The Senate on Tuesday blocked the Green New Deal, a progressive climate change resolution that Republicans view as prime fodder heading into the 2020 presidential election.

The Senate voted 0-57 on taking up the resolution, with 43 Democrats voting present. The measure was widely expected to fall short of the 60 votes needed to overcome the procedural hurdle.

Most Democrats were expected to vote present, a move that allowed them to avoid taking a formal position. Sens. Joe Manchin Joseph (Joe) ManchinThis week: Congress returns for first time since mass shootings Collins: Senate should vote on gun reform package this month GOP senator: Unwillingness to do 'commonsense stuff' could lead to stricter gun laws MORE (D-W.Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.) and Angus King Angus Stanley KingBipartisan panel to issue recommendations for defending US against cyberattacks early next year New intel chief inherits host of challenges Senators ask for committee vote on 'red flag' bills after shootings MORE (I-Maine) voted with Republicans against the measure.

Republicans have seized on the measure as an example of Democrats shifting to the left ahead of next year's presidential election. Every Democratic senator running for the party’s nomination in 2020 has co-sponsored the Senate Green New Deal resolution.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellThe Hill's 12:30 Report: Bolton out as national security adviser Suburban anxiety drives GOP on guns Democrats play to Trump's ego on guns MORE (R-Ky.) lashed out at the proposal ahead of the vote on Tuesday, calling it an item on the “far-left wish list that many of our Democratic colleagues have rushed to embrace.”

ADVERTISEMENT

“The American people will see, they will see which of their senators can do the common sense thing and vote no on this destructive socialist daydream. And they will see which senators are so fully committed to radical left-wing ideology that they can’t even vote no on self-inflicted economic ruin,” he said.

The resolution, introduced last month by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-CortezLegislating against 'loan sharks' isn't as simple as it sounds Warren endorses Texas Democrat Cuellar's primary challenger Enthusiasm builds for 'Blue New Deal' after climate town hall MORE (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey Edward (Ed) John MarkeyEnthusiasm builds for 'Blue New Deal' after climate town hall Kennedy leading Markey in possible Senate matchup: poll Democratic candidates are building momentum for a National Climate Bank MORE (D-Mass.), strives for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the United States while creating millions of “good, high-wage jobs.” It’s faced pushback from conservatives as well as some Democrats for being too broad and including wish list items not directly related to climate change, like expanding family farming and transitioning away from air travel.

Leading into Tuesday, Democrats accused McConnell of trying to set up a “gotcha” vote since no hearings were held on the fast-tracked legislation, which was widely expected to fail to get the 60 votes needed to ultimately pass the Senate.

Speaking at a rally Tuesday morning, Markey blasted Republicans for putting on a "sham vote."

“They are calling a vote without hearings, without expert testimony, without any true discussion of the costs of climate inaction and the massive potential for clean energy job creation in our country. And that is because Sen. McConnell wants to sabotage the call for climate action,” he said.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer Charles (Chuck) Ellis SchumerSchumer slams Ross for 'thuggish behavior' over reportedly threatening to fire officials Top Democrats press Trump on background checks legislation GOP senator on gun reform: Trump needs to 'set some guidelines' on what he'll sign MORE (D-N.Y.) added that Republicans were making “a mockery of the legislative process” by bringing the Green New Deal resolution up for a vote just to have the Senate vote it down.

“Republicans want to force this political stunt to distract from the fact that they neither have a plan nor a sense of urgency to deal with the threat of climate change. ... It’s a political act. It’s a political stunt,” he said.

The resolution has divided the Senate Democratic caucus, which ranges from red-state centrists to progressives such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann WarrenWarren only 2020 Dem to accept invite to RuPaul's DragCon Biden holds 12-point lead over Sanders in national poll Warren endorses Lipinski challenger Marie Newman MORE (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersRosario Dawson confirms Booker endorsement after suggesting she doesn't back a candidate Biden holds 12-point lead over Sanders in national poll 2020 primary debate guide: Everything you need to know ahead of the September Democratic debate MORE (I-Vt.), who are both running for president.

Sen. Dick Durbin Richard (Dick) Joseph DurbinOvernight Health Care: CDC warns against using e-cigs after vaping-related deaths | Minnesota reports fourth nationwide death tied to vaping | Top Dem demands FDA chief take action | Marianne Williamson under fire over controversial health remarks Durbin tells FDA chief to 'stop this vaping epidemic' or resign Bipartisan senators urge Trump administration to release Ukraine aid MORE (Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said the Green New Deal was “aspirational” and he wanted something that was “legislational.”

