Gov. Inslee fleshes out the Green New Deal
I believe this country and its workers need a “Green New Deal” to combat the climate crisis, make the transition to a low-carbon economy, and in the process, create good jobs, greater economic prosperity in the United States.
But as David Roberts writes in Vox:
The problem with the discussion around the GND so far is that the only substance at the center of it is a non-binding resolution, a set of aspirations and goals. People have projected all sorts of things on it, good and bad, but no one really knows what the GND is. At least in nuts-and-bolts policy terms, there isn’t one yet. So it’s easy to dismiss the whole thing as a “green dream,” as Nancy Pelosi put it.
Enter Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA), one of the dozens running for the Democratic nomination for president, who is trying to stand out from the pack as “the Climate-Change Candidate”.
And to back that claim, Inslee has released An Evergreen Economy for America: Investing in Good Jobs, Clean Energy & Modern Infrastructure that could serve as the policy blueprint for Democrats.
Even though Inslee is not currently in the top tier of Democratic candidates for the party’s presidential nomination, his climate agenda could end up defining the Green New Deal for the next Democratic administration.
According to Roberts:
The headline of the plan is investment: roughly $300 billion in public investment per year, which would leverage an additional $600 billion in private investment, adding up to a total of $9 trillion over 10 years. Inslee’s campaign claims the plan would create 8 million good jobs over the same time frame, by repealing anti-union right-to-work laws and linking federal tax incentives to job quality standards.
Here are the five policy areas in Inslees’s climate agenda:
- Igniting America’s clean energy economy
2. Building sustainable & climate-smart infrastructure
3. Leading the world in clean manufacturing
4. Investing in innovation and scientific research
5. Ensuring good union jobs with family-supporting wages and benefits
Another great takeaway from Roberts’ Vox piece: If you are a Democratic candidate:
[W]hy not just say, “Jay is this party’s climate star. I’m impressed with the thought he’s put into this plan, I support it, and if I’m elected I’ll bring him into my administration to help implement it.” Hell, all of them could say that.
I get that they want to distinguish themselves from one another, but they have other ways to do that, issues they have more personal stake and experience in. Climate is not their main thing. It’s Inslee’s main thing. Why not just embrace a good plan that’s there to be embraced?
It would be a way to get second-hand benefit from Inslee’s reputation on climate change, using it to improve the whole party’s image and expertise on the issue. Democratic voters may not care enough about climate (yet) to make Inslee the candidate, but I bet they care enough about it to appreciate seeing his agenda elevated by the other candidates.
Inslee’s policy blueprint gives Democrats an answer to Republicans’ (and Speaker Pelosi’s disappointingly condescending) claim that there is nothing of substance behind the slogan.
And remember, both Trump and Republicans (assuming there is some sort of difference between the two) head into the 2020 campaign as climate-crisis deniers with no climate agenda whatsoever.
