The Real Green New Deal Doesn’t Belong to AOC

When Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez released her Green New Deal in February, the plan was a bit disappointing -- too focused on the U.S instead of on the world as a whole, too willing to dish out lavish new entitlements, not focused enough on research and technology, too dismissive of the private sector and too vague on how to pay for it all.

But the Green New Deal did accomplish one very crucial thing -- it got the ball rolling. Climate change has long been a disaster in the making, but until recently the American public tended to treat it as an afterthought. The Green New Deal brought climate change front and center, and made Americans think about big bold solutions instead of technical tweaks and half measures. In the long run, that will be more important than the details of the initial proposals.