Can we all agree that the stunt that Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) did by bringing in a painting of Ronald Reagan literally on top of a velociraptor was absolutely ridiculous? It's even more ridiculous because this was brought in as an actual point of opposition from the Republican senator to the Green New Deal.
The Green New Deal is a proposal brought on by House Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and numerous other Democrats (Ocasio-Cortez being the most well known as of today) to combat the weighing issue on many young people's mind: climate change.
Late last year, a report was issued by the UN stating that we have less than 12 years to combat the changes of global warming. As of 2019, that's roughly in 2030.
Officially, it is not even a bill, it's more of a suggestion of what should be done by Congress and thus to its constituents, more specifically to major companies contributing to the overwhelming amount of pollution produced daily. Roughly 70% of pollution (air, water, etc.) comes from major companies, so although it's great that everyone recycles and use little water, etc., the greatest impact to upscale the overbearing weight of pollution on our environment would be to restrict these companies, and-- in my personal opinion-- even if it makes the standard of living a bit more difficult.
One of the Green New Deal's (GND) major proposals is to suggest that Congress put policies in place that would eliminate the United State 's carbon footprint by 2050 by instead moving to more reusable energy options like solar and wind energy.
It's very broad, even to the point that it includes other reforms-- to put it simply to create more opportunities and equity for society as a whole. So by no means is it a bill that will quickly enact changes in our economy, but it's a suggestion and even a key path to the potential that we have in the US-- to create drastic changes to be more sustainable for the betterment* of our planet. This is a proposal that may even encourage other countries as well.
(Also, another reason-- I would love to not die in 2030 y'all)
Going back to velociraptor enthusiast Mike Lee: there was absolutely no valid reason for bringing in artwork and not only wasting everyone's time but insulting the thousands of individuals to which global warming is, and will continue to be, affecting.
Lee made his position clear-- he does not take climate change seriously and thus does not take seriously the impact this would have on the people that he is representing. And honestly, as someone who is from Utah, this was one of the lowest acts that our congressmen have made in Congress. Lee compared the seriousness of climate change-- the burden that many people have that our planet will not be able to combat the effects of climate change in 12 years-- as a joke.
This topic is the last issue that should be mocked. Climate change isn't a joke. The thousands of animals on the verge (or who already are) of extinction due to our inhumane and thoughtless wreckage to their environment is not a joke. The fact that hundreds of people have died in disastrous natural disasters overwhelmingly due to global warming is not a joke.
If the Senator, and all the other Republicans in the Senate who voted against the Green New Deal when brought up on the floor, think that the GND is insufficient in solving the issue of climate change and is a notion based on "communism" and "socialist" ideas (which I can promise you that most of these Senators do not know the true meaning of these words)-- then come up with a better solution.
Lee has been in Senate office since 2011 and not once has he brought upon a resolution to combat climate change. Like many of his Republican constituents, he instead made the issue even worse by openly opposing a carbon tax, limiting the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to regulate greenhouse emissions from major contributors and was one of the 22 Senators to urge Trump to back out of the Paris Agreement.
His motive for this comes from the $287,020 of campaign contributions he receives from oil and gas corporations (~21% of his total fundraising).
