hse select comm on climate crisis

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ntbcw bogus? [CCL] climate solutions caucus</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>see graves pow</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">note LCV single digit scores gop
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">---</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">cli wire  https://www.eenews.net/articles/conservatives-urge-mccarthy-to-disband-climate-committee/</font></p><p georgia="Georgia" regular="Regular" font="font" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">conservative groups are pushing to end the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis if Republicans take control of the House next year.</font></b></p><p georgia="Georgia" regular="Regular" font="font" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a <a href="https://twitter.com/Mike_Palicz/status/1588610503978668032" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)</u></a>, 18 conservative organizations said there is “no need for a select committee on climate change.”</font></b></p><p georgia="Georgia" regular="Regular" font="font" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“With no ability to advance legislation to the House floor, the Select Committee historically serves as a soap box for tax and spend politicians to intimidate American energy companies, energize climate activists and stump for big-government policies that raise energy prices for consumers and weaken American energy independence,” they wrote <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The group includes Americans For Tax Reform President Grover Norquist, Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, American Energy Alliance President Tom Pyle and Heartland Institute President James Taylor..</span>..The letter reflects an ongoing split in the party that could echo into next year in the likely event that McCarthy becomes speaker after Tuesday’s midterms.</font></p><p georgia="Georgia" regular="Regular" font="font" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While Pyle, Ebell and others have spent years advocating against climate policy and disputing mainstream climate science, elected Republicans have taken on a softer tone on the issue in recent years.</font></p><p georgia="Georgia" regular="Regular" font="font" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If Republicans do choose to revive the panel, it could serve as a platform for the party to discuss Biden administration energy policies and for Select Committee ranking member Garret Graves (R-La.) to amplify the party’s messaging. Graves has declined to say publicly whether the committee would return.</font></p><p georgia="Georgia" regular="Regular" font="font" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) created a predecessor to the panel when Democrats took the House in 2008, then formed the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis in 2019 after they came back to power. It has no legislative authority but has at times caused friction with other committee chairs.</font></p><p georgia="Georgia" regular="Regular" font="font" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The conservative groups argued the issue would be better served being addressed by the standing committees.</font></p><p georgia="Georgia" regular="Regular" font="font" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We urge you to disband the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis and let the committees with appropriate jurisdiction and legislative ability take up the topic of climate change,” they wrote.</font></p><p georgia="Georgia" regular="Regular" font="font" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></p><p georgia="Georgia" regular="Regular" font="font" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://twitter.com/Mike_Palicz/status/1588610503978668032/photo/1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://twitter.com/Mike_Palicz/status/1588610503978668032/photo/1</a></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://redgreenandblue.org/2022/11/20/gop-plan-climate-crisis-end-house-climate-crisis-committee/">http://redgreenandblue.org/<b>2022/11</b>/20/gop-plan-climate-crisis-end-house-climate-crisis-committee/</a></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.4em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">republicans are planning to make the party even more unpalatable to young voters who cast their ballots massively in favor of Democrats last week. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Fitting for the GOP where more than half congressional members (139 out of 271) are outright climate crisis deniers.</span></font></p><figure id="attachment_72054" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-72054" class="wp-caption alignright" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px 20px; max-width: 100%; float: right; width: 400px;"><a href="https://i1.wp.com/redgreenandblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ScreenShot2022-11-19at10.20.00AM.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-72054 jetpack-lazy-image jetpack-lazy-image--handled" src="https://i1.wp.com/redgreenandblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ScreenShot2022-11-19at10.20.00AM.png?resize=400%2C220" alt="LA Rep Garrett Graves, top Republican on the House Climate Crisis Committee, says they'll just eliminate it. (Screencap from YouTube)" width="400" height="220" data-recalc-dims="1" srcset="https://i1.wp.com/redgreenandblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ScreenShot2022-11-19at10.20.00AM.png?resize=400%2C220 400w, https://i1.wp.com/redgreenandblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ScreenShot2022-11-19at10.20.00AM.png?resize=800%2C440 800w, https://i1.wp.com/redgreenandblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ScreenShot2022-11-19at10.20.00AM.png?resize=768%2C422 768w, https://i1.wp.com/redgreenandblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ScreenShot2022-11-19at10.20.00AM.png?resize=160%2C88 160w, https://i1.wp.com/redgreenandblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ScreenShot2022-11-19at10.20.00AM.png?resize=177%2C97 177w, https://i1.wp.com/redgreenandblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ScreenShot2022-11-19at10.20.00AM.png?resize=360%2C198 360w, https://i1.wp.com/redgreenandblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ScreenShot2022-11-19at10.20.00AM.png?resize=362%2C200 362w, https://i1.wp.com/redgreenandblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ScreenShot2022-11-19at10.20.00AM.png?w=875 875w" data-lazy-loaded="1" sizes="(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" loading="eager" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; border: 0px;" /></font></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-72054" class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">LA Rep Garrett Graves, top Republican on the House Climate Crisis Committee, says they’ll just eliminate it. (Screencap from YouTube)</font></span></figcaption></figure><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.4em;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By Meteor Blades</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.4em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">From Ari Natter at <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-17/house-republicans-to-kill-democrats-climate-crisis-committee?wpisrc=nl_climate202&leadSource=uverify+wall" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Bloomberg</a>:</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.4em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">“The climate crisis committee will not exist,” Louisiana Representative Garret Graves, the top <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/0120676D:US" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">GOP</a> member of the <a href="https://climatecrisis.house.gov/" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis</a>, said in an interview. “I don’t think that’s really consistent with what we are going to be focused on.