Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quotes the Bible after Sarah Huckabee Sanders says she should leave climate change up to God

ANDREW KELLY/Reuters

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez clapped back at the White House on Wednesday after press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders dismissed her warning about the dire effects of climate change.
• Sanders argued that the fate of the planet should be left in "the hands of something and someone much more powerful than any of us."
• Ocasio-Cortez quoted the Bible in her retort, adding, "You shouldn't need a Bible to tell you to protect our planet, but it does anyway." 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quoted the Bible on Wednesday after White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders suggested the US government should leave environmental protection up to God. 

Sanders, a devout evangelical Christian, added that the Trump administration wouldn't be taking any pointers on policy from "the freshman congresswoman."

"I don't think that we are going to listen to her on much of anything, particularly anything that we will leave into the hands of a much, much higher authority," Sanders said on Sean Hannity's Fox News program on Tuesday night. She argued that the country should leave the fate of the planet in "the hands of something and someone much more powerful than any of us," presumably referring to God. 

Ocasio-Cortez has been outspoken about the need to mitigate the devastating predicted impacts of climate change, and is pushing an ambitious policy proposal called the Green New Deal to decarbonize the US economy and create jobs. 

Read more: THE TRUTH ABOUT ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: The inside story of how, in just one year, Sandy the bartender became a lawmaker who triggers both parties

The 29-year-old New York Democrat, who was raised Catholic, retweeted a story about Sanders' remarks, and cited the Bible in her counter-argument. 

"Genesis 1: God looked on the world & called it good not once, not twice, but seven times. Genesis 2: God commands all people to 'serve and protect' creation," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "Leviticus: God mandates that not only the people, but the land that sustains them, shall be respected."

She went on, "You shouldn't need a Bible to tell you to protect our planet, but it does anyway."

A recent survey found that 73% of Americans understand that global warming is occurring - a ten percentage point increase from three years ago. And 72% of those polled said climate change is personally important to them.