The “Green New Deal” introduced Thursday by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) will not save the planet from its supposed destruction in 12 years. It would, however, harm the environment by banning the three most revolutionary “green” inventions of the last several decades.
1. Shale gas from fracking. Over the past decade, the U.S. has managed to grow its economy while reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. That achievement is largely due to the development of shale gas from fracking, which has prompted our economy to switch from more carbon-intensive coal to cleaner-burning natural gas. The “Green New Deal,” however, “calls for eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from every sector of the economy.”
2. Plug-in hybrid vehicle. The plug-in hybrid is the most versatile vehicle on the road today in terms of energy options. It runs on a battery that can be charged using existing residential electricity systems, and when the battery runs low it can switch to fuel and operate as a regular hybrid does. The “Green New Deal” wants to eliminate fuel and the internal combustion engine itself. Meanwhile, production of electric cars continues to face steep hurdles.
3. Nuclear power. If the authors of the “Green New Deal” really thought climate change was such an urgent problem that greenhouse gas emissions would need to be stopped immediately, they would push for nuclear power plants, which are carbon-free. But environmentalists do not like nuclear power; it is not in the Green New Deal.”
The “Green New Deal” will also discourage innovation that makes future “green” inventions possible. Like all government interventions, it will also create new inefficiencies — forcing even more resources to be wasted.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.