Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) (C) chants with housing and environmental advocates before a news conference to introduce legislation to transform public housing as part of her Green New Deal outside the U.S. Capitol Nov. 14, 2019 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) took to the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday to chide Republicans for not reading the Green New Deal, which she introduced over one year ago, as The Hill reported. She then read the entire 14-page document into the congressional record.
<p>Republicans have frequently mischaracterized what is actually in the bill and argued that the ambitious proposal to stop the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate crisis</a> flies in the face of American values. The <a href="https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hres109/BILLS-116hres109ih.pdf" target="_blank">proposal</a>, which was sponsored by Ocasio-Cortez in the House and by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in the Senate in February 2019, has failed to come up for a vote in either chamber, as <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/26/watch-ocasio-cortez-reads-full-green-new-deal-resolution-house-floor-help-improve" target="_blank">Common Dreams noted</a>. </p>
<p>"But throughout this entire year, as we've discussed the Green New Deal, I've noticed there's been an awful lot of misinformation about what's inside this resolution, a tremendous amount of wild claims: everything from saying we're seeking to ban airplanes to ending ice cream," Ocasio-Cortez said on the House floor, as The Hill reported.</p>
<p>"And, as a consequence I've realized that many of my colleagues have never even read the resolution that they're speaking on," she added. "They haven't opened a single word of it — and it's actually only about… just 14 pages long. So I have decided that since some of my colleagues across the aisle could not for some reason read the resolution, that perhaps this hour would be spent best reading it to them, for the public record."</p>
<p>The Green New Deal looks to move the U.S. toward a net zero greenhouse gas emissions future "through a fair and just transition." The 10-year national mobilization plan looks to create millions of jobs through an investment in infrastructure, to ensure a sustainable future, and to protect vulnerable communities, as Common Dreams reported. </p>
<p>The cornerstone of the plan is the rapid and complete conversion to a 100 percent <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" rel="noopener noreferrer">renewable energy</a> system for electricity and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/transportation" rel="noopener noreferrer">transportation</a> by 2030. The resolution also seeks a full decarbonization of the economy by 2050, at the latest, as <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-green-new-deal-former-white-house-economist-1489234" target="_blank">Newsweek reported</a>.</p>
<p>Ocasio-Cortez also <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/democratic-debate-climate-crisis-questions-2645311804.html">shared her dismay</a> that Tuesday night's presidential primary debate was conspicuously absent of questions about the climate crisis.</p>
<p>"As I was preparing for this evening, I would be remiss but to say that last night we had a national Democratic debate and not a single question was asked about our climate crisis," she said, as The Hill reported. </p>
<p>The New York Democrat also prefaced her reading of the resolution by sharing data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that has made dire predictions for how the world will suffer if emissions are not reined in within the next 10 years, according to The Hill. </p>
<p>The Green New Deal has is now endorsed by over one hundred lawmakers across both chambers of the Capitol. Not a single Republican has backed the measure though, as Common Dreams reported. </p>
<p>Several of the Democratic presidential candidates have adopted the Green New Deal into their climate legislation proposals, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). </p>
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Sanders, AOC Promote Green New Deal at Largest Iowa Democratic Primary Rally
11 November 2019
Politics
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa on Nov. 8. Matt Johnson / CC BY 2.0
By Julia Conley
Joined by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Friday night, Sen. Bernie Sanders held the largest rally of any 2020 Democratic presidential candidate to date in Iowa, drawing more than 2,400 people to Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs.
<p>The campaign and its supporters applauded the evening as the latest evidence of Sanders's momentum.</p><p>"Thousands of Iowans joined together tonight to say loud and clear that it's time for a fundamental change in this country," said Bernie 2020 Iowa state director Misty Rebik. "This is a grassroots movement built to transform this country. Together we're going to expand the electorate and win the Iowa caucus."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">You're looking at the largest rally in Iowa of any candidate. <a href="https://twitter.com/BernieSanders?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BernieSanders</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AOC</a> brought together over 2,400 people in Council Bluffs tonight. <a href="https://t.co/PuciQIKbPJ">pic.twitter.com/PuciQIKbPJ</a></p>— Bill Neidhardt (@BNeidhardt) <a href="https://twitter.com/BNeidhardt/status/1192971924462358528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>As they did last month at a rally in Queens, where Ocasio-Cortez officially endorsed the Vermont Independent senator, the two progressives centered the event on a call for solidarity with people of diverse races, class backgrounds and life experiences.</p><p>One key to "expanding the electorate," Ocasio-Cortez suggested, is to inspire voters to vote to improve the lives of people they may never meet in person.</p><p>"Solidarity means, I fight for you and you fight for me," the freshman congresswoman told the crowd before introducing Sanders.</p><p>"Iowa, you're the first in the nation, baby," she added. "You need to set the tone. I need to go back home to the Bronx and tell my community in the Bronx, 'We need to fight for Iowa.'"</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">IOWA BREAKING: <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AOC</a> w/ Bernie “There’s a lot of talk about unity, but I want something better than unity. I want <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Solidarity?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Solidarity</a> ” <a href="https://t.co/qejxZaHJBb">pic.twitter.com/qejxZaHJBb</a></p>— yellow vest america (@america_vest) <a href="https://twitter.com/america_vest/status/1192969365697654784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>After news broke last month that Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) were expected to back Sanders, CNN host John King wondered aloud if the endorsements would come across as "<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/16/cnn-host-faces-backlash-pondering-whether-ocasio-cortez-tlaib-and-omar-endorsements" target="_blank">too urban</a>" and "too far-left" to appeal to Midwest voters — drawing accusations of racism as well as of misunderstanding Sanders's broad appeal among young and working-class voters across the country.</p><p>Contrary to the predictions of the corporate media, Ocasio-Cortez won raucous applause in the key state as she rallied the crowd, and attendees shared positive feedback on the congresswoman with the press.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Huge cheers in this full gym in Council Bluffs, Iowa, as <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AOC</a> takes the stage to stump for <a href="https://twitter.com/BernieSanders?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BernieSanders</a>. “This is my first time in my life in Iowa,” she says. <a href="https://t.co/ojlGnO5vZR">pic.twitter.com/ojlGnO5vZR</a></p>— Matt Pearce 🦅 (@mattdpearce) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattdpearce/status/1192964948248408064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>"I love her," Hannah Cook of Glenwood, Iowa, <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2019/11/08/bernie-sanders-aoc-push-green-new-deal-iowa-rally-council-bluffs/2521316001/" target="_blank">told</a> the Des Moines Register. "I was so excited when I saw that [she was going to be here]."</p><p>In addition to holding the largest rally in Iowa so far, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez drew the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/19/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-backs-bernie-sanders-packed-nyc-rally" target="_blank">largest crowd</a> of any candidate in any state when they spoke to a crowd of 25,000 people in Queens.</p><p>In Council Bluffs Friday, Ocasio-Cortez spoke about the need to "stitch together" a coalition of people from all backgrounds and demographics who would benefit from having a president intent on passing Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, and other bold initiatives to drastically narrow the wealth gap in the U.S.</p><p>"We need to stitch this movement together, bit by bit, stitch by stitch, and that's how we're going to win," Ocasio-Cortez said. "That's not just how we're going to win a Bernie Sanders presidency, but that's how we're going to win our future back. That's how we're going to win our country back. That's how we're going to win it all."</p><p>Watch the whole rally below:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We’re ready to take on the power of the billionaire class, pass a Green New Deal and create an economy that works for all of us. Join me and <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AOC</a> live in Iowa: <a href="https://t.co/7bVLaYLSdJ">https://t.co/7bVLaYLSdJ</a></p>— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) <a href="https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1192964187309236224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/09/ocasio-cortez-and-sanders-draw-largest-iowa-crowd-democratic-primary-so-far-call" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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'AOC Gets It': Bill Nye Supports Ocasio-Cortez and Her Efforts to Fight Climate Change
11 March 2019
Politics
Bill Nye and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at South by Southwest Saturday. Samantha Burkardt / Getty Images for SXSW
Bill Nye, the famous TV scientist behind Bill Nye the Science Guy, gave his support to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her efforts to fight climate change while addressing income inequality.
Ocasio-Cortez has co-sponsored a Green New Deal resolution with Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey that calls for a 10 year program to reach net zero greenhouse-gas emissions, wean the U.S. off of fossil fuels and nuclear energy, shift to 100 percent renewable energy and do so while promoting green jobs and helping communities on the frontlines of climate change.
