Group to air Thanksgiving-themed ad knocking Green New Deal before Dem debate
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A right-leaning group is continuing its months-long attack on the Green New Deal by releasing an ad warning about the climate policy proposal as Democrats prepare to take the debate stage on Wednesday night.
The ad depicts a family who refuses to drive to their grandmother's house, citing the Green New Deal's impact on gas prices. "Desperate times call for desperate measures," the mother in the ad says before the family rides off on scooters.
GROUP USING DEM DEBATE TO DEBUT AD CAMPAIGN ABOUT 'SKYROCKETING' COSTS OF 'GREEN NEW DEAL'
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Titled "Scooters," the ad will be the latest installment in a $250,000 campaign by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). It will air on MSNBC during the lead-up to the Democratic primary debate on Wednesday. The ad will air in the Washington, D.C., market and will appear on other cable news stations over the following week.
Each of the three Democratic frontrunners -- former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. -- have all endorsed the GND's basic framework. The costs of their plans range from $1.7 trillion over 10 years to $16 trillion over 15 years.
“Since Washington politicians are asking the American people to support energy rationing that will lead to higher costs and a complete restructuring of our economy, CEI is asking families to imagine what life would be like under the Green New Deal,” CEI President and CEO Kent Lassman said in a statement provided to Fox News. "The Green New Deal would cost families tens of thousands of dollars in higher energy, housing and logistics costs and everyone should think about how those higher costs would affect their daily lives.”
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The group debuted its ad campaign during October's Democratic debate, claiming low gas prices and easy transportation would be disrupted by the Green New Deal. In a dramatic tone shift, the ad showcased what it called the "other option" -- alarmism, intrusive government intervention and skyrocketing energy prices.
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CEI has come under fire for taking donations from groups associated with the Koch brothers, two figures progressives have attacked for opposing climate change efforts.
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CEI describes itself on its website as a "non-profit public policy organization dedicated to advancing the principles of limited government, free enterprise and individual liberty. CEI's mission is to promote both freedom and fairness by making good policy good politics."
Since the plan's release, conservative groups have warned that the policy -- notably sponsored by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., -- would be a nightmare. For example, CEI released a study in July that estimated the plan would cost the average household in swing states an average of $70,000 in the first year of the policy's rollout.
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Advocates of the plan say that the alternative would be worse. "We need to start getting comfortable with how extreme the problem is," Ocasio-Cortez previously said. The toll of inaction, she argued, was greater costs and even death.
Sanders similarly claimed: "Economists estimate that if we do not take action, we will lose $34.5 trillion in economic activity by the end of the century. And the benefits are enormous: by taking bold and decisive action, we will save $2.9 trillion over 10 years, $21 trillion over 30 years, and $70.4 trillion over 80 years."