The “Green New Deal” has been buried in the political shuffle in recent years, as its opponents have labeled it “woke” and erroneously characterized it as “socialism.” Nevertheless, the ideas of integrating climate science, economics, and social justice live on. My 2022 book titled Science for a Green New Deal, Connecting Climate, Economics, and Social Justice has two main take-home points:

First, I wanted to instill a sense of hope and offer an antidote for a growing sense of doom regarding climate change, wealth disparity, and social injustice. The younger generations have a right to be gravely disappointed with an inadequate response to each of those issues. Climate change is already having profound effects on the environment and the economy, and Gen-Z, Gen-Alpha, and Gen-Beta have full lifetimes to live under the burden of what our inaction will leave them. Nevertheless, we have more powerful science, technology, engineering, economics, and social science to understand and solve the problem than ever before. At the moment, we lack the political will to do what needs to be done, and we suffer under leaders who are actively promoting denialism. Fortunately, significant momentum for needed changes is persevering, and with the young peoples’ help, I think we will see the transformational changes needed.

Second, the book connects the dots between the environment, the economy, and social justice. They can’t be siloed. We can’t solve one set of problems without solving the others, which makes it sound harder, but at the same time, the solutions are also mutually supportive. Reducing air pollution will help all kids, but especially kids growing up in low-income communities where the pollution is worse due to proximity to busy roads and factories. Healthier kid will make those communities stronger and more prosperous, contributing to the country in many ways. Connecting these dots to show that a healthy environment will reap economic and justice rewards is what the much-misunderstood Green New Deal is all about.

The GND embraces a market-driven economy that follows rules of fair competition (as did Adam Smith), fair labor laws, environmental protection, and safe and inclusive workplaces. Most business want a level playing field with predictable rules, where they know how to make their products at a profit. In many ways it is like making sure that there are umpires and referees in sports so that each team has a fair chance to excel.

You can learn more about the book at the Johns Hopkins University Press website.