At the end of 2018, the Green New Deal (GND) was suddenly on the tip of everyone’s tongue thanks to everyone’s favorite new congresswoman from the Bronx, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But the Green New Deal isn’t a new idea. It’s been bandied about by United Nations economists, Barack Obama, the US Green Party, and even New York Times columnist Tom Friedman (who claims he coined the phrase — Friedman’s version was so unabashedly capitalist that he pitched wind and solar on the grounds that “the only thing as powerful as Mother Nature is Father Greed”).

Now the GND is back. This time around, Father Greed is a lot less popular, and Mother Nature looks a lot more dangerous. In the past few years, extreme weather has battered the US, with 2017’s Maria, Irma, and Harvey, and now apocalyptic wildfires in California, topping a long list of disasters. And the fall 2018 climate science report, on our tight window to decarbonize, focused minds across the country.

Today’s GND is wildly popular, with the idea polling over 80 percent support in both parties — among those who have heard of it. Just as many respondents haven’t.