Cass R. Sunstein, Columnist

The First Green New Deal Worked. Now We Need a Second One.

Democrats should have a practical plan for January 2021, not a progressive wish list.

December 5, 2019 at 12:30 PM UTC

Cass R. Sunstein is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is the author of “The Cost-Benefit Revolution” and a co-author of “Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness.”

Greenhouse-gas friendly.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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What if the U.S. already had a Green New Deal, and nobody noticed?

Between 2009 and 2016, that’s exactly what happened. The U.S. government did a great deal to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Without a lot of fanfare, it restructured major components of the national economy in the process.2