I first heard about the “Green New Deal” during my 2018 campaign for Michigan governor. When I heard the name, I was immediately skeptical. After all, Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s original “New Deal” was no new deal for Black Americans. In fact, one of the deal’s landmark programs, the Federal Housing Administration, became one of America’s chief tools for redlining — accelerating segregation — and marginalizing Black families.
The Green New Deal, like all climate policy, also had to compete for political attention with policy reforms that focus on...