Hello again, I'm Orman Alney.

The closest thing to a Democratic Party program for 2020 is the Green New Deal.

It's a non-binding resolution proposed in both houses of Congress and supported by most prospective presidential candidates.

Today, we'll look into the Green New Deal and ask the million-dollar question based on the

Democrats' big victories last year. Is it a blueprint for next year's elections? In the Senate,

the sponsor is a grizzled veteran Ed Markey of Massachusetts. In the House, it's the young

newcomer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The overall target is climate change, but that's not all.

Proposals including health care and housing and union labor

and regulations on business have Republicans,

including President Trump and the State of the Union speech,

giving the Green New Deal a familiar label.

We are alarmed by the new calls to adopt socialism in our country.

America was founded on liberty and independence and not government coercion, domination, and control.

We are born free and we will stay free.

Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.

We'll hear more about the label of socialism later.

First, here is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the thinking behind the Green New Deal.

Climate change and our environmental challenges are one of the biggest existential threats to our way of life,

not just as a nation, but as a world. And in order for us to combat that threat, we must be as ambitious

and innovative in our solution as possible.

Lisa Friedman reports on climate and environmental policy for the New York Times.

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