03.27.19

‘Present’

In Spite Of Democrats’ Rhetoric On The ‘Existential Threat’ Of Climate Change, Not A Single Democrat Senator Voted In Favor Of The Green New Deal

 “The Senate on Tuesday failed to advance the Green New Deal, the ambitious plan to combat climate change proposed by Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez … The measure, which needed 60 votes to clear a procedural hurdle, failed in a 0-57 vote, with 43 Democrats voting present.” (NBC News, 3/26/2019)

Thirteen Democrat senators sponsored or cosponsored the Green New Deal, yet all of them voted ‘present’ on their own resolution. (S. Res. 59, 116th Congress)

  • “Senate Democrats including Gillibrand and Markey appeared at a Green New Deal rally with environmentalists outside the Capitol before the Senate vote …” (Bloomberg News, 3/26/2019)

 

Democrats: ‘We Cannot Be A People Who Destroy The Earth,’ ‘This Is An Emergency Situation For The Planet,’ ‘The Globe Will Be Gone,’ ‘This Massive, Immediate Threat To Our People And Our Planet,’ ‘Resentment And Revolution,’ ‘The Most Important Moment In Human History,’ ‘How Can We Put A Pricetag On The Toll Of This Destruction?’

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): “I feel the urgency of climate. If the temperature goes up three degrees Fahrenheit, the globe will be gone in a relatively short period of time.” (“Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer On The Filibuster, 2020, And Medicare-For-All,” Vox, 3/21/2019)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): “I believe climate change is one of the gravest threats mankind faces, period.” (Sen. Durbin, @SenatorDurbin, Twitter, 3/12/2019)

SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D-WA): “Democrats are all on the same page…. We believe climate change is one of our planet’s most urgent crises, and we all believe now is the time we have to take action before our planet suffers even more irreparable harm.” (Sen. Murray, Floor Remarks, 3/26/2019)

SEN. CATHERINE CORTEZ-MASTO (D-NV): “Climate change is … happening not only in our communities, but it’s harming our country. It’s impacting our economy and it’s threatening the future of our kids…. My Democratic colleagues and I take the threat of climate change seriously.” (Sen. Cortez-Masto, Floor Remarks, 3/26/2019)

 

THE VIEW’S SUNNY HOSTIN: “Does the Green New Deal go too far?”

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): “No. You cannot go too far on the issue of climate change. The future of the planet is at stake, ok.” (“Sanders Says Green New Deal Doesn’t Go Too Far: You Can’t Go ‘Too Far’ on Climate Change,” Mediaite, 3/01/2019)

 

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): “Global climate change, severe weather is the greatest threat to humanity we have.” (Fox News’ “Special Report,” 2/25/2019)

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): “Here’s the truth: climate change … is an existential threat to our country, our planet, and our future.” (Kamala Harris, “Green New Deal,” Medium, 2/07/2019)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): “We cannot be a people who destroy the Earth before our children have a chance to live their lives and our grandchildren have a chance to live their lives. So I’m in all the way [for the Green New Deal.]” (Sen. Warren, @ewarren, Twitter, 2/22/2019)

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): “The hard truth is climate change has imperiled our planet—it’s going to take bold action now to save it …” (Sen. Booker, @CoryBooker, Twitter, 2/08/2019)

 

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): “[T]he Green New Deal is so important right now for our country…. Anyone that watched that video of that dad driving his child through the lapping wildfires in Northern California will know that this isn’t just something that’s theoretical that’s happening in the future. It’s happening right now….”

CNN’S DON LEMON: “So it’s urgent to you, right?”

KLOBUCHAR: “It is an urgent cause.” (CNN Town Hall, Manchester, NH, 2/18/2019)

SEN. ED MARKEY (D-MA): “This is an emergency situation for the planet…. Superstorms, wildfires, rising seas, and other extreme weather events are the impacts of climate change if we do not act boldly to stop it. It isn’t just dangerous; it is an existential threat to our planet…” (Sen. Markey, Congressional Record, S.1561, 2/28/2019)

SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-OR): “[I]t is now another time for a new deal for the American people to take on this massive, immediate threat to our people and our planet--a threat we cannot delay responding to. This time, it must be a Green New Deal …” (Sen. Merkley, Congressional Record, S.880, 2/06/2019)

  • MERKLEY: “We are here at a unique moment in human history when the planet is threatened…. So any Member of this Chamber who is not coming forward to help figure out how to address that is guilty of vast malpractice, legislative malpractice, and moral malpractice and incompetence because that is what a legislature is about.” (Sen. Merkley, Congressional Record, S.1561, 2/28/2019)