“I think there are parts of that Green New Deal that are excellent and some that I disagree with. At this point in time I’m going to be voting present … because I believe we should be legislational. I believe we should be bipartisan,” he said.

A dozen Democratic senators co-sponsored Markey’s Green New Deal resolution, including six 2020 White House hopefuls. Those senators followed suit with Markey in voting present on the bill Tuesday.

Prior to the vote, Sen. Chris Murphy Christopher (Chris) Scott MurphyThis week: Congress returns for first time since mass shootings Trump, Manchin meet to discuss gun reforms Push on 'surprise' medical bills hits new roadblocks MORE (D-Conn.), a co-sponsor, said that he and “almost every, if not every” Democrat would be voting present on the resolution.

Progressive groups signaled ahead of the vote that they were giving senators a pass on the Green New Deal vote and were supportive of senators who planned to vote present.

Ocasio-Cortez also lashed out over the weekend at Republicans, saying they were “wasting votes” and should “stop wasting the American peoples’ time [and] learn to govern.”

Pushing back on Senate Republicans, Democrats attempted to turn the tables by trying to debate their conservative counterparts on their climate views. Many lawmakers goaded GOP members to state what climate legislation they instead supported, if not the Green New Deal.

"[McConnell] and his colleagues want to make a mockery of the national debate that we have started with the Green New Deal, and that’s because they have no plans to fight climate change,” said Markey. “Republicans have no intention of passing legislation to combat climate change.”

All 47 members of the Senate Democratic Conference introduced a short alternative resolution last month stating that human activity is the “dominant cause” of climate change and that Congress should take “immediate” action. Sen. Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsDemocrats play to Trump's ego on guns Romney signals he's open to bipartisan background check bill This week: Congress returns for first time since mass shootings MORE (Maine) — who is up for reelection next year in a state won by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonCBS News producer to become NBC News deputy Washington bureau chief 5 things to watch in critical NC race Ginsburg calls proposal to eliminate Electoral College 'more theoretical than real' MORE in 2016 — is the only Republican senator who supported it.

McConnell said Tuesday that he believes that climate change is real and caused by humans, but characterized the Green New Deal resolution as "nonsense."

"The way to do this consistent with American values and American capitalism is through technology and innovation … not to shut down your economy, throw people out of work," McConnell told reporters. "This is nonsense. And if you're going to sign onto nonsense, you ought to have to vote for nonsense."

After a year of extreme weather, including historic, deadly fires and hurricanes, as well as reports that 2018 was one of the warmest years on record, Democrats argue they have public opinion on their side.

Two polls released earlier this year found that a majority of Americans believe climate change is happening. More than 70 percent of respondents held that view, according to a University of Chicago and Associated Press poll. Meanwhile, 73 percent told researchers at Yale University and George Mason University that global warming is happening, marking a 10-point shift from March 2015.

But Republicans and the White House doubled down Tuesday on their belief that the Democrats coalescing around the Green New Deal could pay dividends for the president and GOP lawmakers during next year's election.

Sen. Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin GrahamSuburban anxiety drives GOP on guns Bad weather forces Trump to scrap trip to hurricane-ravaged site in North Carolina Trump: Peace talks with Taliban 'dead' MORE (R-S.C.) said Trump brought up the proposal during a closed-door lunch with Senate Republicans and told them to "make sure you don't kill it too much, because I want to run against it."

As the Senate floor drama unfolded Tuesday, the Democratic-led House remained quiet as to how it plans to address its own Green New Deal resolution.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiThe Hill's Morning Report - Can Trump save GOP in North Carolina special election? Democrats race against clock with push for impeachment Democrats play to Trump's ego on guns MORE (D-Calif.) has not committed to holding a hearing on the plan, despite calls from House GOP leaders last week to do so. And Ocasio-Cortez nor climate activist supporters of the legislation have called for a similar vote on the legislation in the House.

The House GOP campaign arm pounced on the reality Tuesday, with National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Michael McAdams saying progressives should “demand” Pelosi bring the Green New Deal up for a vote otherwise “they should quit their political posturing and admit the Green New Deal is nothing but a fantasy right up there with Bigfoot and rainbow unicorns.”</s>WASHINGTON ― The major climate and energy proposal known as the Green New Deal failed to advance in the Senate on Tuesday as Democrats slammed Republicans for orchestrating a bad-faith exercise designed to expose divisions in their ranks.

