Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic representative from New York, and Ed Markey, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, will hold a news conference unveiling the Green New Deal at 12:30pm eastern time on Thursday, Feb. 7.
The press conference will stream live at the Facebook page of the Sunrise Movement, an activist environmental organization run by young people who advocate for the Green New Deal. It will also stream at the Facebook page of Ed Markey.
What is the Green New Deal?
The Green New Deal is an economic framework to turn the US into a carbon-neutral economy by 2030. It is the only plan put forward by Congress that is in keeping with the scientific consensus of what must be done to avoid global climate catastrophe. The plan, in the form of a House Resolution, was unveiled Thursday and the text of the resolution can be read in full here.
Who are the players?
The Green New Deal was central to Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 campaign for the US House of Representatives. The resolution introduced Thursday is co-authored by Ocasio-Cortez and Markey, who has been the junior US senator for Massachusetts since 2013, and who served in the House prior to that since 1976.
So far, the proposal has been endorsed by several of the contenders for the 2020 Democratic nomination for US president, including California senator Kamala Harris, New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand, New Jersey senator Cory Booker, Oregon senator Jeff Merkley, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, and Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren.