Energy

‘I Was Laughing So Hard I Nearly Cried’: WSJ’s Kimberley Strassel Can’t Get Over Green New Deal

U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) hold a news conference for their proposed
Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
Font Size:

The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel was not impressed by the rollout of the proposed Green New Deal — in fact, she argued Thursday that “if a bunch of GOPers plotted to forge a fake Democratic bill showing how bonkers the party is, they could not have done a better job.”

As Democrats rolled out the resolution, notably backed by freshman Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the commentary and criticisms rolled out as well. Strassel was firmly and decidedly in the camp of the latter.

Strassel followed her initial tweet with a series of key points to illustrate her initial assessment. The facilities and turbines required to deliver “renewable electricity” on the scale described in the GND, for example, would take up more space than the entire state of California.

Logistics would also likely pose a problem, Strassel noted. (RELATED: Does Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal Really Outlaw Every Building In The Country?)

She found the connection between a clean economy and the need for single-payer health care — among other things — dubious, at best.

Strassel then tackled the accompanying “fact sheet,” which endeavored to explain why fossil fuels couldn’t be eliminated immediately.

As for the price tag — the solution, on paper, appears simply to be “extend more credit” and build “new public banks” — all of which, loosely translated, amounts to “print more money.”

Strassel was far from the only critic who found aspects of the Green New Deal laughable.

Follow Virginia on Twitter