Democratic California Sen. and presidential hopeful Kamala Harris announced her support of a “Green New Deal” during a Monday night town hall in Iowa hosted by CNN’s Jake Tapper.
WATCH:
“Senator Harris, since Democrats have regained the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, we’ve been hearing more about a Green New Deal to fight climate change. You have yet to fully endorse or reject it. Will you fully endorse the ‘Green New Deal’ tonight?” Cameron Van Kooten Laughead asked.
“I support a ‘Green New Deal,’ and I will tell you why,” Harris answered. “Climate change is an existential threat to us, and we have got to deal with the reality of it. We have got to deal with the reality of the fact that there are people trying to peddle some idea that we should deny it, and they’re peddling science fiction instead of what we should do, which is rely on scientific fact.” (RELATED: Environmentalists Demand Kamala Harris Endorse Ocasio-Cortez’s ‘Green New Deal’)
“I know what we need to do in terms of so much of what the plan has to be around investing in solar, in wind. I’ll tell you that — and this gets back to also Kyle’s point about jobs of the 21st century,” she continued. “The bureau of labor statistics just came out in the middle of last year with a list of the top 20 jobs in the United States, for which we’re going to see the greatest amount of growth.” (RELATED: Trump Wishes For ‘Good Old Fashioned Global Warming’ As Deep Freeze Hits US East)
The “Green New Deal” is a piece of draft legislation to create a committee to come up with a plan to completely shift the U.S. off of fossil fuels within 10 years. The plan also calls for a host of social welfare programs.
Harris announced she would run for president last week, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who also recently launched an exploratory presidential committee, supported the “idea” of a “Green New Deal,” though she didn’t fully endorse the proposal.
The “Green New Deal” is primarily being pushed by Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in conjunction with the Sunrise Movement.