How News Sources Portray The Green New Deal Policy
This chart shows how major news sources across the ideological spectrum frame the green new deal policy, from left to right-leaning perspectives.
Whether due to media bias or biased news, many topics are becoming increasingly polarizing and defining political parties in contemporary politics, one of which surrounds the Green New Deal. The GND is a highly partisan topic, with the majority of Democrats supporting it and the majority of Republicans opposing it.
The Green New Deal refers to the provision to curb climate change within ten years while investing in good-paying union jobs, originally inspired by President Roosevelt’s New Deal during the Great Depression. Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey originally proposed the GND in 2019, promoting it as a framework for tackling the climate crisis and building a better world. The status of the Green New Deal has remained unchanged since 2019.
What is the Green New Deal?
According to AOC, the Green New Deal is a “framework for tackling our climate crisis and building a better world,” by “creat[ing] new green space, and revers[ing] the effects of environmental racism in the borough.” AOC defines the Green New Deal as a “jobs and justice-centered plan to decarbonize the U.S. economy within ten years.” The GND also aims to benefit working people and marginalized communities, and guarantees a living-wage union job for Americans.
Although not passed into law, the GND has significantly influenced recent climate legislation. Senator Markey claims that since the introduction in 2019, there has been immense progress towards clean energy, climate, and environmental justice. He promotes that the GND would help the low-income and disadvantaged communities and create reliable union jobs for Americans.
The Green New Deal aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, create millions of green jobs, upgrade infrastructure, and promote environmental and social justice while benefiting lower- and working-class Americans. If passed, $34 billion would be allocated towards water infrastructure projects, $150 billion towards broadband infrastructure, and $75 billion for transportation infrastructure.
Stances on the Green New Deal
Republicans often believe that climate change isn’t an issue, or at least shouldn’t be a top priority. President Donald Trump has called climate change a “hoax” and discredits the causation between human activity and global warming. However, more moderate Republicans have sought to address climate change and its causes. 12% of Republicans say dealing with global climate change should be a top priority for the president and Congress in 2024. Another poll shows that just 28% of Republicans support the Green New Deal.
Democrats generally support the Green New Deal and believe that climate change is a serious issue. 59% of Democrats say dealing with global climate change should be a top priority for the president and Congress in 2024. In terms of the Green New Deal, 87% of Democrats support it, compared to just 28% of Republicans. The Biden Administration, for example, has established many programs that sought to benefit and progress environmental justice, but has not worked to implement the Green New Deal and its exact policies.
Green New Deal: Pros and Cons
Benefits of the Green New Deal include combating climate change, creating new jobs, and addressing systemic social and economic inequalities. The GND aims to transition the U.S. to 100% renewable energy, which would reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and effectively combat climate change. AOC contends that renewable energy would create several jobs across various sectors, as renewable energy infrastructure and green technology would require assistance to operate. This offers a just transition for those working in the fossil fuel industry, as green energy would require engineers, construction, machine operators, etc.
Furthermore, the GND would address systemic social and economic inequalities by creating a more equitable society and addressing social issues, such as poverty, access to affordable healthcare and housing, and job training opportunities. Job creation helps ensure that more people have access to securing a sustainable career, thus reducing economic inequalities.
Opposition to the Green New Deal includes the cost, economic disruption, and feasibility of the entire process. Critics argue that the GND would be very expensive, with some estimating that it would reach trillions of dollars in cost. Equipment and high-paying jobs, similar to those in fossil fuel industries, would be the main culprits for the high price, and funding for these factors is a concern. The government may need to increase taxes, borrow money from other sectors, or engage in inflationary spending to achieve the goals of the GND.
The GND could disrupt the economy, as transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy could disturb state and local economies. Texas, for one, heavily relies on the fossil fuel industry to support its state economy. The GND could sink state economies during their transition to clean energy and lead to significant job losses on the local level. Additionally, because of the optimistic 100% transition, the GND would be unlikely to take place within a short timeframe, and would take more than the apparent 10 years to transition fully. Critics contend that the GND is unfeasible because of its sudden transition, and that it would take trillions of dollars and several years to meet its goals.
Why is the Green New Deal Controversial?
The Green New Deal is controversial because it’s a polarizing topic. Democrats and Republicans generally disagree with one another on the GND, as discussed above, but for different reasons. Republicans are concerned with potential restrictions on individual liberties and economic costs. Because Republicans tend to oppose a large government with high government intervention, they dislike the GND as it would expand the powers of the government to intervene in certain sectors. They also discuss the financials of the GND and how it would ultimately punish American citizens. As mentioned earlier, critics worry that the government would increase taxes to fund the GND due to its high cost.
Democrats are deeply concerned with climate change and tend to favor a large government; therefore, they generally support the GND. The issue of climate change by itself is rather controversial, making the GND controversial by nature.
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