In an interview with Vice, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz called for “a marketplace of ideas” in response to the “not realistic” Green New Deal. “Critics of the Green New Deal like myself should be challenged to present a ‘Green Real Deal,’ he said. “You know, a plan that embraces the innovation opportunity in our country that’s realistic about the challenges we face globally and then leans hard into the science of clean energy. And I’ve had some very productive conversations with Republican and Democrat colleagues about what bills have been introduced in the last congress and in this Congress that would constitute a Green Real Deal. And it’s my hope that Republicans will be out there in the marketplace of ideas with a plan we can stand behind.”
“I mean we can believe the climate deniers or we can believe our eyes,” he says of Republicans who dispute the climate is changing due to human activity. “Climate change isn’t something people get to choose to believe or not, it’s happening.”
Gaetz is working on legislation for a Green Real Deal.