Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., pictured here, authored the Atomic Energy Advancement Act alongside GOP Rep. Jeff Duncan, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, Climate and Grid Security. (Senate Television via AP)
DeGette further stated that nuclear energy must be a "part of the mix" if the U.S. is to achieve goals of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
However, despite nuclear's low carbon footprint, Ocasio-Cortez and other prominent Democrats, like Reps. Cori Bush, Jared Huffman, Pramila Jayapal, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Jamie Raskin and Rashida Tlaib, who have argued for a rapid transition from fossil fuels to green energy, voted against it.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Ocasio-Cortez's office for comment.
"The time is now to create sustainable prosperity for all, not just the very few," Ocasio-Cortez said earlier this month on the five-year anniversary of the Green New Deal. "And in transitioning to a clean economy, we can create millions of jobs in construction, manufacturing, education, engineering and beyond."
Members of the "Squad," from left to right, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Cori Bush, D-Mo., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. The four Democrats voted against the Atomic Energy Advancement Act. (Getty Images)
However, nuclear projects face a costly permitting review process that takes years and just two new reactors have come online since the 1990s.
"Nuclear energy plays a critical role in decarbonization, particularly as global energy demand increases," Evan Chapman, the U.S. federal policy director at the environmental group Clean Air Task Force, said Wednesday. "Today’s passage of the Atomic Energy Advancement Act is a welcome sign of bipartisan interest in preserving existing nuclear capacity and in deploying advanced nuclear energy technologies in the U.S."
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Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions also celebrated the bill's passage, saying the advancement of nuclear energy is "key to ensuring Americans have access to more reliable, affordable and clean power."
Thomas Catenacci is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
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