Green New Deal

[mspohr]

Joe Biden cannot govern from the center – quashing Trumpism demands radical action | Robert Reich

Strengthening democracy means getting big money out of politics, strengthening voting rights and fighting voter suppression in all its forms. It means boldly advancing the needs of average people over the plutocrats and oligarchs, of the white working class as well as Black and Latino people. It means embracing the ongoing struggle for racial justice and the struggle of blue-collar workers whose fortunes have been declining for decades. The moment calls for public investment on a scale far greater than necessary for Covid relief or “stimulus” – large enough to begin the restructuring of the economy. America needs to create a vast number of new jobs leading to higher wages, reversing racial exclusion as well as the downward trajectory of Americans whose anger and resentment Trump cynically exploited. This would include universal early childhood education, universal access to the internet, world-class schools and public universities accessible to all. Converting to solar and wind energy and making America’s entire stock of housing and commercial buildings carbon neutral. Investing in basic research – the gateway to the technologies of the future as well as national security – along with public health and universal healthcare. It is not a question of affordability. Such an agenda won’t burden future generations. It will reduce the burden on future generations.

 

[jerry33]

Joe Biden cannot govern from the center – quashing Trumpism demands radical action | Robert Reich

Strengthening democracy means getting big money out of politics, strengthening voting rights and fighting voter suppression in all its forms. It means boldly advancing the needs of average people over the plutocrats and oligarchs, of the white working class as well as Black and Latino people. It means embracing the ongoing struggle for racial justice and the struggle of blue-collar workers whose fortunes have been declining for decades. The moment calls for public investment on a scale far greater than necessary for Covid relief or “stimulus” – large enough to begin the restructuring of the economy. America needs to create a vast number of new jobs leading to higher wages, reversing racial exclusion as well as the downward trajectory of Americans whose anger and resentment Trump cynically exploited. This would include universal early childhood education, universal access to the internet, world-class schools and public universities accessible to all. Converting to solar and wind energy and making America’s entire stock of housing and commercial buildings carbon neutral. Investing in basic research – the gateway to the technologies of the future as well as national security – along with public health and universal healthcare. It is not a question of affordability. Such an agenda won’t burden future generations. It will reduce the burden on future generations.

And not penalizing the one company, or it's customers, that's actually doing something about this on a scale that's large enough to matter.

 

[mspohr]

And not penalizing the one company, or it's customers, that's actually doing something about this on a scale that's large enough to matter.

I believe Biden will support EVs and solar. That would not penalize Tesla. Rather it would encourage Tesla.

 

[Uncle Paul]

I believe that Biden will support EV and Solar, but that it will not be a pay as you go program. The costs will be covered by additional debt that will be paid by future generations, long after he is out of office.

 

[mspohr]

I believe that Biden will support EV and Solar, but that it will not be a pay as you go program. The costs will be covered by additional debt that will be paid by future generations, long after he is out of office.

Easy to pay for by taxing the rich.

 

[eevee-fan]

I believe that Biden will support EV and Solar, but that it will not be a pay as you go program. The costs will be covered by additional debt that will be paid by future generations, long after he is out of office.

Well, their reduced healthcare cost would more than pay for that debt. What's it worth NOT to develop asthma? Reduced natural disaster cost will be a bonus. LOL

 

[JRP3]

Just pretend it's for the military then we never have to worry about how to pay for it.

 

[mspohr]

Building a green economy could stop ‘nightmare’ degradation of Amazon

Prof Thomas Lovejoy, the “godfather of biodiversity”, said if agro-industrial economic developments such as cattle farming, palm oil production and mining continue, the rainforest’s hydrological cycle will be “in tatters”, with global weather systems severely disrupted.

Turning this around will require an innovative green economy which monetises the food, medicines, aquaculture and climate regulation the forest provides, said Lovejoy, a senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation and president of the Amazon Biodiversity Centre. “Is [biodiversity] to be locked away for the amusement of science with no practical value? It has in fact contributed substantially to human wellbeing in ways that simply are not tracked or entered into human accounting,” he wrote in an essay published by the Royal Society.

The insurance firm Swiss Re has estimated that more than half of global GDP – $42tn (£32tn) – depends on high-functioning biodiversity. The World Economic Forum lists biodiversity loss as one of the five biggest risks over the next decade and experts say financial institutions are increasingly aware that biodiversity regulation is coming.

