AOC rails against GOP colleague on Green New Deal: ‘People are dying’

“We talk about cost. We’re going to pay for this whether we pass a Green New Deal or not. Because as towns and cities go underwater, as wildfires ravage our communities, we are going to pay,” she said. “And we’re either going to decide if we’re going to pay to react, or if we’re going to pay to be proactive,” she added.

Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., introduced an amendment during the markup that would place restrictions on initiatives championed by Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal. During his opening remarks, Duffy called the plan “elitist,” saying the legislative priorities set forth by the Green New Deal did not reflect the issues that average Americans care about and would put a higher tax burden on average working American families.

“If you’re a rich liberal from maybe New York or California, it sounds great because you can afford to retrofit your home or build a new home that has zero emissions, that’s energy efficient,” Duffy said.

The Wisconsin lawmaker said the Housing and Urban Development Department released a study that estimated a $172 billion price tag on American families for the required retrofitting of homes rolled into the nonbinding resolution.

“It’s outrageous. It’s absolutely outrageous,” Duffy said.

The Green New Deal failed in the Senate 57-0 on Tuesday. Every Republican voted against the bill with red-state Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., voting with them. The remaining 43 Democratic caucus members voted “present,” including Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who introduced the bill.

Not a single senator voted for the bill.

Ocasio-Cortez claims that she urged Democrats to vote “present” because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was trying to rush the deal on the floor.

[Opinion: Here’s why no one voted for the Green New Deal]