November 15, 2018

*-- Pelosi supports committee on climate change after protest at her Capitol office --*

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi recommended reinstating a House panel on climate change after hundreds of activists, including Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, demonstrated outside her office Tuesday.

Pelosi said she was inspired by the "young activists and advocates" who protested at the Cannon House Office Building, calling for Democratic leaders to outline a clear plan to decisively act against climate change.

"I have recommended to my House Democratic colleagues that we reinstate the select committee to address the climate crisis," Pelosi, who represents a district in California, said in a statement. "House Democrats ran on and won on our bold campaign for a $1 trillion investment in our infrastructure that will make our communities more resilient to the climate crisis, while creating 16 million new good-paying jobs across the country."

Ocasio-Cortez, newly elected to represent a district in New York as the youngest woman in Congress, said the protesters asked her to join them in their demonstration. After she left, Capitol Police arrested some the activists who refused to leave the premises, the Sunrise Movement, which organized the protest, said in a tweet.

Pelosi's statement asked law enforcement officials "to allow them to continue to organize and participate in our democracy."

In a series of tweets Tuesday morning, Ocasio-Cortez said she supports what she called a Green New Deal to get the United States to 100 percent renewable energy.

"We have 10 years left to plan and implement a Green New Deal before cataclysmic climate disaster," she said. "Reinstating the select committee is exactly what we need to do."

She said the committee should have a mandate to draft a plan by 2020 and should not include any lawmakers who accepted fossil fuel industry contributions.

The Sunrise Movement also protested at the offices of Reps. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Rohit Khanna, D-Calif., asking them to support a Green New Deal.

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