Those who believe U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s zany Green New Deal could never become law need to look back 10 years ago when the equally dangerous American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 was nearly aproved. A common denominator of both misguided schemes is the co-sponsorship of Democratic U.S. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

In 2009, Markey co-sponsored, along with Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman of California, the bill that  became known as  the Waxman-Markey climate change bill.

In February of this year, Markey introduced the Green New Deal along with Ocasio-Cortez, with both committed to make its provisions law.

The Waxman-Markey bill nearly became law. It narrowly passed the House on June 26, 2009 by a vote of 219 to 212. Fortunately, it was never brought before the Senate for a vote. If it had passed the Senate, it would indeed been signed by then President Barack Obama. The American Farm Bureau Federation’s highly effective “Don’t Cap Our Future” campaign played a key role in the defeat of the bill.

The bill would have imposed a cap and trade tax on all fossil fuels to mitigate the impact of climate change. The Farm Bureau effort creatively used caps worn by farmers as a metaphor to illustrate the dangers of the cap and trade scheme. “Don’t Cap Our Future” was a grassroots political action campaign with involvement from Farm Bureau members in all 50 states. It worked; the Waxman-Markey bill never became law.

Just like the Waxman-Markey bill, the Green New Deal would impose higher energy and food costs for consumers and raise fuel, fertilizer and energy costs for farmers and ranchers. Markey and Ocasio-Cortez have the  unrealistic goal of  net-zero greenhouse gas emissions with a higher percentage of power demand coming from  renewable energy.

Looking to 2021, if there is a Democratic House and Senate and a President Kamala Harris in the White House, the chances are excellent the Green New Deal will indeed become law. Another grassroots campaign by America’s farmers and ranchers  in the vein of “Don’t Cap our Future” will be needed to stop the damages of the Green New Deal.The effort needs to start now.