Most Democrats, most of whom view the resolution as an ambitious road map to address the threat of climate change, declined to engage by voting “present.” Republicans, meanwhile, all voted not to advance the resolution after spending weeks ridiculing it as “loony,” unnecessary and wildly unrealistic.

The measure, which was nonbinding, fell short of the necessary 60-vote threshold needed to advance to a final vote. Four members of the Democratic caucus voted against it: Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Doug Jones of Alabama, and independent Angus King of Maine.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) jointly issued the resolution, which staked out the basic tenets of what future legislation on a Green New Deal should strive for, including guaranteeing clean-energy jobs to millions of Americans, bolstering electric vehicle manufacturing and generating as much of the nation’s electricity from renewables as possible over the next decade.

Sixty-four Democrats signed on as co-sponsors from the start, a number that ballooned to 100 in just a few weeks, with 89 co-sponsors in the House and 11 in the Senate. But the resolution proved divisive as Republicans lampooned it with unfounded claims that the proposal called for banning hamburgers and risked triggering a “genocide.”

Unions that rely on the fossil fuel industry for high-wage jobs came out against the resolution. In response, some moderate Democrats dismissed the resolution’s goals of aiding Americans suffering the health effects of pollution and issued their own weaker, less specific climate proposals instead.

Last month, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced he would be bringing the resolution to the floor to give senators an “opportunity to go on record and see how they feel,” betting it would prove too radical for a good number of Democrats.

But Democratic leadership urged members to unite against the gambit by voting “present,” a strategy they view as their best option to contain divisions within their ranks regarding the resolution. The party executed a similar move in 2017 when Republicans teed up a vote on a “Medicare for All” plan authored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-V.t.).

In just six short weeks, everyone is debating a Green New Deal. There’s been more debate about climate change in the last six weeks than in the last six years.

Supporters of the resolution maintained they had achieved what they had set out to do by igniting a national conversation about climate change, an issue that scientists have grown increasingly alarmed about. Indeed, coverage of climate change increased greatly on cable news shows, especially on Fox News.

“This resolution has struck a powerful chord with the American people,” Markey said at a Monday press conference. “The Green New Deal was always designed to be an opening of a national discussion. And it has worked. In just six short weeks, everyone is debating a Green New Deal. There’s been more debate about climate change in the last six weeks than in the last six years.”

While many GOP senators relished mocking Democrats over the Green New Deal and its botched rollout, few have offered serious proposals of their own to address the threat of climate change.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) on Monday called the Green New Deal a “silly proposal,” but credited it for bringing the issue of climate change “to the top” and “forcing Republicans to say what we’re for.” To that end, he said he supported a “Manhattan Project for clean energy that focuses on advanced computing, solar, green buildings, cars — those are all items Republicans should be able to support.” But Alexander said the matter ought to be handled by boosting funding to existing programs rather than through a new, transformative proposal like the Green New Deal.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), the first 2020 contender to speak, recounted the destruction she witnessed in Iowa last week, where the Midwest’s historic floods wreaked havoc. She cited the mounting death toll from climate catastrophes in wildfire-charred California and storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida, and criticized Republicans for zealously reversing Obama-era greenhouse gas regulations.</s>WASHINGTON – The Green New Deal, Democrats' aspirational proposal to confront climate change and address social justice, died Tuesday in the Senate.

No senator voted for it; 57 (including all Republicans and a handful of Democrats) voted against it; and the remaining 43 (all Democrats) voted "present" as a protest.

The vote was on a procedural matter to continue debate on the bill crafted by liberal firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. At least 60 votes were needed to keep the bill moving, meaning the legislation is dead – for now.

Congressional Democrats viewed the effort by Republicans – who ridicule the plan as socialist fantasy – to bring the ambitious plan to the floor as little more than a political ploy to divide Democrats rather than a serious effort to confront an impending planetary crisis.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called it a "sham" hours before the roll call vote.

Democrats had asked the Republican leadership to schedule hearings, hear from experts and build broad support for a bipartisan solution before going straight to the floor. Republicans demurred.

"Climate change is not a joke," said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal with Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. "Mocking it and comparing it to cartoon characters while the Midwest is flooded and people have died because of climate-related extreme weather is shameful."

Related: Pelosi calls Green New Deal 'a list of aspirations,' and her Democratic party isn't sold on it either

Related: Green New Deal: What is it and what does it mean for climate change?

