Readers React: Why the ‘Green New Deal’ is a gift to President Trump’s reelection campaign

To the editor: Listening to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and others talk about the particulars of their “Green New Deal” reminds me of a scene from one of the Austin Powers movies.

In the year 1969, Dr. Evil has built a laser on the moon and is threatening to destroy major cities. He is speaking via video link to the president (played by Tim Robbins) and demands $100 billion in ransom. The president and members of his Cabinet immediately burst out laughing, pointing out that much money doesn’t even exist in the entire world, much less the U.S., in 1969.

When I hear Ocasio-Cortez and others describe dismantling the airline industry and replacing it with high-speed trains, abolishing the internal combustion engine, passing living-wage proposals and renovating every building in the U.S., I see a 4-year-old promising to make her mother the “bestest cake ever.”

The best news for Republicans is that it looks like Democrats are going to craft their 2020 strategy around this lunacy, and I’m going to be handing out cigars and brandy to celebrate President Trump’s reelection.

David Pohlod, Oak Park

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To the editor: The Green New Deal calls for carbon emissions to be quickly eliminated and for a multitude of social and economic injustices to be addressed.

This bold statement of good intentions has not been seriously vetted economically or politically. Opponents are already defining it as a “job-killing, socialist wish list.” To address the dangerous effects of climate change, we need a bipartisan solution now.

HR 7173, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, is a well-designed national carbon pricing policy that has been vetted by conservatives, liberals and independents, and by economists, businesses and environmental organizations. In the first 12 years, this policy would reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 40%, and more than 2.1 million new jobs would be created.

John D. Kelley, Santa Barbara

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To the editor: The Green New Deal is unworkable? That is also what was claimed about putting a man on the moon within the decade, and to a lesser extent about the Interstate Highway System and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

We can do it by using the same government support that those projects required, and our economy will grow in the years to come.

All we have to do is go back to the tax code of Richard Nixon. An additional benefit would be to hire the Appalachian coal miners to build solar panels and wind turbines.

Larry Severson, Fountain Valley

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