Democrats who back Green New Deal warn of Trump second-term consequences

Democratic lawmakers warned of negative consequences for the climate if former President Trump is reelected during a Tuesday press conference marking the fifth anniversary of the Green New Deal resolution.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who introduced the original Green New Deal resolution with Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), cited the climate crisis as well as simultaneous issues such as wealth inequality and the costs of health care and housing in decrying the possibility of Trump returning to the White House.

“This moment is not just a crisis for our planet. It is turning into a crisis for our economy and our democracy,” she said. 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sounded a similar note at the press conference, saying “we had a climate denier in the White House when the Green New Deal began [and] we could easily have a climate denier in the White House again next year.”

Trump, the likely GOP nominee, has repeatedly falsely claimed climate change is a “hoax” and vowed to undo the Biden administration’s environmental policies in a second term.

Trump’s first term saw the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement and the rollback of a number of environmental regulations.

Ocasio-Cortez and Blumenthal made the remarks as part of the release of a report issued by Markey’s office for the fifth anniversary on steps taken on the goals of the Green New Deal resolution since its introduction.

The report notes steps such as the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the creation of a national climate corps patterned after the New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps. 

The report also notes an increase in renewable energy investments, noting that such investments went from $15 billion in the first quarter of 2018 to $50 billion in the first quarter of 2023.

During the period between Q1 of 2018 and Q3 of 2023, retail investment in zero-emission vehicles increased from $3.39 billion to $20.58 billion while electric vehicle sales more than doubled from 400,000 to 1.6 million between 2018 and 2023.