HB 22-14: The Red-Green New Deal (Passed)

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I'm broadly supportive but have a few questions/issues.

1. This is fairly minor, but there is no SoIA anymore.
2. A couple of months seems to me to be too short to ban all offshore drilling and fracking, I think we should allow a little bit more time.
3. Do we have some sort of just transition plan for workers? A lot of workers will be made redundant by these changes.
4. We could add more could be added on the international front, we could be doing a lot more to work with other countries on this too.
5. How much money will be going into the Social Energy Fund?
6. This bill will cost a lot of money and I'd prefer if we also had an amendment to help pay for this, or a seperate revenue bill.

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Just an amendment dealing with some basic issues first.

The Red-Green New Deal

SENATE BILL

To address climate change in Atlasia

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled,

Section I: Title

1. This Act may be cited as the "Red-Green New Deal" or "RGND".

Section II: Resolution

1. We Recognize:

  a. The seriousness and urgency associated with climate change must be met with swift action in order to ensure the continued welfare and prosperity of all Atlasians.

  b. Those at fault must be held accountable, and the industries polluting our environment must be eliminated.

  c. We must aim for a total phase-out of fossil fuels by 2035.

  d. We can spark a green revolution in Atlasia and become a focal point in a new age of industry and technology.

Section III: Extraction

1. Offshore drilling within 25 miles of the Atlasian coastline is hereby prohibited shall be prohibited 5 months from the passage of this bill.

2. The use of hydraulic fracking in Atlasia is hereby prohibited shall be prohibited 5 months from the passage of this bill.

3. The placing of new oil pipeline, other than for the use of repair or renovation of existing lines, is hereby prohibited.

  a. Any update, repair, or alteration to existing pipeline must comply with existing regulation and be reviewed by appropriate local and federal agencies.

Section IV: Utility Ownership

1. The Office of the Secretary Department of Internal Affairs shall be instructed to create a Social Energy Fund.

  a. The Fund shall receive an amount equivalent to gaining public control over the top twenty five largest publicly traded energy companies.

    i. "Public Control" is defined as at least 51% of total shares.

  b. The Fund shall offer to voluntarily purchase up to 51% of the total shares in the companies described in IV.1.a.
 
    i. With each offer, the Department of Internal Affairs shall release a statement declaring its aim to compulsorily purchase the shares required to acquire a majority within sixteen months.

  c. The Fund shall be chartered to utilize its stake in the companies described in IV.1.a to achieve the following.

    i. Compliance with international de-carbonization objectives.
    
    ii. The transition to an energy sector led by publicly owned renewable energy companies.
  
    iii. The gradual phase-out of fossil fuel extraction.

Section V: Public Works

1. The Office of the Secretary Department Internal Affairs shall be instructed to create a New Public Works Administration

  a. The NPWA shall develop, administrate, maintain and oversee public building projects.

  b. The NPWA shall be led by the Secretary ranking officer for the Department of Internal Affairs.

    i. Shall the position of Secretary of there be no ranking officer for the Department Internal Affairs be vacant, these duties shall fall to the President of Atlasia.

2. The Office of the Secretary ranking officer for the Department Internal Affairs may appoint a board of NPCs to assist in the development of NPWA projects.

3. NPWA projects shall include

    a. Steel and Auto Manufacturing

    b. Construction and Enginering

    c. Renewable Energy Development and Energy Efficiency Retrofitting

    d. Coding, Server Farms and Technological Development

    e. Sustainable Agriculture

    f. Civil Corps
 
    g. Finance and Information

    h. Statistics and Social Research

4. All NPWA projects shall provide workers with the following.

  a. Pay equivalent to 10% above a "living wage" determined by residency.

  b. Full membership in a labor union.

  c. Employment benefits delegated per project.

5. The NPWA shall seek to employ twenty million workers over a ten-year period.

6. The NPWA shall operate with an annual budget of $250 billion.

Section VI: Effective Date

1. This act takes effect on June 1st, 2020.

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Is 5 months really a reasonable time to completely stop offshore drilling and fracking? Seems like that is still too soon for a complete halt.

Probably not no. There'd also need to be some sort of compensation for workers.

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I also just wanted to add to Elcaspar's points - we can debate all the specifics of the bill and we can amend and amend, I have already outlined my own issues and concerns with this bill as it stands right now - and if anyone else has concerns, they should be heard, this is a major bill.

But, lets not lose sight of the bigger picture. The scientific consensus is pretty clear - climate change is an extremely serious threat to the planet. Sea levels will continue to rise, threatening coastal communities across the country. Droughts, hurricanes, wildfires will continue to get worse. We absolutely need serious policies to deal with climate change and that should be the overall objective of debates on this bill.

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Slight change to Blair's amendment.

Adds some time for the fracking ban to take effect, prioritises banning fracking near to homes - which is known to cause serious health problems, and increases the tax on fracking to 20% from June 2022.

