— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 3, 2020 By almost every measure, our Queens community is the hardest hit in the country by COVID. I am heartbroken to share that Priscilla Carrow, a giant & compassionate leader who served as an Elmhurst hospital worker, Community Board 4 member, CWA local 1180 member, has passed. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, please give us a call back! We will appreciate your time and insight on the issues. 'Asking for' the many millions of Oil & Gas Workers in the US and Americans whose jobs are supported by our industry. Sign up for free to join OGWA today. We're fighting for AMERICAN jobs. Ogwausa.com See More. — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 3, 2020 By almost every measure, our Queens community is the hardest hit in the country by COVID. I am heartbroken to share that Priscilla Carrow, a giant & compassionate leader who served as an Elmhurst hospital worker, Community Board 4 member, CWA local 1180 member, has passed.

(CNSNews.com) – Green New Deal advocate Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) came under fire Monday for a tweet – later deleted – apparently celebrating the news that U.S. oil futures had dropped below zero for the first time.

“You absolutely love to see it,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, responding to a tweet on the unprecedented crude oil price drop resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.

She continued, “This along with record low interest rates means it’s the right time for a worker-led, mass investment in green infrastructure to save our planet. *cough*”

Ocasio-Cortez later deleted the post, which critics charged amounted to cheering for a situation that could lead to massive job losses in the U.S. energy industry. Over the past four weeks more than 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits.

“While @AOC deleted this tweet, the sentiment remains the same,” commented Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.). “The Left doesn’t care about the millions of Americans losing their jobs. Maybe that is why they refuse to help us replenish the Paycheck Protection Program?”

Alexandria Ocasio-cortez Husband

“Which part of the millions of blue-collar workers losing their jobs & small refineries closing their doors forever is what you ‘love to see’ (per your deleted tweet) @AOC?” tweeted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). “Asking for those in Texas & across USA whose livelihoods (ability to put food on the table) are AT RISK.”

Conservative commentator Candace Owens called the now-deleted tweet “positively despicable,” adding that Ocasio-Cortez “is such a radical communist that she is CELEBRATING the loss of American jobs in a volatile market.”

In a more cautiously-worded tweet about 40 minutes after the first one, Ocasio-Cortez linked to the same post on the oil price situation, and said, “This snapshot is being acknowledged as a turning point in the climate movement. Fossil fuels are in long-term structural decline. This along w/ low interest rates means it‘s the right time to create millions of jobs transitioning to renewable and clean energy. A key opportunity.”

She also tweeted, “Now is the time to create millions of good jobs building out the infrastructure and clean energy necessary to save our planet for future generations. For our economy, our planet, and our future, we need a #GreenNewDeal.”

Oil demand has nose-dived as a result of worldwide lockdowns, stalled economies, travel restrictions, and the grounding of flights.

On Monday the price on contracts for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil deliveries in May dropped below zero, settling at minus-$37.63. At the start of 2020 it was just under $60.

The Associated Press reported that May deliveries have come up against the problem of lack of available storage in the U.S., due to plummeting demand. The May WTI contract expires on Tuesday, but oil to be delivered in June is still trading at $20.43 a barrel.

Brent crude – the European benchmark – was trading down nearly nine percent, at $25.57 a barrel.

Monday’s developments came just days after Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia agreed to slash crude production by 10 percent of global output, following a costly Russia-Saudi price war.

In a Dallas Morning News op-ed on Sunday, Cruz wrote that Texas is grappling not just with the health and economic crises of the coronavirus pandemic, but also with an energy crisis, due to the plummeting demand for oil.

If many small and independent producers go bankrupt, and wells close, they may not reopen, he said.

“That’s not only bad news for the millions of Americans whose livelihoods depend on a vibrant energy sector, it’s also bad news for every household in America, as heating our homes, driving our cars, flying on planes and many other aspects of our daily lives will become more expensive.”

Cruz also warned that allowing American energy producers to go bankrupt would see a return to a situation where the U.S. – now the world’s leading oil and natural gas producer – to a situation where it was dependent on foreign countries and foreign oil.

