I think every time I encounter an article about climate change, my reaction has been akin to what one might expect in response a train crash: horrified and yet I just can’t look away. Growing up, we’ve been confronted with “The world is going to end!” scares so many times. In 2012 thE MAyANs PReDIcTeD we’RE ALL GoING tO DiE!!! Which caused panic to spread across the nation and Hollywood to capitalize on the impending doom by producing a remarkably shitty movie (you know the one). My point is, it feels like my generation has been desensitized to the idea of the destruction of the Earth as evidenced by the amount of fatalism that saturates Gen X humor. I’ll admit that though I try to do my part to address the issue of environmental damage by not taking eco bags when grocery shopping and turning off lights when I’m not using them, I was also feeling particularly hopeless about the whole situation and thus resolved myself to not think about it too often to escape the copious amounts of existential dread it invokes in me. Of course, then Amazon pulled out of Long Island City (which, yay!) But thereby created a vacuum in place of the Long Island City assignment. So, when the new assignment came about I decided to get it out of the way as soon as possible by attending the Green New Deal Panel, which you can tell by the date of this post that I did not accomplish. My poor time management aside, I will say the I am incredibly glad I did decide to attend the panel because it’s such an imperative discussion to be had, especially now more than ever.

The first of the speakers on the panel was councilman Costa Constantinides. The councilman spoke about the new initiative to reduce emissions produced by the cities’ buildings by 80% by 2050. The 50,000 largest buildings in the city are responsible for 30% of the city’s emissions and will have to reduce their emissions by 40% by 2030. Buildings that don’t comply with these standards will be fined. He also speaks about the plan to make the switch over to renewable energy, pushing solar and geothermal energy alternatives to fossil fuels That means it is time to cut tie with the oil companies that hold the world in the palm of its metaphorical hands. One of the greatest pushbacks against the Green New Deal comes from the real estate industry because of the large upfront costs associated with implementing the new legislation. However, the long-term benefits definitely outweigh these shot-term sacrifices, especially with the promised low-interest loans helping to finance the initiative. Not to mention, making a building more energy efficient will pay for itself in the amount you save in energy bills.

In terms of the effect on the greater New York economy, there are many raised eyebrows at the GND. The next panelist, Andres Bernal, who worked closely with AOC on her campaign addresses this next. He says that the current concerns are a product of approaching the issue as though we were still operating on the gold standard, which is not true. Using Modern Monetary Theory to understand the GND is more appropriate. This was something I had never heard of being a STEM major. In the simplest terms Modern Monetary Theory says that the government can spend as much as it wants as long as it doesn’t create inflation. According to Bernal, the only way inflation would be created under MMT is if the government was operating at full spending capacity, which we are nowhere near currently. For an example of Modern Monetary Theory practices at work, a look at Japan shows that it does in fact work.

The next two panelists, Leslie Cogan, who is the president of the People’s Climate Movement, and Annel Hernandez, who works for the NYC Environmental Justice Agenda, both covered the part of the Green New Deal that stresses “environmental justice”. As per our discussion in class and some of the other blog posts about the Green New Deal panel, it seems that this is a part of the Green New Deal that is not attractive to all. However, to the criticism of the GND that says it should be focused on only addressing the issue of climate change rather than packaging it together with the jobs guarantee and other provisions, I say that is a narrow perspective. Climate change disproportionately effects the poor and disabled. If you take a look at the NYC flood map, most of the coastal regions in danger of flooding are low-income and won’t be able to afford repairs. Take the Rockaways which still hasn’t recovered from the damage Hurricane Sandy dealt. I took part in a couple of the Macaulay Service Initiative’s projects to help rebuild the area because there are still people displaced by Sandy whose homes are still not in livable conditions.

I think this holistic approach that the Green New Deal has undertaken is important and a step in the right direction. In the past, we’ve seen countless amounts of legislation be passed without any consideration and low-income people have always been the ones to bear the brunt of the suffering as a consequence. Not to mention, with the housing crisis permeating NYC, a jobs guarantee could definitely be helpful in addressing that simultaneously.

I came away from that panel feeling like now is the time to act. It is too late to be passive or cautious in attacking the problem of climate change. Something needs to be done, and it needs to be done in a big way. The Green New Deal had a predecessor known as the Green Jobs Green New York Act which was intended to create energy efficient jobs and though it was passed, it did not fulfill the promises it made. The reason it failed was due to a lack of mobilization on the ground. Grassroots activism was highly stressed at the panel by all the panelists. It’s time for us to become active in determining what happens to our Earth. https://www.sunrisemovement.org/gnd This is the link to the Sunrise Movement’s page on the Green New Deal, the group that is supporting the legislation. Also, consider trying this carbon footprint calculator to see how you can reduce your own emissions.