Kerby Anderson

With all the current emphasis on the environment, you might be tempted to ask, what happened to the Green New Deal? The simple answer is that it’s being implemented under the guise of infrastructure.

Don’t take my word for it. Consider what Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said about the bill before Congress. She laments that “some parts of the party try to avoid saying Green New Deal and really dance around and try not to use the term, ultimately, the framework I think has been adopted.”

Although a small part of the bill deals with what most of us would consider infrastructure, more than half of it is focused on reducing CO₂ by eliminating fossil fuels and promoting green investments.

Billions are set aside to build and retrofit homes and businesses with energy efficiency programs like the Weatherization Assistance Program. Economists looking at that program estimate that the initial costs to retrofit all of these buildings will be more than double any possible energy savings.

Perhaps the greatest irony in all of this is who ultimately benefits from these federal expenditures. The green energy credits will enrich corporations and hedge funds already invested in green energy projects. Even Big Oil will benefit since they will receive investment credits for carbon capture and other green energy projects.

The president and other proponents have been hyping the legislation by saying it will create millions of green jobs. But attempts to end any reliance on fossil fuels in the near future will likely destroy many more of the existing jobs in the oil and gas industry.

The Green New Deal is alive and well. It’s merely hidden in existing legislation.