Giving Compass' Take:

• Robert Klee discusses the Green New Deal, the controversy over its vague implications, and how states are decarbonizing.

• Is it more effective for decarbonization to happen at the state level?

• Read about how to tackle climate change without governmental help.


At the highest level, the Green New Deal calls for meaningful greenhouse gas emission reductions for the next decade and beyond through the complete restructuring of our economy and society around deep decarbonization.

But the Green New Deal also recognizes that the emergent decarbonized economy and society also must be equitable. This new world only works with broad access to the benefits of clean energy; good jobs that workers are trained for; and just, healthy and resilient communities prepared to face the inevitable harm already loaded into our overheated atmosphere.

But even those willing to honestly engage with and acknowledge the climate crisis criticize the Green New Deal as not much more than a catchy slogan — too vague and ill-defined.

Is there a version of this massive investment in decarbonization somewhere out there that is aggressive enough to meet the bar set by the scientists, yet pragmatic enough to work politically and as a matter of law and policy? Yes, there is.

We should look no further than the blue and red states currently leading on climate to see the strategies in action that would achieve the swift and far-reaching emissions reductions we require.

These leading states are setting legally binding, economy-wide, greenhouse gas emissions targets. They’re creating mandatory clean energy requirements for their electric systems. They’re actively procuring grid-scale clean energy, and striving to ensure distributed clean energy is for all homes and businesses, not just the wealthy few. They’re requiring manufacturers to deliver zero emission vehicles, and building the infrastructure to support them. They’re unleashing clean energy investors to provide the private capital to solve this public problem.

Read the full article about the future of decarbonization in the states by Robert Klee at GreenBiz.