Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) said in a recent interview that he supports the Green New Deal’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
“We have to push the technology as aggressively as we can,” Peters told WXYZ. “We’ve already seen our own electric utilities companies have very ambitious schedules and they continue to move in very aggressively.”
He said “corporate America understands that climate change is an existential threat.”
“I think there’s a lot that we can do and we should look at this as an economic opportunity to drive our economy while also doing the right thing for the environment,” he continued.
Peters was one of 43 Democratic senators to vote “present” on the Green New Deal when it was brought to the Senate floor in March for a vote.
“Senator Peters would rather appease the left’s radical base, in an attempt to save himself from a primary, than oppose the unrealistic and costly Green New Deal,” said Michigan Republican Party Chairman Laura Cox in a statement. “If he really cared about Michiganders and our manufacturing and farming industries, Gary Peters would push Nancy Pelosi to pass the USMCA through Congress instead of supporting a socialist scheme.”
The National Republican Senatorial Campaign targeted Peters in a billboard campaign earlier this year for his support of some of the policies in the Green New Deal. He had previously said that he thinks “it’s very exciting what’s happening around the Green New Deal and the energy about climate,” as The Michigan Star reported.
Peters is up for reelection in 2020 and will face off against Republican John James, who raised more than Peters in the third quarter. Polls indicate that it will be a close race, calling it a “virtual tie” and a “toss up.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Gary Peters” by ABC 7.
