but this person was into drugs heavily, and instead of staying on birth control pills she would use her money for drugs, get pregnant, and then get abortions. she used it as a means of birth control. 15 has had at least 10 abortions. i don't want to pay for that. if there is one doing that, there are several doing that. guest: that goes back to the point the secretary of state made -- we will not fund through nongovernmental organizations abortion as birth control. that is essentially how it is being published and promoted, not only here in domestic policy, the more importantly what we are talking about is in our foreign policy. host: on c-span2. perera aselcome liz our guest for the first time. she serves as director of common policy at sierra club and they

nonstate introduce legislation have the notice states-- have the united rejoin the paris climate agreement. describe what it is. besides -- guest: the science is telling us keptlanet needs to be under 1.5 celsius, and that is what this does -- countries have signed to do this together so that we address the climate crisis. 390 viewers the history of the united states when it comes to that agreement and what this legislation the democrats introduced this week would do. this legislation -- to put a finer point on it, it is hr 9, 1 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. it is reiterating, reaffirming our commitment as a country to this historic international agreement. host: this is because nancy pelosi at the press conference announcing that legislation this week. [video clip] the climatesi: crisis is a next of financial --eat of our time existential threat of our time. today, the democratic majority is honoring the will of the people and taking the first steps to protect our planet and our future. the bill -- this is about jobs. good-pain, good, -- green jobs. it is about advancing our economy. it is about health. it is about public health, clean

air, clean water for our children. it is about defending our national security. the evidence is clear. experts haverity spoken. this is a national security issue. for many of us, it is a moral issue. in the writeupa, in "the washington post" notes discussedf those he that legislation the words "green new deal" were not mentioned during the half-hour news conference there. does that concern you? guest: not at all. there are numerous proposals democrats are floating. there are many approaches to addressing the climate crisis and we need as many ideas as we can possibly get because we will need to transform our entire economy which means lots of new, good-paying, family-sustaining jobs, and clean air and clean water for our children. as speaker pelosi said, this is about health, jobs, a better

future for our children. host: another headline from the hill this week, "democrats move on from the green new deal." is that what they are doing? host: the green new deal is a visionary resolution -- not a piece of legislation. it is a resolution to put a path to a future where we have green energy and addressing health care. it is about addressing the twin problem of the climate crisis and economic inequality. climates, jobs, and justice for the american people. beis visionary and meant to more of that vision corrupt the numerous pieces of legislation could move forward. the fact that it is not mentioned is not really consequential. it is an important piece of a lot of the presidential candidates that are moving into the next phase, and they are going to be talking about it. it is an idea. host: since the green new deal

was released, we have seen the debate about incrementalism to move toward it, or something as sweeping as the green new deal all at once. do you fall more toward incrementalism side? host: no. -- guest: no. the sierra club is pushing toward a vision of a green economy so we are very much in the visionary camp. we represent members that want to see us protect public land, public land,ir -- clean air, clean water, clean transportation, and stopping inequality. we are very much in the visionary camp. as we know, it is not how congress works. we need to get down to brass tacks, delivering 100% clean thegy solutions through infrastructure bill, numerous opportunities that will happen in the coming year. there are near-term gains we can make that we should not shy away

from them we should get to work and rolled up our sleeves and also keep our eyes on the big vision. liz perera with us until about 9:30 a.m. if you want to join the discussion -- liz perera, as folks are calling in, can you talk more about the sierra club, and did you play any role in the korean and development of the green new deal? guest: the green new deal has been around for a long time. i believe thomas friedman first talked about it. it has been proposed internationally. it is based in the roosevelt new deal idea. we're coming out of the depression we needed an economic stimulus. that is what this is about, economic stimulus -- building clean energy jobs for our future that deliver family-sustaining

wages and basic rights for people -- health care, the right to clean air, clean water. it is very much in the idea of what sierra club has always been working on for our 125-year history. host: were you consulted at all? 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. had talks about projects. , someks about, really great opportunities with changing the way we make goods cleans country, buy initiatives, investments in renewable energy, and puts us on a path to clean, renewable energy by mid-century, and pushes us in this near-term, the