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">”</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.4em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The committee was <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-08/democrats-said-to-plan-revival-of-climate-change-panel-in-house" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">resurrected</a> by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2019 when Democrats took back control of Congress. It’s served as a platform for the party to highlight the consequences of climate change and potential solutions to reduce emissions and increase clean energy. It held dozens of hearings and produced an <a href="https://climatecrisis.house.gov/sites/climatecrisis.house.gov/files/Climate%20Crisis%20Action%20Plan.pdf" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">action plan</a> that called for limiting fossil fuel production, though the body lacks the power to advance legislation.</font></p><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Graves said that he and fellow House Republicans will instead focus on a strategy they </span><a href="https://www.republicanleader.gov/the-energy-climate-and-conservation-task-forces-solutions-to-restore-energy-dominance/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">previewed</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> over the summer that called for boosting domestic fossil fuel production and increasing liquefied natural gas exports</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">,</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> but that didn’t specify emission reduction targets. While it’s possible for House Republican leaders to re-brand the committee with a different name and focus, Graves said “there are no plans at this point” to do that.</span></font></div></blockquote><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.4em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A strategy that literally piles more fuel onto our planetary pyre.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.4em;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(Originally appeared at <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/19/2137306/-Republicans-plan-to-destroy-the-House-of-Representatives-climate-crisis-committee" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">DailyKos</a>)</font></span></p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://climatecrisis.house.gov/about/members">https://climatecrisis.house.gov/about/members</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">KATHY CASTOR</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Florida - 14</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">    </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Democratic Members</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep. Suzanne Bonamici</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SUZANNE BONAMICI</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oregon - 01</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">    </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep. Julia Brownley</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">JULIA BROWNLEY</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">California - 26</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">   </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep. Jared Huffman</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">JARED HUFFMAN</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">California - 02</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">    </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep. A. McEachin</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A. DONALD MCEACHIN</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Virginia - 04</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">    </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep. Mike Levin</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MIKE LEVIN</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">California - 49</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">    </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep. Sean Casten</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SEAN CASTEN</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Illinois - 06</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">    </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep. Joe Neguse</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">JOE NEGUSE</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Colorado - 02</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">    </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep. Veronica Escobar</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">VERONICA ESCOBAR</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Texas - 16</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">   </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Ranking Member</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Rep. Garret Graves</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GARRET GRAVES</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Louisiana - 06</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">    </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Republican Minority</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep. Gary Palmer</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GARY J. PALMER</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Alabama - 06</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">    </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep. Buddy Carter</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BUDDY CARTER</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Georgia - 01</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">    </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep. Carol Miller</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CAROL D. MILLER</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">West Virginia - 03</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">   </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep. Kelly Armstrong</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">KELLY ARMSTRONG</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">North