The Green New Deal USA

The Contents
» Preface + background
» The complete 2019 resolution
Green
» Next steps + colophon
While the original Green

New Deal resolution was not
New USA
advanced by the Congress in
2019, the results of the 2020
election now allow for progress
to be made related to these
Deal
important issues.
This digital document provides

essential information for use by
the US public.
116th Congress, 1st Session, House Resolution 109, The Green New Deal, February 7, 2019 Page 1 of
of 20
20
Preface
Why do we need the Green New Deal?
On February 4, 2021, Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New For more information –

» https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/04/politics/
York, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont
sanders-aoc-climate-change-emergency-bill/index.
introduced The National Climate Emergency Act, which directs President html
Biden to declare a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act
of 1976, and to use his presidential powers to mitigate climate change.
Subsequent remarks by Senator Sanders from February 23, 2021 justify Text adapted from –
» https://www.facebook.com/berniesanders/
both the current bill and the earlier Green New Deal resolution of 2019.
“The scientists have said very clearly that if we do not act boldly within the
next few years to transition to energy efficiency and sustainable energy, the
planet we leave our kids and future generations will be increasingly unhealthy
and uninhabitable. I wish I could say we could address our climate crisis with
a few tweaks at the edges. But I cannot say that. Now more than ever, we need
Congress to have the courage to act boldly to effectively address the existential
threat of climate change. Now is not the time to think small — not by a long
shot. Now is the time to fundamentally rethink our national priorities and
imagine the kind of country that we want to become.”
116th Congress, 1st Session, House Resolution 109, The Green New Deal, February 7, 2019 Page 2 of 20
Background
Introduction and status of the resolution.
On February 7, 2019, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Text adapted from –
» https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_New_Deal
Edward Markey released a fourteen-page resolution for their Green New
Deal (House Resolution 109, closely related to Senate Resolution 59).
Their proposal advocates transitioning the United States to 100%
renewable, zero-emission energy sources, along with investment in
electric cars and high-speed rail systems, and implementing the “social
cost of carbon” that had been part of the Obama administration’s plan
for addressing climate change within 10 years. Besides increasing state-
sponsored jobs, the Green New Deal seeks to address poverty by aiming
much of the improvements in “frontline and vulnerable communities”
which include the poor and disadvantaged people. The resolution includes
calls for universal health care, increased minimum wages, and preventing
monopolies, along with other important initiatives.
This non-binding resolution was referred to various committees and For more information –
» https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/
subcommittees at that time. The resolution continues to be listed as
house-resolution/109/
“introduced” on the Congress.gov website.
Background
The senate vote on the resolution and the future of the Green New Deal.
On March 24, 2019, 57 senate Republicans defeated the “Green New Deal” Text adapted from –
» https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_New_Deal
resolution, with 43 Democrats voting “present,” avoiding an up-or-down
vote. Then Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell forced a
vote before the plan had the chance for a national debate or hearings in
Congress. McConnell later referred to the resolution on Twitter as “radical
left-wing ideology” that would result in “self-inflicted economic ruin that
would take a sledgehammer to America’s middle class.”
With a Democrat-controlled senate as of 2021, experts now predict that a Text adapted from –
» https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgqae3/a-green-
variety of Green New Deal-style actions will be forthcoming — making low-
new-deal-under-biden-is-still-possible-just-not-the-
carbon industries a key part of the pandemic stimulus, creating millions way-you-imagined
of green jobs, employing vast numbers of laid-off oil and gas workers, and
moving much faster than before to clean electricity.
The recently-formed Green New Deal Network is a coalition of grassroots Text adapted from –
» https://www.greennewdealnetwork.org/
organizations, labor, and climate and environmental justice organizations
advocating for new local, state, and national policies.
Resolution
Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal.
In the House of Representatives | February 7, 2019
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez
(for herself, Mr. Hastings, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Serrano, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney,
Ms. Clarke, Mr. Higgins, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Maloney of New York;
Mr. Vargas, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Blumenauer,
Mr. Brendan F. Boyle of Pennsylvania;
Mr. Castro of Texas;
Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Ted Lieu, Ms. Pressley, Mr. Welch, Mr. Engel,
Mr. Neguse, Mr. Nadler, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Takano, Ms. Norton,
Mr. Raskin, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Lowenthal, Ms. Matsui, Mr. Thompson,
Ms. Pingree, Ms. Judy Chu of Ms. Mucarsel-Powell, Mr. Moulton,
Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Sablan, Ms. Lee of California;
Mr. Quigley, Mr. Huffman, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Garcia of Illinois;
Ms. Haaland, Ms. Meng, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Clark
of Massachusetts;
Ms. McCollum, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mr. Courtney, Mr. Larson of Connecticut;
Resolution
Ms. Escobar, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Keating, Mr. DeFazio, Ms. Eshoo, Mrs. Trahan,
Mr. Gomez, Mr. Kennedy, and Ms. Waters) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce,
and in addition to the Committees on: Science, Space, and Technology;
Education and Labor; Transportation and Infrastructure; Agriculture;
Natural Resources; Foreign Affairs; Financial Services; the Judiciary; Ways
and Means; and Oversight and Reform; for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Resolution
Whereas, the October 2018 report entitled Special Report on Global Warming To find more detail, both of these reports can be
fully accessed at –
of 1.5ºC by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the
» https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/
November 2018 Fourth National Climate Assessment report found that – » https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/
(1) human activity is the dominant cause of observed climate change
1.5º Celsius = 2.7º Fahrenheit.
over the past century; 2.0º Celsius = 3.6º Fahrenheit.
(2) a changing climate is causing sea levels to rise and an increase in
wildfires, severe storms, droughts, and other extreme weather events that
threaten human life, healthy communities, and critical infrastructure;
(3) global warming at or above 2 degrees Celsius beyond
preindustrialized levels will cause –
(A) mass migration from the regions most affected by climate
change;
(B) more than $500,000,000,000 in lost annual economic output in
the United States by the year 2100;
(C) wildfires that, by 2050, will annually burn at least twice as
much forest area in the western United States than was typically burned by
wildfires in the years preceding 2019;
Resolution
(D) a loss of more than 99 percent of all coral reefs on Earth;

