If the Green New Deal takes effect, you may soon be scootering to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving, according to an ad airing prior to Wednesday’s Democratic presidential primary debate.
The 30-second spot, slated to run on MSNBC leading up to the debate in Atlanta, comes as the latest salvo in the free-market Competitive Enterprise Institute’s campaign against the Democrat-backed Green New Deal.
The ad shows a family of four preparing to bring a turkey, stuffing and other traditional Thanksgiving foods to the grandparents’ house — on scooters, thanks to sky-high gas prices fueled by the plan to combat climate change.
“The Green New Deal has sent the price of gas through the roof!” says “Dad” in the ad, while “Mom” responds that “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
As they family rides off on scooters, balancing the Thanksgiving feast, one of the pies lands on the driveway.
“Since Washington politicians are asking the American people to support energy rationing that will lead to higher costs and a complete restructuring of our economy, CEI is asking families to imagine what life would be like under the Green New Deal,” said CEI president and CEO Kent Lassman in a statement.
Our ad campaign illustrates the costs and tradeoffs associated with the so-called Green New Deal. “CEI is asking families to imagine what life would be like under the Green New Deal.” - @KentatCEI watch here https://t.co/XrankT21ER
— Competitive Enterprise Institute (@ceidotorg) November 20, 2019
The leading Democratic presidential candidates have proposed emissions-reducing plans using the framework of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal resolution, which calls for net-zero emissions by 2030.
Five of the Democratic candidates — Sens. Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Bernard Sanders and Elizabeth Warren — have cosponsored the ambitious resolution, which the American Action Forum estimated would cost between $51 to $93 trillion over the next decade.
“The Green New Deal would cost families tens of thousands of dollars in higher energy, housing, and logistics costs and everyone should think about how those higher costs would affect their daily lives,” Mr. Lassman said.
The non-binding Green New Deal resolution says that climate change will cost up to $500 billion in lost economic output per year by 2100, and that the proposals under the plan will create “millions of good, high-wage jobs.”
The ad is the second in the CEI’s $250,00 ad campaign taking aim at the deal. The latest ad is slated to air in Washington, D.C., and continue for a week on cable news.
The first ad, “Can You Afford the Green New Deal,” aired last month on CNN.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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