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San Diego Congresswoman Susan Davis Supports Green New Deal

 June 17, 2019 at 10:44 AM PDT

Speaker 1: 00:00 Congresswoman Susan Davis will become the third member of San Diego's delegation to sign on to the green new deal representatives, one Vargas and Mike Levin had both already signed the framework for responding to global warming. Davis announced her support this weekend at a forum she hosted on climate change as part of the coverage from the KPBS climate change desk. Democrats who's in Davis joins me now to talk about why she now supports the green new deal. Representative Davis, welcome. Speaker 2: 00:28 Hi, how are you? Good morning. Speaker 1: 00:29 Good thanks. The green new deal framework was announced in February and you didn't sign on then. Why do you support it now? Speaker 2: 00:36 Well, as my constituents know, I'm pretty deliberate about how I made these decisions and I really wanted to have a good sense of what it really contained. Um, but to compare that also with my job at hand, uh, and all of our jobs in the congress, which is to legislate, to be able to take ideas and policy policy proposals and really turn those into legislation so that they can be enacted. And that's an important thing that we need to do around the issue of climate change because as we know, um, we're almost like the game right now. We need to move forward as quickly as we can and we need to put forward proposals that really will have an impact. The one of the greatest ones, uh, the that has been proposed in the past and is being proposed now of course, um, is putting a tax on carbon, um, that everyone agrees, all the scientists agrees we'll have the biggest impact. Speaker 2: 01:34 What I have learned and seen, however, um, from a lot of the enthusiasm and really the fear, the concern that is out there is that we also need to rally our troops. And so I think what the green new deal allows is that kind of rallying effort, the idea that all hands have to be on deck for this. We have to do everything possible at local levels, at state level, and at the federal level. Regulating as you know, what we can that's achievable and it's really going to have the best impact. There are many different ways we can do this. So I welcome all those ideas and, and, and I came to, to feel that, um, the green new deal, while it is not legislation, it does provide the motivation and the desire for people to be involved to see this as all connected in some way. Uh, our national security, which we talked about yesterday, the economy of course housing issues, uh, oh, that, that really is so much a part of our lives and I think that the green new deal touches on that. It inspires, it is aspirational, but it is a part of everything that has to happen Speaker 1: 02:54 end. Speaker 2: 02:54 That's, that's why I did it. Speaker 1: 02:56 You've mentioned the carbon tax. Is that something that you're in of? Yes, I am. And you were asked whether or not you supported the green new deal by audience members at the event. Am I right to conclude that, that you didn't plan to make this announcement on Saturday? Speaker 2: 03:10 Well, you know, we had been planning to have this, this forum on, this is the fifth one we've had, uh, that really brings to the community the important concerns of the day. We did one on North Korea. We did modern Russia, China, and cyber, and this is the next one that we were doing. And Planning on doing was, was really on, uh, these urgent issues around climate change. And so we were gonna do this regardless. And I didn't know if I would be in the place that, to see everything in this big picture. And, and I felt that we had gotten to that point. What I did ask the people there, um, was the, I want them there when we're working on legislation to, I want them there when we're doing some of the really hard work around how we balance the needs of our community with the urgent needs, uh, of lowering emissions and how we see that in, in, in a really a global context. So I did tell them that I, I was counting on them because many of them are the foot soldiers behind this effort right now, and we want them with us. Um, beyond the green new deal. Speaker 1: 04:25 Do you, I mean, do you have legislation you intend to introduce that would fall under the green new deal? Speaker 2: 04:30 Well, I think I've actually introduced over the years, uh, and been part of legislation that speaks to some of the elements. Um, whether it's new jobs in the economy, how we train, uh, our, our workers, how we make sure that students are getting the kind of education they need that helps them to ask appropriate questions about how we move forward. I think so much of what I've done, I'm in the education field speaks to this. I also think in national security, uh, because my interest has always been whether it's here on our basis or others, we have real concerns about how this is impacting national security and that's going to affect all of us for the future. So I think you can find something in there, um, for what we do today. But more than that, what we do in the future, I think the, the key really is, is in not having a sense that, well, we did that. You know, we talked about it. Um, we have a proposal, but it's got to be translated into legislation that is impactful. And I think what's happening here in California and certainly in San Diego, but across the country in some states, far more than others because of where they are and their needs is in thinking more about how they build out communities today. Speaker 1: 05:54 Right. And so do you have ideas for legislation going forward specifically? Speaker 2: 05:58 Oh, absolutely. Um, and I'm working in an area is actually even a, along with, in higher ed around apprenticeship, you know, how we bring young people into fields, how we introduce them, how will you expose them to some of this because that's what's important. You know, we need to be sure that we have, uh, uh, a huge cadre of people for the future that know what they're doing and that asks the right questions. And I think that we can do that. Uh, I'm thinking a lot more long term in some of this. Um, but I also believe that as we work on what is the way that, that this actually makes a difference in terms of bringing down ambitions. And everybody talks about that, you know, the carbon dioxide, how it, how is it that we're going to do that? We know we're not the only ones out there. Speaker 2: 06:45 And, uh, you know, we could say, well, you know, if India doesn't do this and if China doesn't do this, but we have an obligation, we have a responsibility. And so I think that that all comes together. Uh, and I, and I, as I said, I don't think the green new deal stands alone by any means, but I do think that we need to be mindful that all hands have to be on deck. We've got to have a, an environment that is encouraging people to be as entrepreneurial, as innovative as possible. And I think that changing kind of economy that we need, um, is going to be, I hope that with the work that we all do, that it will be very respectful of where our climate change, uh, could bring us, uh, to a very bad place in the future. Um, or to a place that we can moderate, we can mitigate and that will be better for all generations to come. Speaker 1: 07:40 I've been speaking with representative Susan Davis. Thank you, representative Davis. Sure. Uh Huh. Thanks for checking.

Davis announced her plans to sign on to the legislative framework for responding to global warming at a forum she hosted on climate's impacts on security and the economy on Saturday. The event included a Q-and-A with a panel of climate change experts.
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