(E) more than 350,000,000 more people to be exposed globally to
deadly heat stress by 2050; and
(F) a risk of damage to $1,000,000,000,000 of public infrastructure and
coastal real estate in the United States; and
(4) global temperatures must be kept below 1.5 degrees Celsius above
preindustrialized levels to avoid the most severe impacts of a changing
climate, which will require –
(A) global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from human
sources of 40 to 60 percent from 2010 levels by 2030; and
(B) net-zero global emissions by 2050;
Whereas, because the United States has historically been responsible for
a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas emissions, having emitted
20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions through 2014, and has a The US accounts for 4% of the global population.
high technological capacity, the United States must take a leading role in
reducing emissions through economic transformation;
Resolution
Whereas, climate change constitutes a direct threat to the national security

of the United States--
(1) by impacting the economic, environmental, and social stability of
countries and communities around the world; and
(2) by acting as a threat multiplier;
Whereas, the Federal Government-led mobilizations during World War II

and the New Deal created the greatest middle class that the United States
has ever seen, but many members of frontline and vulnerable communities
were excluded from many of the economic and societal benefits of those
mobilizations; and
Whereas, the House of Representatives recognizes that a new national,

social, industrial, and economic mobilization on a scale not seen since
World War II and the New Deal era is a historic opportunity –
(1) to create millions of good, high-wage jobs in the United States;
Resolution
(2) to provide unprecedented levels of prosperity and economic security

for all people of the United States; and
(3) to counteract systemic injustices:
Now, therefore, be it resolved, that it is the sense of the House of

