Kamala Harris Throws Support Behind the Green New Deal

Presidential hopeful Kamala Harris endorsed the Green New Deal on Monday night during a CNN town hall in Iowa.

“I support a Green New Deal,” the California Senator stated, “and I will tell you why. Climate change is an existential threat to us, and we have got to deal with the reality of it.”

The Green New Deal is the handy moniker for the policy platform aiming to create a low-carbon economy, establish that clean air and water are human rights, restore the American landscape and promote urban sustainability. For a more in-depth look at this proposed set of policies that could save our planet, check out this primer by Paste’s Jacob Weindling.

Harris’ backing of the Green New Deal comes after Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D—N.Y.), former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D—Mass.) each voiced their support for the policy, as per The Hill. All three are either exploring or have announced a 2020 presidential bid.

“I support a Green New Deal … Climate change is an existential threat to us and we have got to deal with the reality of it,” Kamala Harris says. #HarrisTownHallhttps://t.co/0EMGUsQFutpic.twitter.com/HJIG0HFQDr

Most Popular

• The Best Pixar Movies, Ranked
• Exclusive Excerpt: A Young Weaver Struggles to Make Ends Meet in Beguiled
• Nope Is American Mythmaking Done Right

— CNN (@CNN) January 29, 2019

In her remarks, Harris said that “policymakers who are in the pockets of big oil and big coal” aren’t fully aware of just how much climate change puts lives in peril.

“All children need to be able to breathe clean air and drink clean water, and we’ve got to have a commitment to a policy that will allow that to happen for ourselves and our children and our grandchildren,” Harris continued, “and right now we don’t.”

Harris reiterated her support of the Green New Deal on Twitter Monday night:

I support a Green New Deal. Climate change is an existential threat to all of us, and we have got to deal with the reality of it.

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 29, 2019

Of course, while we’re pleased that a major Democratic candidate is putting her weight behind the Green New Deal, one must bear in mind Harris’ troubling record as attorney general of California. Her continued glorification of the law over justice, which perpetuates mass incarceration and puts vulnerable people at risk, means that even if we save the planet, there will be a hell of a mess left to clean up.