Ocasio-Cortez releases ‘Green New Deal’ short film

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is broadening her push on the “Green New Deal,” narrating an animated short film outlining the policy advocated by progressive lawmakers.

In the video, the New York Democrat narrates as if speaking from the future, talking about how the U.S. “kicked off our social and ecological transformation to save the planet.”

Titled “The Art of the Green New Deal,” a nod to President Trump’s 1987 book, the film published by The Intercept shows artist Molly Crabapple painting watercolor images, with the footage sped up, while Ocasio-Cortez discusses the policy proposal.{mosads}

Ocasio-Cortez outlines a history of ignoring climate change, describing the present as years where “fossil fuel companies made hundreds of billions while the public paid the lion’s share to clean up their disasters.”

She then envisions a turning point when the U.S. acknowledges they have 12 years to “change everything.”

Climate change is here + we’ve got a deadline: 12 years left to cut emissions in half.

A #GreenNewDeal is our plan for a world and a future worth fighting for.

How did we get here?
What is at stake?
And where are we going?

Please watch & share widely pic.twitter.com/IMCtS86VXG

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 17, 2019

The freshman lawmaker goes on to outline a future that includes policies advocated by progressives that stretch beyond traditional environmental legislation, including “Medicare for All” and a universal child care program.

Ocasio-Cortez joined other liberal Democrats in introducing the Green New Deal legislation earlier this year, while other Democrats have sought to put the proposal in the rearview mirror and pursue other climate legislation.

The video narrated by the congresswoman cautions that policy alone won’t mitigate climate change, with the clip portraying the city of Miami getting hit by a future hurricane and going underwater for the last time.

The first step to taking action, Ocasio-Cortez says, “was just closing our eyes and imagining it.”