AOC: We Need a Climate Bill for ‘Front-Line, Indigenous Black & Brown, Low-Income Workers’
Civilian Climate Corps, rail and mass transit among the investments progressive congresswoman envisions
Democratic leadership in Congress must not only put investments in the fight against global climate change front-and-center in the next expansive spending bill that they bring to the floor — it must contain provisions particularly that look out for the disadvantaged Black and brown Americans who are often bearing the brunt of the effects of climate change.
So says Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Democrats are looking at crafting a separate spending package — in the range of $3.5 trillion — which would cover a number of their priority areas which are not going to get funded by the bipartisan infrastructure plan.
This separate package would be considered in the Senate under a process known as “reconciliation,” which means that it can't be blocked by a Republican filibuster.
It's crucial that climate change spending which would impact Black, brown and low-income Americans be part of the measure, according to the progressive Democrat, Ocasio-Cortez.
And I believe that Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi, the White House and [Senate] Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have taken that threat quite seriously. They know that we fully intend on acting out on that if a reconciliation bill does not come to the floor of the House,” she said. “And, you know, there’s many, many different actions that we need in a climate bill for reconciliation, whether it’s a Civilian Climate Corps, whether it is increased infrastructure and investment in rail and mass transit, and whether it’s also centering front-line indigenous black and brown and low-income communities that are polluted on and often experience the greatest brunt and will be experiencing the greatest brunt of climate change-related infrastructure failures."
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