The Green New Deal needs broad support to be effective

Madeleine Neal, Opinions Columnist

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has done more than just take the Twitter-verse by storm and Livestream on Instagram, she and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., drafted a “Green New Deal,” which, they hope, will eventually eliminate all carbon emissions.

All of them.

The resolution, which would be nonbinding should it pass, also aims to tackle such issues as income inequality and injustice among minorities.

OK, this sounds great, and I am completely on board. But I’m also a Democrat, and a pretty far left-leaning one at that.

Although Democrats have the House, the Republican-dominated Senate wouldn’t even give this “deal” a second look.

In fact, even Senate Democrats such as Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who is nearly at the top of the Senate’s liberal pack, called the proposal a “resolution aspiration.”

So how would an idea like this ever prosper?

To be frank — and cynical — it can’t. At least not right now. There has to be some sort of center compromise for this legislation to go, well, anywhere productive.

But this resolution encompasses so many facets it’s almost overwhelming to those who fail to support it.

Now, this is not to say I don’t support the deal, nor does it imply that I don’t see the need for drastic measures … I do. The overt emission of greenhouse gases, income inequality, and injustice throughout the United States and its economic structure are undoubtedly issues.

But just talking about radical resolutions that simply won’t pass across the aisle means nothing if we can’t get actual legislation passed.

Wouldn’t it be more productive to compromise on the severity of the legislation’s stipulations to actually get something in the works to further combat carbon emissions while simultaneously securing American jobs?

I find it hard to believe that the only way to achieve at least some of the goals at hand is to be unwavering completely.

If we want change, we have to compromise.