WASHINGTON _ Liberals around the country are talking about the idea of a Green New Deal, a sweeping set of policy goals to combat the effects of climate change 90 years after President Franklin Roosevelt's expansion of federal agencies and regulations in response to the Great Depression.
A Green New Deal, prominently promoted by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after she upset a Democratic Party leader, has gained widespread attention in recent months. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the first high-profile Democrat to announce a 2020 White House bid, signaled support for the idea. Ocasio-Cortez and other incoming Democrats lobbied Speaker Nancy Pelosi to create a special committee on climate change, though many demands by liberals regarding specifics of the committee, including barring membership from any lawmaker who accepts campaign contributions from fossil fuel producers, were not met.
The Green New Deal at present is a set of largely amorphous and aspirational goals set out in a document by Ocasio-Cortez and other liberal advocacy groups. The list includes goals like "eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturing, agricultural and other industries" and "meeting 100 percent of national power demand through renewable sources."
