A Libertarian Approach to the Green New Deal

Building Tomorrow
E37 -

Hold your cows, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s Green New Deal actually wouldn’t make enough of a global impact to matter.

Download Episode
Subscribe:
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
RSS
Hosts
Paul Matzko
Tech & Innovation Editor
Guests
Peter Van Doren

Peter Van Doren is editor of the quarterly journal Regulation and an expert in the regulation of housing, land, energy, the environment, transportation, and labor. He has taught at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (Princeton University), the School of Organization and Management (Yale University), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. From 1987 to 1988 he was the postdoctoral fellow in political economy at Carnegie Mellon University. His writing has been published in theWall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Journal of Commerce, and the New York Post. Van Doren has also appeared on CNN, CNBC, Fox News Channel, and Voice of America. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his master’s degree and doctorate from Yale University.

Join Paul, Joe Verruni, and Peter Van Doren as they discuss why the Green New Deal is neither particularly “green,” all that “new,” nor all that great of a “deal.” However, there is a libertarian response to the Green New Deal that doesn’t just consist of “bah humbug.” There are market-​based solutions that can more effectively and sustainably address carbon emissions and other environmental pollution. To illustrate that point, the hosts discuss fascinating new applications of energy storage tech that attempt to solve the “duck curve” problem limiting the adoption of renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

Should we be concerned when both political parties agree? How should libertarians think about the Green New Deal? What is the goal of the Green New Deal? How can we change emitting behavior through mechanisms other than those proposed in the Green New Deal? Will the Green New Deal take away your car (or your cows) entirely?

Further Reading:

The Impossible Green Dream of Alexandria Ocasio-​Cortez, written by Michael Grunwald

The New York Times is trying hard to clean up after AOC’s Green New Deal Mess, written by Becket Adams

The ‘Duck Curve’ Is Solar Energy’s Greatest Challenge

Related Content:

Did Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Really Save America?, Free Thoughts Podcast

The End of Doom, Free Thoughts Podcast