Dakota - 00</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">    </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Rep. Dan Crenshaw</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DAN CRENSHAW</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Texas - 02</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">   </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep. Anthony Gonzalez</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ANTHONY GONZALEZ</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ohio - 16</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">    </font></div></div><div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 2.2rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 2.2rem;"><a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060122773/print" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060122773/print</font></a></p><section class="content" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; counter-reset: list-header-num 0; max-width: none;"><p style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">One has a deep background in climate and coastal adaptation. One is a good friend of the Koch political network. Two come from coal country.</font></p><p style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>The Republican roster for the climate change select committee </b>reflects the party's larger variety of stances on climate change, although its most outspoken advocates for aggressive action on emissions were left off.</font></p><p style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In short, the GOP is all over the place.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The roster of Republicans for the <b>Select Committee on the Climate Crisis,</b> announced yesterday by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), will be <b>led by Rep. Garret Graves.</b></font></p><p style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Louisiana lawmaker served on his state's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, where he helped craft a massive coastal restoration and levee program after Hurricane Katrina. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">And he was once a staff director for the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Global Climate Change and Impacts under then-Sen. David Vitter </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">(R-La.).</span></font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Graves is in some ways the quintessential Republican on climate. He's concerned about the effects of sea-level rise on his district, but he's not hesitant to tout the benefits of natural gas in reducing emissions or the "all of the above" energy agenda.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I've been working in this area for a while, and Louisiana's in a unique spot just because we have both sea rise facing us and we're one of the top energy producers," he told E&E News last month. "I think it's a unique perspective."</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Graves could use his spot on the panel to push climate adaptation measures for sea-level rise, which he said is "the threat that's closest to the door."</b> He's already worked on water infrastructure issues on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and was heavily involved in the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, a major set of disaster reforms enacted last year.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But other Republicans on the select committee have openly disputed climate science or have deeper ties to the fossil fuel industry and conservative donors who have long opposed action on climate change.</b></font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">They'll sit across from a group of Democrats, led by Chairwoman Kathy Castor of Florida,</span> who will be tasked with driving home and publicizing the party's message on climate change (<a href="https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060119927" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Greenwire</span></a>, Feb. 7).</font></p><h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Low scores, big dollars</font></h3><p style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Republican roster is primarily defined by low ratings from environmental groups and big campaign donations from the fossil fuel industry.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It also represents a mix of energy interests and could help rally around the Republican claim that natural gas and nuclear are the path forward on climate.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reps. Morgan Griffith of Virginia, Buddy Carter of Georgia, Gary Palmer of Alabama, Carol Miller of West Virginia and Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota round out the GOP roster.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>While all the GOP picks are conservative, Griffith and Palmer are members of the House Freedom Caucus, the hard-right group filled with climate deniers and deep doubts about the regulatory role of EPA.</b></font></p><p style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, a fierce EPA critic, recommended six members for the panel, but only Griffith made the cut</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. The Virginia lawmaker said he has not talked with the group about the opening.</span></font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An Energy and Commerce Committee member, Griffith has often fought EPA rules that target coal, a large economic driver in his district located in the southwestern part of the state. He has sought funding for the redevelopment of abandoned mines.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"As long as we make it clear they have to follow rules and realistic science, I am fine with it," Griffith said when asked about EPA's role in regulating greenhouse gases.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Griffith does not deny climate change but has raised concerns that other countries are doing less than the U.S. to cut global emissions, a common Republican line echoed across the Energy and Commerce panel.</b> He's an ally of the Koch political network, which helped him oust Democrat Rick Boucher, one of the lead authors of the 2009 cap-and-trade bill.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Asked about allies on the panel, Griffith said he gets "along well" with Palmer and knows Democratic Rep. Don McEachin of Virginia from their days in the state Legislature.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since his election to Congress in 2010, Griffith has taken more than $700,000 from the fossil fuel industry and electric utilities, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. He has a 5 percent lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Palmer, who sits on the Science and Transportation and Infrastructure committees, has gone further than many Republicans in questioning not only the cause, but whether climate change is even underway. </b>He has questioned the accuracy of global warming studies and was forced to correct himself in 2017 when he said Arctic ice sheets were expanding rather than, in fact, shrinking.