https://dailycaller.com/2019/02/07/ocasio-cortez-green-new-deal-release/
By MICHAEL BASTASCH
- Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York bungled the release of the “Green New Deal.”
- Her office was forced to take down a summary of the bill because it contained a series of gaffes.
- Those included anti-nuclear power language, a reference to “farting cows” and welfare for “unwilling” workers.
Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez kicked off Thursday unveiling her highly-anticipated “Green New Deal” resolution to cheers from Democrats and environmentalists, but by the day’s end, her staff was forced to take a gaffe-riddled summary of the bill offline.
Ocasio-Cortez gave NPR the scoop. Her office provided NPR the Green New Deal resolution and its accompanying FAQ document that laid out its goals, namely to “[m]ove America to 100% clean and renewable energy” within 10 years.
What immediately became clear, however, was that the legislative language didn’t match with Ocasio-Cortez’s FAQ, especially when it came to nuclear power, welfare programs and “farting cows.”
“Frankly, it does a disservice to the debate,” Jeremy Harrell, policy director at ClearPath, a conservative group that promotes low-emissions energy, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. (RELATED: What’s Really Motivating The ‘Green New Deal’? Ocasio-Cortez Straight Up Told Us)
The Green New Deal resolution, which has more than sixty cosponsors in the House, does not have language ruling out nuclear or banning fossil fuels, but its accompanying FAQ actually did.
The FAQ document Ocasio-Cortez’s staff gave to NPR reads:
A Green New Deal is a massive investment in renewable energy production and would not include creating new nuclear plants. It’s unclear if we will be able to decommission every nuclear plant within 10 years, but the plan is to transition off of nuclear and all fossil fuels as soon as possible.
In fact, NPR reported the “ultimate goal is to stop using fossil fuels entirely, Ocasio-Cortez’s office told NPR, as well as to transition away from nuclear energy.”