A new crop of progressive Democrats poised to join the House next year could pump new energy into the quest for a “Green New Deal” and even expand its scope eight years after activists put the aggressive climate change policy in the spotlight.
The insurgents — some of whom have unseated more moderate incumbents in closely watched primaries for safe blue seats — will arrive at a time when Democrats focus less on talking about a climate crisis and more about pocketbook issues, and when the party is grappling with how to respond to the artificial intelligence boom.
The progressives could generate tensions with party leaders looking to win back the House on a message of affordability that has not featured talk of what Republicans call the “Green New Scam.”
“The Green New Deal, frankly, is a floor now, not a ceiling, for what we need to actually be looking at doing,” Melat Kiros, an attorney who unseated incumbent Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette (D) in a primary last month, said during an interview.
