A video of an uncomfortable exchange between Sen. Dianne Feinstein and a group of visiting children and adolescents expressing their support for the Green New Deal has gone viral.
The youth, who were students from around the Bay Area, dropped by Feinstein’s office on Friday to present her with a letter urging her to support the bill, which was initially proposed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Edward J. Markey. The Green New Deal is a comprehensive plan which includes switching the entire county’s electricity to power sources that are renewable and have no emissions, making the country’s buildings more energy efficient and investing in electric vehicles and high-speed rail.
The environmental activist group, Sunrise Movement, released the video of the confrontation and tweeted that the California senator treated the group of about 15 young people with “smugness” and “disrespect.”
In the 15-minute version of the video, the children tell Feinstein that they’ve come to her to express their support for the Green New Deal. Feinstein repeatedly tells the children that there is “no way to pay” for the plan, and tells the children that she is supporting her own resolution.
As the kids continue to push back at her, urging her to vote “yes” on the Green New Deal even if it is unlikely to pass, Feinstein becomes visibly frustrated and starts to talk over the group.
“You know what’s interesting about this group? I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I know what I’m doing,” Feinstein says. “You come in here…