next 10 years, to really invest in our economy and like the new deal, invest the american people at the same time. what does a climate policy director do at the sierra club? host: yes, i am in those consultations. i talked to members of congress, talk to members across the country. we also talked to a lot of different businesses and people that are committed to delivering clean energy. i do quite a bit. host: we will let you check with a few callers as well. guest: happy too. host: glenn is up first in pottsville, pennsylvania, and independent. caller: good morning. i really appreciate the fact that you are one of the persons trying to save my are. 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 is the terminology i want to use. i would love for you to use it as you go about your business. host: why is that so important to you? caller: excuse me? host: why is that so important to you? caller: well, you answer the question, why is it important to say mother earth? host: i mean using the question. caller: because that will save race.u, and all the human host: thank you for the call. did you want to follow up? host: i -- guest: i am a mother, and personifying the earth that way is important because it is calling upon where the basic

values in our country, we protect our planet and we hold all of what our planet delivers us dear. we understand there is no planet i appreciatey, and that. i will use that term more often. host: ohio. dan is a republican. first i would like to say mother earth is not can -- and control of the of. almighty god is in control of the earth. the way it says is the lord is going to return, and a little place calls israel that the world thinks is insignificant, descend fromwill heaven and fight the armies to destroy. host: do you want to come back to the discussion about climate change? yes, i would like to talk

about rachel carson depicting birds being killed, saint ddt was responsible for that. forwas not responsible that. it saved over 500 million lives during the second world war, and that is how the epa got their start. they did a scientific study on it, had a judge and said there was no serious affect with ddt to fish or birds. host: do you think the epa has been a good thing? guest: the epa is a hoax on the american people. al gore, and people like him, cashes inich when he his carbon credits, and this is what it is all about -- they want to stifle our country. host: danny in ohio. liz perera, i don't know where you want to start, maybe the epa. i want to say i am a religious person, i believe in

god, and i am committed to protecting gods creation, this earth. the epa sets up very basic standards with industry and scientists at the table to protect people's health and the environment, protect species -- and that is critical. epa is very balanced in its approach and is a critical agency for our country. host: how do you feel about andrew wheeler? andrew will visit: obvious that we were disappointed to see him nominated. we believe he has done the bidding of a lot of industry at and we don'tpa believe he is following the best public health science when he is creating these standards that epa is obligated to create. the interior department is looking to get a new secretary. david bernhardt was on capitol hill for his confirmation hearing yesterday. your thoughts on david bernhardt. is an oilid bernhardt

lobbyist and during the shutdown he prioritized oil and gas leasing on our public land. he kept approving gas leases in cap that part of the interior department open during the shutdown, which no other previous interior secretary had done so that oil companies can get in and extract oil from public land. we really believe he is selling out our public lands. effectively,issue he

irrespective of thai. we need to give people an answer and move on. host: liz perera on that answer. guest: first of all, the national environmental policy act as a critical piece of legislation that passed with bipartisan support and is all about, really, evaluating

federal projects and their affect, not only to the environment, but to people as well, and we need to defend that critical piece of legislation. that is the way that people also expressed their concerns about federal projects like oil and gas leasing and developing pipelines. i do think it is important to really scrutinize, and i hope the senator does scrutinize his approaches to renewable -- leasing renewables as well as oil and gas because he has really been prioritizing oil and gas leasing above all. host: in the shot viewers were looking at of david bernhard testifying, it was noted that one of the activists in the background put on a mask of a swamp monster. it was a greenpeace activists dressed as a swamp monster at that hearing. is that something that sierra club condones -- would you be an activist in that way?

is that a good way to get your message across? guest: i think it sends a message. clearly it got coverage, and the isnt they are sending, this the swamp trump said he was not supporting. he is a corporate lobbyist, and he is part of this revolving door -- his bread and butter has really been working for the oil industry. i think it is a good point, and it is something that clearly got coverage. host: has sierra club ever sent activists in the background of congressional hearings? guest: we engage in all kinds of public awareness. i am sure we have at some time. in trumpn is next hill, virginia. caller: i also swap the swamp monster and thought it was tripping the trump kool-aid. they are running this gas pipeline up and down our throat here and use eminent domain with

a private company using eminent domain to take people's land and ,ay it is for the public need which is why they're going to take it and ship it to north carolina. what you think about that? guest: i agree with you. i am very concerned with how the government is using imminent domain and taking people's lands like yours. we are very concerned about the pipelines that are being proposed all across the country. we don't think that is the right way forward. really, the national environmental policy act is a piece of legislation that is there to protect you and allow you to be represented in this process of these federal decisions. mipawhen they talk about and cutting red tape -- red tape, the number, they are trying to cut you out of the process and cut your voice out of the process.

