To the editor:

On the Green New Deal: “I think it’s a win-win: it’s going to create jobs and save the planet, so I am a supporter.”

On funding the Green New Deal: “We have to do it. We’ll figure it out. We don’t have another choice.”

Think about it: those are Democrat Marc Friedenberg’s actual words on Fox 56 just several days ago. In about 50 days, he could actually be our member of Congress, representing our region. Our member of Congress who would stand next to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders at joint press conferences championing the $93 trillion price tag proposal from fantasyland.

To be clear, you can believe that climate change is a serious issue that needs to be addressed while also being opposed to the Green New Deal. Even Speaker Pelosi dismissed the Green New Deal as the “Green Dream or whatever,” and everyone — from the United Mine Workers to the American Council on Renewable Energy — has rejected it as unrealistic.

But for the life of me, I do not understand how Marc Friedenberg can continue his support for this laughable proposal and make it the poster issue in his campaign for Congress. If he wants to do so for the purpose of effectively representing a region that would throw its support behind it, perhaps Marc should have run for office in the suburbs of Philadelphia, where he grew up, or even in Manhattan, where his Ivy League alma mater is located.

Regardless, while I respect Marc Friedenberg for stepping up to the plate and running to represent our region, I take Marc’s support for the Green New Deal to be an insult for every farmer and every working-class family in the 12th Congressional District.

On May 21, we are tasked with sending a results-oriented leader to represent us in Congress, and not sending a liberal college professor who is most likely seeking a groupthink upgrade from the college classroom to Washington, D.C., where he would be welcomed by the city’s liberal elite. Fortunately, there is a results-oriented leader, grounded in fact-based reality and kindred spirits for the working class, who is running as our candidate for Congress and has always been on our side. He has never forgotten about us, and I certainly won’t forget him on May 21: his name is Fred Keller, and you can bet that I will be voting for him.

Jonathan C. Hayes

McVeytown