POLITICS 12/14/2018 03:55 pm ET Updated 18 minutes ago He joins Sen. Bernie Sanders in backing the plan to combat climate change, and becomes the second likely presidential candidate to do so. By Alexander C. Kaufman Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) on Friday became the second likely contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 to back the Green New Deal, the radical plan to zero out greenhouse gas emissions in a decade and reduce poverty with federally backed clean-energy jobs. “We must take bold action on climate change & create a green economy that benefits all Americans,” Booker tweeted. “Excited to support a #GreenNewDeal.” The Green New Deal stormed from the fringes of policy debates into the Democratic mainstream in barely a month as grassroots protesters with the progressive groups Sunrise Movement and Justice Democrats began bird-dogging top party officials, demanding bold action to combat climate change. … [Read more...] about Cory Booker, Likely 2020 Contender, Says He Supports Green New Deal
Green new deal
Green New Deal Gains Key Support At Home As Trump Undercuts UN Climate Talks Abroad
POLITICS 12/13/2018 09:02 am ET A resolution for a House select committee on a Green New Deal has at least 35 backers. By Alexander C. Kaufman In February 2015, a top Republican lawmaker tossed a snowball on the Senate floor in a cringeworthy stunt meant to illustrate his scientifically unfounded skepticism of climate change. Nearly four years later, the White House is promoting the same brand of denialism and fealty to the fossil fuel industry at the United Nations’ climate conference in Poland. But in Washington the snowball metaphor might more accurately describe how a markedly different brand of climate politics is gaining support. In barely a month, talk of a so-called Green New Deal ― a sweeping climate policy to simultaneously transition away from oil, gas and coal and ease widening income equality ― stormed from the fringes of policy debates into the political mainstream. By Wednesday, the burgeoning effort to establish a select committee … [Read more...] about Green New Deal Gains Key Support At Home As Trump Undercuts UN Climate Talks Abroad
Ocasio-Cortez, diverse lawmakers prioritize climate change with ‘Green New Deal’
Nov. 30, 2018 / 8:36 PM GMT By Suzanne Gamboa WASHINGTON — Just two weeks ago, a letter was slipped under the apartment door of Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The letter informed Ocasio-Cortez that Legionnaire’s disease was running through the water of her apartment building, the New York Democrat said. “Our lives are on the line,” Ocasio-Cortez said at the news conference outside the Capitol. She and a collection of lawmakers officially announced what they have dubbed as the “Green New Deal,” giving an environmental twist to the name Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his projects and programs that led the country out of the Great Depression. With their effort, the group intends to push climate change, clean air and water, pollution and unhealthy environmental conditions in poor and minority communities to the forefront of the agenda of the new Congress that will convene in January. They also are pressing lawmakers to stop accepting political … [Read more...] about Ocasio-Cortez, diverse lawmakers prioritize climate change with ‘Green New Deal’
Letter: Green New Deal moves nation off fossil fuels
By Letters To The Editor | November 25, 2018 at 9:06 am Green New Deal moves nation off fossil fuels We must eliminate dirty fuels. California produces and exports a huge amount of gasoline. My family is terrified of climate change, and the ongoing fires, especially the Camp Fire, underscore the need for immediate action. I support Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s plans for a resolution to create a House select committee for a Green New Deal in Congress. Scientists from the United Nations have already said we have only 12 years (at most) to move off fossil fuels in order to avoid climate disaster. My feeling is that we should have already done this, instead of waiting until the last minute. We need a Green New Deal to create millions of green jobs and move this country off fossil fuels. Kathleen HopkinsOakland Submit your letter to the editor via this formLetters to the Editor Report an error Policies and Standards Contact Us … [Read more...] about Letter: Green New Deal moves nation off fossil fuels
‘Green New Deal’ Gains Momentum, But Few Progressive Caucus Democrats Pledge Support
POLITICS 11/16/2018 04:10 pm ET Only three sitting lawmakers so far have said they'd support a resolution to create a Green New Deal select committee. By Alexander C. Kaufman Just three Democrats in the Congressional Progressive Caucus have pledged this week to support Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s bid for a so-called Green New Deal, the only policy proposal scientists say is ambitious enough to avert catastrophic climate change in the coming decades. Democratic Reps. Carolyn Maloney and José Serrano, who represent the low-lying New York City districts neighboring Ocasio-Cortez’s, joined Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) to become the first sitting lawmakers to back the Democratic star’s resolution to establish a 15-member select committee on the all-encompassing climate policy in the next Congress. The Green New Deal committee, meant to include six Republicans, would be charged with drafting a 10-year federal infrastructure and … [Read more...] about ‘Green New Deal’ Gains Momentum, But Few Progressive Caucus Democrats Pledge Support