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 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks to her supporters during her election night party in the Queens Borough of New York on Nov. 6, 2018. 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New Yorks 14th Congressional district won Tuesdays election, defeating Republican Anthony Pappas and becomes the youngest woman elected to Congress. (Photo: Don Emmert, AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 WASHINGTON – Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday kicked off her first day of new-member orientation by participating in a climate change protest at House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's office. 
 
 About 200 people were in Pelosi's office lobby and down the hall, and among them was the 29-year-old New York Democrat. 
 
 Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, said she wants to show Pelosi that "we're here to back her up in pushing for 100 percent renewable energy." 
 
 "This is not about me, this is not about the dynamics of any personalities," she told reporters outside Pelosi's office. "But this is about uplifting the voice and the message of the fact that we need a Green New Deal and we need to get to 100 percent renewables because our lives depend on it." 
 
 The protest was organized by Sunrise Movement, which is mobilizing young people to fight climate change and calling for more green jobs. 
 
 Pelosi, in a statement, reiterated that she has asked her caucus to reinstate the select committee to address climate change. Democrats campaigned on a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure reform that she said will make communities more resilient and create 16 million "new good-paying jobs." 
 
 “We are inspired by the energy and activism of the many young activists and advocates leading the way on the climate crisis, which threatens the health, economic security and futures of all our communities," Pelosi said. “We welcome the presence of these activists, and we strongly urge the Capitol Police to allow them to continue to organize and participate in our democracy.” 
 
 Protesters carrying "Green Jobs for All" signs are pushing for a bolder plan. They point to dire warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, saying there are 12 years left to limit the damage of climate change. 
 
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 "We're here because we're scared and we're angry," said Garrett Blad, a Sunrise Movement spokesman. "We don't believe we need any more education or any more science." 
 
 Ocasio-Cortez said she is thinking of the issue not just as an elected member of Congress, but as a 29-year-old woman who is concerned about the country over the next 30 years. 
 
 "I don't want to see Miami under water," she said. "I don't want to see my district under water. And I know that Leader Pelosi doesn't either." 
 
 Ocasio-Cortez is not among the newly-elected Democrats who said they would vote against Pelosi's bid to become speaker in the next Congress. 
 
 This morning 100s of young people came together to ask us as elected officials to act urgently to draft a Green New Deal that gets us to 100% renewable energy ASAP. 
 
 
 
 They asked me to join them, and I did. We can embrace the energy of activism to move our party’s goals forward. https://t.co/nsiG9hhcgf — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 13, 2018 
 
 House Speaker Paul Ryan's spokeswoman used the protest to poke fun at Pelosi. 
 
 "Huh, well this is unconventional," AshLee Strong wrote in an email to reporters. "The incoming speaker is getting protested by one of her freshman." 
 
 Ocasio-Cortez said she admires that Pelosi comes from "a space of activism and organizing." 
 
 "I think that she really appreciates civic engagement," she said. 
 
 She later added: "What I hope we show is that this is an encouragement of her and that we're here to back up bold action." 
 
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– It was a pretty safe bet that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was going to get a lot of attention in DC Tuesday as orientation began for new incoming members of Congress. The 29-year-old from Queens is, after all, the youngest woman ever elected to the House. But Ocasio-Cortez made more headlines than usual because she ended up participating in a protest at Nancy Pelosi's office, reports USA Today. On Twitter, Ocasio-Cortez explained that young activists pushing for legislation on climate change asked her to join them, and she accepted. Pelosi, for her part, didn't seem to mind, issuing a statement saying she welcomed the protesters and urging police to leave them be. “We need a Green New Deal and we need to get to 100% renewables because our lives depend on it,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters. She said the issue affected her "not just as an elected member, but as a 29-year-old woman" worried about the coming decades. Despite Pelosi's plea, police arrested dozens of protesters, though Ocasio-Cortez had left by then. A spokesperson for House Speaker Paul Ryan got in a dig at the chain of events. "Huh, well this is unconventional," wrote AshLee Strong in an email to reporters. "The incoming speaker is getting protested by one of her freshman [sic]." (Ocasio-Cortez wasn't happy with all the perks New York City just gave Amazon.)