 So after months of this back-and-forth between the Biden administration and Republicans and conservative Democrats when it comes to infrastructure They've made effectively no progress all of these negotiations have amounted to nothing So I think that it's obvious by now most Democrats are beginning to see that the conclusion is Stop doing this political theater. That is bipartisanship Republicans aren't actually good faith actors. They're not serious about infrastructure They don't want to work with you. They just want to obstruct everything but in the spirit of good faith and negotiations that aren't actually that good for people in the planet a Top Biden administration official hinted at them possibly watering down their already meager infrastructure package to appease Republicans and one of the main things on the cut on the cutting block are the most important elements of the infrastructure proposal Addressing climate change investing in clean green renewable technology. No, this is not a Green New Deal This is not even a Green New Deal light, but is it a step forward in the right direction? Yes, it is and one of the best things about this Biden's administration signaled. We're willing to get rid of that So this is bad, but thankfully progressives collectively coalesced around a single unified message If you do this You're not gonna have our support and to see them all come together and unequivocally denounce the prospect of gutting Climate change from infrastructure is really really encouraging to see so for more on this We go to common dreams where Jake Johnson explains progressive members of Congress on Wednesday signaled They would be willing to withhold their votes from any infrastructure package that skimps on climate action After one of president Joe Biden's top advisors suggested that key green energy proposals could be excluded from an Individual bill an infrastructure package that goes light on climate and clean energy Should not count on every Democratic vote senator Martin Heinrich a Green New Deal supporter tweeted in response to national climate advisor Gina McCarthy suggested on Tuesday that climate policies proposed in Biden's original American jobs plan such as a clean Electricity standard could be left on the cutting room floor as the president seeks a compromise deal with a bipartisan group of senators Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez the lead house sponsor of the Green New Deal resolution echoed Heinrich declaring Mitch McConnell and the Koch brothers are not worth setting the planet on fire for President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats should take a step back and ask themselves if playing patty cake with GOP senators is Really worth the dismantling of people's voting rights setting the planet on fire Allowing massive corporations and the wealthy to not pay their fair share of taxes etc Said Ocasio-Cortez was backed progressive calls for 10 trillion dollars in infrastructure spending and climate spending over the next decade So now this is exactly what progressives need to be doing credit where it's due I've been critical of them in the past for not being unified for not standing up to Republicans and conservative Democrats But right now they're finally doing exactly what I had hoped they'd start to do Throw their weight around make some demands and this is only the most reasonable demand ever we have what less than 10 years now according to the IPCC to stop catastrophic levels of climate change and What's being proposed here in this infrastructure plan? This isn't even sufficient to even say that it's the bare minimum is a bit of a stretch But if you're going to tackle infrastructure without addressing climate change without investing in clean and green Renewable technology somewhat it's just What's the point? It's useless. So thankfully progressives are standing firm and they're saying no climate no deal And perhaps more importantly members of the Senate who basically are doing everything they can seemingly to appease Individuals like Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema, even they have seemingly had enough So Ed Markey and Jeff Merkley my senator They both held a joint press conference and they echoed the sentiments expressed by Ocasio-Cortez and Heinrich and What they said here like the way that they went after the GOP and called on Biden to not Continue this game of bipartisanship, which is just nothing more than political theater at this point like everything that they said in short It was perfect. Take a look. No climate. No deal We need to move forward with 50 democratic votes now that the Republicans have shown us They are not serious about creating clean energy jobs jump-starting a clean energy revolution or adding the standards and Investments we need to attack this crisis. We cannot let Republican calls for bipartisanship deny the American people the climate action that they have been Demanding last fall Americans in every corner of this country voted for climate action and right now they are holding these IOUs the GOP or the gas and oil party would love nothing better Than for these voters to be disillusioned by gridlock and inaction But we know better and we're going to do better because climate action is both good policy and it is good politics President Biden's American rescue plan was immensely popular with Americans of both parties And with independence and we got it done along party lines because the Republicans refused to get serious about the challenges facing us the same principles of victory From earlier this year must guide us in this new endeavor Climate action has bipartisan support outside of Congress 76% of Americans believe that climate change is either a critical or important threat Including 74% of independence and 58% of Republicans fiercer storms more drought Greater fires. We're talking about an impact on the foundations of rural America And that is on our forests on our fishing and on our farming. So this is not Partisan, this is not urban rural This is all of America responding to a grave threat a threat that is a planetary threat And it needs to be America acting because we have the problem here in America But America acting because we need America's leadership in the world the air is a Planetary