<p>"AOC gets it," Nye tweeted from the <a href="https://www.sxsw.com/" target="_blank">South by Southwest</a> (SXSW) festival in Austin Saturday. "She sees that fear is dividing us. We can address income inequality. We can address climate change, if we get together and get to work."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="e8afb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="V2PN2L1553275150"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1104542157883432960" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">AOC gets it. She sees that fear is dividing us. We can address income inequality. We can address climate change, if… https://t.co/rxdB7GnBvg</div> — Bill Nye (@Bill Nye)<a href="https://twitter.com/BillNye/statuses/1104542157883432960">1552178346.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Nye made a surprise appearance during the question and answer portion of Ocasio-Cortez' talk at the popular SXSW festival, where prominent figures in politics, the arts, media and business give talks, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/bill-nye-alexandria-ocasio-cortez_n_5c84dad7e4b0ed0a00144841" target="_blank">The Huffington Post reported</a>.<br></p><p>"I think the problem on both sides is fear," Nye said. "People are afraid, people of my ancestry are afraid of having to pay for everything as immigrants come into this country. People who work at the diner in Alabama are afraid to try to ask for what is reasonable. So do you have a plan to work with people in Congress that are afraid?"</p><p>"One of the keys to dismantling fear," Ocasio-Cortez responded, 'is dismantling a zero-sum mentality," which she defined as "the logic that says someone else's gain necessitates my loss."</p><p>In her response, she also called on listeners to make their opinions known to their representatives, since most of the congresspeople she has spoken to blame their lack of environmental action on the wants of their constituents. Finally, she spoke of the importance of courage as an antidote to fear. </p><p>"Courage is about our future and fear is just about anxiety. And if you're sick and tired of being an anxious nation, then you have to just be rejecting fear outright," she said.</p><p>Ocasio-Cortez is also clearly a fan of the famous scientist. She stood and applauded when he stood to ask his question and began chanting "Bill, Bill, Bill" before her response.</p><p>You can watch the whole exchange here:</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2ca314a250384bc93e8e1b9aec027bf9"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jaSIgln0gwc?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">AOC Surprised by Bill Nye at SXSW</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaSIgln0gwc" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
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</p><p>Nye has emerged as a strong advocate for science and for climate action. In a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/bill-nye-documentary-2490967589.html" target="_self">2017 documentary about his science advocacy</a>, he even sat down with climate denier Joe Bastardi.<br></p><p>"Climate change is happening, it's our fault and we've got to get to work on this," he said in the film's trailer. </p>
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The Women's March, Jan. 19, 2019. The Washington Post / Contributor / Getty Images
Today women and their allies celebrate International Women's Day. This year, the theme for the day—and the campaign that will run all year—is promoting a gender balanced world. "A balanced world is a better world," the day's organizers write. They are asking people around the world to take a picture of themselves making the #BallanceforBeter pose and post it on social medial to promote the cause of gender equality. Here is one example:
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="6719e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9S5CIY1576661750"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1104034590673592325" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We believe in #BalanceforBetter: "I code to help leads towards greater transparency and sustainability of our ocean… https://t.co/qyJC6VUqXf</div> — Global Fishing Watch (@Global Fishing Watch)<a href="https://twitter.com/GlobalFishWatch/statuses/1104034590673592325">1552057333.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>When it comes to the environment, a balanced world really does seem to be better. A 2016 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) <a href="https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/sites/gem-report/files/GenderReview2016_eng.pdf" target="_blank">review</a> found that countries with more female members of parliament were more likely to ratify environmental treaties. In recent years, women of all ages and backgrounds have been at the forefront of fight to protect our common home. Here, then, are five female environmental leaders to celebrate this International Women's Day.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTI2Nzc2My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNzQzMDE5OX0.Le9hcji6A_Aw5CbCirnnTaylLqEYRrKtopNwkM86v2s/img.jpg?width=980" id="2f351" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="adedff0311167ba4a23f78032643801c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">jayk7 / Moment / Getty Images</small></p><p><strong>1. Greta Thunberg</strong><br></p><p>When Swedish teenager <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greta-thunberg" target="_self">Greta Thunberg</a> decided to go on strike from school to protest lack of global action on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a> last August, she was just <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/greta-thunberg-climate-strike-2627956100.html" target="_self">one person handing out flyers</a> in front of the Swedish parliament. She has since inspired students from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/australian-students-climate-change-strike-2621950118.html" target="_self">Australia</a> to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/belgium-students-climate-change-2626356905.html" target="_self">Brussels</a> to join her weekly strikes as part of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FridaysForFuture?src=hash" target="_blank">#FridaysforFuture</a> movement, building towards a worldwide strike on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/youth-climate-strike-2627959531.html" target="_self">March 15</a>. </p><p>The movement she inspired <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/greta-thunberg-eu-pledge-climate-2629705430.html" target="_blank">pushed</a> European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to pledge a quarter of $1 trillion to fighting climate change over the next seven years.</p><p>"I realized no one is doing anything to prevent this from happening so then I have to do something," Thunberg told <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/climate-change-greta-thunberg-activist-803631/" target="_blank">RollingStone</a> of her decision to strike for climate action. "I can't vote, so this is one of the ways I can make my voice heard."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="84068" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="U7ZPQ51576661750"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1103902530277322752" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Today is #WomensDay. Today we honour sisterhood.
Nowhere in the world today women and men are equal
The more I read… https://t.co/DookR5qkoS</div> — Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg)<a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/statuses/1103902530277322752">1552025847.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p><strong>2. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</strong><br></p><p>When <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/alexandria-ocasio-cortez" target="_self">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> unseated long-time New York Democratic Representative Joe Crowley in a surprise primary victory last June, she became the Democrat with the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-climate-2581756053.html" target="_self">most ambitious platform</a> on fighting climate change. The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/green-new-deal" target="_self">Green New Deal</a> she has championed since taking office has caught the public imagination, with early polls suggesting that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/green-new-deal-voter-support-2623737355.html" target="_self">81 percent </a>of U.S. voters support it. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/governor-jay-inslee-presidential-bid-2630642720.html">At least five</a> 2020 Democratic presidential contenders have also endorsed the plan.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/green-new-deal-ocasio-cortez-2628265318.html" target="_self">resolution</a> that Ocasio-Cortez co-sponsored with Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey calls for a 10 year program to transition the U.S.away from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_blank">fossil fuels</a> while providing green jobs and greater equality. </p><p>"This is really about providing justice for communities and just transitions for communities," Ocasio-Cortez said of the deal.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="8e20f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="A6GHJQ1576661750"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1102274775253204992" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#GreenNewDeal sign spotting at this year’s St. Pat’s For All parade in Sunnyside! ☘️ 🌎 💚 https://t.co/W660uyMo8P</div> — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)<a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/statuses/1102274775253204992">1551637760.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p><strong>3. Isatou Ceesay</strong><br></p><p>Isatou Ceesay has been called the <a href="https://climateheroes.org/heroes/isatou-ceesay-queen-plastic-recycling-gambia/" target="_blank">Queen of Recycling in the Gambia</a> because of her efforts to help women collect <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastics" target="_self">plastic</a> pollution and transform it into items like bags and wallets that they can sell to raise money for themselves and their communities. She began her efforts in 1997 with a group of four women in her village of N'Jau who worked to educate their community about the importance of reusing plastic and not simply dumping it behind their homes. She learned how to upcycle plastic waste from a Peace Corps volunteer, and turned the recycling project into a revenue stream for women. You can buy their products at <a href="http://oneplasticbag.com/explore-the-book/" target="_blank">One Plastic Bag</a>.</p><p>Ceesay also counted it as a victory when the government of the Gambia consulted her group on a plan to ban the import of plastic bags, which <a href="http://oneplasticbag.com/2015/05/gambia-bans-plastic-bags/" target="_blank">they did in 2015</a>.</p><p>"Throughout the world, women carry an incredible responsibility; they are by nature the engine of human development. I love them so much," Ceesay told Climate Heroes. "Their commitment and their strength are unrivalled. We have fallen behind in our development in Africa by not including them."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="add9862e3caac94a9c85d3e8cb423f85"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r354rs7aYzI?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">How to Recycle Plastic Bags into Purses: Isatou Ceesay - Njau, Gambia</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r354rs7aYzI" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
