Obviously, the U.S. economy has experienced the worst crisis since the Great Depression. According to most analysts, the main challenge for the global economy since the start of the covid pandemic has been uncertainty. However, if we could go back in time, we would see many similar crises. And unfortunately this crisis is probably not the last. The main question during these crises has been how to respond and how to find a deal.

The U.S. learned a lot from the Great Depression. That experience would be a good model to pave a way to a strong recovery right now. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal had three main strategies: recovery, relief, and reforms. The famous three “R’s” focused on the following sectors: industrials (National Industrial Recovery Act), agriculture (Agricultural Adjustment Act), finance (Reconstruction Finance Corporation), and energy (Rural Electrification Administration). The same sectors should be prioritized by the U.S. government during this crisis, but within the framework of the Green New Deal.

However, it’s very important that these priorities must be targeted by the economic incentives of the federal government right now, not some time later. At the heart of a Green New Deal should be a climate neutral economy. To ensure a comprehensive national climate neutral strategy, there should be more cooperation between the business community and federal and local governments.

National policymakers have to prioritize investments to increase renewable energy sources, create a hydrogen economy, reduce the use of fossil fuels, renovate power grids, and so on, which will be a booster rocket for industrials and utilities. The future of the American economy will depend on being climate neutral and ensuring affordable electricity. Electricity production should be the focus for the U.S. government through the approval of reasonable fiscal incentives and tax regulations.

Supporting the idea of the climate neutral economy, investors should simultaneously take sustainable roads in industrial energy efficiency, the expansion of green technologies in the heating sector, development of new modes of transportation, the production of new materials in the construction industry, etc. The federal government, working in tandem with local governments, should implement “Specialized Green Programs” in these sectors.

For instance, a “Program of Energy Efficiency Retrofits” for housing in rural areas will rapidly expand opportunities for local building, construction, and heating sectors and could develop transport infrastructure to create rural areas that would attract young people to newly created jobs. Additionally, a Hydrogen Strategy Program will help to decarbonize the U.S. economy and contribute to a recovery faster since hydrogen has many possible applications, including as a feedstock, a fuel or energy carrier, and storage. If the U.S. could immediately boost the demand for clean hydrogen coming from industrial applications and mobility technologies, it would be a double benefit for the U.S. economy even in the short-term.

This investment should be large scale, precise and must not be connected with government spending. Over the years, American tradition has had incredible experience of the public-private partnership with banks, financial institutions, and corporate investors. The government has unique opportunities to kill two birds with one stone: achieve a smart recovery from the pandemic crisis and build a more resilient green economy for generations to come.