Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) announced Monday that they will jointly introduce a bill related to the “Green New Deal” called the “Climate Equity Act,” aimed at poor communities.
The two touted their proposal as a “landmark” piece of legislation.
Harris is already a co-sponsor of the Senate version of Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal,” which aims to move the entire U.S. economy from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources in a decade, alongside a raft of welfare policies.
According to the New York Times:
Under the plan, any environmental regulation or legislation would be rated based on its impact on low-income communities, which are disproportionately affected by climate change because they are often in flood zones, near highways or power plants, or adjacent to polluted lands known as brownfields.
The rating system would be modeled after the Congressional Budget Office score, which measures benefits against costs for every major piece of legislation.
The Times did not specify whether environmental regulations or laws would be rated in terms of their impact on jobs, which are disproportionately lacking in low-income communities.
Gov Jay Inslee of Washington, whose campaign focuses almost exclusively on the climate change issue, released a similar plan Monday, the Times notes.
Harris and Ocasio-Cortez have worked together before, on a bill to help those with criminal records obtain public housing.
Ocasio-Cortez, who campaigned for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in 2016, has not said yet whom she will endorse in 2020. She has praised several candidates, including Harris, Inslee, Warren, and Sanders. She has been distinctly cool towards former vice president Joe Biden.
Harris also released a new “Medicare for All” plan on Monday, though rivals pounced on her for flip-flopping on key elements of the plan.
The candidates will meet Tuesday and Wednesday in Detroit, Michigan, for the second Democratic debate.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He earned an A.B. in Social Studies and Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.