The Atlantic

The Green New Deal Does Not, Strictly Speaking, <em>Exist</em>

The idea has reshaped global climate policy, but is far less concrete than its supporters have been led to believe.
Source: Kyle Wolfe / Getty

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Since its ascension in 2018, the Green New Deal has defined the terms of the global climate debate. Perhaps no other climate policy in history has been as successful. Democrats and Republicans alike have been judged by how closely they seem to hew to it. The Sunrise Movement, the highest-profile American climate-activism group, rallies for it. Abroad, the European Union has dubbed its 1-trillion-euro attempt to decarbonize its economy “the European Green Deal.” And on the histrionic fields of social media, progressives ask how society can afford flooded subways, , , and but pay for a Green New Deal.

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