A Bottom-Line Case for the Green New Deal: The Jobs Pay More

The much-hyped Green New Deal, which laid out the broad strokes of a U.S. transition to green energy by 2030, failed in Congress. But its champions haven’t given up. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and other like-minded legislators are working on a series of smaller bills to achieve the same end. What GND proponents emphasize is that addressing climate change could be a comprehensive fix—not just for warding off an environmental catastrophe, but for a host of interlinked societal problems, including economic inequality.

“To get out of this situation, to revamp our economy, to guarantee dignified jobs for working Americans … we will have to mobilize our entire economy around saving ourselves and taking care of this planet,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a recent interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.