Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. (photo: J. Pat Carter/WP/Getty Images)
04 December 18
ongresswoman-elect
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared on a climate change panel beside
Senator Bernie Sanders on Monday, saying the battle for progress needs
be on the scale of the civil rights movement and hitting out against the
stance of President Trump.
Ocasio-Cortez, a rising star in the Democratic Party
who defeated Anthony Pappas in the November 6 election, spoke
passionately about the need for sustainable energy. When asked by
Sanders if the Trump administration's opposing position on energy was
right, the politician laughed.
“It is unsurprising that the response to any bold
proposal that we have is to incite fear,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “To incite
fear of loss, to incite fear of others to incite fear of our future.
But the only way we are going to get out of this situation is by
choosing to be courageous.”
The economic position of the Trump administration has
long favoured gas, oil, and shale. “It will be American hands that
remake this country, and it will be American energy—mined from American
resources—that powers this country,” Trump said as candidate back in
2016.
And in recent months, the president has doubled down
on his doubts about climate change. In November, he rejected the
findings of a major report on the matter that warned the economic
effects could be devastating to the country. “I don’t believe it,” the
president hit back.
The New York Times reported in 2016 Trump’s
plan was “more fossil fuels and fewer rules.” At the G20 this week, he
declined to sign a statement on climate change with other nations.
Ocasio-Cortez said the position of the Trump
administration and some fossil fuel economists that only fossil fuels
can power a successful U.S. economy was “plain wrong.”
The congresswoman-elect elaborated: “It's not just
possible that we will create jobs and economic activity by transitioning
to renewable energy but it is inevitable.
“It’s inevitable that we can use the transition to 100
percent renewable energy as the vehicle to truly deliver and establish
economic, social and racial justice in the United States of America.”
She added: “This is going to be the great society. The
moon shot, the civil rights movement of our generation. That is the
scale of the ambition that this movement is going to require.”
The town hall—chaired by Sanders and streamed
online—was set up to “explore solutions that can protect the planet from
devastation and create tens of millions of good-paying jobs.” The panel
meeting also featured CNN host/author Van Jones and actor/activist
Shailene Woodley.
Speakers were raising awareness and support for the
Green New Deal—which hopes to establish a committee and pursue laws to
“promote economic and environmental justice and equality.”
Ocasio-Cortez, who is set to become the youngest woman
to serve in the U.S. Congress in history, said there is more to gain
from moving towards renewable energy than jobs.
“It’s important to also talk about the fact this is
not just an economic solution,” she said. “This is the mechanism through
which we can really deliver justice to communities that have been under
served. This water in Flint is still dirty. The water in Flint is still
dirty.
“We have got children that are choking on the smoke in
California. Children in Puerto Rico are choking on the fungal spores
because we have not recuperated from the crisis and mold from the floods
is taking up these people’s homes. We have injustices in this country.
“Those injustices are concentrated in frontline
communities—indigenous, black and brown communities—they are the ones
that experience the greatest depths of this injustice.
“If we...had the moral, political and economic courage
to say ‘we are going to fix all the pipes in Flint’ we would put a lot
of people to work at the same time. And that is what this is about.”
On Twitter, Ocasio-Cortez supporters were out in force
following her appearance in the town hall this week. One person wrote:
“Thank you, Alexandria, for fighting so hard for average and vulnerable
Americans, and for your blunt honesty on all things Washington.”
Another added under the video: “This was amazing BTW! AOC is a real life Wonder Woman!”
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