Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday that Democrats won’t be embarrassed if Republicans call up the Green New Deal resolution for a vote and encouraged Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to “go for it.”
“Bring it on. You think it might embarrass Democrats to vote on a nonbinding resolution that some of us may support but not others,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “Trust me, we’ll be fine because the American people know that our entire party actually believes that climate change is happening and it’s caused by humans.”
The resolution, offered by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., calls for a drastic reduction in carbon emissions across the U.S. by 2030 by replacing fossil fuel with green energy technology. It became controversial when Ocasio-Cortez released a summary of it that called for an end to air travel and cows.
Most think Republicans are looking to embarrass Democrats by forcing them to decide publicly on a measure that many have mocked as expensive and unrealistic.
Schumer described McConnell’s move as “a political stunt” and a “cheap, cynical ploy” given that Senate Republicans are unlikely to support the measure. He said Senate Democrats would try to attach amendments to the resolution that will mean their Republican colleagues in the chamber will also have to take a public position on climate change and whether it is a man-made phenomenon.
“Let’s see if anything has changed since 2015 when only five brave Republicans were able to vote yes on a resolution saying climate change is real and caused by humans,” Schumer said. “If Leader McConnell blocks amendments, we’ll know where he and his party stand, against science, against fact, ostriches with their heads buried in the sand as the tide comes in.”
McConnell on Tuesday told reporters he intended to bring the “Green New Deal” up for consideration in the Senate. McConnell’s threat will specifically affect Democratic 2020 presidential contenders who have endorsed Ocasio-Cortez’s measure.
