The Seattle City Council recently passed a new resolution to adopt a city-wide “Green New Deal.” If you thought that Seattle was loony already, this newest resolution should take the cake for being their craziest resolution yet.
First, let’s look at this as if it were actually a plan to help save our environment. This resolution would remake the city economy with clean energy and would act on warnings from scientists that climate change will be irreversible unless drastic action is taken by 2030. The problem with this is the statement, “unless drastic action is taken by 2030.” What kind of drastic action can a city take to help save the world? Even on a national scale, if we cut all of our fossil fuel consumption, we would not have the ability to stop the supposed end of the world. This is fear-mongering politics at its finest– and people are buying it. A women and her two young children showed up at the council meeting where this resolution was passed. She told the council, “We are terrified that they will die an early and terribly tragic death because of the impact we humans have on our environment.”
Sadly, this resolution and the effects it will have on our economy will have a much more devastating effect on her and her children’s lives than the environment ever would in their lifetimes. Maybe when the gas-burning stove she uses at home gets confiscated by the city she will smell the coffee, but it will already be burnt.
This brings us to the second point. This resolution will not help the environment. It is a wealth transfer scheme concocted by the left to purchase the support of marginalized communities in the area and stay in power. This resolution establishes an oversight board with 16 members. These members are chosen by the following criteria:
- Eight members of communities directly impacted by racial, economic, and environmental injustices. One of these members should be a tribal member. Two of these members should be between the ages of 16 and 25 at the time of their appointment (Positions 1 through 8);
- Three representatives of organizations engaged in environmental justice work (Positions 9 through 11);
- Two representative of labor unions (Position 12 and 13); and
- Three individuals with depth of experience in greenhouse gas reduction and climate resiliency strategy relevant to cities and their residents, in fields such as public health, infrastructure, sea level rise, or extreme weather events (Positions 14 through 16).
As you can see, only 3 of the people to hold positions on the 16 person board have any experience whatsoever with the mandate of the board. The other positions read like a socialist job posting– not to mention that at least two of the positions are literally mandated to be filled by children. However, those aren’t the only slots that should require parental consent. Do you still think this is about climate change?
The City seeks to create a fund and establish dedicated progressive revenue sources for its Green New Deal, along with an associated accountability body, that will be used to make investments in communities, prioritizing those impacted the most by economic, racial, and environmental injustice, and ensuring that those most impacted are centered in policies and empowered to make decisions.
So massive taxation on those living in the city, pouring money into “marginalized” communities that have no market incentive for businesses in the first place, and lots of government programs destined to fail. I can guarantee the first taxes passed to fund their ideas will not be the last. The wealthy in Seattle who will pay for the majority of this are sure to pack up and leave– then where will the money come from? Seattle has a strong economy, it is our little golden goose in the Pacific NorthWest, yet it is not indestructible. Our city leaders are slowly but surely trying to kill it, foolishly expecting a larger payout.
https://mynorthwest.com/1481194/dori-seattle-green-new-deal/?