Democrats Debating Ocasio-Cortez Plan to Switch to a Climate Change Command Economy

Guest essay by Eric Worrall

According to E&E News, Democrats are arguing over whether to use their new congressional majority to resurrect the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, or to push forward Ocasio-Cortez’s plan to take Federal control of the economy, to save the world from global warming.

Divides harden in clash over global warming committee

Nick Sobczyk, George Cahlink and Kellie Lunney, E&E News reporters
E&E Daily: Friday, November 16, 2018

Many House Democrats remain skeptical of a push by leadership and progressives to revive the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, underscoring divisions about how to address climate change in the new Congress.

The caucus clashed in closed-door meetings this week about whether the select panel is even necessary and how much power it should have, with incoming committee chairmen looking to stake out territory on the issue.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has proposed bringing back the select panel to spotlight the issue with Democrats in control of the House, but progressives — led by Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) — are aggressively pushing for a stronger version of the climate committee that would craft a “Green New Deal” to combat climate change.

Ocasio-Cortez has a resolution in-hand that would establish a Select Committee for a Green New Deal, with the goal of crafting a comprehensive policy by 2020.

But the incoming leaders of the committees of jurisdiction on climate — namely, the Energy and Commerce; Natural Resources; and Science, Space and Technology panels — are not pleased with potentially creating a committee that could leach away their power.

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Read more: https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060106429

In my opinion it is no exaggeration to call Ocasio-Cortez’s plan a blueprint for a “Climate Change Command Economy”. From Alexandria’s website;

6. SCOPE OF THE PLAN FOR A GREEN NEW DEAL AND THE DRAFT LEGISLATION.

1. The Plan for a Green New Deal (and the draft legislation) shall be developed in order to achieve the following goals, in each case in no longer than 10 years from the start of execution of the Plan:
    
   1. 100% of national power generation from renewable sources;
   2. building a national, energy-efficient, “smart” grid;
   3. upgrading every residential and industrial building for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, comfort and safety;
   4. decarbonizing the manufacturing, agricultural and other industries;
   5. decarbonizing, repairing and improving transportation and other infrastructure;
   6. funding massive investment in the drawdown and capture of greenhouse gases;
   7. making “green” technology, industry, expertise, products and services a major export of the United States, with the aim of becoming the undisputed international leader in helping other countries transition to completely carbon neutral economies and bringing about a global Green New Deal.
2. The Plan for a Green New Deal (and the draft legislation) shall recognize that a national, industrial, economic mobilization of this scope and scale is a historic opportunity to virtually eliminate poverty in the United States and to make prosperity, wealth and economic security available to everyone participating in the transformation. In furtherance of the foregoing, the Plan (and the draft legislation) shall:
    
   1. provide all members of our society, across all regions and all communities, the opportunity, training and education to be a full and equal participant in the transition, including through a job guarantee program to assure a living wage job to every person who wants one;
   2. take into account and be responsive to the historical and present-day experiences of low-income communities, communities of color, indigenous communities, rural and urban communities and the front-line communities most affected by climate change, pollution and other environmental harm;
   3. mitigate deeply entrenched racial, regional and gender-based inequalities in income and wealth (including, without limitation, ensuring that federal and other investment will be equitably distributed to historically impoverished, low income, deindustrialized or other marginalized communities);
   4. include additional measures such as basic income programs, universal health care programs and any others as the select committee may deem appropriate to promote economic security, labor market flexibility and entrepreneurism; and>
   5. deeply involve national and local labor unions to take a leadership role in the process of job training and worker deployment.
3. The Plan for a Green New Deal (and the draft legislation) shall recognize that innovative public and other financing structures are a crucial component in achieving and furthering the goals and guidelines relating to social, economic, racial, regional and gender-based justice and equality and cooperative and public ownership set forth in paragraphs (2)(A)(i) and (6)(B). The Plan (and the draft legislation) shall, accordingly, ensure that the majority of financing of the Plan shall be accomplished by the federal government, using a combination of the Federal Reserve, a new public bank or system of regional and specialized public banks, public venture funds and such other vehicles or structures that the select committee deems appropriate, in order to ensure that interest and other investment returns generated from public investments made in connection with the Plan will be returned to the treasury, reduce taxpayer burden and allow for more investment.

Read more: https://ocasio2018.com/green-new-deal

To her credit Ocasio-Cortez is not trying to hide what she is attempting to do – she is very open about her intentions. However I do find it rather disturbing that there seems to be serious support for her ideas in the newly elected house.