According to a study from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Green New Deal (GND) would likely “…drive the American economy into a steep economic depression, while putting off-limits affordable energy necessary for basic social institutions like hospitals, schools, clean water and sanitation, cargo shipments, and the inputs needed for the production and transport of the majority of America’s food supply.”
The study focused on five states – Alaska, Florida, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania – to determine how the GND would affect a typical household. It found that, at minimum, the GND would cost an average household over $70,000 the first year, $44,000 annually over its first five years, and over $37,000 annually after that. The costs will come from changes in housing, vehicles, transportation, etc. that will be necessary to meet GND standards.
Three of these – Florida, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania – will be essential swing-states in the 2020 Presidential election. Voters there could be slammed with $70,000 in additional costs because of the GND. Almost every Democratic presidential candidate supports the GND or a similar framework and, as a result, could be on the receiving end of bruising attacks from President Trump and Republicans.
The Democratic Party’s leftist fringe will keep pressuring presidential candidates to be stronger advocates for the GND and other extreme policies, like free college and single payer healthcare, that could be rejected by middle class voters if the GOP thoughtfully and forcefully engages on the issues. Republicans must continue to educate voters, especially those in critical rustbelt states like Pennsylvania, about how policies like GND will cost families in higher taxes and reduce their quality of life.