The Democrats' retreat is likely to give GOP opponents ammunition to accuse Democrats of saying one thing and doing another, a point Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., made.

"If you believe the Green New Deal is the prescription for America, why would you not want to vote on it?" he said on Capitol Hill before the vote.

McConnell has said he wants to get Senate Democrats – several of whom are running for president in 2020 – "on record" about the Green New Deal. President Donald Trump, a skeptic of human-caused climate change, has poked fun at the proposal, saying "when the wind stops blowing, it's the end of your electric."

Wyoming GOP Sen. John Barrasso, who chairs the Committee on the Environment and Public Works, noted that every Democratic senator running for president has co-sponsored the Green New Deal.

Spurred by government reports warning of drastic consequences of climate change, Ocasio-Cortez and Markey unveiled the proposal in February.

It calls not only for combating climate change by eliminating carbon emissions caused by fossil fuels and shifting the economy to one powered by renewable fuels but also prescribes a broad platform supporting free housing, medical coverage and higher education for all Americans.

GOP senators ridicule the plan because the Green New Deal's original talking points called for even further-reaching goals: a build-out of high-speed rail that would make carbon-emitting airplane travel obsolete; an end to dependence of nuclear power as well as fossil fuels; and the creation of "a sustainable, pollution and greenhouse gas free, food system" that would no longer rely on "farting cows."

"Basically, the Green New Deal is an assault on cows, cars and combustion," Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said on the Senate floor Monday. "With nuclear power available, its strategy for fighting climate change with windmills makes as much sense as going to war in sailboats."

Delaware Sen. Tom Carper, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said the debate is no laughing matter. "This is not a time for derision. This is not a time for division," Carper said on the Senate floor Monday. "On an issue as serious as this, we ought to be serious about addressing it." Although Democrats are united in wanting to aggressively address climate change, party lawmakers have been divided over whether the Green New Deal is the best approach. A number of moderate Democrats have distanced themselves from the parts of the measure that go beyond ways of confronting global warming. Even though Democrats control the House, there are no immediate plans to bring the proposal to the floor for a vote. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Green New Deal dies in Senate and Democrats helped kill it</s>WASHINGTON (AFP, NYTIMES) - US Senate Republican leaders forced a stunt vote on Tuesday (March 26) on a climate change measure they ridicule, seeking to corner Democratic presidential hopefuls over an expensive, economy-upending plan proposed by the party's liberal left wing.

The chamber easily rejected the Green New Deal, a proposal offered by progressive Democrats that would dramatically shift the United States away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy in an ambitious effort to zero out greenhouse gas emissions within a decade.

It is less a hardened political policy than a blueprint of transformational action to combat the threat of climate change, and several Democrats running to challenge President Donald Trump next year have signed on to the non-binding plan.

Six Senate Democrats are 2020 White House candidates, and the chamber's Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sought to get them on record supporting what his party believes would be a multi-trillion-dollar boondoggle.

"I could not be more glad that the American people will have the opportunity to learn precisely where each one of their senators stand on the 'Green New Deal': a radical, top-down, socialist makeover of the entire US economy," McConnell said.

The legislation introduced by McConnell failed to advance, with zero votes in support, 57 opposed, and 43 Democrats - including all six presidential candidates - voting "present." Democrats accused the Senate's Republican leadership of quashing debate and blocking any public hearings on climate change.

"We need real action on climate change - not this kind of sham vote," 2020 contender Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said.

"Climate change is a global crisis, not a political game," added Senator Elizabeth Warren, a liberal presidential candidate who supports the Green New Deal.

The plan does not detail how America will wean itself off of fossil fuels, or how much the ambitious transformation will cost.

Republicans are seeking to make climate change a wedge issue in the election.

Trump himself mocked Democrats over the plan. "No planes. No energy. When the wind stops blowing that's the end of your electric," he told a laughing crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference this month.

The plan's champion is liberal first-term congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a favourite target of conservatives.

The hours of discussion that preceded the desultory procedural vote marked the most extensive examination of climate change on the Senate floor in years. The fight also took on larger dimensions as a proxy for the 2020 presidential battle, with Republicans charging that liberals intend to raise energy costs and devastate middle-class livelihoods, and Democrats blasting their counterparts for climate denial and inaction on an issue most Americans agree is serious.

McConnell dismissed the climate change action plan as a "science fiction novel".

