later today here on c-span 3, a look at navy operations and shipbuilding programs. that's live at 12:15 p.m. eastern from the center for national interest. >> we welcome liz pereira to our disk. liz, this week democrats on capitol hill introduced legislation that would force the united states to return to the paris climate agreement. start by reminding viewers what the paris climate agreement is. the paris climate agreement is an international agreement that basically means we need to reduce our cash bonn pollution on the scale that science demands. the science tells us we need to keep the warming of the planet to under 1.5 degrees celsius. that's what this does. it actually sets up an agreement, internationally -- 195 countries have signed -- to do that together so that we

actually do address the climate crisis. >> remind viewers the history of the united states when it comes to that legislation and what the democrats legislation would do. >> it's hr-9 which is one of the first big pieces of legislation coming out of the democratic house. the first one was campaign finance reform and democracy. and this is actually defunding the president's efforts to remove us from the paris climate agreement. so, it actually is reiterating, reaffirming, our commitment as a country to this historic international agreement. >> this is speaker nancy pelosi at the press conference announcing that legislation this week. >> climate crisis is an existential threat of our generation, of our time, a crisis manifested in natural disasters of epic proportions. today, the house democratic

majority is honoring the will of the people and taking strong steps to protect our planet and our future. the bill, this is about jobs. it's about good paying, green jobs. it's about advancing our economy and our global preimminence in green technology. it's about health. it's about public health and clean air and clean water for our children. it's about defending our national security. the evidence is clear that national security experts have spoken. this is a national security issue. and for many of us it's a moral issue. >> liz pereira, mike debonus in the "washington post" notes that when pelosi discussed that legislation the words "green new deal" were not mentioned during the half hour news conference. does that concern you? >> not at all. there are numerous proposals the democrats are floating.

there are many approaches to addressing the climate crisis and really what we need is as many ideas as we can get. we need to transform our entire economy which means lots of new paying family-sustaining jobs. and it means lots of clean air, clean water for our children. as speaker pelosi said this is really about health, about jobs, about a better future for our children. >> another headline, democrats to move on from the green new deal. is that what we're doing? >> the green new deal first of all is a really visionary resolution. it's not a piece of legislation. it's a resolution to put us on a path to an idea of a future where we have clean energy, where we're investing in jobs and health care. and it's about addressing the twin problems of the climate crisis and economic inequality. and it's about climate jobs and justice for the american people. so, it's a visionary resolution that is really meant to be more

of that vision. but then numerous pieces of legislation could move forward. so, the fact that it's not mentioned is really -- is not really consequential. it is an important piece of a lot of the presidential candidates that are moving into their next phase, and they're going to be talking about it. so, it's an idea. >> since the green new deal was released we've seen this debate among democrats about incrementalism to move towards something as sweeping as the green new deal all at once. do you fall more towards the incremental side? >> no, sierra club is an organization that's based on pushing for a vision and values and a dream of a clean energy economy. so, we are very much in the visionary camp. and we represent members all over the country who really just want to see us protect our public lands, clean air, clean water, a better future for our kids, clean energy, clean transportation, and stopping

inequality. so, really we are very much in the visionary camp. but as we know, vision is not how congress works. we need to get down to brass tacks of delivering 100% clean energy solutions through the infrastructure bill, numerous opportunities that are going to happen over this coming year. so, there's lots of near-term gains we can make that we shouldn't shy away from and we should get to work and roll up our sleeves but also keep our eyes on that big vision. >> liz pereira with us until about 9:15 this morning if you want to join the discussion about the green new deal, about other climate policies. democrats it's 202-748-8000 republicans 202-748-8001. can you talk more about the sierra club and did you play any role in the creation or development of the green new deal? >> the green new deal has

actually been around for a long time. p i believe thomas freedman first talked about it. it's been proposed internationally. it's based in the roosevelt new deal idea. we were coming out of the depression and needed economic stimulus. that's what this is about. it's about economic stimulus, building clean energy jobs for the future, jobs that deliver family-sustaining wages, it's about delivering the basic rights for our people, health care, the right to clean air, clean water. so, it's very much in the idea of what sierra club has always been working on for our 125-year history. >> were you consulted at all in this piece of legislation? >> yes, we were consulted. the resolution was written with lots of stakeholders actually including unions, justice groups. and many people were consulted. it really is a vision. it talks about projects. it talks about really some great

opportunities with changing the way we make goods in this country by clean initiatives, investments in renewable energy. and it puts us on a path to clean renewable energy by mid century and pushes us in this near term to in the next ten years really invest in our economy and really, like the new deal, invest in the american people at the same time. >> what is climate policy director do at the sierra club? are you in on those consultations? do you do lobbying? >> yes, i am in on those consultations. i talk to our members of congress. i talk to our members in all of the states across the country. we also talk to a lot of different businesses and people who are committed to delivering clean energy. so, yeah, i do quite a bit. >> i'll let you chat with a few callers as well. glen is up, an independent.

good morning. >> caller: good morning. good morning. i really appreciate the fact that you are one person trying to save mother earth. when you go about your business, please use the term "mother earth." "saving mother earth" because a lot of people will relate it to that, saving mother earth. that's one terminology i want to use, i would love for you to use as you go about your business. >> why is that so important to you, glen? >> excuse me? >> why is that so important to you? >> caller: well, you answered the question that why is it important to save mother earth. you answer the question. >> i mean using the term. >> caller: why it's important to say mother earth, because that

will save all the human races. >> all right. thanks for the all from pennsylvania. did you want to follow up? >> sure. i am a mother, and i absolutely agree that talking about our earth and per seon identifying n that way is really important. this is calling upon one of our basic values in our culture that we protect our planet and we hold all of what our planet delivers. we understand there is no planet b as they say and thank you very much for that. i appreciate that. i will use that term more often. >> danny is a republican, good morning. >> caller: first of all i would say mother earth isn't in control of the earth. god is in control of the earth. he controls the winds, the waves, the lightning, we controls it all. and the way it says it the lord is going to return. when he returns he's going to

return in a little place called israel that the world thinks is insignificant. he's going to ascend from heaven and fight the armies there -- >> danny, do you want to come back to the discussion of climate change? >> caller: yes, i would. birds dying and fish being killed. she said d.d.t. was responsible for that. d/dt wasn't responsible for that. they saved over 500 million lives during the second world war. that's how the epa got their start. and then they did a scientific study on it. they had a judge and he came back and said there's no effect with d/dt to fish or birds. >> do you think the epa has been a good thing? >> caller: the epa is a hoax on the american people. and al gore and people like him

will get rich when he cashes in hi