-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 ]