Hundreds of young climate activists rally in Lafayette Square on the north side of the White House to demand that President Joe Biden work to make the Green New Deal into law on June 28, 2021, in Washington, D.C.Five years on from the introduction of the Green New Deal, progressive lawmakers say that it’s needed now more than ever, with new, dangerous climate records being set each year and the grip of the fossil fuel industry showing little sign of waning.
Lawmakers who crafted and championed the original Green New Deal resolution have spoken up about its significance during its fifth anniversary this week, with original sponsors Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the progress the U.S. has made toward the resolution’s original goals and, along with cosponsors like Sen. Bernie Sanders , emphasizing the need to continue fighting for the proposal for years to come.
“Five years ago, we introduced a 10 year vision for social and ecological transformation big enough to save our planet: the Green New Deal,” said Ocasio-Cortez inthe legislation on Tuesday. “It was laid out on three core principles to transform how the United States approached climate policy. The first was to dramatically accelerate the timeline for decarbonizing the US economy. The second was to say that we are going to create millions of jobs in this country to get it done.
“Transforming our economy away from fossil fuels isn’t radical. What’s radical is waiting another second to do it,” Sanders said. “We introduced the Green New Deal 5 years ago today. Since then, we’ve seen the warmest day, month, and year on record. We can’t wait. We need a #GND now.”Since the introduction of the Green New Deal, the concept has spread across the country, with multiple states and cities introducing their own Green New Deal resolutions.