A radical vision for a Green New Deal | RSA Replay

How can 2021 become a turning point for progress on climate change?

With COP26 on the horizon and the incoming Biden administration poised to rejoin the Paris Agreement, climate action will be high on the agenda in 2021. But to make urgently necessary progress towards decarbonisation, the world must go further, embedding transformative economic changes across the board and building on them in the decades to come.

This will mean connecting the climate crisis to economic strife and addressing both together, understanding the intersections of social, economic, and environmental policy. It will mean directing investment towards communities that need it most, ending extractive and exploitative practices, and tackling the root causes of our problems instead of just addressing their symptoms.

The authors of A Planet to Win join us to discuss the Green New Deal as the most promising and ambitious plan we have at our disposal for saving the planet whilst building a more just society. They explore the principles, practical changes, and alliances we will need to embrace to set ourselves free from what currently binds us, and reflect on what the political opening created by crisis could mean. Business as usual can’t continue, they say, if we’re to have a future – but that what awaits us next could be much better.

#RSAGreenNewDeal

[Smidge]

I really have to disagree with the notion that national debt is a "relic" - if the government needs to raise money, they need to borrow it and incur debt. The cost of borrowing is based on how confident the lenders are they will be paid back, which is in part based on how much debt you already have.

I don't want to draw too strong an analogy between government and personal debt because they are NOT the same, but it's also not entirely different in that after a certain point nobody is going to lend you money anymore. Government debt is fine and necessary but it needs to be in service of future returns... and it can't be completely ignored.

[mistercohaagen]

Conservatives want to live like it's yesterday, but tomorrow always comes. When you're falling behind, nothing is better than Progress.