A group of children met with Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Friday, calling on the California Democrat to cosponsor the Green New Deal and commit to drastic changes identified by scientists as necessary to fight climate change. But they got a cold hard dose of political reality when Feinstein, mincing no words, told the group she wouldn’t be meeting their demands.

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years. You come in here and say it has to be my way or the highway. I don’t respond to that,” she said in a video of the exchange. “I’ve gotten elected. I just ran. I was elected by almost a million-vote plurality.”



The video was released Friday by Sunrise Movement, the activist group started by young people who say by fighting climate change, they’re fighting for their futures. Members have taken part in sit-ins to draw attention to the Green New Deal — a nonbinding resolution of proposed economic stimulus programs to address climate change and other issues — and Friday, about a dozen of Feinstein’s constituents, ages 7 to 16, visited her office to personally ask for her support.

Feinstein later said in a statement that she wanted the children to know she heard their message.

“I have been and I remain committed to to doing everything I can to enact real, meaningful climate change legislation,” she said.

A tweet with a truncated version of the video provoked mixed reaction on social media Friday night, with some people criticizing the senior senator for being harsh, and others praising her bluntness. The complete 15-minute video of the encounter, however, was posted on Facebook. In it, a boy begins by telling the senator, “We are trying to ask you to vote yes on the Green New Deal.”