Support Grows for a ‘Green New Deal’ to Address Climate Issues

As the debate within the new House Democratic caucus continues to grow over the demand to create a New Green Deal select committee, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) came out on Saturday to say that not only should Nancy Pelosi create such a committee, she should appoint newly-elected New York freshman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to be its chairperson.

“Pelosi should not only create this committee, but also appoint ⁦@Ocasio2018⁩ as Chair,” Khanna tweeted. “That is the boldness voters want. We need to shake up Congress & give the millennial generation a chance to lead. They have the most at stake re climate change.”

Theres so much thats important here — you have California congressman @RoKhanna using his platform to pressure the highest-ranking California lawmaker in Congress to put @Ocasio2018 in a position of real power. This is what solidarity & a political movement look like in practice. https://t.co/I0m3y2H5Ui

— David Sirota (@davidsirota) November 17, 2018

While the energy behind the demand has come from grassroots youth activists, led by groups that include the Sunrise Movement and Justice Democrats, Ocasio-Cortez generated numerous headlines—and nearly a week of Capitol Hill chatter—after she joined protesters staging a sit-in at Pelosi’s office on Tuesday.

Since then, as many have noted, the arguments for and against making a bold climate plan a top priority of Democrats have put a spotlight on the tensions between the more centrist establishment figures in the party—as well as those who have taken the most from the fossil fuel industry over the years—and the ascendent progressive wing that is calling for much more aggressive policies and visionary solutions.

The veteran Democrats named as wary about a Green New Deal in this article have accepted nearly $2 million in campaign contributions from fossil fuel interests https://t.co/BBlMdFgpUd

— Kate Aronoff (@KateAronoff) November 16, 2018

Describing her engagement with the Pelosi sit-in and the activists who staged it as “good trouble,” Ocasio-Cortez said there’s a reason that Democrats, not the climate-denying GOP, are targeted on this issue at this point.

“I got a lot of heat when I joined these amazing activists on Tuesday,” she wrote in an Instagram post on Saturday. “‘Go protest Republicans,’ we were told. ‘You’re being disruptive and unhelpful,’ we were admonished. But the thing about protesting Republicans is that none of them listen to their constituents. We learned that w/ the Kavanaugh fight and so many before that. Democrats, on the other hand, do listen. So when everyday people show up in numbers and ask for change with commitment and consistency, we can get somewhere. And we are.”

Now we’ve gone from 6 Congressmembers to *7* who’ve signed into the #GreenNewDeal Select Committee resolution!

Thank you,@repblumenauer.

I am proud that our party walks the walk in listening to advocates and everyday people to make real, legislative change. https://t.co/q2FBgEJbto

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 17, 2018

According to the Huffington Post:

The Green New Deal committee, meant to include six Republicans, would be charged with drafting a 10-year federal infrastructure and jobs plan to neutralize the United States’ output of greenhouse gas emissions, adopt 100 percent renewable electricity and reduce widening income inequality. The resolution would likely seek to bar lawmakers who have accepted donations from fossil fuel companies from serving.

Maloney, Serrano and Khanna joined incoming House members Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) to support the proposal. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) did not return a request for comment, but told protesters on Friday he supported the Green New Deal.

Since Tuesday, the number of Democratic House members supporting the creation of the committee has continued to grow:

WOW.

Thank you to the 9 members of Congress and the dozens of organizations now supporting our #GreenNewDeal resolution with @Ocasio2018 & @justicedems!

Join our call tomorrow at 2pm ET to get plugged in to this growing movement: https://t.co/FiqvAVSjuN. pic.twitter.com/zSJ1utdsRY

— Sunrise Movement