A group of young activists supporting legislation for a Green New Deal confronted Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Friday in a video released on social media.
In the video, a group of middle and high school-age youth present the senator with a letter asking her to support the legislation supported by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
Feinstein responds by telling the activists that “we have our own Green New Deal,” while rebuking the young activists for what she called a “my way or the highway” attitude.
“You know what’s interesting about this group is that I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I know what I’m doing,” the California senator says in the edited clip. “You come in here and you say, ‘it has to be my way or the highway.’ I don’t respond to that.”
“I’ve gotten elected, I just ran,” she added. “I was elected by almost a million-vote plurality. And I know what I’m doing. So you know, maybe people should listen a little bit.”
The video was released by the Sunrise Movement, an activist group that was part of a protest in the office of then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in November. Ocasio-Cortez joined in that protest, which was celebrated by environmental activists but frowned upon by some congressional Democrats.
This is how @SenFeinstein reacted to children asking her to support the #GreenNewDeal resolution — with smugness + disrespect.
This is a fight for our generation's survival. Her reaction is why young people desperately want new leadership in Congress. pic.twitter.com/0zAkaxruMI
— Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) February 22, 2019
Feinstein issued a statement Friday night saying that the meeting with young activists was “brief” but they had “a spirited discussion.”
“I want the children to know they were heard loud and clear. I have been and remain committed to doing everything I can to enact real, meaningful climate change legislation,” she said in the statement.
Feinstein said she gave the group “my draft resolution that provides specific responses to the climate change crisis, which I plan to introduce soon.”
“I always welcome the opportunity to hear from Californians who feel passionately about this issue and it remains a top priority of mine,” she added.
…….
- Discussion
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.