SEN. BRIAN SCHATZ (D-HI): “This is a planetary emergency--the most important moment in human history as it relates to the planet Earth …” (Sen. Schatz, Congressional Record, S.1562, 2/28/2019)

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-RI): “The new 116th Congress brings new hope for the Senate to face up to the clear and present danger of climate change…. Damage from climate change is already occurring. Economies are now at risk, and we are almost out of time to prevent the worst consequences.” (Sen. Whitehouse, Congressional Record, S.130, 1/10/2019)

  • WHITEHOUSE: “It may be hard for us in our world of air-conditioning, SUVs, and imported fresh fish to contemplate resentment and revolution, but the harms to the oceans of 9 zettajoules of heat … those harms are on a collision course with our destiny as a city on a hill.” (Sen. Whitehouse, Congressional Record, S.1944, 3/25/2019)

SEN. TOM CARPER (D-DE): “Add it all up, and climate change could slash up to 10 percent of our gross domestic product, GDP, by 2100…. However, all of these costs are woefully underestimated. How can we put a pricetag on the toll of this destruction? … The circumstances I have laid out are dire because that is the crisis we face …” (Sen. Carper, Congressional Record, S.1930-31, 3/25/2019)

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI): “It is dangerous for a State like Hawaii that would be the hardest hit by the impact of climate change. With extreme weather, ocean acidification, coral bleaching, and rising seas, climate change poses an existential threat to our State…. It is one of the reasons I have signed on as a cosponsor of the Green New Deal …” (Sen. Hirono, Congressional Record, S.1549, 2/27/2019)

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-NH): “New Hampshire’s--in fact, all of New England’s fall foliage is at risk…. We are going to see moose totally disappearing from the Northeast--in fact, from all of the northern part of the United States, if we don’t take action…. So climate change … is probably the greatest environmental challenge the world has ever faced …” (Sen. Shaheen, Congressional Record, S.7174-75, 11/28/2018)

SEN. GARY PETERS (D-MI): “It is an undeniable fact that climate change … is a threat to Michigan, our Great Lakes, our country, and our planet. Climate change poses a threat not only to the lands and waters that we all depend on but also to our health, our economy, and even our national security.” (Sen. Peters, Congressional Record, S.1928, 3/25/2019)

SEN. TINA SMITH (D-MN): “I rise today to discuss the urgency of addressing climate change … The report makes an urgent case for action by detailing the extreme threat posed to our nation and to our world by climate change.” (Sen. Smith, Press Release, 12/06/2018)

SEN. TOM UDALL (D-NM): “… unless we take immediate action, we will lose our planet as we know it.” (Sen. Udall, Congressional Record, S.1533, 2/27/2019)

SEN. DEBBIE STABENOW (D-MI): “[T]his is a time for bold, decisive action. We need to act today because life on our planet depends on it. The fate of our Nation depends on it.” (Sen. Stabenow, Congressional Record, S. 1507, 2/27/2019)

SEN. MARTIN HEINRICH (D-NM): “… climate change will continue to wreak havoc upon communities across the Nation and around the world…. These facts present us with the greatest and most existential global challenge humanity has literally ever faced.” (Sen. Heinrich, Congressional Record, S.1560, 2/28/2019)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): “Climate change is an existential crisis.” (Sen. Hirono, Press Release, 2/08/2019)

SEN. RON WYDEN (D-OR): “The climate crisis cannot be ignored. It’s here, it’s happening, and its impacts are already devastating communities.” (Sen. Hirono, Press Release, 2/08/2019)

SEN. MAGGIE HASSAN (D-NH): “Climate change and sea level rise are not threats to some distant time in the future; these threats--this damage--are here. These threats are taking their toll now.” (Sen. Hassan, Congressional Record, S.735, 1/29/2019)

SEN. BOB CASEY (D-PA): “Climate change is a threat to the health and well-being of our children and future generations.” (Sen. Casey, Congressional Record, S.1528, 2/27/2019)

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): “[Climate change] is a challenge that we can’t afford to ignore any longer because the health of our families, our economy, our environment, and even our national security, quite literally, depend on our ability to address it and address it promptly.” (Sen. Coons, Congressional Record, S.1577, 2/28/2019)

 

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SENATE REPUBLICAN COMMUNICATIONS CENTER

Related Issues: Green New Deal, Senate Democrats