-President Trump and his allies
are freaking out
about a Democratic plan
to fight climate change.
For more on this,
it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
After Trump declared
a national emergency last week
to build a border wall,
he got some rare pushback
from members of his own party.
But they weren't concerned
that Trump had made up
a fake emergency.
They were concerned
that a Democratic president
could come along and use the law
to declare a real emergency
over climate change.
-If you declare
a national emergency
to circumvent Congress
to pay for the border wall,
what's to stop
a liberal Democrat one day
from declaring climate change
as a national emergency?
-Maybe we're going to get
a Democratic president
and we're going to declare
a national emergency
on climate change.
-If the President declares this
a national emergency,
it's not going to be long before
there's a Democratic president
who does the same thing in
regards to what, climate change.
-That's what
you're worried about?
That's like saying, "I would
give this homeless guy a dollar,
but you know
he's just going to use it
to print out his résumé
and find a job."
[ Laughter ]
There's a big difference between
the border and climate change.
Climate change
is an actual emergency.
And we can't build a wall
to stop it,
unless we build one
around the entire planet.
"We're going to build
a space wall, folks,
and Mars is going to
pay for it."
[ Laughter ]
In fact, climate change
is such a serious emergency
that last year, after a summer
of heat waves and wildfires,
scientists issued
a dire warning.
We have just 12 years to limit
devastating global warning.
One scientist said,
"It's like a deafening,
piercing smoke alarm
going off in the kitchen.
We have to put out the fire."
And another said it's like
a speeding freight train.
And you know it's bad,
because scientists try not
to use language like that.
The last time a scientist
freaked out like that,
he was trapped
in the Temple of Doom.
-We are going to die!
-Now, in response to that,
a reasonable person might say,
"What can we do to stop this?"
Instead we have a President who
thinks you can stop wildfires
not by slowing down
climate change,
but by raking leaves
in the forest.
That's what he told Fox News
last year
even after he was asked
point-blank
about the role
of climate change.
-I was watching the firemen
the other day,
and they were raking areas.
They were raking areas.
Where the fire was right over
there, and they're raking trees,
little trees like this that
are -- not trees, little bushes
that you could see
are totally dry.
Weeds.
And they're raking them.
They're on fire.
That should have been
all raked out.
-What about the argument --
-You wouldn't have the fires.
-What about the argument
it's climate change?
That it's drier, it's hotter,
and that that's
contributing to it?
-Maybe it contributes
a little bit.
The big problem we have
is management.
When I was in a certain state --
I won't say which --
the governor said,
"You know, we've tested it.
We clean out areas,
and we actually set the fire
just to see.
We lose almost nothing."
-Why won't you say
which state it was?
[ Laughter ]
Seems to me
if a governor figured out
how to stop forest fires
with a rake,
they'd want their name
out there.
Is it because they're from
Nev-a-happened-a?
[ Laughter ]
So if you're a lawmaker
faced with the dire warnings
of climate scientists,
you have two options.
You can put more money
into raking little trees,
or you can radically
overhaul the economy
in a way that would help
stave off disaster.
And that's the path
some Democrats,
led by Congresswoman
Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, chose
when they unveiled a plan called
the Green New Deal,
which envisions
a 10-year economic mobilization
that would phase out
fossil fuel use
and overhaul
the nation's infrastructure.
The plan has been endorsed
by several Democratic candidates
for president
but slammed by Republicans
and former Starbucks CEO
Howard Schultz.
Last week, Schultz said the
Green New Deal is not realistic.
Schultz has been threatening
to run as an independent
unless the Democrats
nominate a moderate.
Yesterday after he announced
his own bid,
Bernie Sanders was asked
about Schultz's threat on CBS
and didn't seem
to take it seriously.
-Howard Schultz has now said he
would not run as an independent
if the Democrats nominate
a moderate.
-Oh, isn't that nice?
Why is Howard Schultz
on every television station
in this country?
Why are you quoting
Howard Schultz?
Because he's a billionaire.
-You're asking Bernie what
he thinks about a billionaire?
That just makes you look
like a bad journalist.
If you know one thing
about Bernie,
it's how he feels
about billionaires.
His Ben & Jerry's flavor is
called Tax All the Billionaires.
It's not even an ice cream pun.
It's just vanilla and nickels.
The Green New Deal is just
a framework, resolution
that sets out a series of goals,
and it also tries
a novel political strategy.
Rather than just address climate
on its own,
the bill combines environmental
issues with economic ones,
like guaranteeing a job and
healthcare to every American.
Those are bold proposals,
and anyone can debate them
on the merits.
But as fact checkers have noted,
no one is proposing to eliminate
all planes, cars, cows,
oil, gas, and the military.
And yet that hasn't
stopped Trump
from repeating those lies
anyway.
-I think it is very important
for the Democrats
to press forward
with their Green New Deal.
It would be great for
the so-called carbon footprint
to permanently eliminate
all planes, cars, cows,
oil, gas, and the military,
even if no other country
would do the same.
Brilliant!
-I really don't like their
policy of taking away your car,
of taking away
your airplane flights,
of, "Let's hop a train
to California,"
of...
[ Booing ]
You're not allowed
to own cows anymore.
You know, a lot of problems.
-Man, Trump is getting
really desperate.
In two years, he's gone from,
"They're going to
take your guns away,"
to, "They're going to
take your cows away."
No one is outlawing cows.
You know what we call that?
Fake moos.
-Fake moos!
[ Air horn blows ]
[ Mooing ]
[ Applause ]
[ Laughter ]
-Trump has basically
cycled through
one mode of transportation
after another
and falsely claimed
that the Green New Deal
would eliminate it.
For example, the Green New Deal
would prioritize investment
in high-speed rail
with the hope that it would
reduce our reliance
on short-distance air travel,
not eliminate it.
But Trump lied about that, too.
-It would shut down
American energy,
which I don't think
the people in Texas
are going to be happy with that.
[ Booing ]
It would shut down a little
thing called air travel.
[ Booing ]
-Of course, those weren't boos.
People just brought their cows
to the rally.
"You're not safe at home,
Bessie!
The government's
coming to get you.
You got to come to the rally!"
Nobody is outlawing cars or cows
or anything, for that matter.
The basic premise is that
government can help spur change
by making renewable technologies
more efficient
and thus more affordable and
more attractive to consumers.
But Trump is, of course,
not interested in engaging
with any of those specifics.
He'd rather make fun of the name
of the Green New Deal.
-Last week, they introduced
a massive government takeover
that would destroy
our incredible economic gains.
They introduced
the so-called Green New Deal.
[ Booing ]
It sounds like a high school
term paper that got a low mark.
-I'm not sure I'd be making fun
of bad grades if I were you.
I'm pretty sure you're the only
guy Clippy ever gave up on.
[ Laughter ]
Republicans have manufactured a
fake emergency over immigration
and now they're worried
a Democrat will come along
and declare a real emergency
over climate change.
And instead of debating the
Green New Deal on its merits,
they're making up lies
about its content.
But polls show most people
aren't buying it.
When Republicans whine
about the Green New Deal,
most voters say...
-Isn't that nice?
-This has been "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
