Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he’ll soon bring up Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal” resolution, a move designed to put Democrats on the spot on the controversial measure.
“I’ve noted with great interest the Green New Deal and we are going to be voting on that in the Senate,” the Kentucky Republican said Tuesday after meeting privately with senators. “We’ll give everyone an opportunity to go on record and see how they feel about the Green New Deal.”
Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., along with Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., introduced the resolution last week, and it currently has 67 co-sponsors, all Democrats, in the House.
There are no immediate plans to bring it up for a House vote. Instead, Democrats are waiting to see how many people sign on as co-sponsors, said House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass.
The measure has attracted considerable criticism from Republicans. It calls for a 10-year plan to drastically cut carbon emissions and to replace fossil fuel with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar in the coming decades. The resolution was accompanied by a fact sheet produced by Ocasio-Cortez’s staff and posted on her congressional website that called for eliminating the need for air travel, retrofitting every house and building to green energy standards, and reforming the nation’s agricultural practices to eliminate cows.
[Opinion: Green New Deal would require an actual revolution]
Ocasio-Cortez has since scrubbed the fact sheet from her website and said it was mistakenly posted there.
Senate Republicans said holding a vote on the resolution in the Senate would force lawmakers to go on record as to whether they back the plan. Leaders did not say when the vote will be scheduled.
“It's an opportunity for members on both sides to weigh in on that,” Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said. “Most of us in our conference believe a lot of the ideas contained in the 'Green New Deal' are going to be disastrous for our economy and for the American people.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Republicans should consider their own version of the deal.
"The first question Republicans should answer is what is their answer on climate change, what are they going to put forward," he told reporters Tuesday.
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., didn't elaborate on how much support there was for the resolution within his caucus.
"I haven't heard any discussion about it," he said. "I'm just reading it for the first time. It's pretty long."
Several 2020 presidential contenders from the Senate, however, have voiced their support for the framework, including Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Naomi Lim contributed to this report.
You need to be a member of REAL CONSERVATIVES to add comments!
Join REAL CONSERVATIVES