Considering a Green New Deal

Will 2019 bring a "Green New Deal" for the U.S. or individual states?

President Franklin D. Roosevelt championed the original "New Deal" in the 1930s, as a series of federal reforms and measures designed to lift the U.S. economy out of the Great Depression. The First New Deal included banking and securities law reforms, funding for emergency relief operations by states and cities, and a Civil Works Administration. Later in the Roosevelt administration, a Second New Deal included labor law reforms, significantly increased federal employment through the Works Progress Administration jobs relief program, and the Social Security Act, among other measures.

More recently, the notion of a "Green New Deal" has emerged from a variety of sources. While the details of what constitutes a Green New Deal vary depending on the proponent, the basic concept most proposals have in common is a significant investment in clean energy to spur employment and revenue. For example:

• Mark Hertsgaard's 1998 book Earth Odyssey culminated with his vision of a "Global Green Deal" to transform global economies based on the New Deal.
• New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has been credited with coining the "Green New Deal" phrase in a pair of opinion pieces in 2007. At the time, Friedman envisioned the government as "not funding projects, as in the original New Deal, but seeding basic research, providing loan guarantees where needed, and setting standards, taxes and incentives" to spawn business opportunities in clean power.
• In his 2008 presidential campaign, President Obama proposed addressing the nation's economic crisis by using green investments to promote new jobs, and the 2009 stimulus act included substantial measures along these lines which have been called a Green New Deal.
• In 2009, a United Nations program published a report calling for a "Global Green New Deal," again seeking transformation of global economies through investment in clean energy, systems and infrastructure.

The idea of a Green New Deal has again found some traction in 2019, although the details of what might be included remain unclear, as does the likelihood of its adoption. In 2018, as part of her successful campaign, now-Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposed a federal "Green New Deal" to address climate change. While the concept does not appear to have been fully embraced by Congress, state legislation proposing state-level Green New Deals has started to arise. For example, Maine state Representative Chloe Maxmin has proposed a bill whose title has been published as LR 1034, "An Act To Establish a Green New Deal for Maine."

Whatever ultimate fate these proposals meet, the concept of stimulating the economy and improving environmental performance through investment in clean energy and other green infrastructure projects will likely remain on the table for the foreseeable future. Legislatures and policymakers will be faced with challenges and opportunities in crafting measures that will succeed, in terms of both enactment and actually making a difference. If nothing else, 2019 will bring continued discussion across all levels of government about how best to move the U.S. and individual states forward.