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</p><p><strong>4.</strong> <strong>Katharine Hayhoe</strong><br></p><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/community/katharine_hayhoe" target="_self">Katharine Hayhoe</a> is a U.S. climate scientist who is committed to spreading accurate information about climate change. Not only did she help write the <a href="https://www.globalchange.gov/nca4" target="_blank">Fourth National Climate Assessment</a> report that scared the Trump administration so much they <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-report-takeaways-2621535494.html" target="_self">tried burying it</a> by releasing it Thanksgiving weekend, she also wasn't afraid to call out cable news for giving more airtime to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-denier" target="_self">climate deniers</a> than actual scientists. </p><p>In a <a href="https://twitter.com/KHayhoe/status/1067607977333407746" target="_blank">Twitter thread</a> last November, she explained how she taped a segment for Anderson Cooper on the assessment that did not make the final cut, while an interview with Rick Santorum spreading disinformation did. CNN later told <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/climate-scientist-katharine-hayhoe-accuses-cnn-of-bumping-her-expertise-for-rick-santorum?via=ios" target="_blank">The Daily Beast</a> that her segment was bumped for breaking news about Paul Manafort, but her thread, in which she pointed out other incidents in which cable news canceled on her last minute, raised important questions about how climate change is covered. </p><p>In the un-aired <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2018/11/28/hayhoe-climate-report-interview-ac360.cnn" target="_blank">segment</a>, which was posted online, Hayhoe had a clear comeback for deniers like President Donald Trump.</p><p>"Unfortunately, facts aren't optional," she said. "We can say we don't believe them, but they're still true." </p><p>Hayhoe's dedication to spreading climate information isn't limited to government reports or TV interviews. She also speaks to groups across the country and runs the PBS series <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi6RkdaEqgRVKi3AzidF4ow" target="_blank">Global Weirding</a>, which explains the science to children.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f1cd039bd1b7b630ae062f510e22a808"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qRMDsMAxYGE?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Pacific Northwest, Alaska & The Islands | Global Weirding</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=qRMDsMAxYGE" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p><p><strong>5. Christina Figueres</strong><br></p><p>Christina Figueres is a Costa Rican diplomat and former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) whose efforts led to the passage of the historic <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a> to limit global warming to well below two degrees above pre-industrial levels, as <a href="https://qz.com/572553/meet-the-woman-who-helped-seal-an-uprecedented-climate-change-pact/" target="_blank">Quartz reported</a>.</p><p>It was a major achievement, but Figureres is also honest about the fact that there is more to be done. Her next initiative is <a href="http://www.mission2020.global/clean-energy-economy/" target="_blank">Mission 2020</a>, which seeks to mobilize the globe to reverse the rise of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. </p><p>In a article for <a href="https://psmag.com/ideas/christiana-figueres-international-womens-day-climate-change" target="_blank">Pacific Standard Friday</a>, Figueres said she was inspired to be hopeful about humanity's chances of meeting the Paris goals because of other women leaders like Thunberg and Ocasio-Cortez, as well as female scientists she met on a recent trip to Antarctica.</p><p>"I see in the women I met working on the Paris Agreement, in the women currently leading a new conversation on climate change in the public and political spheres, and in the women I met in Antarctica, an inbuilt, stubborn optimism that will allow us to prevail even when a task can seem insurmountable," she wrote.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="50b5a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4JU2QS1576661751"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1104055265593356289" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Celebrating women and their leadership! #WomensDay https://t.co/Mjfflmm1l5 html</div> — Christiana Figueres (@Christiana Figueres)<a href="https://twitter.com/CFigueres/statuses/1104055265593356289">1552062262.0</a></blockquote></div>
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‘It’s Not Going to Get Turned Around in 10 Years’: Sen. Feinstein Criticized for Dismissive Attitude to Young Climate Activists
25 February 2019
Popular
Watch Feinstein's tense exchange with children over climate
An encounter between 15 San Francisco middle and high school students and California Senator Dianne Feinstein on Friday revealed a generational divide within the Democratic party when it comes to acting on climate change.
<p>The children arrived to ask Feinstein to support the Green New Deal resolution proposed by Democratic New York Representative <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/alexandria-ocasio-cortez" target="_self">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> and Democratic Massachusetts Senator Edward J. Markey, which calls for a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/green-new-deal-ocasio-cortez-2628265318.html" target="_self">10-year plan</a> to shift the U.S. away from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a> and towards 100 percent <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a> while providing green jobs. They were met with a refusal that the <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/sunrise-hubs/ca/bay-area" target="_blank">Sunrise Movement Bay Area</a> called "condescending" in a Facebook post sharing the video.</p><p>"That resolution will not pass the Senate, and you can take that back to whoever sent you here and tell them," Feinstein said at one point, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/climate/feinstein-sunrise-green-new-deal.html" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>. "I've been in the Senate for over a quarter of a century and I know what can pass and I know what can't pass."</p><p>You can watch the full video here:</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="80e34efb3ca3ca7ab669deef9a0e2c34"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/BayAreaSunrise/videos/2101109139978731/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div><p>Feinstein countered the children's request by sharing a <a href="https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/b/5/b54a564f-f750-48b4-99fe-3608d626a1bc/19EB91A5CF1C8211EF585179F7BB0E73.2019.02.22-climate-change-resolution.pdf" target="_blank">draft</a> of an alternative proposal that she told them was both more affordable and more likely to pass the Senate. However, environmentalist critics like <a href="https://350.org/" target="_blank">350.org</a> founder Bill McKibben pointed out that Feinstein's proposal—which calls for zero carbon emissions by 2050—simply does not move fast enough for scientific reality. He explained in <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-hard-lessons-of-dianne-feinsteins-encounter-with-the-young-green-new-deal-activists-video?utm_brand=tny&mbid=social_twitter&utm_source=twitter&utm_social-type=owned&utm_medium=social" target="_blank">The New Yorker</a>:<br></p><blockquote>The irony is that, when Feinstein said she's been "doing this for thirty years," she described the precise time period during which we could have acted. James Hansen brought the climate question to widespread attention with his congressional testimony in 1988. If we'd moved thirty years ago, moderate steps of the kind that Feinstein proposes would have been enough to change our trajectory. But that didn't get done, in large part because oil and gas companies that have successfully gamed our political system didn't want it to get done. And the legislators didn't do anywhere near enough to fight them.</blockquote><p>The video revealed this tension between political and physical reality. One of the children referenced the most recent <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> (IPCC) report that says greenhouse gas emissions <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-ipcc-report-2610866229.html" target="_self">must rapidly fall within 12 years</a> in order for warming to stay at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. </p><p>"Some scientists have said that we have 12 years to turn this around," the child said.</p><p>"Well, it's not going to get turned around in 10 years," Feinstein responded.</p><p>The video also exemplifies a rift between more seasoned legislatures who are used to how Washington works and younger Americans who are afraid for what climate change could mean for their futures. </p><p>"The divide in today's Democratic party is not left vs center/left, it is generational," Brian Fallon, a former aide to top Democrats Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer, said in a Tweet quoted by The New York Times.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="4d6fc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="SI2AD81576661753"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1099086106132443136" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The divide in today's Democratic party is not left vs center/left, it is generational.
https://t.co/vvcKoHcH1K</div> — Brian Fallon (@Brian Fallon)<a href="https://twitter.com/brianefallon/statuses/1099086106132443136">1550877522.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Some commentators criticized the targeting of Feinstein, who is still working on the issue. when Republicans including President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a> engage in out right climate denial. They also questioned whether the children were acting entirely on their own behalf.<br></p><p>"[W]hy didn't they go after someone who's against climate change?" NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell asked on <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-february-24-2019-n975036" target="_blank">Meet the Press Sunday</a>. "She has legislation. She's saying, 'I don't want to sign on to the Green New Deal because it's aspirational. It's not legislation. I'm working on something that's real.' Also, who are the adults who bring their kids who don't understand this stuff?"</p><p>The children featured in the video have pushed back against the idea that their actions were directed by adults. </p><p>"We are the young people in this video. We have heard claims that we are being used as props or prepped by the adults in the room," they wrote on their Twitter account Youth Vs. Apocalypse. "That's just not true. We write our own petitions, deliver our own speeches, and organize our own events. It's our future at stake."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="e0a73" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="DX1ZI71576661753"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1099498541586632704" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We are the young people in this video. We have heard claims that we are being used as props or prepped by the adult… https://t.co/BbnidD8OIy</div> — Youth Vs. Apocalypse (@Youth Vs. Apocalypse)<a href="https://twitter.com/Y_Vs_A/statuses/1099498541586632704">1550975854.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Young climate activists aren't just targeting Democrats. Thirty-nine young people were arrested at Republican Senator Mitch McConnell's D.C. office during a Green New Deal protest Monday, the Sunrise Movement tweeted.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="76414" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="OENGJF1576661754"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1100094559286149120" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">UPDATE: 39 young people were arrested at #OilMoneyMitch's DC office today. All were fighting for #GreenNewDeal and… https://t.co/vJRC1Wn4Dw</div> — Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@Sunrise Movement 🌅)<a href="https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt/statuses/1100094559286149120">1551117956.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>But that doesn't mean Fensteinn is off the hook, either. The Youth Vs. Apocalypse activists returned to her San Francisco office Monday with a letter in hopes of explaining their objections to her alternative Green New Deal proposal. Feinstein was not in her office, but no one else from her team would accept the letter, and the children had to leave the it outside the door when the office responded with a lock and extra security, according to a series of videos shared on Twitter.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="33d2f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="L2SHHO1576661754"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1100093109533171715" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">They’re putting in extra security now... https://t.co/D2xJxHrrdo</div> — Youth Vs. Apocalypse (@Youth Vs. Apocalypse)<a href="https://twitter.com/Y_Vs_A/statuses/1100093109533171715">1551117610.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p> <em>Correction: A previous version of this article stated that the young activists who confronted Dianne Feinstein are not affiliated with the Sunrise Movement, while they support its work. The language in this article has been clarified to reflect this.</em></p>
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U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks during a news conference at the East Front of the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 7. Alex Wong / Getty Images
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's sweeping Green New Deal resolution was never going to be embraced by her Republican foes, but she's taking the criticism in stride—even if the missives come from the very top.
