Opinion: Letter to the Editor: Economics and Environment
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Opinion: Letter to the Editor: Economics and Environment

With respect, I wholeheartedly disagree with Aidan Fielding who supported the Green New Deal in a recent letter to the editor (Feb 20).

Not only do I not support the Green New Deal, the call for public servants to adopt it is harmful to Americans in many ways as well as the faulty logic that we alone can solve the issues it claims we can rectify. By calling for us as a nation to adopt this without considering all the other nations is faulty. Other countries are some of the worst offenders.

It won't create "millions of high paying jobs." In fact one of the country's top labor unions recently announced its opposition to the plan because it would actually hurt working men and women who live in this country.

In a letter to the two lawmakers who are sponsoring the "Green New Deal" the AFL-CIO, which represents 12.5 million union workers, said the plan "is far too short on specific solutions that speak to the jobs of our members and the critical sections of our economy." The group also said it "will not accept proposals that could cause immediate harm to millions of our members and their families" and "will not stand by and allow threats to our members' jobs and their families standard of living go unanswered."

Notably, labor groups have supported natural gas pipelines — perhaps because these projects really lead to well paying jobs. I hope readers who might support the "Green New Deal" will reconsider. Natural gas production is rising at the same time greenhouse gas emissions are dropping as we transition away from coal.

We are on the right environmental path — and one that won't hurt working moms and dads.

By encouraging support of the Green New Deal based on fear and not logic is no way to govern or have any meaningful change.

Laura Niswander

Alexandria