we have to defend the law and work with members like you. thank you very much. host: clayton, louisiana. ben, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i have been studying this for a long time. a long time ago they came out with a thing called coldfusion. i watched a man cut a piece of metal with water. i have also studied about patents that are sealed in washington that will actually open up electricity in water. why don't you study may be releasing some of those patents into the people that study these things because -- like with tesla, he came out with a car where every person could have -- coil where every person could have free electricity. i have made the coil and it works. these things work.

i have done the saltwater test. it will burn a light. host: coldfusion. guest: it is one of these pieces of innovation that we do not know what it holds. we need to be investing in research and developing for numerous types of innovation. , and theirs dedicated to solar and wind, which are free, once you build the infrastructure to collect them. i think there is a real possibility here, and we don't know what innovation holds for us in the future. if we set our sights on a vision of clean, renewable energy, i think we will succeed. weston, virginia. alex, a democrat. caller: thank you for taking my call. i had a question about the green new deal. i am curious how you view the strategy behind marion a lot of our environmental goals with, sort of, more social justice and

traditional left-wing goals like minimum wage, and other things that would provide more equity, even though all those things are incredibly important and i am fully supportive of that, but i do imagine it would make the already arduous task of basically getting any republican to side onto these things even harder. i am curious how you view that as we move forward and the green new deal starts to get developed and hopefully implemented. host: alex, thanks for the call. guest: thank you. yes. address the climate crisis and tackle economic inequality at the same time and that is because our energy system has not delivered quality, family-sustaining jobs to the american people. airas not protected peoples and water. we feel like we need to partner with frontline communities -- the communities that have been hit hardest by climate change impact that are the most in need

of economic stimulus to really deliver a clean energy economy that is equitable and just. we are talking about people and planet together here. it is possible to create an economy that is not just. we need to work as hard as we can to set ourselves on that pathway. i think it is important to recognize there will be lots of types of legislation that are worth -- moving under the banner of green new deal, which is a visionary resolution. we will be doing this in different pieces of legislation. we don't have to do it all at once. we do want to set our sights on that goal. host: do you have a goal of one we can get into full implementation? host: of the green new -- --st: of the green new deal i believe 2020 is when it was laid out of a proposal on the table and they would come up with pieces of legislation that fall under that proposal.

it is important to recognize we have numerous committees that handle things like health care and family-sustaining wages for people and also handle things like our public lands, energy and environment. these are separate committees that will be taking up different types of legislation. it will need to be a group effort on capitol hill. on twitter, back to the discussion of eminent domain -- how much land by eminent domain will be necessary for wind and solar farms to meet the needs of the population? guest: i don't know the answer to that, but eminent domain is really something mostly used when you talk about pipelines. with solar and wind development, there is a lot more possibility of using the land in addition to doing agriculture, and other means.

we have a lot more flexibility when looking at wind and solar. there are different holes that will be used. christopher is in new york, a republican. good morning. caller: this seems to all go warmingal gore global and since that did not pan out and the earth has gone cold, they had to call it climate change. i was just curious, what are do next because the climate has always changed since the beginning of time. i was just curious if that is a type of tax plan they will propose in the future to get more money out of us. guest: sure. as to climate change, the majority of scientists -- 99.9% all over the world come all over the country agree that the worth has -- earth has warmed.

glaciers are melting. go to glacier national park if you don't believe me. that glacier is almost gone. it is not coming back. there are numerous footprints all over the country of how climate change is hurting us -- record-breaking floods, wildfires, hurricanes -- you have seen it the past year. we are spending billions of dollars dealing with climate impact. i can myself -- my father is from a little town in western iowa affected by the floods. rolling out ina a disaster. we are spending billions of dollars every year to climate impacts. we don't need to talk about the science anymore. it is not that -- 10 years from now. it is happening right now. because the earth has warmed and we have put weather on steroids. how do you feel about the term climate of alarmism? i think it is unfounded.

when you see people in our country suffering the way they are now -- the livelihoods of ranchers livelihood suffering from not only drought, but record-breaking floods, huge swaths of the west destroyed by wildfires -- this is a crisis. we need a government that is going to commit itself to a plan. the democrats have a plan. mccubbins at this point don't have a plan. that republicans at this point don't have a plan. what about the ticking clock -- that we have until this year to fix this problem -- this is an article that talks about the deadlines and they go back to a united nations official in 1989. the associated press reporting in 1989 that a senior official said entire nations could be wiped off the face of the earth by rising sea levels of the global warming trend is not the year 2000.

