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Thomas L. Friedman: The original author.

American commentator and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote an article titled The Power of Green. Published April 15th 2007 in the International Herald Tribune (the NYT’s International Edition), the article introduces the main idea of what we now know as the Green New Deal. Shortly after it became a piece of policy work in the United Kingdom.
The 21st of July of 2008, the UK’s The Green New Deal Group, with the help of the NEF published this document. This document in general terms presents a series of proposals that emphasize on:
•Global Warming
•Government investment in renewable energy.
•The Global Financial Crisis (2007-2008)
•High oil prices.
•Modification of the banking system.
•Government financial incentives on energy efficiency and green investment.
•Buildings generating heat and electric power meeting their own demands.

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My Project: Intro
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What is the Green New Deal and what does it propose?

The Green New Deal is a 14-page resolution, divided into two sections. According to Vox (2019):

•The first part (pgs. 5-9) states what the United States has to do, to solve the current climate crisis.

•The second part (pgs. 10-14) provides a solution for how hard transitioning is going to be. It says how people will be protected, and has a set of promises for Americans.



The resolution starts by citing the IPCC’s “Special Report on Global Warming of the 1.5 °C”, which has found that:

•“Human activity is the dominant caused of observed climate change over the past century;” (Green New Deal, 2019).

•Climate Change is causing sea levels to rise, increasing wildfires, severe storms, droughts, and various extreme weather events that threaten healthy life, human communities, and infrastructure. (Green New Deal, 2019)

•If global warming reaches 2 °C or more, there will be a spike in mass migration, wildfires, more than $500,000 billion (USD) in lost annual economic output by 2100. (Green New Deal, 2019)

•It would also cause the loss of at least 99% of global coral reefs and will expose more than 350 million more people to global heat stress.

•There would also be a damage risk of losing at least $1 trillion (USD) of public infrastructure. (Green New Deal, 2019)

•It outlines the national security threat climate change should be considered because of “impacting the economic, environmental, and social stability of countries and communities…” (Green New Deal, 2019)



The first part recognizes it is the duty of the United States’ government to create a Green New Deal which ensures:

•The creation of millions of high-paying jobs, in the United States will provide “unprecedented levels of prosperity and economic security” (Green New Deal, 2019) and counteract systemic injustices. (Green New Deal, 2019).

•It is outlined that it’s the Federal Government’s duty to create a Green New Deal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, throughout a fair transition for all communities and workers. (Green New Deal, 2019).

•Investing in infrastructure and industry that “sustainably meet the challenges of the 21st Century”. (Green New Deal, 2019).

•It proposes that future generations should have access to:

•“Clean air and water.

•Healthy food.

•Access to nature

•Sustainable environment

•Climate and community resiliency” (Green New Deal, 2019).

The Green New Deal also emphasizes the prioritizing of Frontline and Vulnerable communities, to promote justice and equity and avoid a larger gap forming during the transition period.



The Green New Deal (2019) suggests the proposed goals should be accomplished through a 10-year national mobilization, which will cause transition in almost all sectors.



The main proposals the Green New Deal (2019) Resolution presents are:

Agriculture:

•Working hand-in-hand with farmers and ranchers to remove greenhouse gasses and pollution from the agricultural sector, as much as technologically feasible.

•Building a more sustainable food system, that allows and ensures access to healthy food.

Energy:

•Expanding and upgrading drastically current renewable energy sources.

•Building and upgrading energy-efficient smart power grids.

•Achieving maximum energy efficiency through electrification.

Infrastructure:

•Repairing and upgrading current infrastructure.

•Eliminating pollution and greenhouse gasses as much as technologically feasible.

•Ensuring that every bill in Congress addresses climate change explicitly.

Transportation:

•Removing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution as much as technologically feasible.

•Investment in zero-emission vehicle manufacturing and infrastructure.

•An affordable, accessible public transportation system, expanding and upgrading the high-speed rail system.

Providing funding for “community-defined” projects.

Restoring and protecting threatened and fragile natural ecosystems.

Promoting the international exchange of expertise, technology, funding, services, and products aiming to make the US a global leader on climate action.



The second part of the Green New Deal (2019), sets various promises that must be made to Americans, in order for the transition to happen effectively.

Developing and undergoing this mobilization with absolute transparency and inclusive partnership, collaboration, and consultation with frontline & vulnerable communities.

Ensuring the government takes into account the socio-environmental impacts and costs of emissions through:

•New policies and programs

•Existing laws

•Ensuring the safety of frontline and vulnerable communities and not letting them be affected adversely.

•The provision of resources, education, and training to all the people on the frontline and vulnerable communities for full access and participation.

•Investing in research and development of clean and renewable industries and technology.

