The Green New Deal / oceanic noise pollution

First, we'll talk about the specifics of the Green New Deal and the political fight over it. Then, we'll hear about the ways sound and noise can adversely affect ocean life.

Air Date: February 20, 2019 10:00 am

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, speaks during a press conference to announce the "Green New Deal" held at the United States Capitol in Washington, DC on February 7, 2019. Credit: Alex Edelman / CNP | usage worldwide Photo by: Alex Edelman/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

Guests: Robinson Meyer, Doug Nowacek

The Green New Deal, which aims at a carbon-free economy by 2030, has been meet with praise, skepticism, a lot of fact-checking and criticism. The proposal is only a blueprint of general steps to get the U.S. to net zero greenhouse gas emissions in a decade but it’s already being widely discussed by both Democrats and Republicans. We start this hour talking with Atlantic Magazines ROBINSON MEYER about what’s in the Green New Deal, whether the goals are feasible, and the politics that stands in the way. Then, the Trump administration has pushed for opening the Eastern seaboard to gas and oil drilling and has approved seismic surveys, loud acoustic waves that are used to map the sea floor. Environmentalists and some East Coast state lawmakers are against the acoustic tests, which they say harm marine animals. We’ll talk with CHRISTOPHER CLARK, senior scientist at Cornell University and expert on marine acoustics about the effect seismic testing has on whales, dolphins and other marine life.

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