After a White House meeting with energy sector heads and lawmakers early this month, Cruz said President Trump directed cabinet members “to make sure our small and independent energy producers have the same access to emergency relief loans that small business in other industries have to keep their wells on, their doors open and their employees on the payroll.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday denounced the 'audacity' of oil giant Shell after it waded into the global discussion about the climate crisis by asking members of the public what they would do to reduce carbon emissions.

'I'm willing to hold you accountable for lying about climate change for 30 years when you secretly knew the entire time that fossil fuels emissions would destroy our planet,' the New York Democrat and co-sponsor of the Green New Deal legislation replied.

I’m willing to hold you accountable for lying about climate change for 30 years when you secretly knew the entire time that fossil fuels emissions would destroy our planet https://t.co/ekj1Va1Cp0

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 2, 2020

In the poll it posted to Twitter, Shell offered choices to the public including 'stop flying,' 'buy an electric vehicle,' and shifting to renewable electricity.

What are you willing to change to help reduce emissions? #EnergyDebate

— Shell (@Shell) November 2, 2020

Coming from the world's third-largest company, which knew as early as 1988 that its extraction of oil and gas was linked to the heating of the planet, the question was seen by Ocasio-Cortez and other critics as a gross deflection of Shell's own responsibility.

'The audacity of Shell asking YOU what YOU'RE willing to do to reduce emissions,' Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. 'They're showing you RIGHT HERE how the suggestion that individual choices—not systems—are a main driver of climate change is a fossil fuel talking point.'

The 'good choices' American voters and lawmakers can make, the congresswoman added, are ones that will help 'reign in fossil fuel corporations' that are actually fueling the destruction of the planet.

The journalism initiative Covering Climate Now called Shell's tweet 'a textbook example of greenwashing.'

Here’s a textbook example of “greenwashing” + corporations making it seem like climate change is a symptom of everyday people's inaction. Journalists beware! https://t.co/soZtQK8QGQ

— Covering Climate Now (@CoveringClimate) November 2, 2020

Prof. Katharine Hayhoe, director of the Texas Tech Climate Center, echoed Ocasio-Cortez's disgust at the company as she noted that out of 90 companies in the world, Shell is the sixth-highest contributor to fossil fuel emissions in history.

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'Yes, everyone must do their part—starting with the biggest emitters,' Hayhoe tweeted, adding that the company has previously publicly suggested that individuals making changes to their daily habits is what will help save the planet.

Despite what the CEO of Shell claimed in 2019, eating food that's in season, avoiding fast fashion and recycling ISN'T GOING TO CUT IT when it comes to stabilizing climate change. Those actions will make no more than the tiniest of dents. https://t.co/VsnrVFBGgZ

Ocasio Cortez Twitter

— Prof. Katharine Hayhoe (@KHayhoe) November 2, 2020

Ocasio Cortez Oil

Shell's tweet drew outrage from international climate action group Greenpeace, international lawmakers, and climate experts.

All this corporate BS over who is responsible for climate change. It's them, folks.

As @KHayhoe pointed out, Shell is #6 of 90 companies responsible for 2/3 of greenhouse gas emissions

Listen to @degreespod episode: 'Give Up Your Climate Guilt.'https://t.co/kMGi6pFF3m

— Leah Stokes (@leahstokes) November 2, 2020

You polluted our planet, you funded climate change deniers, you fund the lobby to slow down climate protection laws and you still invest massive into fossils. But you're asking us to help reducing emissions?

Wtf, Shell...https://t.co/44Jye1aux0https://t.co/6BI0rvjQdepic.twitter.com/VCrE5IrtO3

— Michael Bloss (@micha_bloss) November 2, 2020

We’re willing to fight for climate justice and for people not to fall for your dirty tricks, @Shell. Individual choices matter, but you and the other fossil fuel companies are the ones responsible for the climate crisis the world is facing right now https://t.co/gkwhNat4QV

— Greenpeace (@Greenpeace) November 2, 2020

'What am I willing to do?' Hayhoe wrote in reply to Shell's poll question, which she later said was hidden on Twitter by the company. 'Hold you accountable for 2% of cumulative global greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to those of my entire home country of Canada. When you have a concrete plan to address that, I'd be happy to chat about what I'm doing to reduce my personal emissions.'