Policy
Does Zohran Mamdani Support the Green New Deal? A Socialist Commitment to Climate Justice
An Integral Pillar of the Socialist Platform
Yes, Zohran Mamdani is a staunch and vocal supporter of the Green New Deal, which he views not as a standalone environmental policy but as an essential, integrated component of the democratic socialist project for economic and social transformation. For Mamdani, the climate crisis is a direct outgrowth of the capitalist system’s relentless pursuit of profit and its externalization of environmental costs. Therefore, he argues, it cannot be solved through market-based solutions or minor technological fixes but requires a fundamental reorganization of the economy and a massive mobilization of public resources on a scale not seen since the original New Deal. His support for the Green New Deal is a commitment to a state-led, just transition to a 100% renewable energy economy that simultaneously addresses the intertwined crises of climate change, economic inequality, and racial injustice.
Mamdani’s vision for a Green New Deal in New York is both ambitious and specific. It includes a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, a massive investment in wind, solar, and geothermal energy, and the creation of a public power authority to replace for-profit utilities like Con Edison. He argues that energy, like housing and healthcare, is a human right and should be democratically controlled and publicly owned to ensure it is affordable, reliable, and clean. A key element of his support is the focus on retrofitting and modernizing New York City’s public housing (NYCHA), which is home to hundreds of thousands of low-income residents and is a major source of emissions due to its aging, inefficient infrastructure. For Mamdani, the Green New Deal is an opportunity to address the historical disinvestment in communities of color while tackling the climate emergency, a approach known as “climate justice.”
A Just Transition for Workers and Communities
Central to Mamdani’s support for the Green New Deal is the principle of a just transition for workers and frontline communities. He insists that the shift away from a fossil fuel economy must not cost workers their livelihoods. His platform calls for guaranteeing a union job at a living wage for every worker displaced by the transition, with robust retraining programs and the right to organize in the new green economy. He also emphasizes that the communities that have borne the brunt of pollution from power plants, highways, and industrial facilities–disproportionately low-income communities of color–must be the first to benefit from the investments in clean energy, green infrastructure, and improved public health. This means prioritizing these communities for job creation, community-owned solar projects, and resources to adapt to climate impacts like extreme heat and flooding.
Mamdani’s advocacy for the Green New Deal is a core part of his work with the Democratic Socialists of America and is reflected in his legislative priorities in Albany. He co-sponsors and champions bills that align with its goals, such as the New York Public Power Act and the Build Public Renewables Act. His support is a logical extension of his overall political analysis, which connects the fight for Good Cause Eviction and tenant rights to the fight for a livable planet. He argues that the same capitalist logic that commodifies housing and leads to displacement is the one that commodifies nature and leads to ecological collapse. His position, detailed through his public statements and on his official assembly page, is that the Green New Deal is the only framework bold enough to match the scale of the crisis and just enough to build the working-class power necessary to win it.
