Ocasio-Cortez accuses Rand Paul of taking climate change comments out of context, compares GOP agenda to ‘Spaceballs’ plot

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) accused Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) of taking her comments on climate change “out of context” and hit the senator’s party for its “fictional” climate agenda. 

Ocasio-Cortez, the first-term lawmaker championing the progressive Green New Deal plan, shot back at Paul on Twitter after he said the Democrat has said the world would “end in 12 years.” 

“Hey Senator! Would you like me to also take your comments out of context and pose them as your earnest position, as you have chosen to do with me?” Ocasio-Cortez asked. 

Hey Senator! Would you like me to also take your comments out of context and pose them as your earnest position, as you have chosen to do with me?

I assume the answer is yes, especially given that the GOP climate agenda is about as fictional as Spaceballs anyway. https://t.co/42FKq4VMjW

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 15, 2020

“I assume the answer is yes, especially given that the GOP climate agenda is about as fictional as Spaceballs anyway,” she added, referencing the 1987 parody film. 

Paul had tweeted earlier: “No @AOC the world will not end in 12 years but we must, absolutely must do something, over the next 500 million years.”

“Some say we should develop a space shield to protect us from the sun’s increased luminosity. I’m not against that but it will only be a temporary respite maybe a few million years,” he added. 

“I do think we should also begin genetically altering O2 producing organisms to send to Saturn’s Titan and possibly the closest planets outside of our solar system. What say you AOC?”

Ocasio-Cortez has repeatedly stressed the urgency of needing to take action on climate change within 12 years or the earth will face irreversible damage. She’s referenced the 12-year deadline that was reported in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report published in the fall of 2018. 

Speaking to Ta-Nehisi Coates at an MLK Now event in New York City last year she said: “Millennials and people, you know, Gen Z and all these folks that will come after us are looking up and we’re like: ‘The world is gonna end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change and your biggest issue is how are we gonna pay for it?’ “

She also stressed the urgency while speaking to her Instagram followers last February, again referencing the U.N.-backed report. 

“We had time when I was born, but — ticktock — nothing got done. As the youngest member of Congress, I wish we didn’t have 12 years. It’s our lungs that are going to get choked with wildfire smoke. … Climate delayers are the new climate deniers,” she said. 

She shared an animated video she narrated about the Green New Deal video in April, again stressing the 12-year deadline that’s been outlined by experts. 

Climate change is here + we’ve got a deadline: 12 years left to cut emissions in half.

A #GreenNewDeal is our plan for a world and a future worth fighting for.

How did we get here?
What is at stake?
And where are we going?

Please watch & share widely ⬇️pic.twitter.com/IMCtS86VXG

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 17, 2019

Ocasio-Cortez introduced a Green New Deal resolution shortly after being sworn into office last year. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced the progressive proposal in the Senate.

The proposed package of legislation aims to address climate change and economic inequality.

The Hill reached out to spokespeople for Ocasio-Cortez and Paul for additional comment.