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Harris, Ocasio-Cortez float plan to lift low-income communities in climate plans
(Reuters News, 29 Jul 2019) The Climate Equity Act would ensure low-income and indigenous communities and minority groups that are on the "front lines" of climate change are at the core of climate proposals.
U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday introduced a bill that would ensure any climate change legislation considered by Congress prioritizes low-income and vulnerable communities.
The Climate Equity Act would ensure that Congress and the White House are held accountable for putting low-income and indigenous communities and minority groups that are on the "front lines" of climate change at the core of climate proposals, such as the Green New Deal.
"We need a Green New Deal based in climate and environmental justice, which means building a clean economy that protects communities that have been neglected by policymakers for far too long," Harris said in a statement on Monday.
The senator from California has not yet unveiled a plan to combat climate change but joins more than half of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates in endorsing the Green New Deal resolution championed by Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts.
The Green New Deal platform calls on Congress to carry out a 10-year, government-driven mobilization to decarbonize the economy through investments in clean energy, buildings and transportation, as well as job retraining and social and environmental justice programs.
The bill would require that any climate-related bill undergo "equity" scoring in the same way the Congressional Budget Office conducts economic scoring of major pieces of legislation.
Reuters News, 29 Jul 2019: Harris, Ocasio-Cortez float plan to lift low-income communities in climate plans