Representatives that--
(1) it is the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal –
(A) to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions through a fair and just
transition for all communities and workers;
(B) to create millions of good, high-wage jobs and ensure prosperity and
economic security for all people of the United States;
(C) to invest in the infrastructure and industry of the United States to
sustainably meet the challenges of the 21st century;
(D) to secure for all people of the United States for generations to come –
(i) clean air and water;
(ii) climate and community resiliency;
(iii) healthy food;
Resolution
(iv) access to nature; and

(v) a sustainable environment; and
(E) to promote justice and equity by stopping current, preventing future,
and repairing historic oppression of indigenous peoples, communities of
color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated
rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the elderly, the
unhoused, people with disabilities, and youth (referred to in this resolution
as “frontline and vulnerable communities’’);
(2) the goals described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of paragraph (1)
(referred to in this resolution as the “Green New Deal goals’’) should be
accomplished through a 10-year national mobilization (referred to in this
resolution as the “Green New Deal mobilization’’) that will require the
following goals and projects –
(A) building resiliency against climate change-related disasters, such
as extreme weather, including by leveraging funding and providing
investments for community-defined projects and strategies;
Resolution
(B) repairing and upgrading the infrastructure in the United States,

including –
(i) by eliminating pollution and greenhouse gas emissions as much as
technologically feasible;
(ii) by guaranteeing universal access to clean water;
(iii) by reducing the risks posed by climate impacts; and
(iv) by ensuring that any infrastructure bill considered by Congress
addresses climate change;
(C) meeting 100 percent of the power demand in the United States
through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources, including--
(i) by dramatically expanding and upgrading renewable power sources; and
(ii) by deploying new capacity;
(D) building or upgrading to energy-efficient, distributed, and “smart’’
power grids, and ensuring affordable access to electricity;
(E) upgrading all existing buildings in the United States and building new
buildings to achieve maximum energy efficiency, water efficiency, safety,
affordability, comfort, and durability, including through electrification;
Resolution
(F) spurring massive growth in clean manufacturing in the United States

and removing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing
and industry as much as is technologically feasible, including by expanding
renewable energy manufacturing and investing in existing manufacturing
and industry;
(G) working collaboratively with farmers and ranchers in the United
States to remove pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the
agricultural sector as much as is technologically feasible, including –
(i) by supporting family farming;
(ii) by investing in sustainable farming and land use practices that
increase soil health; and
(iii) by building a more sustainable food system that ensures universal
access to healthy food;
(H) overhauling transportation systems in the United States to remove
pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector as
much as is technologically feasible, including through investment in –
Resolution
(i) zero-emission vehicle infrastructure and manufacturing;

(ii) clean, affordable, and accessible public transit; and
(iii) high-speed rail;
(I) mitigating and managing the long-term adverse health, economic,
and other effects of pollution and climate change, including by providing
funding for community-defined projects and strategies;
(J) removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and reducing
pollution by restoring natural ecosystems through proven low-tech
solutions that increase soil carbon storage, such as land preservation and
afforestation;
(K) restoring and protecting threatened, endangered, and fragile
ecosystems through locally appropriate and science-based projects that
enhance biodiversity and support climate resiliency;
(L) cleaning up existing hazardous waste and abandoned sites, ensuring
economic development and sustainability on those sites;
(M) identifying other emission and pollution sources and creating
solutions to remove them; and
Resolution
(N) promoting the international exchange of technology, expertise,

