User:Eaw259/Green New Deal

Criticism
Mark Z. Jacobson director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program at Stanford University discussed some of the strengths and weaknesses of the Green New Deal. In an article published by the Stanford Report in March of 2019, Jacobson stated that some of the issues that can arise from the Green New Deal could be more political rather than economic. "There is no technical or economic weakness, but social and political opposition is formidable. The fossil fuel industry has a lot at stake, and they sow doubt and oppose all legislation that will phase them out. The intent of the GND as originally written is to “transition off of nuclear and fossil fuels as soon as possible,” so the nuclear folks will try to oppose it as well. In addition, many people don’t care one way or the other and just don’t want to change their current lifestyle, so it is hard to encourage them to change."

Green New Deal in America
Despite the Green New Deal not being implemented at the federal level in the United States, it has made an impact on several states and dozens of cities and towns throughout the country. Many states and cities have enacted and released their own modified version of the Green New Deal.

District of Columbia
Washington D.C has implemented their own Green New Deal. In August of 2018, Washington D.C legislature passed the “Clean Energy D.C. Omnibus Act of 2018". This act would require DC to transition to 100 percent clean, renewable electricity sources by 2032.

Maine
On June 17, 2019, Maine legislation enacted "Act To Establish a Green New Deal for Maine". This law would create a target goal of 80% of reliance on renewable energy by 2040. A goal slightly less ambitious than the federal Green New Deal that was proposed. This newly passed legislation would also create a Green New Deal taskforce. This taskforce would also be responsible for creating job training programs and apprenticeships to prepare Maine workers for green jobs, as well as develop a plan to incentivize and make the transition affordable for all Maine households to decarbonize their own energy consumption with heat pumps and solar panels.

New Mexico
In March of 2019, New Mexico legislature enacted "The Energy Transition Act (SB 489)". This act stated that New Mexico’s electricity will be 50% renewable by 2030, with a goal of 100% by 2045. This law would also provide $40 million for economic development for San Juan County, where a large coal-fired power plant will be retired, as well as for severance packages and worker training for plant and mine employees.

Los Angeles
In April of 2019, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and city council passed the Los Angeles Green New Deal also known as "Sustainable City pLAn 2019". This plan was a revised version of the 2015 "Sustainable City pLAn". Some of the new goals addressed in the 2019 version mentioned that Los Angeles would be fully operating on 55% renewable energy by 2025; 80% by 2036; and 100% by 2045.

Seattle
In August 2019. City council in Seattle, Washington unanimously passed a resolution that called for a city-wide Green New Deal. This Green New Deal would attempt to convert Seattle to zero carbon emissions by the year of 2030. This new legislation would also address historical and current injustices, while attempting to create thousands of good, green, well-paying, unionized jobs.