Within the recent years, there have been many different ideas passed around to see how the world can help to combat climate change and the effects of climate change.
“It’s an idea that Democrats put up about a year ago now. It’s lead by especially the more liberal side of the party, and it’s supposed to attack climate change but it’s also hitting on a lot of social issues since the Green New Deal is trying to take on that FDR Democratic Party,” said Environmental Science teacher Joseph Rogalski.
The Green New Deal can have many different ways of affecting the economy and society with the new changes that come with it.
“So there’s different ways of how it could impact [the] economy. It’s a very drastic plan to reduce all fossil fuels, so that would make lots of changes to our economy. Anybody who has a job or a business that has to do with fossil fuels, that’s going to completely change,” said science teacher Nathania Busse. “So, if you’re a coal miner, then it might change the whole coal mining industry, but even the fabrication of materials would completely change. So our economy would be different.”
With the Green New Deal comes a multitude of changes that can affect every single person living on Earth. These changes can affect each person positively, but there can also be some negatives that come with it.
“I think the chances of it passing are basically zero, so to the extent that it will, I don’t think it will. If, hypothetically, if it was passed, I think we’d have a lot of angry people. The good side would be that it would help combat climate change, but I don’t think people realize the extent of the sacrifice they will have to make to truly combat climate change, things such as no more plane rides for anyone,” Rogalski said.
While there are some people who are very optimistic about the Green New Deal, there are also others who are hesitant for it to go into effect.
“The idealist in me wants to say it will benefit society and the economy. I think there’s lots of opportunities where if we get rid of all of the fossil fuel industry, there’s other industries for renewable resources and industries for alternative energy. If we’re able to make that transition, then there’s the opportunity for that. There’s also potential to help out marginalized groups. In that sense, it could help our economy as well. Societal impacts are also very beneficial. They’re kind of in the same plane as those economical benefits,” Busse said.
The changes can not only impact human life, but it can also impact animal life and natural life.
“I think extreme measures need to be taken because climate change is a significant issue and again independent of if you think it’s caused by humans or if it’s just a natural cycle; the world is warming as I’ve discussed in my classes. Certainly the world has gone through these cycles, and the world will be here, it’s going to be fine,” Rogalski said.
“The problem is, as we know, sea levels rise and fall, and consider how many major cities are on the coast, or when we talk about changing weather patterns, we’ve already seen examples such has destruction of coral reefs, which is close to my heart. So, yes, we need to take drastic measures to limit the amount of carbon dioxide pumping into the atmosphere.”
Overall, there can be many different ways the Green New Deal affects daily life, and with that, many different ways of approaching the idea of passing it comes along.
“I think that if projections are accurate or anywhere near accurate, at some point we’re going to be forced to make these decisions, or forced to do something drastic and different. So the Green New Deal would be effective if our whole society makes a cultural and philosophical change in how we live,” Busse said.