What's the Green New Deal, and where do candidates stand on it?
Candidates briefly tussled over components of the Green New Deal, an ambitious plan to combat climate change proposed by Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Here's what's in the plan (and a few things that are not) and who in the 2020 field supports and opposes it:
- Calls for a complete transition to renewable energy by 2030 and to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions
- Addresses topics like racial and economic inequality
- Includes a call for the government to guarantee jobs for everyone, support labor unions, and enact universal health care and housing
- Calls for a massive 10-year infrastructure plan that the resolution likens to spending during World War II
- It does not address how it would be paid for
- Does not include a direct call for imposing a price on climate pollution, like a carbon tax
- Supported by: Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Bill de Blasio, Andrew Yang, Jay Inslee, Beto O'Rourke, Bernie Sanders, Marianne Williamson and Julian Castro
- Opposed by John Hickenlooper, Tulsi Gabbard, Michael Bennet, Steve Bullock, Tim Ryan and John Delaney