Monday’s Headlines Introduce the New Green New Deal
To quote the great philosopher Kermit the Frog, "It's not easy being green."
By
Blake Aued
12:01 AM EDT on April 27, 2026
- The Green New Deal took the progressive political world by storm eight years ago, then was whittled down into some tax credits during the Biden administration and written off entirely after the 2024 election. Now, it’s being repackaged as an “affordability” measure filled with populist policies like free transit. The 2.0 version was inspired by mayoral campaigns like Zohran Mamdani’s in New York and Katie Wilson’s in Seattle. (Grist)
- Despite concerns about the political viability of focusing on climate change, a recent Gallup poll found that 44 percent of voters worry about it “a great deal,” and only 23 percent don’t worry about it at all.
- There’s good reason for that concern: Methane emissions in cities are rising faster than expected, helped along by oil and gas production (Futurity). And climate change is making air quality worse, particularly for neighborhoods where people of color live, according to the American Lung Association (Inside Climate News).
- Forty percent of Phoenix is covered in asphalt — enough to pave over San Francisco four times. All that asphalt not only absorbs heat, but produces volatile organic compounds that cause lung cancer, according to Arizona State University research.
- Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has proposed fare-free transit for students and veterans, and he told CT Mirror he’s open to extending that policy to everyone.
- If Tucson is going to continue fare-free transit, it’s going to need a dedicated revenue source. (Sentinel)
- Seattle is not paying enough attention to its high-injury network as it pursues Vision Zero. (Seattle Bike Blog)
- Seattle residents packed a Sound Transit meeting to defend light rail expansion projects in the face of a multi-billion-dollar capital budget deficit. (KOMO)
- Huntsville is exploring “Amtrak-like” service to nearby cities like Birmingham, Nashville, Chattanooga and Atlanta. (AL.com)
- A driver in New Haven, Connecticut was arrested after appearing to intentionally try to run down bystanders on a sidewalk following a bar fight. (Patch)
- Europe’s clunky online booking system for international rail trips makes it harder for climate change-conscious travelers to take a train instead of a plane. (The Guardian)
- A new “five-minute neighborhood” in Copenhagen includes everything you’d need within a quarter-mile, but Courtyard Urbanist also criticized it as expensive and somewhat soulless.
- Transport & Environment wants the European Union to enact a windfall tax on fossil fuel companies.
Blake Aued has been doing Streetsblog's daily national news digest for years. He's also an Atlanta Braves fan, which enrages his editor in New York.
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