Upstart socialist darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made her name in part with a signature policy package dubbed the “Green New Deal.” With an initial draft promising everything from free healthcare for all to eliminating cow farts, the version that Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey eventually introduced was only slightly less ridiculous.
Don’t forget, this resolution was co-sponsored by 2020 front-runner Sen. Bernie Sanders. He might regret that now: A new study just found that the “Green New Deal” would cost families in several swing states dearly.
The report from the fiscally conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute analyzed 11 different states and concluded that the Green New Deal would cost the average family in these states almost $75,000 in its first year and over $40,000 annually in future years. And get this: The report only analyzed increased energy costs from transforming to a “green” economy — so it doesn’t even include all the tax hikes families would face from the unrelated welfare expansions promised in the resolution, such as socialized healthcare for all.
How did CEI come up with these figures? Analysts looked at the Green New Deal’s promise to transition pretty much the entire economy away from fossil fuels and onto renewable energy sources, regardless of efficiency, and calculated how much that would cost.
Turns out, reorganizing an entire economy through government force wouldn’t be cheap. Who knew?
“The Green New Deal is an unserious proposal that is at best negligent in its anticipation of transition costs and at worst a politically motivated policy whose creativity is outweighed by its enormous potential for economic destruction,” the Competitive Enterprise Institute analysis concluded.
And guess what? Sanders owns this woeful policy disaster. He co-sponsored it.
Now, voters in Pennsylvania know that the plan Sanders co-sponsored would cost their state’s average household $75,307 on year one of its implementation. So, too, Ohio families would pay $75,807, and Wisconsin households would face $75,252 in increased costs.
Luckily for Ocasio-Cortez, she only has to convince a tiny far-left district in New York City that she deserves reelection. The colossal failure of her landmark policy proposal probably won’t doom her electorally.
As for Sanders? Good luck selling $75,000 in increased Green New Deal costs to swing-state voters.