At his El Paso, Texas rally on Monday, President Donald Trump referred to her signature issue as a "high school term paper."
<p>
"Last week they introduced a massive government takeover that would destroy our incredible economic gains. They introduced the so-called Green New Deal," the president
said in his speech. "It sounds like a high school term paper that got a low mark."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="640abace39e59c283a62cbbc905df76d"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n5kxsfJULPA?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">President Trump blasts 'Green New Deal'</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5kxsfJULPA" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p><p>The star Democrat from New York did not back down from the president's remarks.<br></p><p>
"Ah yes, a man who can't even read briefings written in full sentences is providing literary criticism of a House Resolution," Ocasio-Cortez
<a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1095160021627949061" target="_blank">wrote</a> on Twitter after retweeting Trump's quote from Breitbart News' Charlie Spiering.
</p><p>
She then included a quote from a
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/breaking-with-tradition-trump-skips-presidents-written-intelligence-report-for-oral-briefings/2018/02/09/b7ba569e-0c52-11e8-95a5-c396801049ef_story.html" target="_blank">Washington Post report</a> about how Trump skips written intelligence reports, which are usually dense and lengthy, and relies on oral briefings instead.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="e5d95" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7P9SL91576662112"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1095160021627949061" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Ah yes, a man who can’t even read briefings written in full sentences is providing literary criticism of a House Re… https://t.co/Ru0Ub1r75E</div> — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)<a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/statuses/1095160021627949061">1549941470.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
That wasn't the problem the president had with the Green New Deal. Trump falsely claimed in his rally speech that the deal would "shut down" American energy and air travel.
</p><p>
"It would shut down American energy which I don't think the people of Texas are going to be happy with that. It would shut down a little thing called air travel," he said.
</p><p>
He claimed the resolution would "take away your car, reduce the value of your home and put millions of Americans out of work."
</p><p>
Trump's comments are akin to his
<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1094375749279248385" target="_blank">tweet</a> on Saturday, where he also took a jab at the Green New Deal.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="b0632" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="UV1EXP1576662112"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1094375749279248385" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">I think it is very important for the Democrats to press forward with their Green New Deal. It would be great for th… https://t.co/vEaju3l195</div> — Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump)<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/statuses/1094375749279248385">1549754485.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
The president was probably referring to a widely circulated <a href="https://apps.npr.org/documents/document.html?id=5729035-Green-New-Deal-FAQ" target="_blank">FAQ section,</a> in which Ocasio-Cortez's office quipped, "we aren't sure that we'll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes." But that <span></span>statement was in reference to bringing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions "to net-zero, rather than zero emissions" within 10 years.
</p><p>
Republican lawmakers and other critics have pounced on what has been called the "<a href="http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/02/green-new-deal-aoc-bad-idea.html" target="_blank">botched rollout</a>" of the Green New Deal, which is also sponsored by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/ed-markey" target="_self">Ed Markey</a> (D-Mass.) in the Senate. The most prominent issue was language on a Feb. 5 <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190207191119/https:/ocasio-cortez.house.gov/media/blog-posts/green-new-deal-faq" target="_blank" title="">blog post</a> on the congresswoman's website that called for economic security "for all who are unable or unwilling to work." That information has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/02/11/ocasio-cortez-retracts-erroneous-information-about-green-new-deal-backed-by-democratic-candidates/" target="_blank">since been retracted</a>.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="9b7ad" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="EZDK641576662112"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1095087620181364736" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Republicans bashed the concept of the "Green New Deal" as technologically impossible, unimaginably costly and a “so… https://t.co/pxpHOWVak8</div> — POLITICO (@POLITICO)<a href="https://twitter.com/politico/statuses/1095087620181364736">1549924209.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
Despite the naysayers, momentum for climate policy has been growing ever since its was popularized by Ocasio-Cortez as well as the young climate activists of the <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/" target="_blank">Sunrise Movement</a> who <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/ocasio-cortez-pelosi-climate-change-2619674477.html" target="_self">staged a sit-in inside then-presumed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office</a> not long after the midterm elections to demand a Green New Deal.
</p><p>
Varshini Prakash, founder and executive director of Sunrise Movement, called the resolution "a litmus test for progressive leadership."
</p><p>
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/green-new-deal-ocasio-cortez-2628265318.html" target="_blank">As EcoWatch previously wrote</a>, ideas outlined in the proposal include "unprecedented levels of prosperity and economic security" for all citizens and "meeting 100 percent of the power demand in the United States through clean, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy" target="_self">renewable</a>, and zero-emission energy sources."
</p><p>
The non-binding resolution calls for a wide-ranging mobilization of the U.S. economy and creating jobs through infrastructure and industrial projects, such as zero-emission vehicle infrastructure and manufacturing; installing smart grids; updating or creating buildings that are energy efficient; expanding clean energy jobs (like solar, wind turbine, battery and storage manufacturing); cleaning existing hazardous waste sites; and restoration of damaged and threatened ecosystems.
</p><p>
<span></span>Along the same lines, the plan includes a significant social justice component because it aims to create millions of family-supporting and union jobs and will help protect disadvantaged communities on the frontlines of pollution and climate change.
</p><p>
<span></span>Ocasio-Cortez recently retweeted a string of praise for the Green New Deal from presidential contenders, including fellow progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="17549" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8CAJ841576662112"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1093905423990751233" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The Green New Deal is a bold plan to shift our country to 100% clean and renewable energy. We do not fight this fig… https://t.co/VVjBuvZVc7</div> — Kamala Harris (@Kamala Harris)<a href="https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/statuses/1093905423990751233">1549642351.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="f85f2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6WBR291576662112"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1094639148449886210" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The U.S. is the most powerful economy on earth and we must lead the world in the fight against climate change. We c… https://t.co/TLglbSZTas</div> — Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders)<a href="https://twitter.com/SenSanders/statuses/1094639148449886210">1549817285.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="38d1d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="CA302T1576662112"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1093574435896987648" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">A #GreenNewDeal is ambitious. It's bold. And I’m cosponsoring this resolution with @aoc and @senmarkey because it’s… https://t.co/TR1Al96BYv</div> — Kirsten Gillibrand (@Kirsten Gillibrand)<a href="https://twitter.com/SenGillibrand/statuses/1093574435896987648">1549563437.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="f5282" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="UIAGSX1576662112"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1093918574324916225" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The first question I was asked in Iowa was about #GreenNewDeal. The hard truth is climate change has imperiled our… https://t.co/DicuVzYa2P</div> — Cory Booker (@Cory Booker)<a href="https://twitter.com/CoryBooker/statuses/1093918574324916225">1549645486.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="58510" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="LKJFX21576662113"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1093539704622993408" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">If we want to live in a world with clean air and water, we have to take real action to combat climate change now. I… https://t.co/Qa3iDU1Ec9</div> — Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren)<a href="https://twitter.com/SenWarren/statuses/1093539704622993408">1549555157.0</a></blockquote></div>
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One of the demonstrators at the Women's March in 2019 held a sign that read "Green New Deal" while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez addressed the crowd in Manhattan, NYC on Jan. 19. Ira L. Black / Corbis News / Getty Images
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced on Thursday their highly anticipated joint resolutions on a Green New Deal.
The sweeping 10-year plan aims to "mobilize every aspect of American society ... to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and create economic prosperity for all," according to the resolution's FAQs section from Ocasio-Cortez's office posted by NPR.
