Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal is affordable — here’s how America could pay for it

US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, and US Senator Ed Markey (R), Democrat of Massachusetts, speak during a press conference to announce Green New Deal legislation to promote clean energy programs outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, February 7, 2019. Agence France-Presse/Saul Loeb via Getty Images US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey are calling for a "Green New Deal" that would involve massive government spending to shift the US economy away from its reliance on carbon. Some commentators have been calling a Green New Deal unaffordable. Some estimates put the bill for complete decarbonization as high as $12.3 trillion. However, according to estimates by Edward Barbier, a professor of economics at Colorado State University, the US would need to spend around $194 billion annually for the next five years in order to implement the deal. Two of the main ways of paying for the bill would be by passing a carbon tax and raising taxes on the highest-earning Americans, Barbier argues. US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey are calling for a "Green New Deal" that would involve massive government spending to shift the US economy away from its reliance on carbon. Their […]

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