AUSTIN, TEXAS — This month, the capital of Texas threw its support behind the Green New Deal resolution, a bold proposal that aims to tackle both climate change and social inequities in one fell swoop. In supporting the resolution, lawmakers and advocates hope Austin can lead the way for other cities in Republican-controlled states to chart their own path.
Turning the symbolism of supporting the Green New Deal into concrete action will take significant work, however, even as t...
climate
Climate change is quickly taking over as the top 2020 issue for Democratic voters
A new poll reveals climate change is the leading concern for an overwhelming majority of Democratic and Democratic-leaning independent voters in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election.
According to a survey conducted by research firm SSRS for CNN and released on Tuesday, 96% of 1,007 registered voters polled said it is very or somewhat important that a presidential candidate take “aggressive action to slow the effects of climate change.” This surpassed Medicare fo...
Labor unions come out in support of Maine’s Green New Deal
The Maine American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), which represents over 160 local labor unions across the state, announced its support Tuesday for the state’s recently introduced Green New Deal legislation.
This is the first Green New Deal-branded proposal to be backed by an AFL affiliate.
“We face twin crises of skyrocketing inequality and increasing climate instability. Climate change and inequality pose dire threats to w...
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez town hall resets the Green New Deal debate
In a remarkable town hall event with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes last Friday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) reset the entire debate around the Green New Deal.
Since the idea of mobilizing the entire economy to get off fossil fuels first burst into the political consciousness last fall, thanks in large part to Ocasio-Cortez, many aspects of the Green New Deal have been somewhat vague.
For instance, do the other big goals laid out in the Green New Deal, such as universal h...
House Democrats adopt Green New Deal jobs talking point as they reveal new climate bill
Less than 24 hours after the Green New Deal resolution faced a setback in the Senate, House Democrats appeared to have broadly adopted one of the proposal’s leading talking points as they pitched separate climate legislation.
“This is about jobs, about good, paying green jobs,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Wednesday, introducing the Climate Action Now Act, also known as House Resolution 9.
The new resolution urges the United States to remain in the...
Gillibrand to Republicans: Stop treating climate change ‘like a game’
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) joined a spirited rally supporting the Green New Deal resolution on Tuesday morning, offering a full-throated endorsement of the blueprint for dramatic climate action.
“We need to pass a Green New Deal. This should be our nation’s moonshot,” Gillibrand said. “Why not be the world leader in doing something extraordinary and showing what this country is made of?”
Pointing to recent deadly flooding in the Midwest, the New Yo...
Republicans push phony attack on Green New Deal’s cost, ignore ‘tens of trillions’ in benefits
Opponents of serious climate action are routinely using a nonsensical $93 trillion dollar cost projection to attack the Green New Deal — an effort to mobilize the U.S. economy to shift away from fossil fuels as fast as technologically possible to preserve the livable climate that has made modern civilization possible — even though the figure has been roundly debunked by fact checkers.
The reality is that the price of what are called “core” clean energy techno...
What the Senate vote on the Green New Deal resolution actually means
Senate debate over the hotly contested Green New Deal resolution is expected to come to a head on Tuesday as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) tries to force a divide among Democrats by calling for a vote on the ambitious proposal, even though no legislation has been proposed.
Democrats, meanwhile, are working to gain the upper hand with a display of unity, despite their differing stances on what meaningful climate action should look like. The final vote will serve as an...
‘It’s my future’: Generation Z is going on strike to save the planet
Last October, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that without dramatic change, global emissions are set to rise to a level that would usher in catastrophic consequences in just over a decade. Exactly one month later, the historic Camp Fire broke out in Paradise, California, claiming 85 lives and destroying more than 15,000 structures.
For many, these two events prompted an awakening on the urgency of dealing with climate change, triggering a realization that t...
Republican congressman says Green New Deal is ‘tantamount to genocide’
House Republicans are ramping up their opposition to the Green New Deal, invoking increasingly dire rhetoric as the proposal gains prominence. In a press conference on Thursday, several top Republicans called for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to direct all House committees to hold hearings to discuss the details of the ambitious climate action proposal.
Calling the Green New Deal resolution a “fantasy-land proposal” and “tantamount to genocide,” House Republica...