Biden gives a nod to environmental 'activists' but doesn't mention Green New Deal in message commemorating Paris Agreement

• President-elect Joe Biden appeared to acknowledge environmental "activists" in his statement commemorating the Paris Agreement but did not mention the Green New Deal.
• "We'll listen to and engage closely with the activists, including young people, who have continued to sound the alarm and demand change from those in power," Biden said in a statement on Saturday.
• Progressive lawmakers have pushed for the Biden administration to embrace parts of the Green New Deal, with the understanding that the Biden Administration has not fully adopted the plan.

President-elect Joe Biden appeared to acknowledge environmental "activists" in his statement commemorating the five-year anniversary of the Paris Agreement but did not mention the Green New Deal.

Biden, in the statement released Saturday, reaffirmed that the US "will rejoin the Paris Agreement" when he steps into office and identified goals to address climate change and environmental issues, including achieving "net-zero emissions no later than 2050."

"We'll listen to and engage closely with the activists, including young people, who have continued to sound the alarm and demand change from those in power," the statement said.

The Green New Deal, introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey last year, has been touted by progressives as a plan to address climate change, Business Insider's Aylin Woodward reported.

Although his statement referred to "activists," Biden did not mention the Green New Deal, which has been rallied by young climate activists like those in the Sunrise Movement. The group last month protested alongside Ocasio-Cortez and Markey in front of the DNC headquarters pushing for the incoming Biden administration to keep his commitment to address climate change, The Guardian reported.

A spokesperson for the Biden-Harris transition team did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Prior to the election, Biden stopped short of fully adopting the "Green New Deal," and instead noted in his plan for climate change that "the Green New Deal is a crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face." Meanwhile, the "Biden-Harris plan" for climate change, shared on the Biden-Harris transition website, also makes no note of the Green New Deal.

Progressive lawmakers have pushed for the Biden administration to embrace parts of the Green New Deal, with the understanding that the Biden Administration has not fully adopted the plan, Business Insider's Tina Sfondeles, Elvina Nawaguna, and Robin Bravender reported.

"Some elements have a good chance of passing," Ocasio-Cortez said via her Instagram. "Others are a toss up (like ending fossil fuel subsidies) and others almost definitely won't (for example GND makes a nod to Medicare for All.)"

Meanwhile, depending on the outcome of the upcoming Georgia senate runoffs, Biden could be the first president since George H.W. Bush to step into office without his party controlling both chambers of Congress. Progressive climate activists have expressed skepticism that this may pose a barrier to implementing Biden's climate agenda, Business Insider's Eliza Relman reported.

Without that, the upper chamber would stay under GOP control, and "we don't have the power of the purse in the same way," a progressive climate activist told Business Insider.

• Read more:
• Meet Brian Deese, Biden's pick to lead the National Economic Council, who has worked for both the Obama administration and BlackRock
• What a Republican-controlled Senate means for Biden's climate agenda
• 'No middle ground': Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slams Joe Biden over climate change at a Green New Deal town hall in DC
• Biden or bust? AOC welcomes 'progress' on Democratic nominee's climate change plan but progressives still want more