More of the “Green New Deal”

Column 2019-9 (3/4/19)

Last time I considered a part of one version of the green new deal (GND) they called “The economic bill of rights.” Today I will dig into a bit of the rest. I’ll try to cover a few of the highlights, more accurately called low lights.

The lead in to the second part is as follows; “The second priority of the Green New Deal is a Green Transition Program that will convert the old, gray economy into a new, sustainable economy that is environmentally sound, economically viable and socially responsible.” Read the details and you will find that this translates into; “Tear everything we have apart and start over again.”

One version of the GND calls for replacement or major renovation of every building in the USA by 2030. Chew on the magnitude of that for a bit, but don’t swallow it. The GNDers want to destroy our present energy production system. Their only offer of a replacement is a system never tried. In addition some of the necessary components haven’t even been invented.

If that isn’t scary enough, keep in mind that Michigan’s two largest electric and gas utilities, Consumers Energy Company and DTE have bought into the GND hook, line and sinker. We won’t need that bill board asking the last person out of Michigan to turn off the lights. The lights will flicker out on their own.

The GNDers don’t stop with green energy. They also want to change the ways we travel, the houses we live in, the food we eat, and just about everything else. It took centuries to build what we have today. The GNDers want to do a total remake in a decade or two. And, they couldn’t care less whether you want the remake or not.

The scope of the GNDers dreams make the the original New Deal look like a punctuation mark. The GNDers don’t even have a plan or a cost estimate, just an outline of what they want. You can be certain they haven't even acknowledged that their dream could turn into a nightmare.

In the real world the GND will end on the rocks, one way or another. A project of such magnitude is impossible, at least at the present time. The danger isn’t that the GND will ever come close to full completion. The danger is the damage that could be caused by an attempt to start down the GND path.

It would be easy to destroy the prosperity we enjoy. The map is littered with once prosperous nations destroyed by bad government. Argentina, Cuba, and Venezuela are prime examples.

The GND may contain a few ideas worthy of consideration. Digging them out would be like trying to rescue a candy bar from the bottom of a dumpster. The GND is little more than a wish list. It reminds me of an a caution I first heard as a child. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

The GND may not be criminal, but it is certainly immoral for GNDers to try to impose their experiment on a nation with one-third billion people. At a minimum they should do a test run involving far fewer people. Ideally the test subjects should all be volunteers. In the real world that is probably impossible.

I will offer the best option that comes to mind. The GNDers already have California in their pocket. People who want a decent life are fleeing the Golden state. The other 49 states can grant asylum to the refugees fleeing California. The GNDers can do their experiment in California. This plan isn’t perfect. It beats flushing the entire country down the GND sewer.

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Copyright 2019

Albert D. McCallum