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Howie Hawkins has campaigned for New York governor and Syracuse mayor. His next race will be the biggest.

Hawkins, a co-founder of the Green Party, announced Wednesday that he is exploring a run for president in 2020. He is planning to seek the Green Party's nomination for the nation's highest office.

The formation of an exploratory committee is Hawkins' response to a call from Green Party members urging him to run for president.

If he runs, Hawkins said he would campaign on the Green New Deal. His proposal would differ from the plan backed by some Democrats by aiming to achieve 100 percent clean energy by 2030.

An "ecosocialist" Green New Deal, as he called it, wouldn't be limited to energy delivery. He wants it to revamp agriculture, manufacturing, the military, transportation and waste management.

"Averting climate disaster requires a major mobilization of resources and transformation of the economy to put the protection of the planet and necessities of the people before profits," Hawkins said in a statement.

Hawkins, 66, has been a candidate for several offices in New York. He was the Green Party's nominee for U.S. Senate in 2006. Two years later, he ran for Congress in the Syracuse area.