In his latest effort to court left-wing voters, Joe Biden announced that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be co-chairwoman of his campaign task force on climate change.
The Wednesday announcement came during an interview with a local news station in Las Vegas, where Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic nominee, said he’s “working with Bernie and his people” on his policy agenda — a reference to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, his vanquished Democratic primary rival and a leading figure on the far-left.
“I’m working with Bernie and with his people. And so, and we’ve made some changes. We’ve listened to Bernie supporters and, you know, for example, we have Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, she is on one of the panels,” he said.
A statement from the office of Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, confirmed the announcement, adding the first-term House member will consult “with members of the Climate Justice community — and she will be fully accountable to them and the larger advocacy community during this process.”
“She believes the movement will only be successful if we continue to apply pressure both inside and outside the system. This is just one element of the broader fight for just policies,” a statement from Ocasio-Cortez’s office said.
Biden has been under increasing pressure from a number of climate change groups to adopt a sweeping Green New Deal program, similar to the one championed by Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders. Earlier this month, a collection of left-wing groups, including the Sunrise Movement, NextGen America, and Justice Democrats, promised to spend $100 million on getting young people to the polls this November.
Those groups have asked Biden to back a $10 trillion green energy plan over the next decade to overhaul the nation’s infrastructure. Biden’s current plan would cost $1.7 trillion over 10 years.
Ever since it became increasingly clear Biden was going to be the nominee, he has begun pivoting to the left to make sure Sanders’s voters support him in November.
In March, just before his final debate against Sanders, Biden adopted a modified “free college” program that would eliminate all costs for students from families with a combined income below $125,000 attending public colleges and universities. He also adopted Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s bankruptcy reform proposals, which would make it easier for individuals and families to seek financial relief.