Outside the Senate, environmental activists chanted, "What do we want? A Green New Deal. When do we want it? Now!" even as they clarified that they did not actually want the Senate to pass this particular Green New Deal resolution at this precise moment.

"To ordinary people, climate change is not politics. It's life and death," said Democratic Senator Ed Markey, a sponsor of the Senate version of the Green New Deal. Markey accused Republicans of trying to "sabotage" efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and predicted that "they will pay a price at the ballot box in 2020." Still, the manoeuvring ultimately allowed both parties to declare political victory.

Democrats said they intend to move forward on a number of fronts. In the House, a senior Democratic leadership aide said lawmakers will introduce sweeping legislation this week to require the Trump administration to stay in the Paris Agreement on climate change and create a plan for meeting the United States' commitment to the global climate deal.

In the Senate, Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, and Brian Schatz of Hawaii will announce a new special committee on climate change. Democrats are also expected to push to prioritise climate change in coming legislation on infrastructure and a deal to raise spending caps.

Environmental activists said they believe the Republican strategy to ridicule, campaign on and raise money off the Green New Deal backfired, with even McConnell acknowledging at a news conference on Tuesday that climate change is real and caused by human activity.

"Mitch McConnell bet big that today's vote would fracture the Democratic caucus," said Varshini Prakash, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, a youth movement for climate action. "Today he bet wrong," she added.

Republicans, meanwhile, boasted that they had exposed a plan so extreme that even Democrats shied away from it.

"Democrats are trying to duck, dodge and distance themselves from a vote on their own Green New Deal," Republican Senator John Barrasso said. "Every Democrat senator running for president supported it. Now when given the chance to actually go on the record, Democrats are desperate to avoid it."

All six presidential candidates in the Senate - Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts - had been sponsors of the Green New Deal.</s>US Senate Republican leaders forced a stunt vote Tuesday on a climate change measure they ridicule, seeking to corner Democratic presidential hopefuls over an expensive, economy-upending plan proposed by the party's liberal left wing.

The chamber easily rejected the Green New Deal, a proposal offered by progressive Democrats that would dramatically shift the United States away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy in an ambitious effort to zero out greenhouse gas emissions within a decade.

It is less a hardened political policy than a blueprint of transformational action to combat the threat of climate change, and several Democrats running to challenge President Donald Trump next year have signed on to the non-binding plan.

Six Senate Democrats are 2020 White House candidates, and the chamber's Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sought to get them on record supporting what his party believes would be a multi-trillion-dollar boondoggle.

"I could not be more glad that the American people will have the opportunity to learn precisely where each one of their senators stand on the 'Green New Deal': a radical, top-down, socialist makeover of the entire US economy," McConnell said.

The legislation introduced by McConnell failed to advance, with zero votes in support, 57 opposed, and 43 Democrats -- including all six presidential candidates -- voting "present."

Democrats accused the Senate's Republican leadership of quashing debate and blocking any public hearings on climate change.

"We need real action on climate change -- not this kind of sham vote," 2020 contender Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said.

"Climate change is a global crisis, not a political game," added Senator Elizabeth Warren, a liberal presidential candidate who supports the Green New Deal.

The plan does not detail how America will wean itself off of fossil fuels, or how much the ambitious transformation will cost.

Republicans are seeking to make climate change a wedge issue in the election.

Trump himself mocked Democrats over the plan. "No planes. No energy. When the wind stops blowing that's the end of your electric," he told a laughing crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference this month.

The plan's champion is liberal first-term congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a favorite target of conservatives.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans are forcing a vote on the Green New Deal as they seek to turn the Democrats' comprehensive climate change proposal into a wedge issue in the 2020 elections.

Democrats called the GOP's move a "sham" and said it carries its own political risk by mocking an issue that a growing number of Americans care deeply about.

Tuesday's vote to take up the nonbinding resolution was likely to fail as Democrats planned to vote "present." They accused the GOP of quashing debate by blocking public hearings and expert testimony about the consequences of inaction on climate change.

The Green New Deal calls for the U.S. to shift away from fossil fuels such as oil and coal and replace them with renewable sources such as wind and solar power. It calls for virtual elimination by 2030 of greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming.

The plan has broad support among Democratic activists, and all six of the 2020 presidential contenders serving in the Senate have signed on as co-sponsors, putting it at the forefront of the party's sprawling primary race.

However, Democratic presidential candidate John Hickenlooper said Tuesday that he opposes the Green New Deal. The former Colorado governor said the climate change proposal sets "unachievable goals" and shuns the private sector.

