Election 2020: John Hickenlooper says ‘We need a better approach’ than The Green New Deal
Former Colorado governor and 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful John Hickenlooper took aim at The Green New Deal. saying “We need a better approach.”
Photo: Department of Labor Shawn T Moore
“… given the scope of the threat of global climate change, it is also imperative we approach it correctly. Some versions of the Green New Deal, such as the resolution from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) that the Senate is set to vote on Tuesday, express laudable aims but also take an approach that limits our prospects for success,” Hickenlooper wrote in in The Washington Post article titled, “The Green New Deal sets us up for failure. We need a better approach.”
He noted that the resolution “sets unachievable goals,” acknowledging, “We do not yet have the technology needed to reach ‘net-zero greenhouse gas emissions’ in 10 years.” noting “That’s why many wind and solar companies don’t support it.”
“There is no clean substitute for jet fuel. Electric vehicles are growing quickly, yet are still in their infancy. Manufacturing industries such as steel and chemicals, which account for almost as much carbon emissions as transportation, are even harder to decarbonize.”
Don’t think Hickenlooper is a moderate on the issue of global warming or federal powers: “My version of a Green New Deal would also involve historic federal investments and incentives in electric storage, modern transmission and science to nurture the industries that will serve as the pillars of the clean economy we need to save our planet.”
He has a contradictory record on the environment, supporting lawsuits against the EPA and Scott Pruitt in 2017, while speaking positively of some fracking technology in 2016.
“I think horizontal drilling can work for us, not against us. Technology continues to advance and we’ll increase the distance from drilling and insulate communities from what is admittedly an industrial process. Colorado has one of the strongest setback rules in the country.”
The politicians and the country are very divided over the leftist plan to restructure America’s infrastructure and economy.
In fact, Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., mocked Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s plan during a Financial Services Committee hearing on Monday, introducing an amendment to a homelessness bill that would create “green” standards — and demonstrate what he viewed as the impracticability of the Democrat’s plan.
“The Green New Deal is one that if you are a rich liberal from maybe New York or California it sounds great because you can afford to retrofit your home or build a new home that has zero emissions, that is energy efficient, affordable and safe,” Duffy said.
Duffy cited a study from the Department of Housing and Urban Development showing that it would cost over $172 billion to retrofit existing houses in the U.S. to meet the standards set by the Green New Deal.
“It’s outrageous. It’s absolutely outrageous,” Duffy added.
“You want to tell people that their concern and their desire for clean air and clean water is elitist, tell that to the kids in the South Bronx which is suffering from the highest rates of childhood asthma in the country,” Ocasio-Cortez counterd.
“Tell that to the families in Flint, whose kids have their blood ascending in lead levels,” she added. “Their brains are damaged for the rest of their lives. Call them elitist.”
The theory is that “Climate change increases water and air pollution which can cause and aggravate chronic respiratory disease, such as asthma.” (Source)
While New York is not faring well, it’s not among the worst states for Asthma (read the CDC data here) as she’s likely leaning on a 2018 story run in the Bronx (during her campaign), check that out here.
The Flint lead poisoning issue is being dramatized by the New York rep as the new studies point to a recovery and she fails to mention that a report by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says the Genesee County Health Department failed to help 85% of children diagnosed with high blood lead levels in 2016. Government failure in this disaster (leading up to it and in the wake of it) are NOT reasons to give the government more control.
