Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) announced that he is an original cosponsor of the Green New Deal, legislation that outlines broad recommendations on how to aggressively address the threat of climate change over the next decade. A statement from Thompson on his support is below.
“Climate change is the most existential threat we face today. I have long said that if we do not act now nothing else we do matters because there won’t be a planet to pass on to our children. That’s why I am a proud, original cosponsor of the Green New Deal, a resolution stating the steps we must take to address climate change. Today the United States Congress is making a bold statement about climate change. We are saying that we must take this threat seriously, that we must take action, and that we must use every tool at our disposal to get this done. This includes strengthening our resiliency against future disasters exacerbated by climate change, modernizing our infrastructure, deepening our renewable energy capacity, and mitigating the negative health and economic impacts we are already experiencing due to climate change. I am proud of our new majority for taking this important step forward and stand willing and ready to continue on this path toward addressing climate change.”
Democrats launched a sweeping plan Thursday to transform the U.S. economy to combat climate change and create thousands of jobs in renewable energy, signaling its likely elevation as a central campaign issue in 2020 despite President Donald Trump’s failure to mention climate change in his State of the Union address.
The nonbinding resolution calls for a “10-year national mobilization” on the scale of the original New Deal to shift the economy away from fossil fuels such as oil and coal and replace them with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.
“Our energy future will not be found in the dark of a mine but in the light of the sun,” Thompson said at a Capitol news conference.
