AOC Calls Out Green New Deal Opponents As NYC Floods

New York City is flooding, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appears to be pointing the finger at those who have opposed the Green New Deal.

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The city is a dire sight right now—videos of people wading through waist-high water in subway stations and driving jet skis down the road have gone viral as Tropical Storm Elsa wreaks havoc on the Northeast coast.

In response to one of those videos, Ocasio-Cortez took a moment to mock detractors of the Green New Deal, which she called a “blueprint to create millions of good jobs rebuilding infrastructure to stem climate change & protect vulnerable communities.”

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She slammed opponents who called it “unrealistic,” and suggested they’re too busy taking “orders from fossil fuel execs” and making New Yorkers “swim to work.”

“The Green New Deal, which is a blueprint to create millions of good jobs rebuilding infrastructure to stem climate change & protect vulnerable communities, is unrealistic.”

“Instead we will do the adult thing, which is take orders from fossil fuel execs &make you swim to work.” https://t.co/tVdCWTLZBd

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 8, 2021

AOC’s remarks seem to be in reference to a secret video call reported on by The New York Times in June which saw an Exxon lobbyist detail how the company “targeted a number of influential United States senators in an effort to weaken climate action in President Biden’s flagship infrastructure plan”—which seems to have worked.

The Congresswoman also took aim at the Democrats’ refusal to do away with the filibuster, which threatens their ability to pass legislation in a timely manner, despite winning the House, the Senate, and the presidency.

Ocasio-Cortez wasn’t the only one blaming climate issues and the United States’ inadequate response to addressing them, along with infrastructure problems.

remember like two weeks ago when conservatives tried to convince us that infrastructure had nothing to do with the climate crisis https://t.co/rOrycqSbz5

— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) July 8, 2021

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No wonder roads and subway tunnels are flooded. NYC is currently experiencing exactly the sort of storms that the climate crisis will exacerbate — fast-moving, rapid pours that totally shock the system. And they’ll get worse and more frequent as the years go on.

— John Surico (@JohnSurico) July 8, 2021

By the way, if you saw that video of flooding in NYC, this is exactly what climate scientists like @MichaelEMann & @AndraJReed have been saying for years in peer-reviewed literature. Once-in-a-century NYC floods now happen every couple of years. https://t.co/IaNIK5govL

— Max Kennerly (@MaxKennerly) July 8, 2021

I don’t blame the NYC subway for not being built for the climate crisis because the climate crisis never should have fucking happened

— Mary Annaïse Heglar (@MaryHeglar) July 9, 2021

I think it’s really important to talk about locations when sharing nyc flooding vids. You’re seeing videos from the Bronx! Let’s talk about environmental racism and how climate change will effect low income/ communities of color first!!!

— Alexis Williams (@alexisdenisew) July 8, 2021

And the videos coming out of all this are truly insane.

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living in a political state where instead of being able to tell your boss “hey the city is underwater I can’t make it” you have to Just Do It like a fucking nike adpic.twitter.com/0YKcdVEkgw

— manny (@mannyfidel) July 8, 2021

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*First Published: July 9, 2021, 7:30 am