Causes.com
| 9.4.17

After Harvey: Do We Need An Environmental New Deal?

Join us and tell your reps how you feel!

What’s the deal?

The New York Times recently ran an op-ed titled: "In Hurricane Harvey’s Wake, We Need a Green ‘New Deal.’"

After detailing the financial, personal and emotional losses due to the storm, the Times wrote,

"President Franklin D. Roosevelt understood the relationship between ‘ruined landscapes and ruined lives.’ Roosevelt likened the Great Depression to the devastation of the Dust Bowl, tornadoes in Georgia, and floods on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to build his case for the huge public investments and assistance programs that transformed the fates of Americans who were also starting over."

Between 1933 and 1939, FDR, and the U.S. government, instituted a number of experimental projects and programs, including the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). These programs were known collectively as the "New Deal," and were meant to reshape the lives of hurting Americans and America.

Currently, Americans, especially those in Texas, are hurting: 70% of home damage costs aren't covered by insurance; 80% of Texans don’t have flood insurance; 185,149 homes have been destroyed; 364,000 people have registered for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

"Certainly, [Harvey’s] victims need all the help we can provide," the Times wrote. “But this historic storm, like the Great Depression, should also motivate a reconsideration of our broader social contract: a new New Deal.”

What’s the ‘Green New Deal’?

Basically, the "Green New Deal" – also known as “environmental Keynesianism” - is a stimulus package aimed at addressing income inequality and environmental issues. (Though some, like President Trump, have questioned the veracity of global warming, the Green New Deal is based on the assumption that climate change is real.)

While there is no unified consensus on what would constitute a Green New Deal, some of the proposals include:

  • investing in "science and public education to train the next generation of engineers who will build safer homes and infrastructure"

  • expanding and enhancing "programs that make adaptation to climate change possible for ordinary Americans, helping them to retrofit their homes or relocate to safer ground."

  • planning "recovery and rebuilding projects that address local poverty and exclusion, rather than line the pockets of developers.“

  • committing funds to projects that "mitigate climate change, like clean energy and public transportation."

  • strengthening financial safety nets so that "when the next storm’s victims are picking up the pieces, they are not also worried about job insecurity, rising health care costs and precarious retirements."

All previous quotes are from The Times; other policy suggestions for a Green New Deal include:

  • providing grants and low-interest loans to green businesses, with an emphasis on locally-based companies

  • setting up an "oil legacy fund" by using “windfall taxes on oil and gas firms to help pay for green transformation”

  • creating a Full Employment Program aimed at creating jobs "in sustainable energy and energy efficiency retrofitting, mass transit and ‘complete streets’ that promote safe bike and pedestrian traffic, regional food systems based on sustainable organic agriculture, and clean manufacturing."

Congress will return to Washington on September 5th. Besides funds for Harvey relief, they’ll be discussing the federal budget and, soon, Trump’s infrastructure package. Now’s the time to hit the Take Action button and tell your reps your thoughts about Green New Deals or a New New Deal you’d like to see. Then share your thoughts below.

What would you like to see?

Is the government’s response to natural disasters satisfactory? Should we try to rebuild things back to "normal" after events like Harvey? Or does the entire infrastructure need a rebuild? Is a Green New Deal the answer—and if so, what would you like to see included?

—Josh Herman

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(Photo Credit: PictureLake / iStockphoto)