Environmental organizations unveil ‘Green New Deal pledge’ for 2022 candidates

A coalition of progressive and environmental organizations on Monday introduced a pledge for candidates indicating plans to co-sponsor a handful of bills associated with Green New Deal policies.

Signers of the pledge commit to rejecting any donations of more than $200 from fossil fuel lobbyists, companies or executives and commit to co-sponsoring 10 pieces of Green New Deal-related legislation within six months of taking office.

These include the original Green New Deal resolution, Rep. Cori Bush’s (D-Mo.) Green New Deal for Cities, the Civilian Climate Corps for Jobs and Justice Act, and the Keep it in the Ground Act, which would ban new fossil fuel projects on federal lands and waters.

Candidates who have taken the pledge include Jessica Cisneros, who will face Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) in a July runoff for the state’s 10th Congressional District in May, along with three candidates the environmental organization Sunrise Movement endorsed last week: Nida Allam, who is running in North Carolina’s 4th District, Erica Smith of North Carolina’s 1st District and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania’s 12th District.

A number of sitting members of Congress also meet the standards of the pledge, many of them associated with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. They include Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).  

“Since I introduced the Green New Deal with Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, the climate crisis has only become more severe,” Markey said in a statement. “We have to act now to deliver justice for communities on the frontlines of this crisis and create millions of green-collar jobs to save our economy and save our planet. I’m proud to stand with my colleagues in the House and Senate, and with an entire generation committed to climate justice, in the fight for a Green New Deal.”

More than 50 groups collaborated on the pledge, including Sunrise Movement, the Working Families Party, Our Revolution, Public Citizen and Greenpeace.

Amid a midterm season that is projected to be unfriendly to Democrats, organizations such as Sunrise have repeatedly cited environmental and green issues as a key motivator for younger voters and one that drove record turnout in the 2020 election.

With President Biden’s environmental agenda largely stuck in limbo due to the 50-50 Senate, progressive candidates have presented voting in a larger majority as a way to break the impasse.