Republicans say the plan would devastate the economy and lead to a huge tax increase. They call it more evidence of the creep of "socialism" in the Democratic Party, along with "Medicare for All" and a sweeping elections reform package that would allow public financing of congressional campaigns.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky scheduled the vote on the Green New Deal, saying it would force Democrats to take a stand on a plan that "might sound like a neat idea in places like San Francisco or New York" but would result in communities across the country being "absolutely crushed."

By "basically outlawing the only sources of energy that working-class and middle-class families can actually afford," the Green New Deal would "kill off entire domestic industries" and eliminate millions of jobs, McConnell said. The plan could lead to a spike in household electric bills of over $300 a month, he said.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, called the Green New Deal "ridiculous" and displayed pictures of dinosaurs, cartoon characters and babies on the Senate floor. He said he was treating the plan "with the seriousness it deserves."

Lee's remarks enraged Democrats, who called climate change deadly serious, citing recent floods in the Midwest, wildfires in the West and hurricanes in the South.

"Climate change is not a joke," said Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, the bill's lead Senate author. "Mocking it is shameful."

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, one of a half-dozen senators seeking the Democratic nomination for president, said Republicans treat climate "as a game" and said Democrats "will not fall for this stunt."

Addressing climate change "should be our nation's moonshot" in the 21st century, Gillibrand said, calling it a generational challenge similar to the race to the moon in the 1960s.

"We don't know if we can get to net-zero carbon emissions in 10 years, but why not try?" she said at a rally before the Senate vote.

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said Democrats were being hypocritical by refusing to vote for their own plan. "I've never seen a bill sponsored by a dozen people who don't want to vote on it," he said.</s>GOP Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz is preparing to introduce a “Green Real Deal” resolution to contrast with Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal, according to Politico.

Ocasio-Cortez unveiled her resolution on Feb. 7 and immediately faced criticism for its scope and potential cost, which reached toward tens of trillions of dollars. (RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez Bungled Green new Deal’s Release. Her Staff Took Its Webpage Offline)

A draft of Gaetz’s resolution, obtained by Politico, recognizes risks to the U.S. from climate change, citing Department of Defense reports that identify certain military assets and bases as at risk to rising sea levels and increasing severe weather events, such as hurricanes.

“Climate change creates new risks and exacerbates existing vulnerabilities in communities across the United States, presenting growing challenges to human health and safety, quality of life, and the rate of economic growth,” the draft says.

Energy lobbyists have seemingly received copies of Gaetz’s resolution are beginning to line up behind it in support.

“Congressman Gaetz deserves to be applauded for taking the lead in crafting a bold resolution that identifies actionable climate solutions that will benefit America’s economy, environment, and national security,” Heather Reams, executive director of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, said in a statement.

Gaetz’s resolution pushes market-driven innovation and competition from companies developing green energy technology. It does not set any emission reduction goals.

The draft pledges “to reduce and modernize regulations so that clean energy technologies can be deployed, and compete.”

In contrast to the Green New Deal, the draft Green Real Deal resolution takes a positive view on nuclear energy. Ocasio-Cortez’s resolution did not mention the energy sector, causing some controversy among pro-nuclear energy experts.

Gaetz’s legislation takes a wide-ranging approach to cutting emissions through investing in fossil fuel carbon capture technology, new and updated nuclear and hydropower placements, making the power grid more efficient and granting energy companies improved access to public lands.

The resolution pledges to “empower individuals, states, and the marketplace” to develop and disseminate new technology that will cut the United States’ carbon emissions.</s>BOSTON – U.S. Sen. Ed Markey is a lead sponsor of the Green New Deal, a resolution mapping out a path to address climate change and fuel a greener economy, but he won't be voting in favor of the proposal when it hits the U.S. Senate floor Tuesday.

Dismissing the vote scheduled by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as a "sham vote" that seeks to "make a mockery of the debate in the Senate on climate action," Markey said Monday that he and other Democrats will vote "present" Tuesday as a way of rebuffing McConnell, a Kentucky Republican. It could also allow Democrats to avoid a vote that could reveal rifts within the party.

"They are calling this vote without any hearings, without any expert testimony, without any true discussion about the cost of climate inaction and the massive potential for clean energy job creation," Markey said at his Boston office.

He added, "Senate Democrats intend to show unity on the issue of climate change. We will be turning the tables on Republicans who have no plan on climate change and have no intention of passing legislation to combat it."

