Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez to introduce measure to declare climate change an official emergency: report

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) are set to introduce on Tuesday a joint resolution with Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) declaring climate change an official emergency, The Guardian reported Monday.

The resolution reportedly reads, “The global warming caused by human activities, which increase emissions of greenhouse gases, has resulted in a climate emergency” that “severely and urgently impacts the economic and social well-being, health and safety, and national security of the United States.”  

It also “demands a national, social, industrial, and economic mobilization of the resources and labor of the United States at a massive-scale.” 

{mosads}Blumenauer’s office told The Guardian that he decided to draft the resolution after President Trump declared an emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border to fund barriers there.

A spokesperson for Sanders, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, blasted the Trump administration for not prioritizing climate change in a statement to the British newspaper.

“President Trump has routinely declared phony national emergencies to advance his deeply unpopular agenda, like selling Saudi Arabia bombs that Congress had blocked,” the spokesperson said.  

“On the existential threat of climate change, Trump insists on calling it a hoax. Senator Sanders is proud to partner with his House colleagues to challenge this absurdity and have Congress declare what we all know: we are facing a climate emergency that requires a massive and immediate federal mobilization,” the spokesperson added.

The announcement came as Trump gave a speech touting his administration’s environmental policies Monday without mentioning the phrase “climate change.”

Although the resolution is symbolic and would not enact any initiatives to combat climate change or lower emissions, climate advocates say similar proposals in Canada and the United Kingdom have elevated the urgency of the issue.  

More than a dozen countries and hundreds of cities, including many in the U.S., have declared climate change an emergency.