Politics

Environmentalists Demand Kamala Harris Endorse Ocasio-Cortez’s ‘Green New Deal’

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Within 30 minutes of Democratic California Senator Kamala Harris announcing her 2020 presidential bid, environmentalists demanded she endorse a “Green New Deal” in order to be taken “seriously.”

The Sunrise Movement, an environmental group led by activists in their 20s, said if Kamala “wants to be taken seriously by our generation” she needs to sign a pledge to not take donations from the fossil fuel industry and back a “Green New Deal.”

Today @KamalaHarris announced she’s running for President.

If she wants to be taken seriously by our generation, she must:
1️⃣ sign the #NoFossilFuelMoney pledge
2️⃣ back a #GreenNewDeal to transform our economy, stop climate change, & create millions of good jobs.

— Sunrise Movement ???? (@sunrisemvmt) January 21, 2019

Harris announced she would run for president Monday morning, the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday.

Harris’ campaign does not accept corporate PAC donations, according to its website, so it’s unlikely she will sign such a pledge. The campaign did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s on whether or not Harris would support a “Green New Deal.”

Harris’ campaign has reportedly been in touch with “Green New Deal” organizers, but she has not officially endorsed the plan. Several Democratic 2020 hopefuls have endorsed the “Green New Deal,” including Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Cory Booker of New Jersey.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who recently launched an exploratory presidential committee, supported the “idea” of a “Green New Deal,” though she didn’t fully endorse the proposal.

The “Green New Deal” is primarily being pushed by New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in tandem with the Sunrise Movement. Ocasio-Cortez joined the young activists in occupying then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office in December.

So what is a “Green New Deal”? Currently, it’s a piece of draft legislation to create a committee to come up with a plan to completely shift the U.S. off of fossil fuels within 10 years. The plan also calls for a host of social welfare programs, including universal health care and federal job guarantees.

“This is going to be the New Deal, the Great Society, the moon shot, the civil-rights movement of our generation,” Ocasio-Cortez said at a panel event in early December.

However, House Democratic leadership has not embraced Ocasio-Cortez’s plan, and Republicans, even those amenable to liberal climate policies, are also unlikely to support it.

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