Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) went after Rep. Jeff Duncan (RS.C.), who called himself “educated” during the debate over the bill on the House floor.
Democrats responded to Duncan’s comments as the House considered a bill that would require the federal government “to approve plans to increase drilling on federal land and waters” before drawing from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in non-emergency cases, Roll Call reported.
Ocasio-Cortez, who proposed an amendment to the bill, argued in a speech on the floor of the House Thursday that leasing more land to fossil fuel companies would not guarantee a drop in gas prices and added that companies that generate profits would not “pass on” savings to consumers.
“But what rents more land, guarantees that we will accelerate the impact of climate change,” said Ocasio-Cortez.
Duncan told Ocasio-Cortez and asked her to study how “America can achieve low emissions.”
“You care about air quality, you care about climate change. Natural gas is what gets America there. Educate yourself about it,” the Republican said.
Ocasio-Cortez didn’t hold back when responding to Duncan’s remarks.
“I know that in this body it is not the first time that the opposing party cannot argue the issue and therefore they have to follow my character,” said Ocasio-Cortez.
He added: “While I can’t control the fact that the other side seems to have assumed that I’m uneducated, one thing I can say… is that when I can’t work on Wall Street, it’s true. I might not be in here with the mission of increasing profits for the company, which is true. My mission here is for the well-being and dignity of my family and the future of our planet, for the ability of our children to live on this planet.
Ocasio-Cortez later addressed Duncan’s comments on Twitter, writing that “fewer things are predictable than Republicans having a crisis when I clean up the debate.”
“If you’re wondering why this guy is so mad at me, it’s probably because I introduced an amendment to the GOP bill that would ban oil and gas companies involved in buying shares from federal land leases,” he wrote, adding “Looks like I’m mad!”