<p>
The star freshman Congresswoman acknowledged that the ideas outlined in the non-binding resolution—such as providing "unprecedented levels of prosperity and economic security" for all citizens and "meeting 100 percent of the power demand in the United States through clean,
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy" target="_self">renewable</a>, and zero-emission energy sources"—are incredibly grand but absolutely necessary.</p><p>As Ocasio-Cortez said on
<a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/692067268/npr-news-exclusive-with-rep-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-on-her-green-new-deal" target="_blank">NPR's Morning Edition</a>:<em> </em>"Even the solutions that we have considered big and bold are nowhere near the scale of the actual problem that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires" target="_self">climate change</a> presents to us, to our country, to the world."<br></p><p>
As the resolution points out, the United States has "historically been responsible for a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas emissions" so it must take "a leading role" in reducing emissions through economic transformation.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="80457" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="WF98K71576683766"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1093495293063151616" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">This resolution outlines a plan to launch a WWII scale transformation of our economy, including a just transition f… https://t.co/CaT6lBz2ZU</div> — Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@Sunrise Movement 🌅)<a href="https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt/statuses/1093495293063151616">1549544568.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
The overreaching goal of the Green New Deal is to entirely transition away from
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/nuclear" target="_self">nuclear energy</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a>. To do so, the proposal calls for a wide-ranging mobilization of the U.S. economy and creating jobs through infrastructure and industrial projects, such as zero-emission vehicle infrastructure and manufacturing; installing smart grids; updating or creating buildings that are energy efficient; expanding clean energy jobs (like solar, wind turbine, battery and storage manufacturing); cleaning existing hazardous waste sites; and restoration of damaged and threatened ecosystems.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTE2MTkzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0OTU0MzAwNX0.w2_iwySIkfONCDbEcx0Flbd8WjthdOYK3H7K5X_r06w/img.jpg?width=980" id="3c5ef" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1ba01e8a0b32cce1dd3a381f0087a4ed" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">The Green New Deal calls for a complete transition to clean, zero-emission and renewable energy sources by 2030. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit..."><a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/agriculture-alternative-alternative-energy-blade-414886/" target="_blank">Pexels</a></small></p><p>Along the same lines, the Green New Deal includes a significant social justice component because it aims to create millions of family-supporting and union jobs and will help protect disadvantaged communities on the frontlines of pollution and climate change.<br></p><p>
"This is really about providing justice for communities and just transitions for communities," Ocasio-Cortez explained on Morning Edition. "So really the heart of the Green New Deal is about social justice and it's about allowing and fighting for things like fully-funded pensions for coal miners in West Virginia, fighting for clean water in Flint, and fighting for the ability of indigenous peoples to take a leadership role in in where we're moving as a country."
<br>
</p><p>
So here's the big question—How do you pay for it? The FAQ section from Ocasio-Cortez's office puts it bluntly:
</p><blockquote>
"The same way we paid for the New Deal, the 2008 bank bailout and extended quantitative easing programs. The same way we paid for World War II and all our current wars. The Federal Reserve can extend credit to power these projects and investments and new public banks can be created to extend credit. There is also space for the government to take an equity stake in projects to get a return on investment. At the end of the day, this is an investment in our economy that should grow our wealth as a nation, so the question isn't how will we pay for it, but what will we do with our new shared prosperity."
</blockquote><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="0efca" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="UPI2VS1576683766"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1093517175699243008" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">It's amazing to hear @AOC explain and fight for how we're going to pay for the Green New Deal, when asked about mas… https://t.co/5S3C2KChZA</div> — Waleed Shahid (@Waleed Shahid)<a href="https://twitter.com/_waleedshahid/statuses/1093517175699243008">1549549785.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>The sweeping progressive proposal, of course, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republicans-green-new-deal_us_5c5b37aee4b09293b20af474?aqu" target="_blank">has its naysayers</a>. As <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/02/07/691997301/rep-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-releases-green-new-deal-outline?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social" target="_blank">NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben reported</a>:</p><blockquote>Among Republicans—even those worried about climate change—the package, with its liberal economic ideas, will also likely be a nonstarter. <br><br>"Someone's going to have to prove to me how that can be accomplished because it looks to me like for the foreseeable future we're gonna be using a substantial amount of fossil fuels," said Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Fla., co-chair of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, speaking to NPR before the Green New Deal's text was released. </blockquote><p>As for the proposal's passage, "That looks unlikely," Kurtzleben wrote. </p><p>
But this part in Kurtzleben's report is key: "It's worth talking about because it already is a politically powerful idea among Democrats." </p><p><span></span>Nearly all of 2020 presidential candidates as well as potential contenders have already voiced support for the deal, including Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Jeff Merkeley, Julian Castro, Kirsten Gillibrand, Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard and Jay Inslee, the FAQ noted. <br>
</p><p>
That's not to mention the 45 House Reps and 330+ groups that backed the original resolution for a select committee on the Green New Deal.
</p><p>
Momentum for the Green New Deal has been growing ever since its was popularized by Ocasio-Cortez as well as the young climate activists of the <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org" target="_blank">Sunrise Movement</a> who <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/ocasio-cortez-pelosi-climate-change-2619674477.html">stormed then-presumed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office</a> not long after the midterm elections.
</p><p>
"In 2018, young people put the Green New Deal on the national agenda," Varshini Prakash, founder and executive director of Sunrise Movement, said in a statement received by EcoWatch. "The historic support for this resolution, especially among 2020 contenders, shows how far the movement has shifted the political conversation. The Green New Deal is now a litmus test for progressive leadership in 2019."
</p><p>
<span></span>So far, the resolution has already been cosponsored by nearly 70 members of Congress, according to the Sunrise Movement.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="62fb6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ZBBE7I1576683766"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1093514783431757824" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here's my statement on today's Green New Deal Resolution: https://t.co/s0TD90cRjd https://t.co/pemCfA8tRA</div> — Al Gore (@Al Gore)<a href="https://twitter.com/algore/statuses/1093514783431757824">1549549215.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/green-new-deal-voter-support-2623737355.html" target="_blank">Public opinion of the Green New Deal</a> is strong. A <a href="http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/" target="_blank">Yale Program on Climate Change Communication</a> survey of 966 registered voters <a href="http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/the-green-new-deal-has-strong-bipartisan-support/" target="_blank">showed</a> that 92 percent of Democrats supported it, 64 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of conservative Republicans also thought it was a good idea.<br></p><p>This week, more than 100,000 petition signatures were delivered to Congressional offices in more than 100 events around the country, <a href="https://350.org/" target="_blank">350.org</a> executive director May Boeve said in a press release emailed to EcoWatch. <br></p><p>
"The Green New Deal is a critical opportunity to stand up to fossil fuel billionaires while kickstarting a just transition to renewable energy and creating millions of family-sustaining jobs," Boeve said in a statement. "With the window for action to prevent catastrophic climate change quickly closing, it's time for elected officials at all levels to support this visionary effort to secure a sustainable future."
</p>
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Sen. Kamala Harris held a news conference after announcing her bid for president on Jan. 21. PBS NewsHour / YouTube screenshot
Kamala Harris on Monday became the latest Democratic presidential contender to back a Green New Deal, in what has become a "litmus test" for 2020 hopefuls, according to the youth-led Sunrise Movement that helped launch the ambitious economic and climate proposal.
"I support a Green New Deal and I will tell you why," the California Senator said during a CNN town hall in Iowa. "Climate change is an existential threat and we have got to deal with the reality of it."
<p>
Harris also took aim at the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-climate-change-weather-2626613514.html">climate skeptics in office</a>.
</p><p>
"We have got to deal with the reality of the fact that there are people trying to peddle some ideas that we should deny it. They are peddling science fiction instead of what we should do, which is rely on science fact," she said at the town hall.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="0b5c5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="V5M0NE1576683770"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1090093124200906757" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">“I support a Green New Deal … Climate change is an existential threat to us and we have got to deal with the realit… https://t.co/TDr5B49Zig</div> — CNN (@CNN)<a href="https://twitter.com/CNN/statuses/1090093124200906757">1548733428.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jxUzp9SZ6-VB-4wSm8sselVMsqWZrSrYpYC9slHKLzo/edit" target="_blank">The Green New Deal</a>—made popular by freshman Rep. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/alexandria-ocasio-cortez">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> (D-N.Y.)—aims to create a select committee of House members that would have the authority to "develop a detailed national, industrial, economic mobilization plan" to allow the United States to become carbon neutral and to "promote economic and environmental justice and equality."
</p><p>
The increasingly popular plan has been <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/gnd/" target="_blank">backed by</a> at least 45 members of Congress and hundreds of environmental, social justice and political groups.
</p><p>
As for the names vying for the 2020 presidential ticket, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as well as former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro have also backed the Green New Deal, according to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/427386-kamala-harris-endorses-ocasio-cortezs-green-new-deal" target="_blank">The Hill</a>.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="63600" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="AW4HGJ1576683770"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1088552452373151744" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Climate change is an immediate and catastrophic threat to our future. And yes, it's real.
