Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) expressed doubt on Monday that the Green New Deal's goals are attainable by 2030.
Klobuchar, who recently announced she was running for president, participated in a CNN town hall in Manchester, New Hampshire with host Don Lemon.
After Klobuchar responded to a a question about climate change, Lemon asked her whether the issue was "urgent" to her before listing off some of the goals listed in the 14-page Green New Deal resolution sponsored by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D., Mass.).
"This is the Green New Deal, some of which includes a complete shift in renewable and zero admission energy sources, overhauling the nation's transportation systems to eliminate pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and to set a goal for carbon neutrality by 2030," Lemon said. "Do you believe those goals are achievable?"
Klobuchar responded by saying she believes the goals are "aspirations" and that they can "get close" to reaching the goals.
"What do you mean [by] aspirations?" Lemon asked.
"Aspirations to me means we have been doing nothing about this, and if we have some new people that are coming along, particularly in this school where we have so many students and young people, we need to get this debate going, and this is put out there as an aspiration, in that something that we need to move towards," she said.
Klobuchar went on to say that she believes that it would be "very difficult" to "cross every T" and "dot every i" in the next 10 years, but she believes they can make an impact on the issue by having a discussion and making compromises.
"We know there's going to be compromises," Klobuchar said. "It's not going to be exactly like that, and we know we're going to have to look out for different areas of the country and how we proceed and be smart about it for the middle class and for people that are more vulnerable. We want to make this work for everyone, but we have to start the debate."
It wasn't the first time Klobuchar has expressed doubts about the Green New Deal. Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked her last week about the Green New Deal, prompting her to call the proposals "aspirational," according to the Hill.
"I see it as aspirational, I see it as a jump-start. So I would vote yes, but I would also, if it got down to the nitty-gritty of an actual legislation as opposed to, ‘oh, here are some goals we have,’ that would be different for me," Klobuchar said.