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Palmer has consistently argued that Congress never gave EPA the right to regulate greenhouse gases and believes the courts are wrong in backing that right. Still, he told E&E last year it's "political nonsense" to say the GOP wants to eliminate all regulations, saying it only wants "sensible" ones.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Elected in 2014, Palmer has received $139,000 from energy and natural gas interests, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. He has a 1 percent lifetime LCV score.</font></p><p style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b style="">Carter has a similarly abysmal record in LCV's estimation</b>, coming in with a zero percent lifetime score, but he doesn't take as hard a stance on climate science.</font></p><p style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"I acknowledge that climate change is a problem," Carter said during his campaign last year, <a href="https://www.savannahnow.com/news/20181007/georgias-1st-congressional-district-candidates-differ-on-green-issues" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">according</a> to the <em style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Savannah Morning News</em>. "I question sometimes how much of it is man-made but I acknowledge that we need to address it and I've always done that."</font></p><p style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">His district runs the span of Georgia's coast and is near Plant Vogtle, currently the nation's sole nuclear power project.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The two freshmen selected for the panel hail from rural states heavily reliant on the fossil fuel industry.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Armstrong, an attorney who worked for his family oil business and owns a few hundred wells himself in North Dakota, is the sole congressman from a state with huge gas and oil holdings in the Bakken Shale.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He has argued against the United States going it alone on climate policy and prefers that states, not EPA, regulate the environment (<a href="https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1060111651" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><i style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">E&E Daily</i></a>, Jan. 11).</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Armstrong was elected to replace Kevin Cramer (R), who is now in the Senate, and his largest source of campaign donations was the oil and gas industries, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Miller, who won an open-seat race, is certain to tout White House policies that promote and protect domestic coal, one of West Virginia's leading exports. A bison farmer who owns a car dealership, she also has expressed doubts over federal spending on the expanding use of renewable fuels. In a year that saw a large number of women elected to Congress, Miller was the only new female GOP member.</font></p><h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">'I'll take that two ways'</font></h3><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While conservative and moderate climate activists praised Graves, there were also some notable omissions from the panel.</font></p><p style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Not a single member who was on the Climate Solutions Caucus last Congress made it onto the roster, nor did Reps. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), the two most outspoken House Republicans on climate issues.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
But Rooney suggested it might be a good thing he wasn't selected if the committee ends up being a forum for partisan bickering about established science.</span>Rooney had even asked McCarthy to be on the panel, as had Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), the former ranking member of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming from 2007 to 2011.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I'll take that two ways," Rooney told reporters yesterday. "First of all, it shows that they're not where I am yet, and it makes me feel really good about being where I am."</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Still, it's "a bit puzzling" that none of the Republicans from the Solutions Caucus made it onto the panel, said Steve Valk, spokesman for Citizens' Climate Lobby.</font></p><p style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"Graves appears to be a good pick for ranking member," Valk said in an email. "His district faces many challenges with climate change, and he's expressed the need for action."</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Alex Flint, executive director of the Alliance for Market Solutions, a conservative carbon tax group, similarly praised the selection of Graves.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"That is a clear signal that the Republican leadership is comfortable with someone who acknowledges climate change leading Republicans on this issue," Flint said in an email.</font></p><p style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But even Graves has just a 3 percent lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> and took more than $130,000 from oil and gas political action committees in the last election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.</span></font></p><h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">'We're speaking for ourselves now'</font></h3><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The mix of Republican ideologies — and the tension between deniers and nominal believers — is also evident elsewhere on Capitol Hill.</font></p><p style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On Wednesday, the </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b style="">Congressional Western Caucus gathered reporters outside the Capitol to rail against climate science and the "Green New Deal.</b>" House Natural Resources ranking member Rob Bishop (R-Utah) ate a hamburger, saying that the "Green New Deal" would ban cows, and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) falsely suggested that carbon dioxide is not bad for the planet because plants use it for photosynthesis (<a href="https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1060122637" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">E&E Daily</i></a>, Feb. 28).</span></font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Then, the next morning at the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change, the Republican climate evolution some activists have been claiming to see for years was on full display.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Members including Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and full committee ranking member Greg Walden (R-Ore.) continued to rebut the legality of the Paris climate agreement, but they also called for bipartisan climate action that stresses "innovation," pleas that would have been stunning just a few years ago.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We're speaking for ourselves now," as opposed to letting Democrats control the message on climate, Walden told reporters.