Democrats have good reasons to be optimistic about 2020. But the moment a party or politician believes they own something is the moment they start to lose it. In politics, complacency leads to hubris, hubris leads to pandering and pandering leads to a realignment driven by the forgotten and marginalized. As unlikely as it seems, 2020 could be the year Democrats start to lose an issue they believe they own: climate change and the environment. 

Democrats have created an opening Republicans should not ignore. The left’s marquee proposal — the Green New Deal — aspires to communicate earnest devotion but is profoundly unserious. Its goals, scope, provisions, and costs are outlandish. The plan is a transparent attempt to use concerns about our planet to reshape our politics. The two non-climate related provisions of the GND — “Medicare for All” and guaranteed jobs for all — would dwarf the UN’s worst-case climate change cost projections ($69 trillion) for this century.

The GND also makes a mockery of itself by not delivering results. If the plan were enacted it would do almost nothing to reduce global temperatures, all while imposing a draconian carbon lockdown on our country as we struggle to recover from a pandemic. The GND would devastate the middle class and minority communities it purports to help.

Read the full article on The Hill.