Remember, the Green New Deal never even received a committee hearing, much less a floor vote, in the Democratic Party controlled House, despite all the hoopla from its release
Democrats to move on from Green New Deal
Democrats are putting the Green New Deal in the rearview mirror, but they’re not abandoning climate change legislation.
Supporters of the progressive measure are shifting their sights away from passing a comprehensive plan to create green jobs and pursue 100 percent renewable energy by 2030. They are instead looking at multiple bills in hopes of advancing elements of the broader initiative.
The change comes after a heated few months where Republicans battered the idea of the Green New Deal, damaging a brand initially promoted by freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
The Senate on Tuesday blocked legislation to advance the Green New Deal resolution on a procedural vote, with most Democrats voting present. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) set up the vote to test the Democratic Party’s unity over climate change, knowing many Senate Democrats didn’t want to publicly back the resolution’s ambitious goals. (the Hill forgot to mention that the plan received zero Dem votes, even from those who said they supported it)
Now, various supporters of the climate change measure, including Ocasio-Cortez, are focusing on new, smaller bills in an effort to get back on the offensive on climate change heading into 2020.
Dems are going to have Hearings! That should do it!
Advocacy groups that previously gave a full-throated defense of the Green New Deal are also scaling back their push for action on the resolution. Their calls for a House floor vote on the Green New Deal are nonexistent.
The Sunrise Movement, a youth activist organization that rose to prominence after holding a sit-in at Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) congressional office demanding attention for climate change, downplayed the Green New Deal’s prospects in this Congress.
“It was never created with the intention of passing,†co-founder Varshini Prakash told reporters Tuesday.
Then the point of it was??????? Because if it was completely un-serious, you now have almost every Democrat running for president on record as supporting it, which will be used as a bludgeon against them during the general election.
On the legislative front, Sunrise is in a holding pattern. The group and other like-minded organizations are waiting on Ocasio-Cortez to present a promised new bill that will include aspects of the Green New Deal.
“Ocasio-Cortez’s office is working on legislation in coming weeks and months,†Stephen O’Hanlon, communications director for Sunrise, told The Hill. “It won’t just be a resolution, it would be a bill that we’d want to pass through Congress that have the principles of the Green New Deal.â€
Get your popcorn ready! This will be a hoot.
