New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez addresses a rally in New York in January 2019. Ira L. Black - Corbis | Getty Images

Freshman Congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and veteran lawmaker Sen. Edward Markey are introducing a resolution spelling out congressional support for a Green New Deal — an ambitious plan to remake the U.S. economy and drastically reduce the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. The resolution largely sticks to a blueprint Ocasio-Cortez laid out when she proposed creating a House select committee to establish a Green New Deal. That framework called for generating 100 percent of the nation's power from renewable sources, making all buildings energy efficient and eliminating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector and industry — all within about 10 years. The plan also proposes massive investments in research and development to make the U.S. a leader in clean energy technology. In addition, the Green New Deal envisioned by Ocasio-Cortez aims to implement progressive policies such as a federal jobs guarantee, basic income and universal health care. The resolution being introduced by Ocasio-Cortez and Markey clarifies the scope and scale of the Green New Deal and paves the way for legislation that would lay out explicit projects and policies. Ocasio-Cortez plans to begin crafting that legislation immediately.

The resolution is co-sponsored by 60 members of Congress and nine senators, including 2020 Democratic presidential contenders Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren. The same day Ocasio and Markey released the resolution, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the Democratic lineup for the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. Ocasio-Cortez, who participated in a protest advocating for bold climate action at Pelosi's office in November, is not on the roster. On Wednesday, Pelosi appeared to cast aspersions on Ocasio-Cortez's plan, saying it is a "suggestion" that the select committee would discuss. "The green dream or whatever they call it, nobody knows what it is, but they're for it, right?" Pelosi told Politico.

Clarifying Green New Deal goals