Washington, D.C. — John Podesta, founder and director of the Center for American Progress, and Neera Tanden, CAP’s president and CEO, today welcomed the introduction of a joint resolution from Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) that calls for a “Green New Deal.”

“From his first days in office, President Donald Trump has stacked his administration with fossil fuel lobbyists, given taxpayer-funded handouts to coal and oil barons, silenced his own scientists, and alienated our closest allies by walking away from the Paris climate agreement,” Podesta said. “The new Congress and the Green New Deal resolution show us there is a better way. A Green New Deal can help America make the right investments to build a 100 percent clean energy economy, create good-paying union jobs, conserve our lands and waters, protect our children so that they are no longer breathing toxic air, and ensure that new energy technologies are invented and manufactured in America and are exported and used around the globe.”

“Climate change is not a challenge for the distant future,” Tanden said. “From devastating hurricanes to record-breaking wildfires, millions of Americans are already suffering from its effects. America has a choice to make: We can come together to create high-quality jobs in the industries of the future, protect our communities from extreme weather and economic damage, and build a better and more equitable country for our children and grandchildren—or we can stick our heads in the sand. I welcome the ambition of today’s Green New Deal resolution and look forward to both chambers of Congress beginning a robust national debate on real policy solutions to the climate crisis.”

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