Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) has left critics scratching their heads after citing the “trampling of indigenous rights” and “racial justice” as causes of climate change.
Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) reintroduced the Green New Deal on Tuesday, a redux of the same resolution introduced in 2019 that was quickly used by Republicans to paint Democrats like Ocasio-Cortez as extremist and socialist in their views.
The Green New Deal calls for the decarbonization of the US economy, as well as free higher education for every American, among many other proposals. The reintroduced legislation includes bills to support funding for public housing.
“We're going to transition to a 100% carbon-free economy that is more unionized, more just, more dignified and that guarantees more health care and housing than we're ever had before. That's our goal,” Ocasio-Cortez said at a Tuesday news conference.
The congresswoman claimed the Green New Deal can expand access to electric vehicles and create 20 million union jobs to rebuild “infrastructure.”
She also went on to confuse many when she began citing social justice issues as the cause of climate change.
“The climate crisis is a crisis born of injustice and it is a crisis born of the pursuit of profit at any and all human and ecological costs,” Ocasio-Cortez said, adding that “we must recognize in legislation that the trampling of indigenous rights is a cause of climate change [and] the trampling of racial justice is a cause of climate change.”
“We are allowing folks to deny ourselves human rights and deny people the right to health care, the right to housing and education,” she added.
.@AOC: "The trampling of indigenous rights is a cause of climate change. The trampling of racial justice is a cause of climate change."
Critics pounced on the lawmaker stretching to make a connection between “racial justice” and climate change, blasting her for the “nonsense” statement and for seemingly trying to connect social justice and infrastructure issues.
“This is blathering nonsense,” one listener tweeted in response to the clip.
“I don't know what to call this except maybe mental balloon folding,” comedian Dave Cooperman added.
The reintroduction of the Green New Deal comes just as the White House is preparing a massive $2.3 trillion infrastructure package that Markey claims contains the “DNA” of the Green New Deal.
“The Biden administration is including climate action, environmental justice and the care economy in its recovery plan,” the senator said. “That's the DNA of the Green New Deal that we introduced.”