•Prioritizing high-quality job creation and economic, environmental, and social benefits for frontline and vulnerable communities.



•Ensuring the creation of high-quality union jobs that offer prevailing wages, encourage the hiring of local workers and offer advancement and training opportunities to individuals or communities affected by the transition.

•Protecting the right of workers to unionize.

•Enforcing trade rules, border adjustments with strong environmental protections.

•Stopping the transfer of jobs and pollution overseas.

•Growing the domestic manufacturing in the United States.

•Ensuring there will be no abuse or domain of public waters, lands, and oceans.

•Enforcing and strengthening a just workplace health and safety, anti-discrimination, fair wages and hours of work.

•Obtaining consent from Native American tribes from all decisions that will affect these communities.

•Ensuring commercial environments in which businesspeople are free from unfair trade, completion or domination from domestic or international monopolies.

And lastly, providing people of the United States:

•High-quality healthcare

•Affordable, safe and adequate housing

•Economic security

•Access to clean water, air, health and affordable food

•Access to nature.

My Project: Body
Wind Turbines

Smart Power Grids- How can it become well-established in Colombia?

A Smart Power Grid is an electrical power grid, but powered by renewable energy and automated with technology. The basic structure of a Smart Power grid consists of four stages:

  • First the generation stage:

Generation plants is where energy is produced for consumption. In Colombia generation is mainly 64% hydraulic power, while thermal energy is around 13% of energy generation.

  • Second, the transmission stage:

Transmission lines are the tall metal structures you may see alongside the road. Transmission lines are in charge of precisely transmitting the energy through these cables. These are designed to carry energy and transport it to substations. Energy is sometimes lost because of the large distances between the generators and where they need to be distributed.

  • Third, transmission stage II:

Before getting to the distribution stage, the energy goes through transmission lines and is directed t substations. Substations are in charge of regulating voltage and transforming AC (alternating current) to DC (direct current).

  • And last, distribution:

The distribution stage is similar to the transmission stage. Distribution lines are built right after the substation and are crucial to supplying power to communities. Distribution lines just ‘transport’ the regulated energy in substations and supply rural and urban areas.


Traditional power grids are mostly powered by conventional energy sources, such as natural gas, coal, and oil, however, the main objective of the Smart Power Grid is generating energy by renewable energy sources such as: Solar panels, Hydraulic energy, Wind power, Biomass (eco-friendlier way) and in some cases geothermal energy.
There are multiple aspects that make traditional power grids different that smart power grids:

  1. The current power grid limits the interaction between consumers and the generation/transmission phases, meaning there’s a one-way interaction, while the smart power grid incorporates technology to exchange consumption habits between households, sharing information (about consumption habits mainly) allowing a two-way interaction.

  2. Smart power grids have more than one generation source (wind power, solar panels, geothermal energy, hydraulic energy etc.…) while the conventional power grid relies almost entirely on fossil fuels.

  3. If there were to be a power outage, reinstating electricity would be a quicker process if a smart power grid were used because by incorporating automation into this power grid, computers and sensors might detect overheating problems, as well as accurate monitoring of voltage and current (Most power outages occur because of high or extremely low temperatures that might cause the generator and transmission lines to fail. By using technology, problems like this can be easily detected before they even happen.

  4. The US Department of Energy recognizes transitioning into a smart power grid will require a large level of economic capacity. In Colombia for example, more than half of electricity is generated by renewable energy sources (68% Hydraulic and 0.62% Biomass and Wind Power), which covers partially the power demand (partially because if another extended period of drought occurs like the one in 1992, the energy sector if it was only conformed by green energies, would have to rely on Biomass and Wind power and what’s left of the hydraulic industries). The Colombian government has to rethink the way subsidies are being distributed because there’s enough economic capacity to subsidize companies that manufacture renewable energies; they can also offer economic incentives for local energy production companies to transition into green-er energy generation. By supporting local companies, the Colombian energy sector will start depending less on foreign multinational corporations that exploit natural resources, but instead, incentivize the creation and the expansion of companies that manufacture and distribute renewable energy sources.   

  5. The cost of the smart meters that allow a two-way communication between the consumer and the generator is clearly high; the level of technology that comes along with the creation of a smart power grid is affected by the economic capacity a nation has.


Smart Power Grids can be constructed near urban areas. In a city like Bogota which disposes of tens of rivers and reservoirs near the city. The only necessary resource would be automating the conventional grid, as well as contracting hundreds of personnel that are capable of regulating and fixing the smart power grid. There are risks of constructing smart power grids in the outskirts of cities due to armed insurgent forces that pose a threat to the stability of Smart Power Grids. If they were to attack, then massive blackouts would occur. Smart Power Grids are designed to make interactions between the consumer and the producer easier; to be amicable with the environment ensuring a better environmental future.

