- Bernie Sanders and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez will attend a Green New Deal rally at Howard University Monday night.
- The event is hosted by The Sunrise Movement and is the final stop on the group’s national tour.
- The rally comes as Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls spar over climate change and Ocasio-Cortez hints at endorsement.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will join Democratic New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez at a Green New Deal rally Monday night at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
The rally is hosted by the Sunrise Movement, an environmental activism group attempting to build “an army of young people to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process,” and will be the final stop on the Sunrise Movement’s “Road To The Green New Deal” tour across the United States to raise awareness of the Green New Deal. About 1,500 people are expected to attend, according to The Hill. (RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez Bungled Green New Deal’s Release. Her Staff Took Its Webpage Offline)
The Sunrise Movement has held protests at the offices of Democratic leaders such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in collaboration with Ocasio-Cortez, according to The Washington Examiner.
The group announced Sanders’s attendance in a tweet 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.”
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 rally comes as Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls bring climate change to the forefront of the political arena. Both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez criticized 2020 Democratic hopeful Joe Biden Friday for his “middle ground” approach to environmental issues, according to the Washington Examiner, saying that climate change must be the United States’ priority.
“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.”
There is no “middle ground” when it comes to climate policy. If we don’t commit to fully transforming our energy system away from fossil fuels, we will doom future generations. Fighting climate change must be our priority, whether fossil fuel billionaires like it or not.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 10, 2019
This is a dealbreaker.
There is no “middle ground” w/ climate denial & delay.
Blaming “blue collar” Americans as the main opponents to bold climate policy is gas lobbyist 101.
We’re not going to solve the climate crisis w/ this lack of leadership. Our kids’ lives are at stake. https://t.co/KvrBmaJd75
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 10, 2019
Reuter’s initially reported Biden’s “middle ground” approach, saying that the former vice president hopes to appeal to both sides of the aisle on this issue. Biden campaign spokesman TJ Ducklo told Reuters that Biden takes climate change seriously, saying in an emailed statement that “Joe Biden has called climate change an ‘existential threat,’ and as Vice President was instrumental in orchestrating the Paris Climate Accord.”
Ocasio-Cortez has been “entertaining” the thought of endorsing a presidential candidate and reportedly believes both Sanders and Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren are good candidates, according to The Hill. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez collaborated in May on the Loan Shark Prevention Act, capping credit card interest rates, and Sanders co-sponsored Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal.
The Congressional Leadership Fund said in an email to The Daily Caller News Foundation that they fully support Sanders’ and Ocasio-Cortez’s efforts to publicize the Green New Deal as a way of making the public aware of the deal’s idiosyncrasies.
“If Democrats want to make the 2020 elections about the Green New Deal, then all we have to say is: game on,” said CLF Spokesman Calvin Moore in a statement. “Democrats continuing to discuss their plan to blow $93 trillion taxpayer dollars on a wholly unrealistic plan to ban air travel and rebuild every single building in the country is only helping elect Republicans to the House of Representatives. We welcome their efforts with open arms.”
The Sunrise Movement did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Caller News Foundation.
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