Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have fused two major presidential campaign issues — housing and climate change — in a $172 billion policy proposal released Thursday.

Dubbed the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act, the proposal aims to transform the entire stock of public housing in the US, 1.2 million units, into energy-efficient homes powered by onsite renewable energy. Authors say the bill would create about 240,000 jobs per year and reduce greenhouse emissions equivalent to taking 1.2 million cars off the road.

This is the first piece of legislation with official Green New Deal branding and is co-written by Sanders, one of the progressive frontrunners for the 2020 presidential race. The initial Green New Deal resolution released in March by Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) was a broad framework that laid out principles for a comprehensive strategy to limit climate change, like the need for a just transition toward cleaner energy. This new bill actually starts constructing policy within that framework.

Continue reading >> Green New Deal: Bernie Sanders and AOC target public housing in their first bill – Vox

Posted on: November 16, 2019