We need to:
✅Get to net-… https://t.co/efyWTSlqOU</div> — Kirsten Gillibrand (@Kirsten Gillibrand)<a href="https://twitter.com/SenGillibrand/statuses/1088552452373151744">1548366103.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
"It's becoming the new litmus test for every Presidential candidate: if you want to lead our nation and claim to represent young people, come out in FULL support of the Green New Deal," the Sunrise Movement tweeted after Gillibrand announced her support at a recent event in San Francisco.
</p><p>
"If mobilizing to confront the climate crisis is not one of your top 3 issues, it's going to be hard for our generation to take you seriously," the group also <a href="https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt/status/1089678713862660096" target="_blank">tweeted</a> to the presidential contenders. "Embrace it, or thank u, next."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="632be" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="T64GOL1576683770"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1088616887787745280" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Last night, @Gillibrandny voiced support for the #GreenNewDeal at an event in San Francisco!
It's becoming the new… https://t.co/jelUQaNxO8</div> — Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@Sunrise Movement 🌅)<a href="https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt/statuses/1088616887787745280">1548381466.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Sen. Warren, who appeared on <em>The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell</em> on Monday, explained how her newly proposed wealth tax plan can help fund Green New Deal policies. </p><p>"How about we invest that in a Green New Deal, to help protect this planet?" she said. <br></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4aec082903dd5f68a57c26d4f5e16ee3"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/thelastword/videos/359415661556369/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div><p>Also during the CNN town hall, Harris mentioned that the top two fastest-growing occupations on the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/fastest-growing.htm" target="_blank">Bureau of Labor Statistics list</a> are installers for solar panels and wind turbine service technicians.<br></p><p>
"We need those jobs to be created and filled because we need to be dedicated to that kind of work, and that's what a Green New Deal has to include," she said.
</p><p>
She then lamented, "Our planet is at great risk ... we have policymakers who are in the pockets of big oil and big coal (and) don't fully appreciate the fact that we are looking at something that is presenting an existential threat to our country.</p><p>
"And, listen, all children need to be able to breathe clean air and drink clean water, and we've got to have a commitment to a policy that will allow that to happen for ourselves and our children and our grandchildren. And right now we don't," she concluded.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="5a992" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="B13MEG1576683770"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1060195834149720064" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">"The Best and Worst Midterm Results for the Environment" by Olivia Rosane for @EcoWatch: https://t.co/lk15e8lnUo</div> — Michael E. Mann (@Michael E. Mann)<a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelEMann/statuses/1060195834149720064">1541605359.0</a></blockquote></div>
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By Ronnie Cummins
"The Green New Deal we are proposing will be similar in scale to the mobilization efforts seen in World War II or the Marshall Plan … Half measures will not work … The time for slow and incremental efforts has long past [sic]." - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, then-candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, Huffington Post, June 26, 2018
<p><em><em><em>"Just transitioning 10 percent of agricultural production to best-practice regenerative systems will sequester enough CO2 to reverse climate change and restore the global climate. Regenerative Agriculture can change agriculture from being a major contributor to climate change to becoming a major solution." - Andre Leu, international director, Regeneration International, "<a href="https://regenerationinternational.org/2018/10/09/reversing-climate-change-through-regenerative-agriculture/%20" target="_blank">Reversing Climate Change with Regenerative Agriculture</a>," October 9, 2018</em></em><br></em></p><h2>The 'Great Climate Awakening' of 2018</h2><p>The final months of 2018 will likely be remembered as the decisive moment when the global grassroots awakened to the life-or-death threat posed by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">global warming</a>. With violent <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather">weather</a> and climate disasters becoming the norm, and international scientists finally shedding their customary caution to report that we must drastically slash (by at least 45 percent) global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, hundreds of millions of ordinary people across the world seemed to simultaneously wake up.</p><p>Young climate activists under the banner of the <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/%20" target="_blank">Sunrise Movement</a> in the U.S., and the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/14/%20https%3A//rebellion.earth/" target="_blank">Extinction Rebellion</a> in the UK and other countries, sat in at politicians' offices. They blocked streets and roadways. They demanded immediate and bold action.</p><h2>The Green New Deal Is Born</h2><p>In the U.S., an insurgent slate of newly elected members of Congress, inspired by the Sunrise Movement and led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have generated headlines and popular support by <a href="https://www.organicconsumers.org/news/why-sustainable-agriculture-should-support-green-new-deal" target="_blank">calling</a> for a Green New Deal (GND), a 21st Century upgrade of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal carried out during the Great Depression of the 1930s.</p><p>Given the severity of the climate crisis, and the deterioration of the U.S. and global status quo (economic, political, health and environment), it's no exaggeration to state that the GND is perhaps the most significant blueprint for system change in 100 years.</p><p>The GND's call for a mass conversion to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a> and zero emissions of greenhouse gases in the U.S. by 2030, is in line with what most scientists say is necessary to avoid catastrophic climate change.</p><p>But what's new, and long overdue in this evolving manifesto is that the GND also calls for the greening, "just transition" and elimination of greenhouse gas emissions from our multi-trillion-dollar <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/food/">food</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/farming">farming</a> system as well. That call is long overdue, especially given that our degenerative food system <a href="https://www.grain.org/article/entries/5102-food-sovereignty-five-steps-to-cool-the-planet-and-feed-its-people" target="_blank">generates</a> 44 to 57 percent of all global greenhouse gases.</p><p>The GND draft statement <a href="https://ocasio2018.com/green-new-deal" target="_blank">calls</a> for "eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturing, agricultural and other industries, including by investing in local-scale agriculture in communities across the country." It also calls for funding "massive investment in the drawdown of greenhouse gases."</p><p>Beyond offering comprehensive energy and agricultural solutions for our climate emergency, what is truly game-changing and revolutionary about the GND is that it calls for system-wide economic regeneration as well: full employment, $15/hr. minimum wage, universal health care, free public education and economic justice for all—policies extremely popular with the overwhelming majority of the body politic, including students, working class communities and low-income groups.</p><p>By bringing together the concerns of youth, food, farmer, environmental and climate activists, with the bread-and-butter concerns of workers and frontline communities, the GND offers nothing less than a contemporary roadmap for survival and regeneration.</p><p>As Alexis Baden-Mayer, political director of the <a href="https://www.organicconsumers.org/usa">Organic Consumers Association</a>, pointed out in a recent email urging groups to sign on to the GND, it is economic injustice, the lack of money in the pockets of workers and consumers, the 80 percent of ordinary people who live from paycheck to paycheck, that has, in large part, held back the greening of America:</p><blockquote>"Who wouldn't drive a Tesla, put up solar panels, or buy an energy efficient home in a walkable neighborhood with great public transportation? Everyone wants these things. We all want to enjoy good health, breathe clean air and drink pure water. There aren't many families who would have to be convinced to eat locally grown organic health food if it were available and they could afford it. The problem is we've got student debt. Our mortgages are under water. We've got medical bills and childcare to pay for. And many of us have been too poor to go to college, buy a house or start a family. Our country's struggling family farmers have the same problem. Sure, they'd love to go organic and pay their workers fairly. They want to do what's best for their families, their communities and their environment. They just have to figure out how to avoid foreclosure and bankruptcy first."</blockquote><h2>Support grows quickly for the GND, but so do attacks</h2><p>With unprecedented speed, Ocasio-Cortez, insurgent Democrats and the Sunrise Movement have stimulated massive media coverage and generated significant public support for the GND, putting radical change on the national agenda. More than 45 <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/gnd/" target="_blank">members</a> of Congress, five U.S. Senators, leading 2020 presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, hundreds of local officials, and more than 600 activist <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/gnd/" target="_blank">organizations</a> have already endorsed the GND.</p><p>In late 2018, polls <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/green-new-deal-poll_us_5c169f2ae4b05d7e5d8332a5" target="_blank">indicated</a> that 81 percent of Americans support full employment, economic justice and renewable energy, as outlined in the GND.</p><p>Yet despite initial strong support for the GND among activists and the general public, establishment politicians (both Democrats and Republicans) and the corporate media have launched a massive counter-attack, <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/alexandria-ocasio-cortezs-green-new-deal-is-more-dangerous-than-you-think" target="_blank">denouncing</a> the GND (and Ocasio-Cortez and her allies) as "utopian," "radical," "impractical" and even "dangerous."</p><p>The unfortunate truth is that Congress and the mass media are infected and dominated by powerful climate emergency <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-denier">deniers</a> and establishment politicians taking money from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuel</a> companies, climate-destructive industrial <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/agribusiness">agribusiness</a> and Wall Street. Yet with global scientists sounding the alarm that the onset of runaway global warming (with atmospheric CO2 levels of 450 ppm or higher) is not 80 years away or even 50 years away, but more like a dozen years away unless we drastically change course, it can hardly be called "utopian" to organize around a bold emissions-reduction, drawdown and economic development plan that can avert catastrophe, and improve the lives of everyday people at the same time.