Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced in early January that he would include New York’s version of the Green New Deal in his 2019 Executive Budget. Cuomo is hoping to transform the state’s economy in order to be completely carbon free by 2040.

As important as this plan is for the environment, we should make sure that the Green New Deal can actually, and consistently, create jobs to sustain an evolving economy.

Recently, politicians at the federal level have started to call for legislation to tackle the pressing issue of climate change. State governments, though, have had to be leaders of this movement because of the current presidential administration’s stance on pro-environmental policies.

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In Cuomo’s plan, he laid out a timeline with hopes of increasing the state’s offshore wind power production by 9,000 megawatts, and distributed solar deployment by 6,000 megawatts, by the year 2025.

Although he said that he believes that timeline is reasonable, David Popp, a professor of public administration and international relations at Syracuse University, said the ability to store energy for later use is a technical roadblock for implementation of a plan like Cuomo’s.

California — which was the first state to enact the Green New Deal — has seen its share of problems in storing solar energy. Solar panels are used during the day to harness energy from the sun, but the technology is not sophisticated enough to be able to store the solar energy when many people come home from work and use appliances.

Despite these obstacles, the Green New Deal is trying to reshape the economy. Cuomo is proposing legislation that would set aside $70 million to help convert to clean energy policies and create about 2,600 short- and long-term jobs. It’s unknown how this will exactly affect Syracuse’s economy.

Popp said those projected 2,600 jobs are primarily higher skilled ones that require extensive engineering education and training. The blue-collar manufacturing jobs of the clean energy industry will most likely continue to be dominated by the cheap production of solar panels and wind turbines in China and South Carolina, Popp said.

If states like New York and California are able to successfully transition to clean energy, then the federal government might finally feel pressure to implement a nationwide Green New Deal.

If there is an economic incentive, maybe we can finally begin to turn the tide in the fight against climate change.

Jack Ramza is a freshman majoring in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. His column runs bi-weekly. He can be reached at jjramza@syr.edu.

Published on February 19, 2019 at 7:45 pm