The nonbinding resolution, which Markey sponsored with U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, seeks to move the country toward "net-zero greenhouse gas emissions" and the creation of "millions of good, high-wage jobs" in clean energy sectors. It is a resolution, not detailed legislation, and does not prescribe specific ways to attain the goals it lays out.

McConnell's decision to call a vote on the Green New Deal resolution is similar to a 2017 attempt to compel Democrats to vote on an amendment that proposed an entirely government-run, single-payer health care system, Politico reported. That amendment failed 0-57, with 43 Senate Democrats voting "present," Politico said.

"It's just a political stunt by Mitch McConnell to play games with an existential threat to the planet," Markey said Monday when asked why Democrats would vote present rather than in favor of the resolution. "We're going to stand together on the process in order to ensure that we have hearings on the substance of climate change, which they refuse to have."

McConnell has previously bashed the Green New Deal as unrealistic and too expensive. He's also advanced Republican claims that the resolution would lead to the elimination of all combustion engines.

"Cars, lawn mowers, commercial airliners – everything must go," he said on the Senate floor earlier this month, according to a transcript from his office. He added, "All this and more can be ours – for the low, low price of a staggering expansion of centralized government and – wait for it – upwards of 93 trillion dollars. $93 trillion is more than every dollar our federal government has spent in its entire history to date, combined. It's more than the combined annual GDP of every nation on Earth."

Markey, who was joined by activists from the Environmental League of Massachusetts, the Sierra Club and labor union SEIU 32BJ, pointed out that McConnell is calling for a vote on a resolution that tries to address climate change while plains states cope with significant flooding and the associated economic pain.

"Biblical, record-breaking flooding linked to extreme weather and climate change has devastated the Midwest. Thousands of families were forced to flee their homes and a U.S. Air Force base in Nebraska was seriously crippled," he said. "The deadly flooding in the Midwest is what climate change in the American heartland looks like. But no region of the country is immune."

Regardless of Tuesday's anticipated vote on the Green New Deal, Markey said the resolution has succeeded in "helping to organize, mobilize and galvanize the public" and has served as "the opening of a national discussion" about climate change and a green economy.

"There has been more climate debate in the last six weeks than in the last six years," he said, noting that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were not asked about climate change during their 2016 debates.

He said climate change has been catapulted into the top tier of issues for the 2020 presidential and Congressional elections – and that Republicans can ignore it "but only at their own political peril."

He said the Senate could be asked again to weigh in on climate change and related legislation once the U.S. House, which is under control of the Democrats, begins to hold hearings and advance bills through committees.

"We're more than willing to have this political debate. The hearings will be held in the House, legislation will start to come out of the House and then it will be sent over to the Senate and we will see if Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell have the ability to stonewall a debate for a year-and-a-half on climate change and the Green New Deal," he said. "If they try to do that, they are going to do so at great political peril in the election of 2020."</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republicans on Tuesday defeated the “Green New Deal” resolution that called for tackling climate change by moving the United States off fossil fuels, while Democrats said the vote was a political stunt on an issue that will rise in importance.

The vote was 57 against the resolution in the 100-member chamber, with 43 Democrats voting “present.” Republicans won over Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema and one independent senator, Angus King, who usually votes with the Democrats.</s>Green New Deal Vote Sets Up Climate Change As Key 2020 Issue

Senate Republicans will force a vote on the Green New Deal this week as part of an ongoing effort to turn the provocative climate change resolution into a wedge issue in the 2020 elections. Democrats say the GOP gambit carries its own political risk of mocking an issue that is a priority for a growing number of Americans.

"I think it's a real stupid political move for them to show how cavalier they are about climate change by playing games with the Green New Deal," said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., "If they don't like the Green New Deal, fine, put up your own idea. It smells so disingenuous, especially to young voters. I think it's a really dumb move for them to mess around with this."

All 53 Republicans oppose the Green New Deal. All 47 Democrats (including the 2 independent senators) plan to vote "present" as part of a strategy led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "I'm for it, but I have no problem voting 'present,' " said Murphy. Schumer wants Democrats to run more aggressively in favor of climate change policies going in to 2020, although he conceded in an interview with The New York Times earlier this month that the exact legislative form that will take is still up for debate. "It's going to take us a little while to come up with a consensus that works," he said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced last month that he would put the resolution authored by New York Democratic freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., up for a vote. Republicans are trying to elevate the freshman lawmaker, who has described herself as a Democratic Socialist, and her ideas as emblematic of the Democratic Party going in to 2020.