<br></p><p>Painting Ocasio-Cortez and the Sunrise Movement as "radical" is not likely to derail the growing insurgency. Because a radical emergency more serious than anything humans have ever faced in our 200,000-year evolution demands a radical solution. As Cortez said in an <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/video/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-the-rookie-congresswoman-challenging-the-democratic-establishment-60-minutes-interview/%20" target="_blank">interview</a> on <em>60 Minutes</em> on Jan. 6 (watched by 11 million people), she admits to being a "radical"—not unlike previous "radicals" in American history, including Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt, who likewise confronted severe crises demanding radical solutions.</p><h2>Is It Possible to Achieve Zero Emissions in the U.S. by 2030?</h2><p>On the same <em>60 Minutes</em> show, Ocasio-Cortez was pressed on the practicality of zero fossil fuel emissions by 2030. The host tried to trip her up by asking if zero emissions meant that all of us would be driving <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/electric-vehicles">electric cars</a> within a decade. She responded by saying that there are technological breakthroughs on the horizon that we can't even imagine yet.</p><p>Although it's undoubtedly true that there are technical breakthroughs in renewable energy and electric cars on the horizon, I wasn't fully satisfied with Ocasio-Cortez's answer (even though I admit she's my favorite political leader of all time). Here's how I would have answered that question:</p><blockquote>"Millions of Americans are going to be driving electric cars in 2030. But you're right, a lot of us will still be driving our old gasoline-powered vehicles. If you read the details of our proposed Green New Deal carefully, you'll see that we're not just talking about rapid reductions in fossil fuel emissions, the CO2 and other greenhouse gases we put up into the sky by burning fossil fuels. We're also talking about drawing down these same greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, utilizing climate-friendly farming practices that qualitatively increase plant photosynthesis, soil fertility and natural carbon sequestration. These regenerative practices include farming <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/organic">organically</a>, holistic grazing, improving soil health, and restoring our <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/forests">forests</a>, grasslands and wetlands. In other words, we can and must reach zero net emissions in 2030 by drawing down as much atmospheric carbon as we're still putting up.</blockquote><blockquote>"The Green New Deal aims to change not only our climate-destructive energy, manufacturing and transportation systems, but also our degenerative food and farming systems. The Green New Deal is designed to raise the living standards for all Americans, including low-income workers in both rural and urban communities, so that all of us can choose and afford healthier and more climate-friendly lifestyles. In the next decade we must facilitate a just transition away from climate-destabilizing <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/factory-farming">factory farms</a> and fossil fuel-intensive agriculture, at the same time as we switch, as rapidly possible, to 100 percent renewable energy. With renewable energy and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/regenerative-agriculture">regenerative</a> food, farming and land use working in synergy, there is no doubt that we can reach zero net emissions by 2030, significant negative net emissions by 2050, and literally, along with the rest of the world, reverse global warming and avert climate catastrophe."</blockquote><p>We know what to do. The best practices and practitioners in alternative energy, infrastructure rebuilding and regenerative food and farming are already visible in or near our local communities. We simply need to mobilize politically to scale up these practices utilizing the power of a GND. But we're running out of time unless we can quickly build a massive united front, elect new GND supporters to Congress and the White House in 2020, and pass federal legislation for a GND starting in 2021, as Ocasio-Cortez puts it, "similar in scale to the mobilization efforts seen in World War II or the Marshall Plan."</p><p>The time to join the GND Revolution is now. On Feb. 5, hubs and homes across the country will host parties to tune into a Sunrise Movement livestream detailing the 2019 GND strategy. Anyone can host a party to grow the movement. These house parties will unite communities to build the people power we need to make the GND happen. To host a party click <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/host-a-green-new-deal-livestream-watch-party" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="c2209" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="AHQUQ51576661822"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1077948379676717058" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Could a Green New Deal Boost the Farm and Food Justice Movement? https://t.co/xOLkdPPcqM #ClimateJustice #environment #WednesdayWisdom</div> — John Lundin 🌊 (@John Lundin 🌊)<a href="https://twitter.com/johnlundin/statuses/1077948379676717058">1545837895.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/14/call-food-movement-get-behind-green-new-deal" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><br></p>
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Hundreds gathered in San Francisco with the youth-led Sunrise Movement on Dec. 11. Peg Hunter / Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0
By Eric Holt-Giménez
Over eight decades ago, the Dust Bowl devastated over 100,000,000 acres of agricultural land and the Great Depression threw 15 million Americans out of work. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt instituted the New Deal with sweeping national programs for work, agriculture, food, and land conservation.
Today, the plan for a Green New Deal recently announced by congressional representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders is facing down even greater crises.
<p>Forty years of bipartisan consensus on neoliberal economic policies has produced unsustainable levels of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">global warming</a>. It's also polluted our water, destroyed our soils, contaminated our air and poisoned our bodies. This destruction has gone hand in hand with the rise of unprecedented economic inequality.</p><p>It is time to demand real—<em>Rooseveltian</em>—leadership from our elected officials on climate and equity issues. But policy gridlock runs deep. As the <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/" target="_blank">Sunrise Movement</a> points out, either politicians advance policies without mobilizing their base for support, or social movements mobilize without elected officials to turn demands into policy.</p><p>To create a policy sea-change, we'll need both strong, broad-based movements <em>and </em>responsive, elected leadership.</p><p>This is why the Green New Deal is so exciting. It's a plan to bring together progressive politicians and social movements. The Deal proposes turning our country into an energy-efficient, carbon-capturing, full-employment, living-wage nation by 2028. This will require a major government effort with massive social investment and bold economic policies to correct inequalities.</p><p>Could the Green New Deal turn the climate Titanic around before all the icebergs melt? That depends on whether or not the lower decks take control of the helm.</p><p>The Green New Deal will need copious amounts of political will, and there are only two ways to create <em>that</em>: big money or the power of social movements. Compliant politicians and the unbridled accumulation of wealth got us into this mess. It's up to social movements to get us out.</p><p>Which social movements in the U.S. have enough skin in the game to tilt the country's political will on equity and climate? The growing climate justice, indigenous peoples, and economic equity movements have been instrumental in addressing these issues in decisive and creative ways. But we need more.</p><p>It's time for the nation's farm and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/food/">food</a> justice movement to step up.</p><p>Why food and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/farming">farming</a>? First, because the industrial food system emits most of the planet's greenhouse gases, and farming is reeling under the impacts of climate change. Second, because food and farming are the nation's biggest, low-wage employers. And third, because the farm and food justice movement—spread wide and thin across both rural and urban landscapes—is fighting not just poverty, poor health, low wages and bad working conditions, but is seeking to reduce food's environmental footprint as well.</p><p>The <a href="https://foodfirst.org/publication/parity-and-farm-justice-recipe-for-a-resilient-food-system/" target="_blank">farm justice movement</a> is the agrarian wing of the food movement. It promotes <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/regenerative-agriculture">regenerative</a> and agroecological farming practices like crop rotations that use perennials to stop erosion, improve <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/water">water</a> quality and ensure <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/soil">soil</a> health, and diversified farming systems with grains, tree crops and livestock. These practices have been spreading throughout rural, urban and peri-urban areas, where permaculture and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/organic">organic</a> farming thrive. For these practices to provide viable livelihoods, we also need deep structural reforms, hard investments and economic incentives. The public banks mentioned in the Green New Deal could play a key role.</p><p>To stop the industrial overproduction of food—the root cause of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/food-waste">food waste</a> and agricultural emissions—we need strong supply management programs, equitable land access, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation">conservation</a> programs, diversification of farm income, antitrust enforcement and market reforms. If farmers are also provided with a guaranteed <a href="https://www.cornucopia.org/2013/01/a-brief-history-of-parity-pricing-and-the-present-day-ramifications-of-the-abandonment-of-a-par-economy/" target="_blank">farm parity</a> price for their product, they can conserve land instead of overproducing.</p><p>Prominent social justice organizations like the <a href="https://climatejusticealliance.org/" target="_blank">Climate Justice Alliance</a> and the <a href="https://climatejusticealliance.org/workgroup/it-takes-roots/" target="_blank">It Takes Roots Alliance</a> support the Green New Deal, conditioned on a participatory "just transition." That is, "<a href="http://inthesetimes.com/article/21632/green-new-deal-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-climate-cooperation-jackson-capital?fbclid=IwAR12XRdF1CqHeksqmhJMCXQ9GDomeCDvpE12KeMU8GCyfPERX4rabf7h5cE" target="_blank">[Programs] centering on reparations, decolonization and building a democratic economy through the advancement of the social and solidarity economy</a>." In other words, no regressive climate policies (like France's explosive carbon tax) that cool the climate on the backs of low-income and middle class people.