U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, a Democrat representing Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District, has reportedly changed his mind on the Green New Deal, and he now favors it.
This, according to The Nashville Post, which reported the congressman’s about-face.
Cooper’s spokeswoman, Brittany-Rae Gregory said in an email early Monday afternoon that she would eventually discuss the matter with The Tennessee Star. Gregory had not responded to our written questions, however, before Monday night.
According to The Post, Cooper changed his mind after hearing former Democratic vice president Al Gore speak on the matter.
Rep. Cooper posted the following statement on Facebook:
I’ve always said the Green New Deal is an important call to action, but it’s not a legislative proposal. Today, the 100% Clean Economy Act confronts the crisis head-on. The Green New Deal is quite ambitious, but its bold environmental goals can’t be ignored. Supporting these measures makes sense to me.
As The Tennessee Star reported in February, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez released the resolution that’s become a central part of the Democratic agenda, including backing from 2020 candidates.
The “Green New Deal” resolution calls for “10-year national mobilizations” towards a series of goals aimed at fighting global warming, according to a copy of the bill obtained by NPR. A separate fact-sheet claims the plan would “mobilize every aspect of American society on a scale not seen since World War 2.”
That includes getting all our energy needs from “clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources” by “dramatically expanding and upgrading existing renewable power sources.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s non-binding resolution calls for a variety of social justice and welfare state goals, including “a family-sustaining wage, adequate family and medical leave, paid vacations and retirement security” and “high-quality health care” benefits for Americans.
The resolution calls for “repairing historic oppression” among certain groups, including minorities, immigrants, women, low-income workers, indigenous people and youth collectively called “frontline and vulnerable communities.”
As The Star reported earlier this month, left-wing activist Justin Jones wants to challenge Cooper for his seat in next year’s primary election.
Tennessee’s far-left groups have wanted a primary challenger against Cooper because they believe he is not progressive enough, according to the Nashville Scene. These groups wanted Cooper to support the Green New Deal and Medicare-for-all, but he was previously reluctant to do so.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Rep. Jim Cooper: by Rep. Jim Cooper.
Global warming and climate change (on a geological time scale) continues to occure. But these changes are naturally occurring, not due to people’s insatiable consumption of “dirty fossil fuel”. This whole issue with its latest scheme, the Green New Deal, is the apex of the socialist attempt at the redistribution of wealth. They will proclaim that it is “settled science” (I have heard to this mantra repeatedly as I spend thirty years in the Socialist Republic of Vermont), when in reality the climate of the earth is in constant flux. The eleven year solar cycle and variations in the orbits of the planets and their ensuing gravitational forces on the behavior of the sun have a much stronger effect on the long term temperatures of the earth. People who a gullible enough to believe that the fluctuations in the earth’s climate are due to the effects of humanity are comparable to people who believe the earth is flat. Anyone with an open mind can find on the internet countless articles from accredited authors that disprove this bunk.
Not sure who I dislike more, that female Justin Jones or Jim Cooper?
He is toast. Let him go down the 2020 Democrat drain with the rest of his pandering friends.I would rather the state have a rabid democrat like Cohen than a lukewarm moderate like Cooper. Easier to identify the crazies that way. This extremism will be the end of the Democrats. Good riddance.
Rick, if Cooper takes your advice to be a D.I.N.O. (Democrat In Name Only) or a R.I.A.B.N. (Republican In All But Name), he will actually lose and lose badly. He should have learned this the hard way back in 1994 when he ran against Fred Thompson. In that election, he tried to out-Republican Thompson, only to alienate his core liberal and leftist constituency while failing to attract any conservative or rightist voters who were going to vote Republican anyway. He lost by a bigger margin than black candidate Harold Ford Jr. would to Corker. Ford Jr. campaigned as less conservative than Cooper did although Ford Jr. was still considered too conservative for some Memphis voters who decided to sit out that particular election in protest against Ford Jr.’s attempt at Republicanism.
Despite the differences I have had with Cooper’s previous attempts to out-right wing the Republican Party, I am glad to see that he has finally moved leftward on the green new deal. Conservatives need to realize that global warming poses a very grave threat to human survival. I am willing to make sacrifices in my life style if doing so will save our planet and make the green new deal feasible. We need more public transit and, while I do not advocate banning the automobile (as I have one myself, although I never use it for commuting), I do favor severely reducing our dependence on private single-occupancy vehicles. Fewer vehicles on the road means less congestion, more safety for pedestrians, and a more equitable transportation system that does not favor the rich over everybody else. We also need to make more use of solar and wind power while limiting our use of fossil fuels. Do the conservatives have a problem with this? Do conservatives really care about the national welfare?
Talk about pandering to the left! Think for minute, look around you wherever you are, what would you see if there were 80% less energy to make, ship or produce anything that you see. This is what the green new deal does. No oil, no nuc. no fire of any kind as this takes a fuel that would cause emissions.
No central heat
No central air,
Only solar cars – no electricity
Very few jobs – no way to make almost anything
You can keep adding to the list, just think. This is not based in reality at ALL.
Before you jump on the feel good band wagon THINK.
He needs to represent Tennessee values, if he wants to get re-elected! He may one day have viable opposition. His days of coasting along with the Democratic Party line Is receiving closer attention by many.