The Green New Deal resolution, introduced last month by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), is playing a major role in the 2020 White House contest by bringing climate change to the forefront of policy debates.
The big picture: The plan would vastly broaden the federal government’s role in cutting emissions and economic intervention. The non-binding blueprint is intended to serve as a call to arms, rather than strict policy proposal, calling for a 10-year mobilization to get the country on a rapid path toward a 100% carbon-free power system and, more broadly, a decarbonized economy.
Co-sponsors of the Green New Deal:
- Sen. Bernie Sanders tweeted "I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of the Green New Deal proposal. We must address the existential crisis of planetary climate change."
- Sen. Cory Booker likened the GND to fighting Nazis and going to the Moon, reports the Washington Times.
- Sen. Kamala Harris, via C-SPAN: "We have to have goals. It's a resolution that requires us to have goals and think about what we can achieve and put metrics on it."
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweeted that she is "excited" to back the GND after initially saying she backed the general "idea" of it.
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar: "I see it as aspirational, I see it as a jump-start. So I would vote yes, but I would also, if it got down to the nitty-gritty of an actual legislation as opposed to, 'Oh, here are some goals we have,' that would be different for me," reports The Hill.
- Sen. Kristin Gillibrand: "It's got this aspirational goal of net zero carbon emissions in ten years," reports Newsweek.
Supporters of the Green New Deal:
- Author and activist Marianne Williamson tweeted: "Yes, we need a Green New Deal, and we also need to address the spiritual rift between humanity and nature. The earth is not ours to dominate, but to cherish."
- Former Housing Secretary Julían Castro tweeted: "We're gonna say no to subsidizing big oil and say yes to passing a Green New Deal."
- Former tech executive Andrew Yang tweeted he was "aligned and on board" with the GND.
Supporters of the spirit of the Green New Deal:
- Former Rep. John Delaney says people will have to pull carbon from the atmosphere and rapidly curb emissions to bypass the worst fates of climate change, per the Guardian. “I also want to solve the climate problem by getting us to net-zero by 2050," Delaney says, explaining that goal would require engaging direct air carbon capture.
- Washington Gov. Jay Inslee: He has praised the Green New Deal for injecting urgency discussion and other aspects, but places more emphasis on the role of the private sector than some backers, writes Axios' Ben Geman.
- He also released a $9 trillion plan in May largely centered on greening the economy with job incentives.
Green New Deal opposition:
- President Trump called the plan a "roadmap to destroy the American Economy."
- Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper wrote in a Washington Post op-ed an urgent call-to-action on climate change, but demanded that the private sector partner in any such deal, marking him as first 2020 Democratic candidate to oppose the Green New Deal.
Other plans:
- Beto O'Rourke rolled out an ambitious $5 trillion climate change proposal on April 29 that aims for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The plan is highly detailed and includes provisions related to making the country more resilient to extreme weather events.
- Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, who is seeking the Republican nomination against Trump, told the New Yorker the GND sounds expensive but the U.S. should rejoin the Paris agreement.
- Rep. John Delaney has come out with a $4 trillion environmental plan that aims to reduce carbon emissions by 90% by mid-century. He's previously slammed the Green New Deal saying it's as realistic at Trump's border wall.
Not on board yet:
- Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said she got into politics as an environmentalist, but told The View that she has "some concerns about the Green New Deal and the vagueness of the language."
Go deeper:
- Key points from the Green New Deal
- 2020 presidential election: Track which candidates are running
- Where the candidates stand on other key issues
Editor's note: This article has been updated to move Gillibrand and Klobuchar into the co-sponsors list and move Inslee into the supporters of the spirit category.
