Joe Biden disavows Green New Deal co-sponsored by Kamala Harris

Well, this is awkward.

Democratic nominee Joe Biden may need to have a sit-down with his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris of California.

They clearly do not see eye to eye.

On Tuesday, during the first (and hopefully last) 2020 presidential debate, Biden stated outright that he does not support the Green New Deal, a preposterous multitrillion-dollar plan to make the American economy more environmentally friendly.

“The Green New Deal will pay for itself as we move forward,” Biden alleged. “We're not going to build plants that, in fact, are great polluting plants.”

Moderator Chris Wallace interjected for clarity, “But do you support the Green New Deal?”

“No,” Biden answered definitively. “I don't support the Green New Deal. I support the Biden plan that I put forward. … The Biden plan, which is different than what [President Trump] calls the radical Green New Deal.”

Well, this is awkward, and for a couple of reasons.

First, it seems strange to disavow the Green New Deal after alleging specifically that it will “pay for itself as we move forward.”

Second, the 2020 Biden campaign website still includes a line that reads, “Biden believes the Green New Deal is a crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face. It powerfully captures two basic truths, which are at the core of his plan: (1) the United States urgently needs to embrace greater ambition on an epic scale to meet the scope of this challenge, and (2) our environment and our economy are completely and totally connected.”

Lastly, there is the fact that Biden’s own running mate is an early supporter of the Green New Deal.

In February 2019, two Green New Deal resolutions were introduced in Congress. Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York introduced a resolution in the House. Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts introduced a resolution in the Senate.

The Green New Deal, as introduced, is a mishmash of platitudes, wishful thinking, and totally unworkable policy proposals. For example, it calls for the upgrading or replacing of every building in the U.S. over a 10-year period to achieve compliance with environmental standards as outlined by the initiative. The Green New Deal should "be accomplished through a 10-year national mobilization that will require,” among other things, “upgrading all existing buildings in the United States and building new buildings to achieve maximal energy efficiency, water efficiency, safety, affordability, comfort, and durability, including through electrification,” states the Senate's nonbinding resolution.

Not even Ocasio-Cortez’s aggressive 70% marginal tax rate on the wealthy could generate the sort of cash that would be needed to see every single building in the U.S. either replaced or upgraded to meet the bill’s requirements. Oh, by the way, the Green New Deal would cost anywhere between $6.6 trillion and $94.4 trillion, depending on whose estimate you trust.

These obvious drawbacks did not deter Markey from introducing his resolution in the U.S. Senate. The nonstarters did not deter 14 of his Democratic colleagues from throwing their support behind the resolution.

The bill’s cosponsors include independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Cory Booker of New Jersey.

And Harris.

How Biden’s running mate plans to thread the needle of supporting his much less ambitious environmental plan, all while having her name on the Green New Deal initiative explicitly disavowed by the Democratic nominee, is anyone's guess.