Claims by Democratic presidential candidates that cutting greenhouse gases will spur job growth isn’t quite accurate, according to experts who spoke with The New York Times.
The pushback comes ahead of CNN’s Climate Town Hall, which takes place Wednesday night and will include ten Democratic presidential candidates discussing their plans to combat climate change.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., on Wednesday released a $10 trillion plan to “fight against powerful interests” with the promise to invest in new technology and infrastructure. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., last week unveiled a $16.3 trillion climate change strategy that would factor climate change into every policy action from immigration to foreign policy. He promised to create 20 million jobs in the process.
Douglas W. Elmendorf, former director of the Congressional Budget Office and Dean at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, warns that economists are generally “skeptical of claims of big numbers of jobs gained or lost from policies that are really about shifting sectors” of the economy.
“Some of the rhetoric around creating ‘green jobs’ is intended to rebut that false narrative that we sacrifice our economy if we try to become greener,” he said.
Robert N. Stavins, director of the Harvard Environmental Economics Program, says a change in the political makeup of Congress is key to a change in climate policy.
“I don’t think what’s required is a change in public opinion,” he told the Harvard Political Review. What’s required is simply a change in the political makeup of Congress and the party that controls the White House.”
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