US Senate rejects ‘Green New Deal’

United States Senate Republican leaders forced a stunt vote on March 26 on a climate change measure they ridicule, seeking to corner Democratic presidential hopefuls over an expensive, economy-upending plan proposed by the party's liberal left wing.

Background

The Green New Deal (GND) is a proposed economic stimulus program that aims to address climate change and economic inequality. The name refers to the New Deal, a set of social and economic reforms and public works projects undertaken by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression. The Green New Deal combines Roosevelt's economic approach with modern ideas such as renewable energy and resource efficiency.

In the 116th Congress, a pair of resolutions was proposed, H. Res. 109 and S. Res. 59, sponsored by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA). Markey's resolution was voted on March 25, 2019, with a result of a 57-0 loss as many Democrats voted "present."

Analysis

The Upper chamber of the US Congress has rejected the Green New Deal, a proposal offered by progressive Democrats that would dramatically shift the US away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy, in an ambitious effort to zero out greenhouse gas emissions within a decade.

It is less a hardened political policy than a blueprint of transformational action to combat the threat of climate change, and several Democrats running to challenge President Donald Trump next year have signed on to the non-binding plan.

Six Senate Democrats are 2020 White House candidates, and the chamber's Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sought to get them on record supporting what his party believes would be a multi-trillion-dollar boondoggle. "I could not be more glad (sic) that the American people will have the opportunity to learn precisely where each one of their senators stand on the 'Green New Deal': a radical, top-down, socialist makeover of the entire US economy," Mr. McConnell said.

The legislation introduced by Mr. McConnell failed to advance, with zero votes in support, 57 opposed, and 43 Democrats - including all six presidential candidates - voting "present". Democrats accused the Senate's Republican leadership of quashing debate and blocking any public hearings on climate change.

"We need real action on climate change - not this kind of sham vote," 2020 contender Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said. "Climate change is a global crisis, not a political game," added Senator Elizabeth Warren, a liberal presidential candidate who supports the Green New Deal. The plan does not detail how America will wean itself off of fossil fuels, or how much the ambitious transformation will cost. Republicans are seeking to make climate change a wedge issue in the election.

Mr. Trump himself mocked Democrats over the plan. "No planes. No energy. When the wind stops blowing that's the end of your electric," he told a laughing crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference this month.

The plan's champion is liberal first-term congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a favourite target of conservatives. The hours of discussion that preceded the desultory procedural vote marked the most extensive examination of climate change on the Senate floor in years. The fight also took on larger dimensions as a proxy for the 2020 presidential battle, with Republicans charging that liberals intend to raise energy costs and devastate middle-class livelihoods, and Democrats blasting their counterparts for climate denial and inaction on an issue most Americans agree is serious.

McConnell dismissed the climate change action plan as a "science fiction novel".

Democrats said that they intend to move forward on a number of fronts. In the House, a senior Democratic leadership aide said lawmakers will introduce sweeping legislation this week to require the Trump administration to stay in the Paris Agreement on climate change and create a plan for meeting the US' commitment to the global climate deal.

Assessment

Our assessment is that the decision to vote on the deal without debate was one of the main reasons for its failure as the Senate rushed through the process. We believe that AOC and the liberal wing of the Democratic Party will ensure its reintroduction into the House of Representatives in the coming sessions of Congress.  

Image Courtesy: Senate Democrats [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]