The dirty secret about GDP is money isn't real.

Modernizing the US economy at the pace necessary to avert climate change could be a big boost to GDP. Real quality of life for the bulk of people doesn't need to go down. What would change is the methods that quality is delivered.

The obvious changes would be how we produce energy, how we transit, how we provide health and education, and how we build infrastructure. But there's also a lot of waste we could apply time and energy to address (the sheer volume of packaging going into landfills, the volume of food waste, our loss of biodiversity). Changes to and operation of a new system will take monumental amounts of time, effort, and entrepreneurship. All that makes Big Line Go Up. All of it should entitle participants a place in society that's comfortable.

If anything, median quality of life should continue to improve, even in the seat of empire. There's so much slack that it's still very possible.