Unique Opportunities in Tech Gained from the ‘Green New Deal’

The world has been experiencing some incredible climate phenomena as of late. In the U.S., California was raised up in flames during the latest “Camp Fire” incident and the Mid-West was brought to its knees in crippling, freezing temperatures of the “Polar Vortex” — both situations leaving detrimental causalities.

The general feeling is that now that the Democrats have won back the House, there is a real chance for those concerned to propose an ambitious solution that can reach across the aisle, gaining support from both progressives and conservatives alike. Although a majority of GOP Congresspeople deny the significance of climate change, the scientific community agrees that sweeping reforms are necessary to avoid disasters like the “Camp Fire” and “Polar Vortex” mentioned earlier. The IPCC, or the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has required transitions in all aspects of society on a scale similar to what was accomplished during the mobilization during WWII, and many scientists agree with this statement.

This issue presents the opportunity to reevaluate technologies’ role in society — although technology matters, its health and welfare should be secondary to its effects on the public at large. Everyday individuals do not have the luxury of time or the financial means to fund lobbying campaigns to fight for action in the political realm. Through the Green New Deal (GND) framework, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., have attempted to create a solution. The voices of those with less power and means are the constituency for whom the GND is championing. The GND aims to coordinate the relationships between technology and the maintenance of the public’s health, safety and dignity.

And the GND is going about its goals ambitiously. This is not just a resolution but a call to redesign to U.S. economy and eventually eliminate all carbon emissions emitted in the United States. It defines the ultimate aspiration of transitioning away from fossil fuels that threaten to deepen the negative impacts of climate change. Not only that, it also describes a huge reliance on Federal Investment to create millions of good, high-wage jobs in the United States. This, of course, harkens back to the New Deal era Federal Government led mobilizations that created the strong US middle class, so it does not necessarily sound like a bad idea.

Think about how Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1930s New Deal was undertaken — how was that successful? Most people believe the success of the New Deal arose from the sheer volume of infrastructure projects that not only provided jobs for the labor market, but also added capital to empower the labor pool to stimulate a new, robust middle class.

Is the Green New Deal attempting to take advantage of this point in our history by creating an opportunity? Will it work? Were circumstances back then such that the situation was ripe for the New Deal in a way that it won’t be for the New Green Deal? Back in 1935, FDR requested $4billion from Congress for public works projects, “Little groups of earnest men and women have told us of this havoc…the evils that we have brought upon ourselves today and the even greater evils that will attend our children unless we act….such is the condition that attends the exploitation of our natural resources if we continue our planless course.”

But, as Ocasio-Cortez has said in an interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep, “Even the solutions that we have considered big and bold are nowhere near the scale of the actual problem that climate change presents to us.” As FDR said, perhaps a plan is better than no plan.

Much like the New Deal, the Green New Deal aims to boost the economy by creating jobs. The process will be vastly different this time around, as the legislation will lay a foundational framework to cut carbon emissions across sectors from transportation to agriculture. There was much success in creating jobs for low-skilled workers during the New Deal era, but what of creating jobs for workers that need higher skills that aren’t trained, or that can’t be trained in the current era?

The Green New Deal proposes substantial public investment in solar and wind-power production, high-speed rail across the United States, smart power-grids and zero-emission vehicles, and even training for new employment for displaced workers. The cost and source of the funding remains unclear. Some ask if the cost of inaction is higher, however.

Within the framework, the most opportunity looks to be with the technology sector. The Green New Deal advises the US meets 100 percent of the power demand “…through clean, renewable, and zero emission energy sources,” so that the country no longer must rely on fossil fuels or nuclear energy.

Tech Opportunity Number 1 — Clean and Renewable Energy Sources

This Green New Deal is asking that most of the United States rely on clean, renewable, zero-emission energy sources within the next 10 years. That is a tall-order, but for ambitious tech start-ups with break-through ideas or the desire to champion clean-energy, it is a call to action.

Buildings use natural gas and some older buildings use oil for heat, which means they will have to search for a zero-carbon emission heat source. Currently, the best alternative in heating and cooling is HVAC (heating, ventilation, and cooling), which would require replacing current systems with heat pumps. This is just one job, which is a huge undertaking, but will create large amounts of work and would likely involve millions of people, including the building owners, their employees, the HVAC employees and other businesses. Of course, there is additional opportunity in developing more efficient alternatives like zero-carbon liquid substitute fuels.