guest: the trend being reversed his not having it all salt by the year 2000. you can go to a government website and see how much the seas have risen. will create huge economic impact to our cities, coastal areas, all coastal properties. we clearly have those impacts to and exactly the warming and for the carbon pollution that has caused that. we are much more specific now and the science is much more clear that we have to reduce warming to 1.5 degrees celsius. host: here is a bucket in a lot of attention -- "the uninhabitable earth, life after warming. i know you are familiar. can you describe it for viewers? guest:when we think about our children's future, i have a child born in 2010 and if you

look at 2050, we need to be off of fossil fuels and net zero with 100% clean energy. we need to think about what will happen if we do not do that because we will see the sea level rise and increased climate attacks, extreme weather take a massive toll on our economy. it is critically important that we think about what that world will be like for our children. host: sandy in youngstown ohio, independent. panels, yout solar are in these huge areas of land to even get a small amount of energy, they do not give much energy, what are people in the cold states with cold winters, are we going to freeze to death because we do not get sunshine or wind?

even in the summer, we do not get the sunshine or wind. andt: northern countries denmark and norway have made a huge commitment in solar and wind and are leading the way. it is normal to think that i live in a cold climate, how will i get sunshine but you do get sunshine and solar panels are becoming much more efficient and more cost-effective. they are much cheaper than fossil resources and storage is also an important component, the prices are dropping and you do get a lot of sunshine and wind. there is a lot of opportunity to power your homes. host: denver, colorado, dave, democrat. caller: this is dave in denver. host: you are on with liz perera . caller: i am glad to see that

c-span is evolving. 10 years ago if you mentioned climate change, they would hang up on you. at least we are discussing it. there is a little girl in switzerland who is named greta and she gave a speech about climate change. i was wondering if c-span could put her speech on. it was talking about how the adults here are mature enough to -- notnd we have left mature enough to do it so we have left the burden on the children. it is a wonderful speech. why are the children in europe so activism against climate change and in america we have no -- we just have people against it like your last guest, the only people believe climate change is not real by the people who believe the world is 6000 years old. guest: i am a huge fan of greta.

i do think that we need to -- the youth in our country and across the world are on incredible moral compass for our community and we need to listen to the youth. greta is part of a huge movement of young people and there is a lawsuit that young people across the country are actually suing the government because their future is at stake. the sunrise movement, the incredible movement of our youth, has made a huge difference on capitol hill, pushing the green new deal and for climate action. we have to remember that this is their future at stake and i agree with you, her speech is moving. host: what about the viral interaction between senator feinstein and some younger environmental activists in her office on capitol hill? guest: i thought it was constructive, great to see the young activists really speaking

their minds and it was inspiring to the young activists. i have an almost middle school child and it is great to see them exercising their civic duty and senator feinstein said she is committed to climate change action, she was debating some of the real-life issues of how to pay for it and make it happen. she is ready to do something on climate change and showing she is ready to pay for it and think about all these things. i thought it was constructive. the democrats in the senate the past week, including her, have continued to move forward with a plan, they are not succumbing to mitch mcconnell's climate denial and the stunt this week. host: why do you call it a stunt? guest: because he knew this is a resolution, he was bringing it up just about it down. he is listening to the fossil fuel industry that has funded

his campaign four years. -- for years. he had no intention of having a conversation about pollution and climate change. host: four democrats joined republicans in voting no on that resolution this week. joe manchin from west virginia, jones of alabama, kyrsten sinema and angus king of maine. the rest of the democrats voted presence -- present. your thoughts on the democrats who vote no? guest: i think they have proposals on climate change and i think they are open to having conversations, we have had good conversations with those offices. has have -- arizona incredible resources in solar and wind. i think the people of arizona are looking to the senator to actually represent them in their real interest and there is a

huge opportunity, and a huge opportunity in west virginia and alabama and we will work with them as they have ideas on climate solutions. host: are the republicans you are working with in the sierra club? guest: yes, numerous republicans in the house and senate. mitt romney, numerous republicans like fitzpatrick in the house. this has to be a bipartisan solution. there are a lot of republicans that do want to roll up their sleeves and talk about solutions and they know there is economic possibilities. host: how far has mitt romney told you he is willing to go? he voted no on the green new deal. guest: he has not specifically talked about how far he will go. he has technologies we need to do something on the climate crisis and he is ready to talk about the climate crisis. that is as much as i know. host: arnold in tennessee,

democrats. caller: good morning, how are you doing? host: go ahead. caller: i wanted to ask if you have ever heard of a man by the name of joe holden? host: who is that? caller: according to the internet, and he is all over the internet and youtube, he was the inventor of the astro burner for jets. he was a jet pilot during the korean war. foras the lead engineer rolls-royce jet engines. he has some inventions you can see on youtube that he claims will change things. it is just being ignored. i am assuming it is true because there is too much about his life for it to all be a big lie. host: did you want to follow up?

