New Green Deal? It’s Magically Delicious [OPINION]

I read through the "New Green Deal" proposal and it is "magically delicious," to quote the cartoon leprechaun from the 1980's Lucky Charms cereal commercials.

I remember that great slogan because it was drilled into my brain during the commercial breaks. The brilliant marketers knew to buy ads during Woody Woodpecker, Bugs Bunny, Yogi Bear, and Leave it to Beaver because that's when the children were watching television. Children are a great target for advertisers because they don't have any experience in the world and they don't know how things work, and they don't care because they think they know everything.

There I was as a kid watching and listening to cartoon bears, woodpeckers, and rabbits wisecrack their way through life, when Lucky the Leprechaun shows up to tell me about the magical powers his cereal has and how I should eat it. Sure, it is marshmallows and sugar and oats but I don't know anything about nutrition because I'm a child and I will believe anything a good pitchman says if it is delivered at the right level to my brain.

According to the makers of Lucky Charms and on the authority of Lucky the Pitchman, the cereal is perfect.  "Lucky Charms combines scrumptious taste with whole grain oats to create a magically delicious cereal kids and adults alike have continued to enjoy over the past 43 years. The cereal contains Lucky’s magical charms, each of which bestow upon Lucky their own special powers: hearts (power to bring things to life), shooting stars (power to fly), horseshoes (power to speed things up), clovers (luck, but you never know what kind of luck you’ll get), blue moons (power of invisibility), rainbows (instantaneous travel from place to place) and balloons (power to make things float)."

New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey are the new Lucky Charms style pitchmen for a product based in fantasy and dreams and believed by the gullible.

They are claiming they are going to eliminate all use of fossil fuels in the United States in 10 years. Not only is this as realistic as Lucky's shooting stars giving the power to fly, but it is also unnecessary. Fossil fuels are good for human beings. Fossil fuels save lives, they don't destroy lives.

Take an honest look at your own life and figure out how you could possibly survive without gas, oil, and the electricity that is generated by fossil fuels. How will you heat your home? The people who are represented by Ocasio-Cortez and Markey live in New York and Massachusetts. Without home heating oil and natural gas, we wouldn't be able to survive after we cut down all the trees in a desperate attempt to stay alive in the winter and cook our food. Picture yourself climbing up on your roof in a snowstorm to clean off your solar panel so your kids don't freeze to death.

I would have eaten Lucky Charms for every meal if I didn't have responsible parents who understood Lucky the Leprechaun and his message was a hollow promise and he didn't have any magical powers.

Eating marshmallows for breakfast isn't good for you, and neither is the New Green Deal.

Chris McCarthy is the host of The Chris McCarthy Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Contact him at chris.mccarthy@townsquaremedia.com and follow him on Twitter @Chris_topher_Mc. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.