"In recent months our nation has watched the Democratic Party take a sharp and abrupt left turn toward socialism," McConnell said earlier this month. "A flawed ideology that has been rejected time and again across the world is now driving the marquee policy proposals of the new House Democratic majority, and nothing encapsulates this as clearly as the huge, self-inflicted, national wound the Democrats are agitating for called the Green New Deal."

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, has also started using Ocasio-Cortez in attacks ads similar to how the party campaigns have run against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for years. In a recent tweet attacking Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, who is considering a run against Republican Sen. John Cornyn, the NRSC said Castro "votes with AOC 94% of the time." Castro is a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal. House Republican candidates are also using Ocasio-Cortez and the Green New Deal in attack ads, like this one released Monday by former Rep. Karen Handel, R-Ga., who lost in 2018 and is seeking a rematch for a suburban Atlanta district.

The Green New Deal is a loose set of ambitious goals outlined in a non-binding resolution that calls for a global goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 — but no policy specifics on how to get there.

It is also an economic plan, which calls for massive federal investment, enhancing the social safety net, and millions of new jobs to overhaul the energy and infrastructure industries in the U.S.

Critics have seized on the resolution's call for a "10-year national mobilization" to work toward a series of goals including "meeting 100 percent of the power demand in the United States through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources."

But even some of its sponsors like Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar don't regard that marker as a hard deadline, instead saying the resolution is "aspirational."

Republicans on Capitol Hill have also seized on a series of talking points Ocasio-Cortez's office accidentally circulated about the resolution that included financial support for Americans "unwilling to work" and for policies like building out high-speed rail so "air travel stops becoming necessary." Her office said it was an old, working draft that was not intended for circulation, but it was a self-inflicted political hit that gave critics an easy line of attack.

Senate Republicans have been attacking the Green New Deal for weeks. "To put it mildly the Green New Deal is ambitious. To frame it more accurately, it is an unworkable pie-in-the-sky attempt to reshape every aspect of everyday Americans' lives," Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said on the Senate floor.

Conservatives have rallied around an analysis by the right-leaning American Action Forum that estimates the Green New Deal would cost between $51 to $93 trillion over a 10-year period. Senate Republicans are framing it as an expensive government takeover of American life as it exists today. "This Green New Deal — this big government takeover of the economy — it is masked as an environmental proposal. To me, it is radical," said Sen. John Barasso, R-Wyo.

The GOP strategy is intended to divide Democrats, but senators have offered a collective shrug at McConnell's vote strategy. "The people are on our side as it relates to climate change and I think there's no reason to be defensive about what we want to accomplish," said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, "Republicans have no plan at all as it relates to climate change, and that's not a rhetorical flourish, that's not a partisan statement. They literally have no bill and they have no plan. They're just sort of goofing around."

But at least one Senate Republican, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, is offering a counterproposal to combat climate change, which he called "a New Manhattan Project for Clean Energy" in a Monday Senate floor speech. It is a five-year plan that includes 10 "Grand Challenges" to reduce carbon emissions and create cleaner energy sources. "I believe climate change is real. I believe that human emissions of greenhouse gases are a major cause of climate change," Alexander said, "And I believe the Democrat cure for climate change, their 'Green New Deal,' is so far out in left field that no one is going to take it seriously." Alexander is not seeking re-election in 2020.

Democrats' "present" vote strategy has the support of climate change activists, including the nascent Sunrise Movement, a coalition of young activists who have recently been storming lawmakers' offices on Capitol Hill in support of the Green New Deal. A spokesman for the group told NPR the Senate vote was "a sham."

Democrats are emboldened by growing public consensus that climate change caused by human activities is a serious problem requiring action. A Dec. 2018 NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that two-thirds of Americans, 66 percent, believe action is needed to combat climate change — an upward swing of 15 percentage points since 1999. But that change in attitude has largely come from the left and middle: 71 percent of Democrats (up 42 percentage points since 1999) and 48 percent of independents (up 22 percentage points since 1999) see combating climate change as an immediate concern.

Only 15 percent of Republicans do — the same share of Republicans who felt that way 20 years ago.
The United States Senate blocks the Green New Deal, a progressive climate change resolution aiming to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. It has faced criticism from conservatives, as well as some Democrats, who have found the language in the resolution too broad and unspecific.