guest: i have not heard about him but i will google him when i get back to my desk. there are plenty of technological innovations that we need to be entertainment -- entertaining. republican, go, ahead. caller: 27 years in the wastewater industry, the department of natural resources in the state of ohio calculated that one billion gallons of water per day is sucked out of the ground, this is measured, and put into lake erie and the ohio river. why couldn't they take some of that water, not just from ohio and pennsylvania and west virginia, and all of these dates that go into the mississippi, run it through the railroad lines, out to the southwest, and irrigate the southwest to cool it down in the summers and open

of the land? they said that the deserts in the world have increased one meter per year, that is not much, one meter a year for all the deserts in the world but you could decrease that. guest: that is an interesting idea. i think we need to be careful about the way we use water in the country. climate change is impacting our water resources, having lots of droughts and flooding. it is critical we look at that when we think about how we manage our drinking water and wastewater. and look at the impact climate change is having. caller: david in michigan, independent -- host: david in michigan come independent. caller: with all of the propaganda from the deniers, what would you -- what would --

would you consider a politician ao use the green new deal as platform to energize people who do not believe it and vote against anyone not supporting the green new deal in favor of somebody who would enact policies contrary to what you are trying to accomplish? guest: i think that we need to have a conversation across the statehousesin many they are talking about the possibility of moving to 100% clean energy. it is very critical that we talk about those possibilities, we look at how we will build an equitable economy, and we are frank with people about the incredible projects that are happening across the country, to build solar and wind, energy practical andd be serious about what kind of projects we would like to fund. host: does the sierra club

endorse in presidential elections? guest: yes, sometimes we do and sometimes we do not. host: this time around on the democratic side? guest: we have a very democratic process to do that and there is no -- we are just starting our process and we talk to the candidates about what they stand ,or in terms of the environment environmental protection, protecting public lands, going to clean energy, and then we of i wait how they do that and work -- and we evaluate how we do that and we work with our members, if you are a member, thank you, you pay my salary. and we work with our democratic process to find a person we would like to endorse. sometimes we do not endorse, there are so many great candidates we are supportive to a lot of what they stand for. host: has the sierra club said how much they will spend any 2020 elections? guest: not yet.

host: ballpark, tens of millions of dollars? guest: i cannot speak to that as i am not on that side of the board. i work on our c3 side. our political director could speak on that. host: we will have that person on down the road. san diego, california, republican, lloyd. caller: last year i drove from washington state to florida and i was surprised by the number of wind farms in missouri. i had another chance to drive from this spring or winter from florida to california. by whattally surprised i saw in sweetwater, texas, thousands of turbines and a technical school that was -- companies

advertising wind turbine technicians on billboards. this is not just hundreds of wind turbines in sweetwater, texas, thousands. it is astounding what is happening in the united states. guest: i couldn't agree more. are justke texas leading the way on renewables and building wind and solar. it is putting people to work. that is what is so exciting about this clean energy revelation, people are getting put to work and our water and air are being cleaned up at the same time. host: pennsylvania, randy, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. i have an analogy for your guests, when you look at the north pole, the south pole, and lifequator, what you find

thriving, very hot or very cold? is the greenhouse cold or hot? the greenhouse thrives. not an icehouse. thank you. host: i will give you the final minute. guest: there is -- we cannot warm the earth beyond what we have seen in history or this will cause what we are seeing now, huge imbalances, we have weather patterns on steroids with huge hurricanes and floods and wildfires. we see glacier national park not being able to be called glacier national park anymore because there are no glaciers. we need to address the problems, this is a crisis but also a huge opportunity and we heard from the previous caller, there are many clean energy jobs that can he created and it holds future promise. host: liz perera is the climate

policy director of the sierra c-span's washington journal. live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. aming up saturday morning, discussion on the trump administration's proposed education buzzer cap and overall education policy -- budget cuts and overall education policy. also, a discussion on efforts to ratify the amendment. a discussion on americans trust in government. be sure to watch live at 7:00 eastern on saturday morning. join the discussion. ♪ announcer: tomorrow, former texas congressman beto o'rourke kicks off his campaign in texas. ate coverage begins

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