Warren says the Green New Deal doesn’t go ‘far enough’

The Green New Deal seeks to radically transform American life in the pursuit of protecting the environment while promising to cost taxpayers a considerable amount of money, but Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) says it doesn't go "far enough."

At a CNN town hall event on Thursday night, an audience member asked Warren whether or not she agreed with a ban on the export of U.S. oil as part of her environmental platform.

Warren said that she had not "thought about it in terms of that specific part" but "what I want to do is see us get off an oil economy, and not only for ourselves, but for the rest of the world; I want to see us move entirely to green."

She went on to say, "I not only support a Green New Deal — I don't think it goes far enough — I also have a blue new deal because we've got to be thinking about our oceans as well that we need to protect."

Introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) last February, the "Green New Deal" was a radical policy proposal meant to save the environment through massive changes to the American economy, infrastructure, and transportation methods.

In addition to its proposal to "upgrade or replace every building in U.S. for state-of-the-art energy efficiency," the resolution also drew criticism and mockery for an initial supporting document that said, "We set a goal to get to net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren't sure that we'll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast."

And it goes without saying that such radical, sweeping changes would be expensive by any measure. While Ocasio-Cortez has said that the plan would cost at least $10 trillion, a study done by the American Action Forum has put the possible total price tag as high as $93 trillion. Additionally, a study published by the Competitive Enterprise Institute in June found that households in five model states could see costs increase by over $70,000 in the first year of such a plan's implementation.

But to go further, Warren rolled out her "Blue New Deal" in December which deals with environmental issues affecting the ocean. Among its several proposals, the plan calls for an end to offshore drilling, investments in offshore wind farms, and new regulations for the fishing industry.

But despite her stated goal of protecting the environment, Warren's climate change credentials came into question earlier this month when video appeared to show her trying to hide behind a staffer after disembarking from a private plane.