Clean air and water is not elitist. AOC tells her Republican colleagues to stop worrying about oil companies and start worrying about the air and water consumed by their constituents.
March 27, 2019

Yet again Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proves why liberals love her and conservatives fear her.

I've long argued that the issue of climate change should be argued in terms of Clean Air, Clean Water, Safe Food, and Sane Land Management. The problem of climate change terrifies people to the point of paralysis, but demanding that the water coming out of one's faucet be clean enough to drink is local politics.

AOC brings that exact argument to Tuesday's House Financial Services Committee meeting.

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: This is not an elitist issue, this is a quality of life issue. You want to tell people that their concern and their desire for clean air and clean water is elitist? Tell that to the kids in the south Bronx, which are suffering from the highest rates of childhood asthma in the country.

Tell that to the families in Flint whose kids have their blood ascending in lead levels, their brains are damaged for the rest of their lives. Call them elitist.

This is about American lives, and it should not be partisan. Science should not be partisan

We talk about cost — we’re going to pay for this whether we pass a Green New Deal or not. Because as towns and cities go underwater, as wildfires ravage our communities, we are going to pay. And we're either going to decide if we’re going to pay to react, or if we're going to pay to be proactive.

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