A green new deal: why green, how new, and what is the deal?

Abstract

For nearly two decades, a few thinkers and movements, which are regarded as being ‘progressive’, or even on the traditional ‘left-wing’, in the US, have gravitated toward visions of an ‘eco-socialism’ and/or ‘green statism’ in their policy thinking. In fact, some groups accept these ideological formulae as action programs for answering the serious policy challenges of many contemporary environmental crises first identified during the 1950s and 1960s. Since the neoliberal 1990s, many more voices also have been touting the merits of a ‘green’ or ‘natural’ capitalism. The 2000s have seen quite a few politicians and environmentalists casting it as a one size-fits-all panacea for ‘breaking through’ an older dead environmentalism to develop workable policy solutions for today's environmental crisis. These voices frequently ask policy-makers to revisit the New Deal years in the US for the inspiration to launch a Green New Deal during the twenty-first century. How can we explain this ‘green’ turn, and what are the limits and possibilities for the policy responses implied by working towards a Green New Deal in the current political context?

Keywords:

• New Deal
• green economy
• environmental politics
• Obama administration

Acknowledgements

A longer version of this paper was presented at ‘Does the Environment Have a Right?’ Critical Perspectives on Environmentalism and the Left Conference, University of Chicago, USA, 9 May 2009. Parts of it were also presented at the American Political Science Association annual meetings, 28–31 August 2008.

Notes

1. Thus, a compelling fresh approach is needed, and for Friedman:

• The right rallying call is for a ‘Green New Deal’. The New Deal was not built on a magic bullet, but on a broad range of programs and industrial projects to revitalize America. Ditto for an energy New Deal. If we are to turn the tide on climate change and end our oil addiction, we need more of everything: solar, wind, hydro, ethanol, biodiesel, clean coal and nuclear power – and conservation. It takes a Green New Deal because to nurture all of these technologies to a point that they really scale would be a huge industrial project. If you have put a windmill in your yard or some solar panels on your roof, bless your heart. But we will only green the world when we change the very nature of the electricity grid – moving it away from dirty coal or oil to clean coal and renewable. And that is a huge industrial project – much bigger than anyone has told you. Finally, like the New Deal, if we undertake the green version, it has the potential to create a whole new clean power industry to spur our economy into the 21^st century. (Friedman 2007a, p. A17).

2. Accomplishing tasks like these require trained workers, so the Corps Network will reach out in its Green New Deal to reskill the disadvantaged youth and disconnected citizens of America:

• In the spirit of the CCC, we propose a national Clean Energy Corps (CEC) to significantly reduce energy consumption and aid in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through weatherization, energy conservation, and environmental restoration; create transportation enhancements and other energy related infrastructure improvements – and attack the problems of persistent youth employment and disconnectedness.

• Just as FDR changed the lives of the many unemployed youth of his era who served in the CCC, modern out-of-school out-of-work youth can find meaningful opportunities through service to their own underserved communities. Young men and women can change their lives – improve their communities – and contribute to the creation of the green economy and the greening of America. (http://www.corpsnetwork.org)

3. http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2001-01/2009-0107.voa51.cFm

4. http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-BusinessofGreen/idUSTRE50C5RN20090114.

5. http://www.acfonline.org/au/uploads/Green_economic_stimulus_FINAL_w_wgos.pdf

6. They include: Larry Elliott, Economics Editor of the Guardian; Colin Hines, Co-Director of Finance for the Future; Tony Juniper, former Director of Friends for the Future; Jeremy Leggett, founder and Chairman of Solar Century and SolarAid; Caroline Lucas, Green Party of England and Wales MEP; Richard Murphy, Co-Director of Finance for the Future and Director of Tax Research LLP; Ann Pettifor, former head of the Jubilee 2000 debt relief campaign and Campaign Director of Operation Noah; Charles Secrett, Advisor on Sustainable Development, former Director of Friends of the Earth; and Andrew Simms, Policy Director of the New Economics Foundation (http://www.greennewdealgroup.org).

7. That is, the UNEP observes,

• Seventy-five years ago, during the depths of the Great Depression, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched a ‘New Deal’. It included a series of wide-ranging programmes to provide employment and social security, reform tax policies and business practices, and stimulate the economy. These programmes included the construction of homes, hospitals, schools, and other public buildings, roads, dams, and electrical grids. The New Deal put millions of people back to work. However this package was not just about fiscal spending and employment generation but about creating a policy framework of governance that modernized US infrastructure at the same time and lasted for the rest of the twentieth century.

• The UNEP discussion paper ‘A Global Green New Deal’ argues that today's multiple crises demand the same kind of government leadership, but at the global scale and embracing a wider vision. A Global Green New Deal (GGND) is proposed as a manifestation of that leadership. It refers to a set of globally coordinated large-scale stimulus packages and policy measures that have the potential to bring about global economic recovery in the short term while laying the foundation for sustained economic growth in the medium and long term. Furthermore, our ‘GGND’ seeks to enhance the participation of those who are mostly going to be affected – workers, employers, local, regional and subregional governments among others – as a means of broad-basing recovery to be more inclusive and able to meet our objectives. (http://www.unep.org/documents.multilingual/default.asp?documentID=548&articleID=5955&1=en)

8. In addition to the more elite-focused writings of Hawken, Lovins and Lovins or von Weizacker, one also can turn to mass-market chapbooks for instances of the discursive cues and practical recommendations for this green governmentality program. See, for example, MacEachern (2008), Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World; Yarrow (2008), How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint: 365 Simple Ways to Save Energy, Resources, and Money; and Bach (2008), Go Green, Live Rich: 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth (and Get Rich Trying).