Sen. Bernie Sanders combats argument that Green New Deal is too expensive

This past weekend, Senator Bernie Sanders hosted a virtual ‘Fighting for Justice in Michigan’ town hall where he called out his fellow Congress members to continue to fight for the Green New Deal. 

With the current climate suffering from record-breaking heatwaves, destructive storms, and untamed wildfires, the Green New Deal would immediately help combat these issues along with creating millions of jobs for Americans. 

Some in the Senate have criticized the plan that was brought forth back in August of last year saying it would be too expensive to pass and the government cannot afford it. Sanders, however, argues: “Well, you tell me the alternative. Tell me the alternative if we’re going to be looking at a planet which is burning up, if we’re looking at more and more drought and the decline of food production, if you’re looking at more and more extreme weather disturbances, hurricanes, and tornadoes, if you’re looking at more and more disease… The Green New Deal is not too expensive because the alternative is far, far more dreadful, more destructive, and much more expensive.”

There are people in Washington who say the Green New Deal is too expensive and we can’t afford it.

What is the alternative?

A planet which is burning up? pic.twitter.com/PklRTmPG9j

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) September 12, 2020

According to Common Dreams, in Sanders’ remarks echoed arguments that climate activists have voiced in recent days as wildfires—fueled, according to experts, by the human-caused climate crisis—continue to ravage the western U.S. and another major storm barrels toward the northern Gulf Coast just weeks after Hurricane Laura battered the region.