The Red-Green New Deal

SENATE BILL

To address climate change in Atlasia

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled,

Section I: Title

1. This Act may be cited as the "Red-Green New Deal" or "RGND".

Section II: Resolution

1. We Recognize:

  a. The seriousness and urgency associated with climate change must be met with swift action in order to ensure the continued welfare and prosperity of all Atlasians.

  b. Those at fault must be held accountable, and the industries polluting our environment must be eliminated.

  c. We must aim for a total phase-out of fossil fuels by 2035.

  d. We can spark a green revolution in Atlasia and become a focal point in a new age of industry and technology.

Section III: Extraction

1. Offshore drilling within 25 miles of the Atlasian coastline shall be prohibited 5 months from the passage of this bill

2. The placing of new oil pipeline, other than for the use of repair or renovation of existing lines, is hereby prohibited.

  a. Any update, repair, or alteration to existing pipeline must comply with existing regulation and be reviewed by appropriate local and federal agencies.

Section IV: Hydraulic Fracking

1. No new leases shall be granted by any federal agency for new hydraulic fracturing operations, new pipelines, new liquefied natural gas or oil export terminals, new natural gas storage, new ethane cracker plants, new natural gas power generation plants, or other infrastructure intended to extract, transport, or burn natural gas or oil.

2. A tax of 10% shall be applied on the profits of any firm which operates any existing lease for hydraulic fracturing operations from the 1st June 2020.

 a. This tax shall increase to 15% from the 1st June 2021.

 b. This tax shall increase to 20% on the 1st June 2022

 c. Beginning on January 1, 2022, the practice of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas is prohibited within 2,500 feet of a home, school, or other inhabited structure in Atlasia.

 d. Beginning on January 1, 2022 2024, the practice of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas is prohibited on all onshore and offshore land in Atlasia.

Section V: Utility Ownership

1. The Department of Internal Affairs shall be instructed to create a Social Energy Fund.

  a. The Fund shall receive an amount equivalent to gaining public control over the top twenty five largest publicly traded energy companies.

    i. "Public Control" is defined as at least 51% of total shares.

  b. The Fund shall offer to voluntarily purchase up to 51% of the total shares in the companies described in IV.1.a.
 
    i. With each offer, the Department of Internal Affairs shall release a statement declaring its aim to compulsorily purchase the shares required to acquire a majority within sixteen months.

  c. The Fund shall be chartered to utilize its stake in the companies described in IV.1.a to achieve the following.

    i. Compliance with international de-carbonization objectives.
   
    ii. The transition to an energy sector led by publicly owned renewable energy companies.
 
    iii. The gradual phase-out of fossil fuel extraction.

Section VI: Public Works

1. The Department Internal Affairs shall be instructed to create a New Public Works Administration

  a. The NPWA shall develop, administrate, maintain and oversee public building projects.

  b. The NPWA shall be led by the ranking officer for the Department of Internal Affairs.

    i. Shall there be no ranking officer for the Department Internal Affairs be vacant, these duties shall fall to the President of Atlasia.

2. The ranking officer for the Department Internal Affairs may appoint a board of NPCs to assist in the development of NPWA projects.

3. NPWA projects shall include

    a. Steel and Auto Manufacturing

    b. Construction and Enginering

    c. Renewable Energy Development and Energy Efficiency Retrofitting

    d. Coding, Server Farms and Technological Development

    e. Sustainable Agriculture

    f. Civil Corps
 
    g. Finance and Information

    h. Statistics and Social Research

4. All NPWA projects shall provide workers with the following.

  a. Pay equivalent to 10% above a "living wage" determined by residency.

  b. Full membership in a labor union.

  c. Employment benefits delegated per project.

5. The NPWA shall seek to employ twenty million workers over a ten-year period.

6. The NPWA shall operate with an annual budget of $250 billion.

Section VII: Effective Date

1. This act takes effect on June 1st, 2020.

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Thanks for your effort here.

Are these numbers just for their US assets or global?

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Bump

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Nay

I think an energy nationalisation makes sense if the goal is to move to cleaner energies. However, Section V of this bill as it is written has a lot of issues which I think need to be addressed before we go to a final vote. If it indeed costs 1.3 trillion, I think we have to either roll it back a bit or find a way to pay some of the cost.

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Nay

I think an energy nationalisation makes sense if the goal is to move to cleaner energies. However, Section V of this bill as it is written has a lot of issues which I think need to be addressed before we go to a final vote. If it indeed costs 1.3 trillion, I think we have to either roll it back a bit or find a way to pay some of the cost.

Isn't this vote for the amendment that strikes Section V?

I don't want to strike it, I want to improve it

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This also needs a new sponsor since Blair is no longer in the House.

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So what's happening with this bill? Has the voting period on the amendment ended?

Apologies, this is Peanut's responsibility. In the interests of moving forward I'll certify the vote.

Amendment fails 3-4-0-2

With no objections, Elcaspar is now the sponsor.

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Elcaspar's amendment is adopted

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Encke's amendment is adopted

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To Thumb: You mentioned that you wanted to improve Section V in some way. Any ideas?

I think that we should reduce the cost, which to be fair may be lower now than when you made your original calculations, by scaling back the nationalisations or by finding new revenue.

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This isn't an area of my expertise so I apologise for my lack of contribution on this bill during my time in congress. I think the main area that needs to be looked at is some sort of just transition plan to support workers who lose their job as a result. I hope that the next congress is able to finalise this bill.