Green New Deal’s 55 promises that have little to do with climate change: The full list

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal promises to overhaul the U.S. energy sector and replace all fossil fuel use with clean, carbon-free energy in 10 years flat without destroying the U.S. economy in the process. That’s preposterous.

Regardless, the preposterous plan is grabbing public attention and, now, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he's going to hold a Senate vote on the 14-page resolution.

Beyond committed ideologues, few people think the freshman New York lawmaker’s plan (co-sponsored by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.) is a realistic outline of what the United States can or should do to address climate change.

But Ocasio-Cortez and at least three Democratic presidential candidates who have signed onto the proposed congressional resolution have bolted onto their central unrealistic promise another 55 promises with little or nothing to do with climate change.

Here’s a list of what they're going to provide and who they're going to help:

1)     Guaranteed jobs for all

2)     That will be high quality union jobs

3)     Paying prevailing wages

4)     Hiring local workers

5)     That offer training and advancement

6)     Wage and benefit parity

7)    Family leave      

8)    Medical leave

9)    Paid vacation

10)  Retirement security

11)  Economic security

12)  With strengthened unions

13)  Stronger safety regulations

14)  Stronger health regulations

15)  Tougher anti-discrimination rules

16)  More stringent wage and hour standards

17)  Ending wage stagnation

18)  Increasing socio-economic mobility

19)  Reducing income inequality

20)  Narrowing the racial wealth gap

21)  And the gender earnings gap

22)  While trade deals add rules to protect the environment and labor

23)  The transfer of jobs overseas is stopped

24)  Domestic manufacturing grows

25)  Businesses don’t face unfair competition

26)  Ensuring economic development

27)  While diversifying business and industry in local and regional economies

28)  While eliminating pollution

29)  Cleaning up existing hazardous waste and abandoned sites

30)  Providing education, including higher education, to all

31)  While boosting community resiliency

32)  Fighting racial injustice

33)  Fighting social injustice

34)  And generally making things better for indigenous peoples

35)  Migrant communities

36)  Deindustrialized communities

37)  Depopulated rural communities

38)  Women

39)  The elderly

40)  The unhoused

41)  People with disabilities

42)  Youth

43)  And family farmers

44)  While making sure all buildings are safe

45)  All buildings are affordable

46)  All buildings are durable

47)  And all buildings are comfortable

48)  Public transit is clean

49)  Affordable

50)  And accessible

51)  All people have high quality health care

52)  And access to healthy food

53)  That is also affordable

54)  And adequate housing

55)  And also provide access to nature.  

Whew. Of course, we all want public transit to be clean and folks to have access to healthy, affordable food, but you can't wave a magic wand to make it happen with a congressional resolution. 

Claiming to solve one giant mess of a global problem like climate change with a revolutionary plan for change that doesn't take into account basic economics, civil rights and democracy is dishonest.

Claiming to be able to solve that problem and every other problem you can think of at the same time is certifiable. 

David Mastio is the deputy editorial page editor of USA TODAY. Follow him on Twitter @DavidMastio.