WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Green New Deal (all times local):

5:50 p.m.

The Senate has defeated a proposal to take up the Green New Deal as both parties shunned an opportunity to debate a comprehensive climate change plan offered by Democrats.

Majority Republicans forced the vote Tuesday as they try to turn the Green New Deal into a wedge issue in the 2020 elections.

Democrats called the GOP’s move a “sham” and said it carries its own political risk by mocking an issue that a growing number of Americans care deeply about.

Senators voted 57-0 against a procedural motion to take up the nonbinding resolution, which calls for the U.S. to shift away from fossil fuels such as oil and coal and replace them with renewable sources such as wind and solar power


Forty-three Democrats voted “present” to protest the GOP’s action.

__

4 p.m.

Senate Republicans are forcing a vote on the Green New Deal as they seek to turn the Democrats’ comprehensive climate change proposal into a wedge issue in the 2020 elections.

Democrats call the GOP’s move a “sham” and say it carries its own political risk by mocking an issue that a growing number of Americans care deeply about.

Tuesday’s vote to begin debate on the nonbinding resolution was likely to fail as Democrats planned to vote “present.” They accused the GOP of quashing debate by blocking public hearings and expert testimony about the consequences of inaction on climate change.