WASHINGTON – It has been reported that Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is preparing to introduce a resolution in the House of Representatives dubbed the “Green Real Deal”. AEA President Thomas Pyle responded with the following statement:
“Rep. Matt Gaetz’s so-called ‘Green Real Deal’ is nothing more than a Green New Deal-lite. While the resolution purports to affirm that the government should not pick winners and losers, it antithetically recommends taxpayer dollars be spent on preferred pet projects like nuclear modular reactors and carbon capture storage as opposed to what the green left would shower subsidies on. In other words, Gaetz’s Green Real Deal is just another big government scheme that would give handouts to corporations to achieve emissions reductions that the private sector has already proven they can achieve on their own.
Responding to the Green New Deal with a slightly less big government style counter-offer is to give the original resolution too much credit. The U.S. already leads the world in gross emissions reductions. We don’t need a New Deal-style program to propel the U.S. into a strong energy and environmentally-friendly future, it’s already in our grasp. Conservatives must outright reject both the premise and the proposals of the Green New Deal and respond by getting the federal government out of energy markets, not entrenching it further.”
For more read AEA’s blog post: Rep. Gaetz’s Green New Deal Lite