Democratic state senator Juan Mendez (Ariz.) on Monday called for Arizona to adopt provisions of the Green New Deal because he wants to be "part of the generation that kills golf" and the "greedy parts of the agriculture business industry."
Mendez participated in a press conference on "Earth Day" with Democrats and environmental activists, where he touted his support for the Green New Deal.
"I'd rather be part of the generation that kills golf and self-interested, greedy parts of the agriculture business industry than the one that killed the planet," Mendez said, starting at 16:33. "I have no concern for just one industry's future. I'm here to protect our shared future, and that does not have to include alfalfa just because it's safe market choice and has high yields."
"I believe the Green New Deal and water policy that protects the environment and puts the health and well-being of our communities first is the framework that we need to get our state working toward protecting our planet," Mendez continued.
Mendez wasn't the only Arizona Democrat who used the Earth Day press conference to tout the Green New Deal. Jamescita Peshlakai, the State Senate Minority Whip, compared climate change to the Cold War starting at 3:47.
"Our children of this generation—The greatest anxiety is climate change ... It was the Cold War. It was nuclear war, nuclear winter. Now for our children, it is global warming. Here in Arizona we can and should take actions to embrace provisions in the Green New Deal," Peshlakai said.
The Green New Deal is a 14-page economic stimulus resolution that was released in February by self-described democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D., Mass.) that aims to fight income inequality and climate change. The American Action Forum study offered an estimate in February of the Green New Deal costing up to $94.4 trillion, or over $600,000 per household in the United States.