Pressed by Climate Activists, Senate Democrats Plan to ‘Go on Offense’ (original) (raw)
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Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, cast the strategy to combat climate change as a way to mobilize millennial voters.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times
- March 4, 2019
WASHINGTON — Facing a showdown vote as early as this month over the embattled “Green New Deal,” Senate Democrats are preparing a counteroffensive to make combating climate change a central issue of their 2020 campaigns — a striking shift on an issue they have shied away from for the past decade.
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, outlined the new strategy in an interview last week, casting it as a way to mobilize millennial voters, a key part of the Democratic constituency that the party will need to turn out to win in swing states.
With progressives pushing Democrats to embrace the Green New Deal — and Republicans ridiculing the idea as socialism — Mr. Schumer is effectively trying to turn a weakness into a strength. He is planning daily floor speeches attacking Republicans for inaction and a proposal for a special Senate committee focused on the issue, which he intends to announce this week.
And while there is virtually no chance of passing climate change legislation in a Republican-controlled Senate with President Trump in office, Mr. Schumer said he wanted legislation to run on next year — and bring to a vote in early 2021, should his party win the White House and the Senate.
“This is the first time Democrats have decided to go on offense on climate change,” Mr. Schumer said in an interview in his office. Asked about a bill, though, he conceded that “it’s going to take us a little while to come up with a consensus that works.”
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How Politicians Are Reacting to a Green New Deal
The Green New Deal was introduced as a sweeping resolution to drastically reduce emissions over the next 10 years, but there is disagreement over how viable the plan is.
“Climate change and our environmental challenges are one of the biggest existential threats to our way of life.” “Stop stalling on spending money, real money, on infrastructure and clean energy — and a Green New Deal!” “And there’s a lot of people now that are blowing back on the ‘Green New Deal.’ They’re like, ‘Oh, it’s impractical. Oh, it’s too expensive. Oh, it’s all of this.’ If we used to govern our dreams that way, we would have never gone to the moon.” “I am supporting the ‘Green New Deal.’ Climate change is real, and it is within our power to do something about it.” “I don’t see it as something that we can get rid of all these industries or do this in a few years. That doesn’t make sense to me. Or reduce air travel. But what does make sense to me is to start doing concrete things and put some aspirations out there on climate change.” “The ‘Green New Deal’ points out the fact that the public is much more aware of the challenge that we face, and that is a good thing.” “They want to take away your car, reduce the value of your home and put millions of Americans out of work.” “There’s another deal that’s out there — the so-called ’Green New Deal,’ which is a raw deal for the American public, for hardworking American families, and to me, it drives a stake into the heart of our economy.” ”Now they’re saying, well, we want to come after your airplanes, your money, your buildings. I mean, what else is next?” “Sounds more like a green nightmare to me.”
The Green New Deal was introduced as a sweeping resolution to drastically reduce emissions over the next 10 years, but there is disagreement over how viable the plan is.CreditCredit...Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA, via Shutterstock
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