Beto O’Rourke seems to be giving Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a run for her money.
In yet another sensationalist and unfounded claim by progressive Democrats, O’Rourke (D-TX), best known for losing the Texas Senate race to rival Ted Cruz (R-TX), claimed that we only have “10 years” left on planet Earth if we don’t address what the Democrats refer to as “climate change.”
According to Fox News:
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke sounded the alarms on Monday, saying that civilization has only “ten years” left on Earth if no action is taken on climate change.
The former Texas congressman unveiled the first major policy proposal of his candidacy, which is a climate change initiative that would cost $5 trillion in over 10 years in hopes of reaching zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Appearing on MSNBC, O’Rourke promoted his proposal but was asked about his prior support from the oil and gas industry, and whether the relationship would be a problem going forward.
“Do you see the oil and gas industry as an opponent in that? Won’t you have to declare yourself in opposition to their interests?” MSNBC host Chris Hayes asked.
O’Rourke responded “yes,” but said he is optimistic that the industry will take part in his initiative.
Watch the video of the bizarre exchange here, courtesy of Tom Elliott on Twitter:
.@BetoORourke says we're down to just 10 years left thanks to global warming pic.twitter.com/bEct749d5j
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) April 30, 2019
Where does this lunacy all come from, you might ask?
In desperate need of a boost, as his presidential campaign staff shrinks amid a growing Democratic field, Beto recently unveiled his version of a Green New Deal, which would cost taxpayers 5 trillion dollars.
Right. Good luck with the campaign, Beto.
According to Fox News:
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, trailing in the polls despite a high-profile campaign launch, sought to prove his policy chops by unveiling a $5 trillion plan to battle climate change and reach net zero carbon emissions in the U.S. by 2050.
“The greatest threat we face — which will test our country, our democracy, every single one of us — is climate change. We have one last chance to unleash the ingenuity and political will of hundreds of millions of Americans to meet this moment before it’s too late,” the former three-term congressman from Texas warned as he unveiled his proposal Monday.
O’Rourke’s plan – his first major policy rollout since launching his presidential campaign in mid-March – calls for “mobilizing” $5 trillion over 10 years to transform the nation’s aging infrastructure and spur innovation to help communities lead the fight against climate change. O’Rourke’s campaign calls the price tag the “single largest investment in fighting climate change in history.”
According to a proposal released by his campaign, O’Rourke would leverage $500 billion “in annual government procurement to decarbonize across all sectors.”
The candidate says he’ll pay the bill for his plan with $1.5 trillion from “revenues generated by structural changes to the tax code that ensure corporations and the wealthiest among us pay their fair share and that we finally end the tens of billions of dollars of tax breaks currently given to fossil fuel companies,” according to his campaign’s release.
The proposals also calls for executive actions on the his first day in the White House to “start cutting pollution across all sectors of the U.S. economy,” and working with Congress to produce a “legally enforceable standard” to make sure the U.S. achieves net-zero emissions by 2050 — and getting halfway toward that goal by the end of the next decade.
O’Rourke also promises to take “significant actions” to defend communities deal with fires, floods, droughts, hurricanes and other threats spurred by climate change.
Republicans, though, dismissed the proposal as a costly bid to “impress” coastal elites.
“Beto’s $5 trillion in new government spending is strictly designed to impress his chardonnay swilling coastal elite friends. The fact is the money has to come from someone and taxpayers across the country are not going to foot the bill for Beto’s crazy plans,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Mandi Merritt said in a statement.
Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are currently way ahead of O’Rourke in most polls. It’s also worth noting that O’Rourke lost two of his top staffers in the infancy of his 2020 presidential campaign, and his staff is shrinking as the field of candidates continues to grow.
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