Today in my Philosophy and the Environment course, we had a class discussion of the Green New Deal. Here are my slides with links and lots of information for the curious. The core questions we discussed were these. The GND is a resolution concerning decarbonization, jobs, and justice. But, why offer a resolution conjoining all three as opposed to separate legislation? Are these issues inextricably linked? Why?

We talked in detail about the specific goals and projects. There was a good discussion about how they might be linked, and the various objections that have been raised — how much will it cost? is it just a progressive wishlist? Where is nuclear power? If Republicans won’t accept much weaker proposals, why would they accept this? Can mass movements like the Sunrise movement remove conservatives moderates to make the GND possible?

Additionally, we considered radical theories and what they might say — is it too anthropocentric? is it too top-down and not sufficiently “bottom up” as libertarian socialists prefer? Can other countries like Mexico be exploited for energy? How does it address sprawl?

Overall, it was a great learning experience for me, and I think them.