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It’s Now or Never for a Green New Deal
Time to throw our century-long Hail Mary play
Some sports fans will remember Doug Flutie’s epic Hail Mary throw in the final seconds of the Orange Bowl in 1984. The throw was an act of desperation as there were only 6 seconds left at the beginning of the play, and a field goal was not an option as Boston College was down by 4 points. Flutie called the “55 Flood Tip” play, which sent three receivers straight down the field in the hopes that if one didn’t get a clean catch, another receiver might tip ball in their favor. This is of course not a perfect metaphor for our current climate situation, but the notion of a Hail Mary play should resonate with an American audience.
As a society, we only have a small set of options moving forward in the context of climate change. The first option is to do nothing. That would be the equivalent of Doug Flutie taking a knee without even attempting to move the ball forward. The second option is to solely invest in climate adaptation, and effectively forfeit against the challenge of addressing climate change. This option would be the equivalent of Doug Flutie calling a run play in the final seconds of the game, essentially accepting the loss, but finishing out the game respectfully. The third and most exciting option is to throw our Hail Mary. This is the Green New Deal. A set of truly massive federally funded programs that drive our carbon emissions to net zero.
The phrase ‘massive federally funded programs’ is undoubtedly politically contentious as progressives and liberals will celebrate these new programs and fiscal conservatives will cringe at the thought of more taxes, more debt, more spending, and more government. Unfortunately, the reality of climate change is uncomfortable and requires our attention, our time, our dollars, and that of future generations as well. The planet is ours to maintain, and it isn’t cheap. There is of course a lot to be done by individuals, local governments, state governments, corporations, and non-governmental organizations. But, we have a time constraint that necessitates federal involvement in a big way.
When we refer to Green New Deal programs, we shouldn’t think of them as a single piece of legislation or a single bill being advocated for by one Congresswoman. We need to think…