commons. We have to work in partnership with the world And if we don't set the example and we don't drive the conversation No one else will so here we are at this critical question Will we take bold action on climate infrastructure? Will we invest hugely in renewable energy into the grid? Will we upgrade that grid? Will we invest extensively in energy efficiency? And will we convert the end uses that are bit dependent upon fossil fuels into a system based on that Renewable electricity that's from buses to cars to the heating systems of buildings to electric Pickups and tractors, which are being prepared to create that economy across this country that Investment in these areas will have a profound impact on Our renewable energy economy here in the United States and create millions of good-paying jobs So this is about saving the planet, but it's also about a profound impact on working America again, this is not partisan and so therefore When we talk about infrastructure when the ship sails on infrastructure Energy investments cannot be left on the docks If there is no climate, there is no deal So watching this Was really nice to see. This is what I have been wanting Democratic Party Officials to do for years now. It's what I've been advocating for on this program Actually fight back against the GOP don't allow them to frame the narrative and set the agenda Actually make the case and finally that's what they did and what Ed Markey and Jeff Merkley are saying as well as Progressive lawmakers in the house is we're no longer going to kowtow to the demands of Joe Manchin It's not going to be about will he support the bill It's going to be about whether or not we'll support this bill and give up our votes and We won't if you don't include proposals addressing climate change and that's really important That's really really important because to support an infrastructure bill that doesn't contain anything addressing the climate crisis It's just unreasonable. It's absurd and the so-called moderate senators Such as Mitt Romney are saying well look if Joe Biden wants to address climate change he could do that in a separate bill No, why so you all can block that as well when we're talking about addressing climate change One of the key things is to move away from our dependence on fossil fuels and that requires Changes to our infrastructure the way that we heat our homes the way we We do a lot of things in this country So to even suggest that an infrastructure bill shouldn't have any elements addressing climate change is absurd on its face And thankfully this is what? Edmerke Ed Markey and Jeff Merkley are saying I almost called him Ed Merkley their names are very similar Having said that though, I want to get to some of the key things here that are really important that they said so um I Like them trying to rebrand the party the GOP as the gas and oil party This is good branding because always we hear right wingers all in unison say the same thing Oh, well, it's you know this Democratic Party. They're communists. They're socialists. They're extreme They throw out all of these buzzwords that they don't even understand half the time or most of the time I should say and Democrats they never push back. They always say, oh, no, we're not socialists. We're not this They're always playing defense, but they need to go on offense This is something that I've been advocating for for quite some time and by saying that the gas and oil party that is Brilliant because as Ed Markey rightfully pointed out This is a bipartisan issue It might not have bipartisan support to address climate change in Congress, but Americans by and large Overwhelmingly want something to be done about climate change. He said climate action has bipartisan support outside of Congress 76% of Americans believe that climate change is either a critical or important threat Including 74% of independence and 58% of Republicans This is what I've been saying for years when I say make the case When you have public opinion on your side There is no reason to back down because the current political climate isn't conducive to you being successful on a particular issue And this is what I've been saying about Medicare for all I don't care that there's not enough votes to pass Medicare for all when you look at public opinion polls There is no division the American people a majority of them support Medicare for all and it's because we all have experience Dealing with the private insurance industry. We have health insurance and then you know We expect to have our doctor visit covered and then we get a bill It's just we all hate our private insurance companies So what Democrats need to do the ones who actually aren't beholden to their corporate donors and who actually care The progressives is they have to make the case They have to make the case and say we are the ones fighting for the American people We're the ones arguing for bipartisan Legislation supported by Democrats and Republicans not in Congress, but across the country and Jeff Merkley chimes in saying fiercer storms more drought greater fires We're talking about an impact on the foundations of rural America And that's really important because Republicans try to frame themselves as the party who's looking out for farmers and whatnot But climate change is an issue that affects everyone not necessarily equally, but it affects rural America urban America It's not about rural urban so everything that I'm seeing here in short Like you can sum up this entire video by saying great job more of this. I want to see Democrats fight I want to see them attack Republicans and not just respond to their attacks go on the offensive Because if you're on the right side of an issue, you have nothing to be afraid of you should boldly Make your case and fight for what's right and this right here is encouraging to see more of this Please less cowering in fear to Republicans less standing down when corporate Democrats speak up and more of this This is good. Please continue to do this Please be unified as a block in Congress both the House and the Senate and keep fighting Republicans and your own party because if you want to be victorious This is what you have to do You have to make your case because you can't win if you don't even make your case. This is great. Good job