Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Paul Gosar, D.D.S., (AZ-04) released  the following statements today following the Green New Deal's defeat in the U.S. Senate:

"The Green New Deal is a soviet style takeover of our entire economy that would radically transform America into a country that would be very bleak and unrecognizable from what we know and love today," said Congressman Gosar. "This trojan horse for socialism includes a one-size-fits-all government-run health care system as well as extremely expensive job, housing and education guarantees. The Green New Deal costs $93 trillion and every single American family $600,000 in the first 10 years alone. The Green New Deal would significantly increase taxes for all taxpayers in order to pay for this exorbitant fantasy. Make no mistake, the Green New Deal is a death sentence for the American Dream. I am pleased to see my colleagues in the Senate put this half-backed proposal out to pasture. I applaud Senate Majority Leader McConnell for his leadership and putting this bill on the floor. Democrats can try to run and hide but with more than 100 Members of Congress cosponsoring the bill, more than a dozen Democratic presidential candidates endorsing the proposal and 43 Members refusing to vote against the bill, the stench associated with the Green New Deal isn't going away anytime soon."

Background:

Today, the Green New Deal was defeated in the United States Senate by a vote of 57 - Nay, 0 -Yea, 43 - Present. The Western Caucus held a press conference several hours prior to the vote and a special order last night slamming this ludicrous legislation. 

On February 27, 2019, a Western Caucus Policy Forum and initial press conference provided the first in-depth public review of the Green New Deal  by Congress and closely examined this proposal in order to gain a better understanding of its details and implications. Members of the Western Caucus and outside witnesses were adamant at the Forum that a transition of this magnitude can not occur in 10 years and expressed numerous other concerns.  

To learn more about the Green New Deal and Western Caucus efforts to defeat this bill, click HERE to visit our Green New Deal page.

Videos and pictures of the Western Caucus forum and press conferences can be found on the Western Caucus website HERE.

A fact page containing the estimated costs of the Green New Deal can be found HERE.

Click HERE to read the Green New Deal FAQs Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's office provided to NPR.

Click HERE to read Green New Deal FAQ’s posted on Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's website that was deleted.

Green New Deal Quick Facts:

·          H.Res.109, by Democrat Socialist Ocasio-Cortez, is a bill that seeks to implement the GND.

·          The bill calls for a 10-year national, social, industrial and economic mobilization effort.

·          Proponents of the GND want all American power to come from wind, solar and batteries.

·         GND footprint is large as solar & wind power need 90-100 times more space than gas.

·         GND proponents want to eliminate use of hydropower, nuclear, oil, natural gas & coal.

·         All gas & diesel vehicles would be replaced by electric vehicles, mass transit & high-speed trains under the GND.

·         Upgrading & replacing every home & building as directed by the GND will cost $2.5 trillion in the first 10 years.

·         Rail has to be laid in a straight line. Eminent domain would be used on a massive scale under the GND.

·         The GND includes an expensive job guarantee.

·         The GND includes an expensive housing guarantee.

·         The GND includes an expensive health care guarantee.

·         The GND includes an expensive education guarantee.

·         The cost of the GND health care guarantee is $32 trillion in the first 10 years alone.

·         The GND will cost American households $650,000 each in 10 years.

·         The GND is projected to cost $93 trillion in the first 10 years alone.

·         Achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as directed by the GND will cost $11 trillion in the first 10 years.

·         Americans will spend $155.5 billion to replace furnaces & $11.9 billion to replace gas dryers as a result of the GND.

·         Americans will spend $50 billion to replace water heaters & $26 billion to replace stoves as a result of the GND.

·         The GND will cause significant harm to our health care, transportation, energy & agricultural sectors.

·         The GND will significantly increase taxes for all Americans.

·         The GND seeks to authorize the government to control every aspect of our lives.

·         The GND aims to replace planes & combustion engines with electric cars, rail & transit.

·         If the $77 billion bullet train can’t connect LA & Bay, high-speed rail can't connect rural America.

·         Rep. Ocasio-Cortez attacked agriculture, cows, planes and hamburgers in pushing the GND.

·         A carbon tax could end up being included in the Green New Deal.

·         Ocasio-Cortez proposed economic security for all, including those unable or unwilling to work.

·         The GND has no plan for the trash that will result from millions of appliances, buildings & batteries.

·         Nothing in the GND specifies how this legislation will actually be paid for.

·         The GND includes a liberal trade regime.

·         The GND will kill 10.3 million O&G jobs, 600K aviation jobs, 1.4 million hyrdro jobs, 100,000 nuclear jobs, 50,000 coal jobs.

 According to @DataProgress, the Green New Deal will:

·         Ban plastic straws.

·         Ban hydraulic fracturing.

·         Reinstate Obama Admin's Land and Water Grab (WOTUS Rule).

·         Reinstate Obama Admin's attack on baseload energy (So-called 'Clean Power Plan').

·         End oil exports.

·         End leases on federal lands.

·         Ban groundwater irrigation by large-scale agribusiness.

·         Reduce current farming practices and land use by 70% by 2050.

·         Spend a lot of money on pedestrian travel, bicycle travel and mass transit.

·         Allow zero-net waste by 2040.