products, funding, and services, with the aim of making the United States
the international leader on climate action, and to help other countries
achieve a Green New Deal;
(3) a Green New Deal must be developed through transparent and
inclusive consultation, collaboration, and partnership with frontline and
vulnerable communities, labor unions, worker cooperatives, civil society
groups, academia, and businesses; and
(4) to achieve the Green New Deal goals and mobilization, a Green New
Deal will require the following goals and projects--
(A) providing and leveraging, in a way that ensures that the public
receives appropriate ownership stakes and returns on investment,
adequate capital (including through community grants, public banks, and
other public financing), technical expertise, supporting policies, and other
forms of assistance to communities, organizations, Federal, State, and local
government agencies, and businesses working on the Green New Deal
mobilization;
Resolution
(B) ensuring that the Federal Government takes into account the complete
environmental and social costs and impacts of emissions through –
(i) existing laws;
(ii) new policies and programs; and
(iii) ensuring that frontline and vulnerable communities shall not be
adversely affected;
(C) providing resources, training, and high-quality education, including
higher education, to all people of the United States, with a focus on
frontline and vulnerable communities, so that all people of the United
States may be full and equal participants in the Green New Deal
mobilization;
(D) making public investments in the research and development of new
clean and renewable energy technologies and industries;
(E) directing investments to spur economic development, deepen and
diversify industry and business in local and regional economies, and
build wealth and community ownership, while prioritizing high-quality job
creation and economic, social, and environmental benefits in frontline and
Resolution
vulnerable communities, and deindustrialized communities, that may

otherwise struggle with the transition away from greenhouse gas intensive
industries;
(F) ensuring the use of democratic and participatory processes that are
inclusive of and led by frontline and vulnerable communities and workers
to plan, implement, and administer the Green New Deal mobilization at the
local level;
(G) ensuring that the Green New Deal mobilization creates high-quality
union jobs that pay prevailing wages, hires local workers, offers training
and advancement opportunities, and guarantees wage and benefit parity
for workers affected by the transition;
(H) guaranteeing a job with a family-sustaining wage, adequate family
and medical leave, paid vacations, and retirement security to all people of
the United States;
(I) strengthening and protecting the right of all workers to organize,
unionize, and collectively bargain free of coercion, intimidation, and
harassment;
Resolution
(J) strengthening and enforcing labor, workplace health and safety,

antidiscrimination, and wage and hour standards across all employers,
industries, and sectors;
(K) enacting and enforcing trade rules, procurement standards, and
border adjustments with strong labor and environmental protections--
(i) to stop the transfer of jobs and pollution overseas; and
(ii) to grow domestic manufacturing in the United States;
(L) ensuring that public lands, waters, and oceans are protected and that
eminent domain is not abused;
(M) obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent of indigenous
peoples for all decisions that affect indigenous peoples and their traditional
territories, honoring all treaties and agreements with indigenous peoples,
and protecting and enforcing the sovereignty and land rights of indigenous
peoples;
(N) ensuring a commercial environment where every businessperson is
free from unfair competition and domination by domestic or international
monopolies; and
Resolution
(O) providing all people of the United States with –

(i) high-quality health care;
(ii) affordable, safe, and adequate housing;
(iii) economic security; and
(iv) clean water, clean air, healthy and affordable food, and access to
nature.

Next steps
Advocate for Green New Deal policies by contacting your federal, state, and
local elected officials via –
» https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials
Colophon
Document created in February of 2021 by Paul J. Nini, Professor,
Department of Design, The Ohio State University –
» https://design.osu.edu/people/nini.1
© 2021 attribution non-commercial 4.0 international license.
The Work Sans and Open Sans typeface families are open-source fonts
provided by Google via –
» https://fonts.google.com

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The Contents

While the original Green

This digital document provides

On February 4, 2021, Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New For more information –

In the House of Representatives | February 7, 2019

(D) a loss of more than 99 percent of all coral reefs on Earth;

Whereas, climate change constitutes a direct threat to the national security

Whereas, the Federal Government-led mobilizations during World War II

Whereas, the House of Representatives recognizes that a new national,

(2) to provide unprecedented levels of prosperity and economic security

Now, therefore, be it resolved, that it is the sense of the House of

(iv) access to nature; and

(B) repairing and upgrading the infrastructure in the United States,

(F) spurring massive growth in clean manufacturing in the United States

(i) zero-emission vehicle infrastructure and manufacturing;

(N) promoting the international exchange of technology, expertise,

vulnerable communities, and deindustrialized communities, that may

(J) strengthening and enforcing labor, workplace health and safety,

(O) providing all people of the United States with –

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