By using the phrase “clean, renewable, and zero emission energy sources…” the resolution leaves the door open to alternatives that are either just clean, just renewable or just zero emissions, providing greater latitude for research and development.

Tech Opportunity Number 2 — Upgrading Existing Infrastructure

There is opportunity for tech to train ppl who are skilled in building construction/establish training programs to get new type of employment started — learning how to rehab old buildings to be smart and energy efficient. Tech experts can collaborate with architects to build new buildings that can withstand natural disasters and sense when trouble is coming in the form of weather or even other threats.

The GND calls for upgrading, “…all existing U.S. buildings and build new buildings, to achieve maximal energy efficiency, water efficiency, safety, affordability, comfort, and durability…” this is including through electrification. And we know that we have much further to go as far as electricity is concerned.

Tech Opportunity Number 3- Agriculture

How do you get rid of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture? Like many of the calls to action in the GND, this seems like a tall order. Although the resolution does provide a narrow margin of leeway in this regard. Note that the GND calls for the US to “achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions,” which would theoretically allow for some fossil fuel use along with carbon removal if necessary.

Pesticides and fertilizer use have long been a hot-button issues for many. Tech is a bountiful area of study that has not yet jumped taken full advantage of the technological opportunities that alternatives to agricultural chemicals present. Artificial intelligence could be of great use in agriculture in the future. For example, there are studies being done at this very moment focusing on micro insects that can mimic the behavior of their biological prototypes without the risk of harming other wildlife or vegetation.

Researchers of Wyss Institute at Harvard University are developing robotic insects inspired by the biology of a bee. Roughly the size of a push-pin, this tiny robotic device is aiming to perform roles for both agriculture and disaster relief. The advantage of what the Wyss Institute has monikered the RoboBee is not only that it is self-directed, but it can also achieve coordinated behavior in large groups without the need for human intervention or use of caustic chemicals. These coordinated efforts could be leveraged in disaster situations, environmental monitoring and sample collection, and crop-pollination.

Another research team is concentrating completely on pesticide use. Right now, the Berkeley Lab is undertaking research to tackle the problem of pesticide-use. Using drones, hyper-spectral images, and supercomputers to analyze the genetic sequence of microbes found in farm soil, the Lab’s research shows that there is a possibility of eventually engineering microbial communities to enhance soil productivity.

Tech Opportunity Number 4 — Transportation System Upgrades

This is almost taking directly from the New Deal, but there is even greater opportunity in our current time due to the expanding availability of new technologies. We have electric cars, self-driving cars, high-speed trains, underground high-speed travel, etc.

In the heart of the Green New Deal is the resolution to remedy historic injustices experienced by the poor and rural-deindustrialized areas. Using transportation to help connect these deindustrialized areas to places where there are more job opportunities shows a wealth of potential for industry growth and success in helping an otherwise disregarded segment of the population.

Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Aircrafts are incredibly difficult to decarbonize, and as air travel becomes more popular, the more difficult it becomes to control the carbon the planes emit. Electrification is in development for other forms of transportation like, cars, trucks, buses and trains, but electric planes are far off into the horizon, seemingly out of reach. The possibilities at the current juncture, then, are to replace air travel with a viable alternative like high-speed rail or attempt to solve the impossible and create a battery-powered plane — or perhaps something that we have yet to dream up yet.

Tech Opportunity Number 5 — High Quality Health Care

Healthcare technology is a rapidly expanding field. If the Green New Deal were to expand healthcare to all Americans, tech should find a way to provide high quality care at a lower cost.

Here AI could be useful as well. Through a series of questionnaires completed by a doctor, for instance, AI can assess and profile a patient’s health beyond a simple medical record, providing tailored recommendations to make better health decisions based on their specific health profile and history along with similar profiles.

There are boundless possibilities at Health Care can offer in terms of improvements. Through behavioral science, AI technology can deeply understand and in some cases perhaps predict a person’s health condition.

Bottom line: the GND is popular now but will likely not gain much traction in Congress. Hopefully the popularity it garnered through social media will encourage more people to action in the future.