Authors:
Austin Gae, Policy Analyst;
Julia Jensen, Communications Assistant
TOPLINE: The DSA platform calls for a “Green New Deal” that would make energy unaffordable for American families and massively increase the national debt.
BACKGROUND: The DSA is pushing for a radical “Green New Deal” that would eliminate oil, natural gas and coal – all of which the U.S. has in vast quantities – and replace it with government owned “green energy” infrastructure.
America Runs on Oil, Natural Gas, and Coal
- 82% of energy consumption in the U.S. comes from oil, natural gas, and coal.
- Oil helps Americans get where they need to go – like work, school, or hospitals.
- 40% of U.S. electricity comes from natural gas, keeping the lights on, ACs running during the summer, and our personal devices charged.
- Coal provides reliable electricity to homes and businesses, especially during dangerous winter storms.
- Fossil fuels, along with renewables and nuclear energy, contribute to an abundant, diverse energy mix that powers America.
- The DSA wants to eliminate reliable energy sources and increase reliance on unreliable renewable energy, which would lead to more power outages and blackouts.
Green Energy Policy is Simply Unaffordable
- The Green New Deal could cost anywhere from $3 to $7 TRILLION dollars over the next decade – all to forfeit America’s global leadership in energy production.
- The Green New Deal is based on fantasies that pretend we can prosper without abundant energy and that costs don’t matter.
- If green energy were as cheap as some argue, then it wouldn’t need government subsidies. These taxpayer-funded supports would foster government dependency in domestic energy producers.
BOTTOMLINE: The Green New Deal is a socialist central planning scheme that will bring financial recklessness and energy unreliability, which will ultimately fall on American homes and businesses. It will put our lives at risk by disrupting access to the energy needed for heating, cooling, medical care, food production, and so much more. Americans should reject this DSA framework and support a policy that unleashes the abundant, reliable, and proven energy sources that the current and future generations will need to pursue the American dream.
