The Green New Deal’s most prominent backer said Jan. 22 that she and other supporters are drafting a resolution to set out exactly what climate and clean energy policies they would support to combat climate change.
“We are working on a resolution [that] we’ll be introducing and we’re hoping to build some co-sponsorship” among House members, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said in a brief interview leaving the Capitol.
The climate resolution planned by Green New Deal backers wouldn’t be binding and is “still in [the] drafting phase,” said Ocasio-Cortez. “But we’re looking to essentially just define the scope of the Green New Deal” with the resolution.
Ocasio-Cortez also officially landed a prized slot Jan. 22 on the House Oversight and Reform Committee. The House oversight panel is expected to deeply scrutinize a range of Trump administration policies that drew little oversight under Republican control of the House over the last two years, including Trump’s roll of climate and other environmental regulations.
No word though on whether she’ll serve on the new Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. That, Ocasio-Cortez said, is still an “ongoing conversation” given the panel won’t have subpoena power or authority to move legislation. “I don’t want to be the freshman who overextends themselves into too many clubs,” she said.
The final climate panel roster was not included in the announcement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that assigned Democratic members to the oversight panel as well as House science, education and labor, and homeland security committees.
No Timeline for Resolution
More than 40 House Democrats back the Green New Deal concept, many of them freshman members who helped the party capture control of the chamber but also some senior members, including House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.).
The deal calls for moving the U.S. to 100 percent renewable energy in a decade, a widespread move to green jobs, and other steps to combat what supporters say is a climate crisis that demands action.
Ocasio-Cortez offered no timeline for the climate resolution but said it will ensure “that we can all get on the same page” on what policies it should include.
For example, carbon tax legislation “isn’t going to be called a Green New Deal,” she said, though “it can be part of a Green New Deal.”
“But we have to make sure we define the scope of what comprehensive Green New Deal legislation would look like.”
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