WASHINGTON (KFSM) — U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) and Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) are speaking out about the Democrats Green New Deal that fizzled out on Tuesday (Mar. 26) after failing to advance in the Senate.
“We have an obligation to cut emissions and move our energy consumption toward renewable sources. The U.S. can be proud of the efforts we have made to move in this direction, but more work remains to fully achieve these goals. The Green New Deal is not going to get us there,” Boozman said.
Senator Boozman went on to call the proposal a “far-left wish list masquerading as a clean energy plan.”
Senators voted 57-0 against a procedural motion to take up the nonbinding resolution, which calls for the U.S. to shift away from fossil fuels such as oil and coal and replace them with renewable sources such as wind and solar power, the Associated Press reports. In shifting the U.S. economy away from fossil fuels, the Green New Deal calls for virtual elimination by 2030 of greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming.
“The authors of this massive—and extremely expensive—plan suggest the Green New Deal can cure all of society’s ills within a 10-year time frame. What they won’t tell the American people is how exactly it will work or where they intend to find the trillions of dollars it will cost. They don’t have answers for either question,” Boozman said.
Senator Cotton released the following statement on the Senate’s rejection of the resolution:
“The Green New Deal would cost up to $93 trillion, or about $600,000 for every family in Arkansas. From raising energy costs, to destroying jobs, to wiping out entire industries, a government-mandated green economy would be a disaster for the middle class. This isn’t a solution, it’s a socialist wish list and thinly disguised fundraising email. The Senate was right to vote down this foolish proposal. ”
The plan has broad support among Democratic activists, and all of the 2020 presidential contenders serving in the Senate have signed on as co-sponsors.
“Real solutions to our energy and environmental challenges should be driven by positive incentives, research and development—not heavy-handed regulation. Furthermore, our strategy should focus on addressing those specific issues and not be used as a pretense for the government to involve itself in almost every aspect of its citizens’ lives,” Boozman claims.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky scheduled the vote on the Green New Deal Tuesday saying it would force Democrats to take a stand on a plan that “might sound like a neat idea in places like San Francisco or New York” but would result in communities across the country being “absolutely crushed.”
Boozman said “We need to embrace an all-of-the-above approach to energy security that includes wind, renewable biomass, hydroelectric and solar power. The solution absolutely needs to also include an expansion of nuclear power, which the Green New Deal mysteriously leaves out. Policies that incentivize production and usage of renewable forms of energy are the way forward to responsibly balance our energy needs with our concerns for the environment. The Green New Deal, and its laundry list of undeliverable promises, is not a serious solution to any of the supposed injustices it proposes to fix.”