 

[mspohr]

It's only been one week and I think we are well on our way to a Green New Deal.
- UBI - we've established the principle that you can just give people money to help them with food, shelter, etc. The "stimulus checks", improved food stamps and enhanced unemployment benefits are a good start.
- Universal Health Care - Opening up Obamacare markets is a good start.
- Environment - Investments in climate change remediation and improved regulation of CO2
- Transportation - Investments in EVs. I expect enhanced EV credits
- Renewable energy - Enhanced subsidies for renewables

 

[navguy12]

It's only been one week and I think we are well on our way to a Green New Deal.
- UBI - we've established the principle that you can just give people money to help them with food, shelter, etc. The "stimulus checks", improved food stamps and enhanced unemployment benefits are a good start.
- Universal Health Care - Opening up Obamacare markets is a good start.
- Environment - Investments in climate change remediation and improved regulation of CO2
- Transportation - Investments in EVs. I expect enhanced EV credits
- Renewable energy - Enhanced subsidies for renewables

Agreed.

I hope that the current president understands that what is required is transformative change on the order of what FDR implemented.

 

[mspohr]

Dizzying pace of Biden's climate action sounds death knell for era of denialism
The vision laid out in the actions signed by Biden on Wednesday, however, was transformative. A pathway for oil and gas drilling to be banned from public lands. A third of America’s land and ocean protected. The government ditching the combustion engine from its entire vehicle fleet, offering up a future where battery-powered trucks deliver America’s mail and electric tanks are operated by the US military. Biden signals radical shift from Trump era with executive orders on climate change Biden may eschew the politically contentious framing of the Green New Deal but there was even an echo of the original New Deal with his plan for a civilian climate corps to restore public lands and waterways. “The whole approach is classic Biden; working-class values, putting people to work,” said Tim Profeta, an environmental policy expert at Duke University.
The dizzying list of actions demonstrated the breadth and depth of the climate crisis. Biden’s administration will spur new climate-friendly policies for farmers while also devoting resources to the urban communities, typically low-income people of color, disproportionally blighted by pollution from nearby highways and power plants. In all, 21 federal agencies will be part of a new, overarching climate body. “This isn’t time for small measures,” Biden said. “We need to be bold.”
The president argues a $2tn clean energy plan will bring millions of new jobs by refashioning the power grid to run on carbon-free sources such as solar and wind within 15 years, building a new generation of energy-efficient homes and electric cars and mopping up pollution from oil and gas wells. “People have been in pain long enough,” said Gina McCarthy, Biden’s new domestic climate adviser, in reference to the pandemic. “We are not going to ask for sacrifice. If we fail to win the heart of middle America, we will lose.”

 

[mspohr]

We Are a Nation of Child Abusers Opinion | We Are a Nation of Child Abusers
The centerpiece of the child poverty plan is an expansion of the child tax credit, up to $3,600 a year for young children. This would cost as much as $120 billion a year and, critically, would be paid out monthly to families that earn too little to pay taxes. Even a sum as modest as $3,600 is transformative for many low-income families

 

[David_Cary]

We Are a Nation of Child Abusers Opinion | We Are a Nation of Child Abusers
The centerpiece of the child poverty plan is an expansion of the child tax credit, up to $3,600 a year for young children. This would cost as much as $120 billion a year and, critically, would be paid out monthly to families that earn too little to pay taxes. Even a sum as modest as $3,600 is transformative for many low-income families

The obvious complaint is that people would have children to get the money. It is the original welfare mom argument. Doesn't really matter if it ever happens, the argument will work with a majority.

We are not ready for a UBI, even if for children.

Doesn't mean I know the answer, just that you can't throw money at a problem and expect perfect outcomes. That $3600 might be used to buy more cigarettes, alcohol or drugs - not necessarily to provide the child with a better environment.

 

[mspohr]

The obvious complaint is that people would have children to get the money. It is the original welfare mom argument. Doesn't really matter if it ever happens, the argument will work with a majority.

We are not ready for a UBI, even if for children.

Doesn't mean I know the answer, just that you can't throw money at a problem and expect perfect outcomes. That $3600 might be used to buy more cigarettes, alcohol or drugs - not necessarily to provide the child with a better environment.

The usual ruling class drivel.
Sad to see such unenlightened views repeated here.
We can be better than this.

 

[nativewolf]

I'd have to agree with our friend in Cary. We have a chance to buy a mill in WV recently, it would help us grow our sustainably harvested lumber business significantly. However, the workforce in the county is just gutted by meth addiction. Just gutted. The prior owner went bankrupt (owners son had become addict and dad died from cancer) new owner bought it...naive Amish guy. 1 year later it was just him working so he had to sell. No one works, live on unemployment. Meth dealers are all rolling in new trucks. Hate to say it but I agree with Cary, I think a UBI without some serious substance abuse limits and workforce training is a bad bad idea.

The longer I've worked and the closer to the ground I've gotten the less sympathy I have- not enlightened or not but man it will literally kill a business. We have undocumented immigrants walking across central america and mexico to work. Dangerous, tiring journey to get a decent job and they work. They get paid $20/hour starting pay doing anything here. Forget min wage. Farm workers start at $20 if they show up and work. If they are good they get a free house. Go further west to WV and the pay drops a bit but cost of living (housing) drops a lot. So anyway, not enlightened but struggling on the ground in the real world. Jobs jobs jobs everywhere and no one will work. Why pay someone a UBI there are so many open jobs. Why pay UBIs if there are adicts.

I'd rather do something helpful like redoing the anti-voting laws that keep poor from getting drivers licenses or other documentation. Its getting so that the working poor, whats left, can't even have a bank account because they can't get a license because they don't have permanent residence, etc. There is a terrible dangerous trap that prevents the working poor from joining the real economy and prohibits them from any hope of advancement. I'd much rather we focus on removing impediments to participation in the workforce than a UBI. That's me.

 

[SageBrush]

'Id have to agree with our friend in Cary. We have a chance to buy a mill in WV recently, it would help us grow our sustainably harvested lumber business significantly.

I unfortunately also agree.

I worked for a couple of years at a Navajo hospital. That is a very complicated story but the negative side of free money is self evident.

 

[msm859]

The obvious complaint is that people would have children to get the money. It is the original welfare mom argument. Doesn't really matter if it ever happens, the argument will work with a majority.

We are not ready for a UBI, even if for children.

Doesn't mean I know the answer, just that you can't throw money at a problem and expect perfect outcomes. That $3600 might be used to buy more cigarettes, alcohol or drugs - not necessarily to provide the child with a better environment.

This is why she would offer NO tax benefits for more than 2 children. We should also "offer" people $10,000 for a tubal ligation or vasectomy if they have already had 2 kids or 1 kid if they are at least 30 years old.

 

[Merrill]

I hate to say that people will take advantage of the system it has been going on for years. My parents had no money but work hard their whole lives and had a decent life. I’m from the idea that if you want it bad enough you will find a way to get it, but it will mean you will have to work. I wanted to go to college but had to work several jobs and commute to school, and I appreciate my education much more than someone who had their parents pay for their education. I could go on and on but UBI would be abused and not appreciated but expected.

 

[David_Cary]

Can I have that $10k? I mean I am over 30 and have 1 kid. I suppose you would income test it? Pretty slippery slope....

The US is in a very challenging position. There is no easy answer. I prefer to focus on the environment because that is more important in the long term and an easier solution.

Income inequality and poverty has been a problem since the beginning of time. Of course we need to work on it but there isn't a simple solution. Technological revolution is going to put a huge portion of the population out of work. We need a solution but UBI in 2021 is not going to fly. Even raising the minimum wage is just going to accelerate the automation. Covid already accelerated things and got us used to avoiding humans.

Probably a federal jobs program is needed. Not sure how capitalism gets this to work. Carbon tax and credits for hiring would help.

 

[mspohr]

Can I have that $10k? I mean I am over 30 and have 1 kid. I suppose you would income test it? Pretty slippery slope....

The US is in a very challenging position. There is no easy answer. I prefer to focus on the environment because that is more important in the long term and an easier solution.

Income inequality and poverty has been a problem since the beginning of time. Of course we need to work on it but there isn't a simple solution. Technological revolution is going to put a huge portion of the population out of work. We need a solution but UBI in 2021 is not going to fly. Even raising the minimum wage is just going to accelerate the automation. Covid already accelerated things and got us used to avoiding humans.

Probably a federal jobs program is needed. Not sure how capitalism gets this to work. Carbon tax and credits for hiring would help.

The solution is to give people jobs, education, health care and resources.
The model is Roosevelt's New Deal. That put people to work and gave them resources