Earth Day and the Green New Deal

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and I agree on her premise that we should be responsible inhabitants of Planet Earth. However, how we do that is where we take different paths.  Before we get there, maybe we need a very brief review of what the original “New Deal” was all about.

The Original New Deal

Whether you are from the Silent Generation (born 1945 and before), a Baby Boomer (1946 – 1964), Generation X (1965-1976), a Millennial (1977 – 1995), or a Generation Z (1996 and after), or even an ADD student like me—you have probably heard of Roosevelt’s New Deal. I heard that it was some great program that President Roosevelt started during the Great Depression promising to restore prosperity to all Americans back in the 1930’s. But guess what? It probably should have been called “Another Bad Deal.” Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats sounded so good, promising to end poverty and restore the economy. Instead, it turned out to be a dyslexic Robin Hood.  It ended up taking from the poor and giving to the rich.

I don’t know whether FDR meant to hurt millions of poor Americans—but that’s what happened. (See our resource Godonomics for more on The New Deal.)

Now ninety years later, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Corte (AOC for short) has proposed another utopian idea, her Green New Deal. If you are not familiar with this latest list of lofty promises, they include: guaranteed federal jobs, economic security for those unable to work, guaranteed housing, free health care, higher education for all and a minimum family living wage. This is all under the guise of her great concern to regulate climate control to save the planet.

Just a few of the things Americans must sacrifice in order to accomplish this include that we must eliminate use of most airplanes, 99% of gas-powered cars, and farting cows (Uh, I hope you don’t like steak!); replace all public buildings with new energy-efficient ones, etc at a rough estimate cost of only 93 trillion dollars.

 

Is AOC’s New Deal Really “To Green”?

Like Roosevelt, I can’t say that I know all the motivation behind Rep. Cortez’s proposed legislation and if she is really trying to take care of this tiny blue dot that God created and hung into space for mankind or not. But I can  say that it seems more like a “Green-painted trojan horse” filled up with huge government expansion than a genuine attempt to take care of the environment God created for us.

So if Rep. AOC’s proposed plan to take care of the environment seems a little off the chain, does that mean we don’t have any responsibility in this effort to take care of the environment? Where should our priorities lie?

“To Be” Or “To Green”

The question today is no longer “To be, or not to be,” as Shakespeare’s Hamlet asked while he was contemplating if life was worth living; but rather, “To green, or not to green,” is center stage. Hamlet was contemplating suicide, ending a life created by God with his question. AOC and the Green Movement appear to place “nature” above “life” with their question. It would seem the Green Movement places more emphasis on Creation, than the Creator. And that’s exactly what Romans chapter one said would happen!

Paul wrote to the church in Rome that God had revealed Himself to all mankind through His creation! But that when men reject God, and profess to be wise in their own eyes, all kinds of wickedness breaks loose! In verse 25, we see this includes worshiping the CREATION more than the CREATOR!

Romans 1:22 “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,”

Romans 1:25 “ Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”

God does command mankind to take care of the earth. He said so in the second chapter of the Bible.

Genesis 2:15 “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”

That word “dress” means to till the ground; to cultivate; to take care of it. And He gave the Hebrews laws about resting the land every seven years. When they disobeyed what God told them to do, refusing to let the land rest for 490 years, God judged them and sent them into captivity for 70 years. Hey! Do the math! That made up for the 70 years they disobeyed. Evidently taking care of the planet is a serious thing to God.

But the first step is knowing the CREATOR! His Word sets forth principles to govern all areas of our lives including responsibly taking care of the dirt and water and air.

So yes, let’s “Go GREEN,” but not in the sense of getting rid of farting cows and airplanes. AOC’s plan doesn’t represent responsibly taking care of what God has provided for us. Let’s “Go Green” by worshiping God as our Creator, teaching others how to know Him, and taking His Word as the ultimate authority for the best way to accomplish the “To Be Green” task!

Thanks for reading!