Something on the order of being accused of murder with fake evidence and told you are going to get the needle. Then later on you are told to plead guilty and get life. So you jump at life in prison to avoid the death penalty.
May be a weak analogy, but such a plan is the death penalty and backing off from hit for a softer solution does sort of parallel what you said.
“Green New Deal will make other climate proposals appear more moderate than they do today and improve their prospects for passage.”
This is exactly the play. This is very effective Rat tactic