Geof Koss reports for E&E News
Published: Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introducing the “Green New Deal” resolution last week. Markey/FacebookThe decision by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to bring up the “Green New Deal” for a Senate vote is prompting a rush to define the terms of progressive Democrats’ ambitious proposal to tackle climate change.GOP lawmakers are scrambling to highlight the possible side effects of the deal, outlined last week by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), in some cases relying on a document distributed and later disavowed by the New York Democrat’s office (Climatewire, Feb. 12).Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) took to the Senate floor yesterday to outline a host of ramifications of the plan, which he said would mean the end of ice cream.”Livestock will be banned,” Barrasso said. “Say goodbye to dairy, to beef, to family farms, to ranches.”Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), a supporter of renewable energy who faces a tough re-election in his purplish home state in 2020, told E&E News he had no qualms about the upcoming vote, which is expected after the Presidents Day recess next week.”I’ll vote against socialism every time,” Gardner said in a brief interview yesterday echoing Republican talking points against the plan.Asked if he welcomed the underlying debate on climate change, Gardner reiterated the point.”I think a debate on socialism is incredibly important,” he said. “The fact that they’re going to remodel every home and house and building in America, they’re guaranteeing jobs and benefits to every single American, paying the unwilling to work, income redistribution. I hope that we can have a vote on this, I hope that we can vote on it every day.”As he walked away, Gardner made sure the reporter heard him say the plan should be called “the green new steal.”Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri, the top Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, took to Twitter yesterday with his own nickname — the “Green New Disaster.”
Green ‘aspiration’
Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, saw McConnell’s call for a vote as a way to push Democrats to take an early position on the ambitious proposal.”He wants to take an idea or framework that is not fully vetted yet, and even some Democrats think is more expansive than they’d like, and force them to put them down for a vote sooner rather than later,” Zelizer said.The result of the vote could alternately embarrass Democrats who vote no, revealing them to proponents of the plan, or it could make proponents of the plan appear to be too radical.Zelizer said McConnell and other Republicans recognized the proposal had been successful in generating debate about green policies. “It’s his effort to try to kill it,” he said.Read the full storyLike this? Click to receive free updates
