The Democratic Representative said that she was offered a seat by Pelosi on the special committee on climate change but she turned it down to focus on the so-called “Green New Deal” that she and Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey unveiled on Thursday, the New York Post reported.
“Speaker Pelosi and I have spoken at length on climate, we share this priority, she did, in fact, invite me to be on the committee,” she told reporters, and the invite was later confirmed by a Pelosi staffer.
Ocasio-Cortez, one of Congress’ youngest representatives, said she wanted to focus on preparing legislation to bring the Green New Deal to a vote.
“I serve on the Environmental Subcommittee on Oversight, I’m on four subcommittees. And additionally, the select committee is an investigatory body. They’re tackling the investigative piece and we’re tackling the legislative piece,” she said.
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However, when Pelosi was asked about Ocasio-Cortez’s plan on Thursday, she sounded underwhelmed.
“It will be one of several or maybe many suggestions that we receive. The green dream, or whatever they call it, nobody knows what it is, but they’re for it, right?” Pelosi told reporters, cited by the Post.
Ocasio-Cortez said that her plan is a “green dream” indeed and that she and Pelosi are “in this together, we are 100 percent in this together.”
The Green New Deal initiative is planning to include different projects and includes a call for the US to meet 100 percent of its energy needs from zero-emissions energy sources in 10 years as well as de-carbonize the manufacturing and agricultural sectors.
Republicans have already criticized the initiative, noting that these proposals will be heavy-handed and anti-business.
“The ‘green dream’ is actually a nightmare,” tweeted Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy of California.
