Sen. Bernie Sanders will join Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a rally next week sponsored by a group of young activists in D.C. to promote a Green New Deal.
Sanders, I-Vt., a 2020 presidential candidate, will headline the Sunrise Movement’s final stop of its “Green New Deal Tour” on Monday night at Howard University, the group announced Saturday.
BIG NEWS: @SenSanders is joining us Monday with @AOC, @SenMarkey, and more for the final #Road2GND tour stop in DC where we’ll launch the next phase of the #GreenNewDeal campaign. https://t.co/SeYQxPolBT
— Sunrise Movement ? (@sunrisemvmt) May 11, 2019
The Sunrise Movement is a group of young climate change activists that has allied itself with freshman sensation Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on her proposal to quickly eliminate the use of fossil fuels and achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
The group has led protests in the offices of Democratic leaders, such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has not endorsed the Green New Deal, pressing for more aggressive action.
Sunrise has also pressured 2020 presidential candidates to pledge to reject donations from fossil fuel interests, as Sanders has.
Sanders has associated himself with Sunrise and endorsed the Green New Deal, although he has not yet released a detailed climate change policy such as Democratic rivals Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke.
He criticized former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday for being insufficiently devoted to combating climate change after a news report said Biden prefers a “middle ground” policy.
“If we don’t commit to fully transforming our energy system away from fossil fuels, we will doom future generations,” Sanders said. “Fighting climate change must be our priority, whether fossil fuel billionaires like it or not.”