</p><p>Social movements have an opportunity to join together as never before—not just to get behind the Green New Deal—but to form a broad-based, multi-racial, working class movement to build <em>political power</em>. Visionary leaders from these movements are already knitting together strategies for solidarity, education and action.</p><p>This is essential because without strong grassroots involvement, a Green New Deal could be co-opted by industry to greenwash their operations and avoid a just transition. For example, government grants and tax breaks could go to giant CAFOs to build <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/methane">methane</a> digesters for the livestock industry's vast manure ponds. We need to prevent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shock_Doctrine" target="_blank">disaster capitalism</a>—profiteering on working people's climate misery—in which every crisis is an opportunity for amassing more corporate wealth.</p><p>If farm and food justice demands are articulated in the Green New Deal, it could help us transform our food system. This would have a major impact on our economy, our health and our environment.</p><p>For example, if the Green New Deal proposes "[Upgrading] every residential and industrial building for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, comfort and safety," then farmhouses, sheds, barns, and suburban and inner-city farm sites stand to benefit. If we attain "100% of national power generation from renewable sources" combined with a "national, energy-efficient, 'smart' grid," it should allow towns and neighborhoods to produce power in ways that plow economic resources back into the community. Of course, any <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a> production on agricultural landscapes must avoid making these areas uninhabitable sacrifice zones. For this, the Green New Deal must ensure community-based, democratic management.</p><p>If we are to "[Decarbonize, repair and improve] transportation and other infrastructure" in the food system, we need to keep as much of the food dollar as possible in local communities by growing and consuming our food in close proximity. The photosynthesizing power of green plants and the carbon-storing capabilities of soil humus could be vastly increased through the Green New Deal's "Funding [of] massive investment in the drawdown and capture of greenhouse gases," allowing for the reforestation of riparian areas, woodlots and agroforestry plots, and even small-scale kelp farming.</p><p>The Plan for a Green New Deal opens the door to address longstanding justice issues by:</p><blockquote>"[Taking] into account and [being] responsive to the historical and present-day experiences of low-income communities, communities of color, indigenous communities, rural and urban communities and the front-line communities most affected by climate change, pollution and other environmental harm; and [mitigating] deeply entrenched racial, regional and gender-based inequalities in income and wealth (including, without limitation, ensuring that federal and other investment will be equitably distributed to historically impoverished, low income, deindustrialized or other marginalized communities)."</blockquote><p>These measures need to be part of our social justice platforms to address the inequitable levels of climate and environmental vulnerability. We need jobs with living wages to build family and community wealth. Food-producing communities need to be desirable places to live where the health, education and welfare of everyone is guaranteed. This will encourage young people to build on family and social networks and become active political and economic citizens who can determine their own destiny.</p><p>A Green New Deal could also help bring the food movement out of its political silo.</p><p>Many food activists seem to operate under the assumption that we can somehow change the food system in isolation from the larger political-economic system in which it is embedded. Changing everything in order to change our food system seems like an impossibly big task. But the food system can also be a lever for whole systems change.</p><p>The Green New Deal just might be the fulcrum upon which the farm, food and climate movements can pivot our society towards the just transition we all urgently need and desire.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="18723" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5AXPBC1576662113"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1077300395490402305" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">81% of voters support a #GreenNewDeal to face the climate crisis!
"Why not try to save the planet, and create mill… https://t.co/h2qf6kKYGt</div> — Friends of the Earth (@Friends of the Earth)<a href="https://twitter.com/foe_us/statuses/1077300395490402305">1545683404.0</a></blockquote></div>
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<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/12/25/green-new-deal-fulcrum-farm-and-food-justice-movement" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><br></p>
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Activists call for a Green New Deal at a protest in House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi's office. Michael Brochstein / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
Congressional Democratic leaders have tapped Florida Representative Kathy Castor to chair a renewed climate change committee, the congresswoman confirmed to E&E News Thursday, dampening the hopes of activists and progressive Democrats that the committee would focus on drafting a Green New Deal to provide jobs while transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy in 10 years.
<p>Castor is not one of the 43 House members who have pledged to back a select committee to draft the deal and to reject campaign donations from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> companies, according to the <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/gnd/" target="_blank">most recent tally</a> from the <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/" target="_blank">Sunrise Movement</a>, which has emerged as a key grassroots backer of the idea. </p><p>"I think they have some terrific ideas," Castor told E&E News when asked about the Green New Deal. "But that's not going to be our sole focus."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="661e7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ANYXXZ1576662110"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1075934243673509888" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">I’ve devoted my life in public service to standing up to corporate polluters, climate deniers & special interests.… https://t.co/10SrCv5GCR</div> — US Rep Kathy Castor (@US Rep Kathy Castor)<a href="https://twitter.com/USRepKCastor/statuses/1075934243673509888">1545357688.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Castor's selection seems to return House Democrats to the plan for a generic climate change committee that the party's House Leader Nancy Pelosi <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-committee-house-democrats-2618885354.html" target="_self">first floated</a> after the Democrats won control of the House in the midterm election and before activists from the Sunrise Movement and <a href="https://www.justicedemocrats.com/" target="_blank">Justice Democrats</a> <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/ocasio-cortez-pelosi-climate-change-2619674477.html" target="_self">staged a sit-in in her office</a> a month ago and launched the Green New Deal into the national discourse, the <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/kathy-castor-climate_us_5c1c0843e4b08aaf7a869cfd" target="_blank">Huffington Post reported</a>.<br></p><p>Castor also waffled on the idea that committee members should have to pledge not to take money from fossil fuel interests. </p><p>"I don't think you can do that under the First Amendment, really," she told E&E News, echoing <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/exxon" target="_self">Exxon</a> Mobil Corp.'s court defense of its funding of climate-denying think tanks, the Huffington Post pointed out.</p><p>Castor has received more than $73,000 from the energy and natural resources sector during her 12 years in Congress.</p><p>"I honestly thought the Democratic Party leaders would see this opportunity," Justice Democrats communications director Waleed Shahid told the Huffington Post. "It's infuriating to see a fellow Democrat basically parrot the talking points of the Koch Brothers when it comes to the very common-sense idea that any politician who accepts donations from the fossil-fuel corporations should not be allowed to legislate on climate change." </p><p>However, activists aren't planning to give up. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the newly-elected New York Congresswoman who has led the push for the Green New Deal committee, was defiant in a tweet responding to Castor's remarks on fossil fuel funding. </p><p>"Loading a climate committee w/ fossil fuel [money] is akin to letting foxes in the henhouse," she wrote. "We shouldn't be afraid to lead."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="c824d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="TSP58G1576662110"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1075897622223880193" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We don’t have time to sit on our hands as our planet burns.
For young people, climate change is bigger than electi… https://t.co/bcKMfDXDvD</div> — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)<a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/statuses/1075897622223880193">1545348957.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Sunrise Movement leaders also said they were not willing to give up.<br></p><p>"Nancy Pelosi has the power to determine whether or not the Select Committee for a Green New Deal lives or dies," Sunrise Movement Political Director Evan Weber told the Huffington Post. "Sunrise Movement's position is and will continue to be that it's not over until she makes it clear that it's over." </p><p>Castor herself told E&E News that her position on the committee was not "official" and that the mission and shape of the committee was still being formed. She is also not inflexible in her positions on fossil fuel money. When pushed by the Huffington Post, she said her freedom-of-speech comment was "inartful" but that she did not know if she would have the power as chairwoman to block potential members based on the donations they accepted and that it was an issue that could be discussed in caucus. She did say she would consider pledging to refuse future fossil fuel donations.</p><p>Castor is not without environmental bona fides. She has a 93 percent lifetime environmental <a href="http://scorecard.lcv.org/moc/kathy-castor" target="_blank">voting score</a> from the <a href="https://www.lcv.org/" target="_blank">League of Conservation</a> voters and an 86 percent voting score for the past year. She also represents a state disproportionately impacted by climate change. </p><p>The <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council </a>(NRDC) released a <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/media/2018/181220" target="_blank">statement</a> backing her appointment, and Democratic California Representative Jared Huffman, who does back a Green New Deal, told E&E News he thought Castor would be a "terrific" chair. </p><p>"I think she brings a lot of thoughtfulness to the position, and she's experienced, so I can't disagree with that," Huffman said.</p>
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