My Project: Body
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Modernizing the Transportation sector- Is it viable to achieve a proper modernization of both the private and public sectors?

Since the arrival of conquistadors, all the way from Spain, transportation has been a struggle. The geography of this nation- Colombia- has created invisible borders, increasing and enhancing the regional economic disparities. When the conquistadors arrived to Colombia, they made their way through almost entirely by river, the Magdalena River. Extending from the Huila Department flowing into the Atlantic Sea, North of Colombia. As time passed, new roads were created; train tracks were built and modern ships were sailing.

Infrastructure-wise Colombia invests a low quantity of capital on it, however if the nation is compared with others in the region (Latin American countries), the stability of infrastructure and low need of modernizing infrastructure has made Colombia a leading nation in Latin America. Colombia is also leading the projects completed despite the geographical and economic problems the nation has. Even by being a leading nation in Latin America, Colombia still faces a big problem which has halted the continuous modernization of infrastructure and the transportation sector (Perez, 2005). 

Corruption has always been present in Colombian politics. Left-wing and right-wing politicians have participated in numerous scandals.

The purpose of this post is to identify the recurring problems there have been on the transportation sector (infrastructure, vehicles, public transportation etc.)

The Green New Deal demands changes on public infrastructure and vehicles. The main solution to the carbon-emissions emitted by vehicles is principally subsiding electric vehicle companies in Colombia, in order to modernize public transportation for example. By incentivizing economically manufacturers, the supply will not only rise, but the demand will as well rise. For this transition to take place smoothly hundreds of public infrastructure projects must be created. Urban areas clearly are more affected by public transportation: In a city like Bogota, the capital city, the main avenues are loaded with traffic due to major problems with traffic lights, poorly designed roads and the lack of civic culture and lack of road and safety education.

As of 2019, only 2,239 electric and hybrid vehicles transited the Colombian roads, which is only 0.02% of the vehicles in Colombia. Transitioning into 100% electric vehicles is nearly impossible all at once because of the following (Cluster de Energia Electrica de Bogota):

  1. Chargers for electric vehicles are not enough, the construction of these isn’t cheap and there’s a significant risk of this being robbed. Creating charging stations for electric vehicles should be primordial because of the risk. People should be working on charging stations.

  2. As of now, most Colombian nationals and residents can’t afford buying an electric vehicle. As of January 2021, the cheapest electric vehicle is about 48 million COP ($13,500); the average Colombian worker makes $320 which makes it nearly impossible for someone earning 1.1 million COPs to buy an electric vehicle. This vehicle (the Renault Twizzy) is small. It is only 1.54 m tall, 2.31 m long and 1.23 m wide; only one person can fit inside this car.

  3. The cheapest hybrid vehicle is a Toyota Corolla, it’s 78.7 million COPs ($21,500) which also is virtually impossible for an average Colombian worker to afford.

  4. Local governments would make major public investments in order to buy new buses and other public transportation methods that are eco-friendly bus fleets.

  5. Electric and hybrid motorcycles are expensive and small. The most sold electric and hybrid motorcycles cost 2.7 million COPs minimum; it could be considered an alternative as a transportation method, but as this investigation is focused on urban areas, then motorcycles like these cannot put up with travelling long distances. However, this would be the most affordable eco-friendly option.

  6. In cities such as Medellin the metro system (metro and metrocable) is completely fueled by green energies. However, in cities like the capital city (Bogota) the construction of a metro have been a struggle. Since the mid-1950s local politicians have been promising the construction of a metro, some say it should be underground and some say it should be above ground. The current proposal states that the metro will be constructed above ground, elevated. Years after the first time this topic came out in 2017 the Mayor of Bogota at the time (Enrique Penalosa) and the President (Juan Manuel Santos) signed an agreement to finance the first metro line. It was supposed to be finished by 2025 but as expected complications surged and it’s previewed to be finished by 2028. If the local and national government take this time to just finish the construction of a metro, the transitioning of the whole transportation sector will take tens of years. There is no much time left due to global warming, so local governments and the national government must act, and must not politicize the current climate crisis.


In order for real and effective transition from powering vehicles with fossil fuels to renewable energies, local and national governments need to create specific plans along with the community in order to achieve sustainable transportation, that covers the entirety of urban areas.

With corruption being a major issue for this transitioning period to be possible, there should be a transparent agency, foreign or local that observes and controls the transactions and different actions that are taken during this period of change. Ultimately the effectiveness of change is uncertain, because even if an independent body is appointed to control problems such as corruption, nothing for sure determines this task will be done effectively. Change is only possible if society is inclined and persuaded by what it takes to achieve it.

My Project: Conclusion
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