Beto O’Rourke’s Climate Policy and How Green Democrats Need to Be

The latest episode of Political Climate looks at O’Rourke’s comprehensive climate plan and the pushback it received from progressive members of his own party.

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Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke unveiled a comprehensive climate change plan this week that seeks to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in the U.S. by 2050. The $5 trillion proposal is the most detailed climate plan announced by a 2020 presidential candidate to date.

But the policy wasn't even a day old when the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate group backing the progressive Green New Deal, slammed O'Rourke for not being more ambitious.

O'Rourke isn't the only Democratic politician to face criticism for his climate plan in recent days. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti also saw pushback over his Green New Deal plan for the city.

On this week’s episode of Political Climate, we look at how green Democrats need to be to win support from progressive members of their own party. Is this type of in-fighting a genius political strategy to push the envelope on what’s possible? Or will it end up muddling plans to address climate change?

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Political Climate is produced in partnership with the USC Schwarzenegger Institute and The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

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