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"There's a lot of stuff we can work together on," he added.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What that atmosphere means for climate legislation and for debates on the select committee is still not clear, but Rooney said he's hoping to turn freshly converted Republicans into carbon tax believers.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some Republicans might even jump on board with carbon pricing to counter the progressive "Green New Deal," which would rely heavily on government spending on infrastructure, research and development, Rooney said.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I think the 'Green New Deal' may have gotten people's attention," Rooney said. "It certainly got Walden's."</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Asked about carbon pricing yesterday as he ducked back into the House chamber, Walden didn't rule it out.</font></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I'm not going to get into all those discussions yet," he said.</font></p></section><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis</font></a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"> <b>House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis</b> is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Select_or_special_committee(United_States)" class="mw-redirect" title="Select or special committee (United States)" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">select committee</a> established in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/116th_United_States_Congress" title="116th United States Congress" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">116th United States Congress</a> in 2019 when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party(United_States)" title="Democratic Party (United States)" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Democrats</a> regained the majority of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="United States House of Representatives" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">United States House of Representatives</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[1]</a></sup> The Chair is Congresswoman <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Castor" title="Kathy Castor" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Kathy Castor</a> of Florida.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[2]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[3]</a></sup> The committee has no mandate or subpoena power to compel witnesses to testify.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[4]</a></sup></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Its predecessor was the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_Energy_Independence_and_Global_Warming" title="United States House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">United States House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming</a>, which existed from 2007 to 2011, and was not renewed when the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Republicans</a> gained control of the House for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/112th_Congress" class="mw-redirect" title="112th Congress" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">112th Congress</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[5]</a></sup></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi" title="Nancy Pelosi" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Nancy Pelosi</a>, in her then-role as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Minority_Leader" class="mw-redirect" title="House Minority Leader" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">House Minority Leader</a>, called for the Select Committee a week prior to Election Day<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[6]</a></sup>, telling the <i>New York Times</i> she wanted it to "'prepare the way with evidence' for energy conservation and other climate change mitigation legislation...Pelosi said it was clearly still needed to educate the public about the impact of more frequent extreme weather events."<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[7]</a></sup> </font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font face="Times New Roman" style="" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In November and December of 2018, youth climate activists with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunrise_Movement" title="Sunrise Movement" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Sunrise Movement</a> pushed House Democrats to form a select committee with the mandate to draft "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_New_Deal" title="Green New Deal" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Green New Deal</a>" legislation, working with incoming freshman Rep. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria_Ocasio-Cortez" title="Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a>, who proposed language for the committee's authorization.</span><sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[8]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> The activists staged a series of sit-ins in the offices of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi" title="Nancy Pelosi" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Nancy Pelosi</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steny_Hoyer" title="Steny Hoyer" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Steny Hoyer</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McGovern(American_politician)" title="Jim McGovern (American politician)" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Jim McGovern</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, the incoming Speaker, Majority Leader, and Rules Committee chair. About two dozen Democratic members of Congress supported their proposal, but the </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">incoming chairs of the Energy & Commerce and Natural Resources Committees, Reps. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Pallone" title="Frank Pallone" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Frank Pallone</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raul_Grijalva" class="mw-redirect" title="Raul Grijalva" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Raul Grijalva</a>, opposed it</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span><sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[9]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[10]</a></sup></font></p><div id="toc" class="toc" style="background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#Members,116th_Congress" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Members, 116th Congress</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#See_also" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">See also</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">3</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">References</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#External_links" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">4</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">External