[Washington Examiner] Republicans who want to combat climate change say their party should avoid the temptation of rejecting the progressive "Green New Deal" without proposing an alternative."If the Green New Deal goes down in flames and gets totally discredited, the climate issue is still out there," said Josiah Neeley, energy policy director at the R Street Institute. "You still have to come up with ways to deal with it."
"We need the graft"
The Green New Deal resolution introduced Thursday by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. ‐ with more than 70 House and Senate co-sponsors ‐ contains several nonbinding goals to transform the U.S. economy to fight climate change.
It calls for 100 percent clean, renewable, and zero-emission electricity, and the elimination of carbon emissions from other major sectors of the economy ‐ manufacturing, buildings, transportation, and even agriculture.
The resolution proposes massive public investments in clean energy infrastructure such as light rail and weatherized buildings.
The plan calls for guaranteed government jobs, universal healthcare, and making every residential and industrial building more energy-efficient.