Clean Air and Clean Water

The text for "Clean Air and Clean Water" is extracted from the words of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during a House Financial Services Committee Meeting in March of 2019. I took parts of the speech and worked to form it into a poetic framework, and with a coherent theme throughout. A slow and somewhat ominous chord progression stays consistent throughout the piece - a reminder that climate change is slow moving, but always present - there is no avoiding this. Reminders that "we are going to pay" are scattered throughout the work. AOC's impassioned speech came after Congressman Sean Duffy argued that the Green New Deal would increase the total cost of housing for lower income earners and the homeless. He said, and I quote: "If you're a rich liberal from maybe New York or California, it sounds great because you can afford to retrofit your home or build a new home that has zero emissions, that's energy efficient." Text: This is not an elitist issue. This is a quality of life issue. You want to tell people that their concern and their desire for clean air and clean water is elitist? People are dying. This is about our lives - American lives, and it should not be partisan. Science should not be partisan. We talk about cost - We're going to pay for this Whether we pass a Green New Deal or not. Because towns and cities go underwater, as wildfires ravage our communities, we are going to pay. We are facing a national crisis. And if we do not ascend to that crisis then I don't know what we're doing here. This text is in the public domain.