links</span></font></a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span id="Members.2C_116th_Congress"><span class="mw-headline" id="Members,116th_Congress">Members, 116th Congress</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Members, 116th Congress" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em;">]</span></span></span></font></h2><table class="wikitable" style="background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 0px; margin: 1em 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody><tr style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px;"><th style="padding: 0.2em 0.4em; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(234, 236, 240); text-align: center;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Majority</font></th><th style="padding: 0.2em 0.4em; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(234, 236, 240); text-align: center;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Minority</font></th></tr><tr style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px;"><td valign="top" style="padding: 0.2em 0.4em; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background: rgb(176, 206, 255);"><ul data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Castor" title="Kathy Castor" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Kathy Castor</a>, Florida, <i>Chair</i></font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span class="nowrap" style="white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Ray_Luj%C3%A1n" title="Ben Ray Luján" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Ben Ray Luján</a>, New Mexico</font></span></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzanne_Bonamici" title="Suzanne Bonamici" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Suzanne Bonamici</a>, Oregon</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Brownley" title="Julia Brownley" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Julia Brownley</a>, California</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Casten" title="Sean Casten" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Sean Casten</a>, Illinois</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Huffman" title="Jared Huffman" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Jared Huffman</a>, California</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Levin" title="Mike Levin" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Mike Levin</a>, California</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_McEachin" title="Donald McEachin" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Donald McEachin</a>, Virginia</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Neguse" title="Joe Neguse" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Joe Neguse</a>, Colorado<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[11]</a></sup></font></li></ul></td><td valign="top" style="padding: 0.2em 0.4em; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background: rgb(255, 182, 182);"><ul data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span class="nowrap" style="white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garret_Graves" title="Garret Graves" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Garret Graves</a>, Louisiana, <i>Ranking Member</i></font></span></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Palmer(politician)" title="Gary Palmer (politician)" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Gary Palmer</a>, Alabama</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Griffith" title="Morgan Griffith" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Morgan Griffith</a>, Virginia</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Armstrong" title="Kelly Armstrong" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Kelly Armstrong</a>, North Dakota</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Miller(politician)" title="Carol Miller (politician)" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Carol Miller</a>, West Virginia</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Carter" title="Buddy Carter" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Buddy Carter</a>, Georgia</font></li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: See also" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em;">]</span></span></font></h2><ul data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_mitigation" title="Climate change mitigation" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Climate change mitigation</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_policy_of_the_United_States" title="Climate change policy of the United States" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Climate change policy of the United States</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_global_warming" title="Effects of global warming" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Effects of global warming</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficient_energy_use" title="Efficient energy use" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Efficient energy use</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming" title="Global warming" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Global warming</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_resilience" class="mw-redirect" title="Energy resilience" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Energy resilience</font></a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.Climate_Change_Science_Program" class="mw-redirect" title="U.S. Climate Change Science Program" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">U.S. Climate Change Science Program</font></a></li></ul></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 2.2rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://thinkprogress.org/republicans-house-climate-change-committee-action-green-new-deal-graves-mcconnell-3e29225decee/">https://thinkprogress.org/republicans-house-climate-change-committee-action-green-new-deal-graves-mcconnell-3e29225decee/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">six Republicans named to a House select committee meant to address the mounting threat of climate change range in ideology and reflect the larger Republican Party’s shifting approach to discussing and addressing global warming.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> announced Thursday that </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Republican Reps. <span class="rollover-people" data-behavior="rolloverpeople" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Garret Graves</span> (LA), <span class="rollover-people" data-behavior="rolloverpeople" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Gary Palmer</span> (AL), Kelly Armstrong (ND), <span class="rollover-people" data-behavior="rolloverpeople" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Carol Miller</span> (WV), <span class="rollover-people" data-behavior="rolloverpeople" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Morgan Griffith</span> (VA), and <span class="rollover-people" data-behavior="rolloverpeople" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Buddy Carter</span> (GA) will all serve on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The lawmakers more broadly reflect a deeply conservative approach to climate change. Many are from states dependent on fossil fuels and are likely to complicate the committee’s work, which has already been curtailed by House leadership. