Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a march organized by the Women’s March Alliance in Manhattan, N.Y., January 19, 2019. (Caitlin Ochs/Reuters)

Representative Alexandria Ocaio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) questioned the morality of bringing children into a world that is struggling to address man-made climate change in a video posted to social media over the weekend.

“There’s scientific consensus that the lives of children are going to be very difficult. And it does lead young people to have a legitimate question: is it okay to still have children?” Ocasio-Cortez told her 2.5 million Instagram followers.

“There’s scientific consensus that the lives of children are going to be very difficult. And it does lead young people to have a legitimate question: is it okay to still have children?”

—@AOC Reminds me of the Green New Deal FAQ:

👉https://t.co/3RtWZeVbJZpic.twitter.com/TWTYJvbb0P — Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) February 25, 2019

Since besting six-term incumbent, former Representative Joe Crowley (D., N.Y.) in November, Ocasio-Cortez has leveraged her outsized social media following to build public support for the Green New Deal, which calls for the elimination of America’s carbon footprint within ten years. She has vigorously defended the proposal since its rocky introduction earlier this month as the only solution commensurate with the scale of the problem, and has attacked skeptics and moderates within her own party as too timid and deferential to the status quo.

Yup. If you don’t like the #GreenNewDeal, then come up with your own ambitious, on-scale proposal to address the global climate crisis. Until then, we’re in charge – and you’re just shouting from the cheap seats. https://t.co/h3KSJhHqDN — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 23, 2019

The majority of 2020 Democratic presidential contenders immediately endorsed the Green New Deal resolution as an aspirational concept, but have hesitated when asked to address its specific components.


Following the proposal’s introduction, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell quickly announced that the Senate will vote on the non-binding measure, prompting criticism from Democratic leaders who argue the proposal was just a starting point and was not ready to be voted on.

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