Green New Deal would help climate-exposed communities build bridges that can withstand floods, restore wetlands that buffer hurricanes, and shield coastlines from sea level rise.
- Greater racial and economic equity: The disproportionate benefits of a Green New Deal would go to the working-class families and communities of color that have endured disproportionate economic and environmental hazards for decades. A Green New Deal must counteract systemic racism and economic exploitation by giving hard-hit communities priority access to new job opportunities, cost savings, pollution cleanup projects, and climate resilience initiatives.
The Green New Deal is more than just de-carbonizing the American economy, because it touches every social and economic aspect of American lives. But the only real measurable aspect of the deal is the cost of the energy conversion, which is the focus of the study that looked at projected costs in five states: Florida, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Alaska. The states were chosen because they represent very different components of the U.S. and its economy.
- Alaska: Remote, sparsely populated, and cold.
- Florida: One of the largest states in terms of population and economy. An economic powerhouse of the Southeast in a warm climate.
- New Hampshire: A small state well connected with larger economies in the region in a cold climate.
- New Mexico: A small state in terms of population, but large geographically, is generally warmer, and is situated between significant large states by all metrics.
- Pennsylvania: A large state in terms of geography, economy, and population in a mild-colder climate and well integrated with the largest regional economy in the United States.
[Review the entire study and its supporting documents at this link]
