New Consensus was founded by several left-leaning activists in 2018 to promote the Green New Deal, a set of radical environmentalist policy proposals which has been criticized as a “radical, top-down, socialist makeover of the entire U.S. economy”1 and is estimated to cost tens of trillions of dollars. 2 New Consensus signed a petition supporting the Green New Deal. 3
Mission
According to New Consensus’ website, it has five goals. 4 The group aims to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions while creating employment opportunities, creating infrastructure and industry changes in the U.S. while meeting clean air, water, and food objectives, and “promote justice and equity” through “repairing the historic oppression and frontline and vulnerable communities.” 5
A February 2019 Mother Jones profile of co-founder and executive director Demond Drummer and New Consensus quoted Drummer about his goals for New Consensus. While the New Consensus website and much of its news coverage has focused on left-leaning environmental and economic goals, Drummer told Mother Jones that New Consensus is modeled to solve “the history of systemic injustice.” 6
New Consensus’ website declares that “a truly beautiful world is possible…without poverty or pollution, and with prosperity and dignity for everyone.” According to the site, New Consensus can accomplish its goals through solar energy, Earth’s billions of people, and existing technologies. However, “political” obstacles exist in the form of “entrenched, backward-looking political elites” who won’t address “existential threats to life as we know it.” 7
Price Tag
Drummer told Our Times Press in November 2018 that the group is “focused on what needs to be done and how all the pieces fit together” first, and will look at “how to pay for it” later. According to Drummer, “It’s a question of how will we pay for it – not if we can afford to pay for it. America can afford what we decide to do.” 8
New Consensus goals require significant government involvement in private businesses, infrastructure, and more. A widely-cited February 2019 report by the right-leaning economic group American Action Forum estimated that the total price of the Green New Deal could be between $50 trillion and over $90 trillion. 9
According to the report’s summary, the Green New Deal’s “further expansion” of the U.S. government into “some of the most basic decisions of daily life…would likely have a more lasting and damaging impact than its enormous price tag.” 10
Leadership
New Consensus lists five people on its staff website, including three prominent co-founders.
Executive Director
Also see Demond Drummer
Demond Drummer is executive director and co-founder of New Consensus. A left-leaning technology policy tech-oriented activist and community educator prior to joining New Consensus, Drummer co-founded the Chicago-based educational group and computer science lab CoderSpace. He previously acted as managing director of the Smart Chicago Challenge, and tech organizer at Teamwork Englewood, and he created Englewood Codes to teach kids to build websites. 11
Other Officers
Fellow co-founder and New Consensus Policy Director Rhiana Gunn-Wright was a Rhodes Scholar and most recently was policy director for a far-left Michigan gubernatorial campaign. Her policy background includes working at the Detroit Health Department and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. She interned for former U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama. 12
Zack Exley was a senior adviser for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) during the senator’s insurgent 2016 Democratic Party presidential campaign. Exley co-founded the far-left advocacy groups Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats, and helped liberal politicians like Ocasio-Cortez get into office. He previously worked for liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org and the Democratic presidential campaigns of former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and former U.S. President Barack Obama.
References
- McConnell, Mitch. Twitter Post. March 25, 2019, 5:18 P.M. Accessed March 29, 2019. https://twitter.com/senatemajldr/status/1110289975386492929
- Daly, Matthew, “Senate Shuns Green New Deal amid Claims of Bad Faith,” Fox35 Orlando. March 26, 2019. Accessed March 29, 2019. http://www.fox35orlando.com/news/politics/mcconnell-to-put-green-new-deal-to-vote-forcing-democrats-to-go-on-record
- ”Green New Deal Hub.” Influence Watch. https://www.influencewatch.org/hub/green-new-deal/.
- New Consensus, “Green New Deal,” Accessed March 27, 2019. https://newconsensus.com/green-new-deal/
- New Consensus, “Green New Deal,” Accessed March 27, 2019. https://newconsensus.com/green-new-deal/
- Zoya Tierstein. “How the Green New Deal Went From a Grassroots Organizer’s Dream to a Major Talking Point for the Dems.” Mother Jones. March 15, 2019. Accessed April 2, 2019. https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/03/how-the-green-new-deal-went-from-a-grassroots-organizerss-dream-to-a-major-talking-point-for-the-dems/
- “THE WORLD NEEDS A NEW WORLDVIEW.” New Consensus. Accessed April 2, 2019. https://newconsensus.com/
- Maitefa Angaza, “New Consensus Policy Group Will Help Deliver A New Day,” November 30, 2018. Accessed March 27, 2019. http://www.ourtimepress.com/new-consensus-policy-group-will-help-deliver-a-new-day/
- Doulas Holtz-Eakin, Dan Bosch, Ben Gitis, Dan Goldbeck, Philip Rossetti. “The Green New Deal: Scope, Scale, and Implications.” American Action Forum. February 25, 2019. Accessed April 2, 2019. https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/the-green-new-deal-scope-scale-and-implications/
- Tom Kertscher. “Ernst uses flabby $93 trillion estimate for Green New Deal.” Politifact. March 12, 2019. Accessed April 2, 2019. https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2019/mar/12/joni-ernst/joni-ernst-says-green-new-deal-would-cost-93-trill/
- “People.” New Consensus. Accessed April 2, 2019. https://newconsensus.com/people/
- “People.” New Consensus. Accessed April 2, 2019. https://newconsensus.com/people/