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) formed the committee in January but declined to give the group legislative authority or subpoena power — limiting their ability to actually effect change.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But the selection also offers some surprises. Graves, who will lead the Republican coalition, accepts the science behind climate change and has cited the issue as a place where he breaks with many members of his party. While Graves <a href="http://scorecard.lcv.org/moc/garret-graves" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">has only a 3 percent lifetime rating</a> from the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), meaning his environmental voting record is relatively weak, he has proven more willing to engage on climate action than many other Republicans.</font></p><div class="connatix" cnx-creative-type="VideoMonetization" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-bottom: 30px;"><a style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255); cursor: default;"><cnx style="box-sizing: initial; display: block; line-height: 1; position: relative; z-index: 0 !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cnx class="cnx-hl-padding-container" style="box-sizing: initial; display: block; line-height: 1; position: relative; height: 0px; width: 700px; padding-bottom: 393.75px; z-index: 0 !important;">His state, Louisiana, is an oil and gas hub. But it is also deeply vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.</cnx><cnx class="cnx-hl-padding-container" style="box-sizing: initial; display: block; line-height: 1; position: relative; height: 0px; width: 700px; padding-bottom: 393.75px; z-index: 0 !important;" /></font></cnx></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255); cursor: default;"><cnx style="box-sizing: initial; line-height: 1; position: relative; display: inline !important; z-index: 0 !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cnx class="cnx-hl-bottom-container" style="box-sizing: initial; line-height: 1; position: relative; height: 64px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(210, 210, 210); transition: height 0.5s ease-out 0s; display: inline !important; z-index: -1 !important;">Louisiana’s coastline is sinking under the Gulf of Mexico at a rapid rate, </cnx></font></cnx></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2548/nasa-studies-a-rarity-growing-louisiana-deltas/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">losing around a football field’s worth of land</a> an hour as sea level rise lashes the coast. Devastating hurricanes like Katrina in 2005 have also scarred the state, which will be among those hit first and worst amid the heightening toll of global warming.</font></font></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Graves’ mainstream climate views are in line with the threat to his constituents and the lawmaker has proven open to measured action. When Graves chaired the Transportation Committee’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/republicans-pick-moderate-to-lead-on-pelosis-climate-change-committee" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">he supported programs</a> emphasizing climate adaption and mitigation. He also formerly managed the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, created in the aftermath of Katrina to assist with coastal restoration and hurricane protection.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That past track record, however, doesn’t fully counter Graves’ conservative credentials. A study in contradictions, the Louisiana Republican has seen support from organizations like Environmental Defense Fund, while also receiving the backing of the ultra-conservative Republican mega-donor Koch brothers.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, Graves <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary?cid=N00036135" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">also received $210,150</a> from oil and gas donors in 2018 alone.</font></p><div class="related-contentwrapper" style="box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://thinkprogress.org/number-of-climate-deniers-decline-congress-8a0e657a12af/" style="box-sizing: inherit; 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</source></source></source></source></source></source></source></source></font></picture></div></figure></a></div><div class="related-contentbody" style="box-sizing: inherit; width: 513px;"><h3 class="related-content__title" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 2rem; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">As ‘Green New Deal’ talk gains traction, lawmakers who deny climate change are on the decline</font></h3></div></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some of Graves’ peers on the climate change committee also have strong support from fossil fuel interests. Armstrong, of drilling hub North Dakota, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/industries?cid=N00042868&cycle=2018" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">received $217,751</a> from the oil and gas industry in 2018.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By contrast, the nine Democratic members of the committee <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/climate-panel_us_5c5c66cbe4b0d073e704216a" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-ylk="subsec:paragraph;cpos:3;elm:context_link;itc:0" data-rapid-parsed="slk" data-rapid_p="5" data-v9y="1" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">took a combined $198,000</a>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And apart from Graves, all Republican members of the committee have expressed a degree of skepticism about climate change, including Alabama’s Palmer who has twice <a href="https://palmer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/palmer-introduces-stopping-epa-overreach-act-2015-0" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">sought to keep the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)</a> from regulating greenhouse gases.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The EPA has repeatedly claimed fighting climate change as justification for crafting onerous regulations that limit carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other compounds that are both essentially harmless and in fact required for life to flourish,” the congressman claimed in 2015.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Emerging trends, however, would suggest that it is Graves and not Palmer who offers an indicator of where the Republican Party may be moving on climate change. <a href="http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-december-2018/2/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Recent polling</a> shows that the majority of Americans believe in climate change and are concerned about its impacts. That has been compounded new scientific assessments, like the 2018 National Climate Assessment (NCA) and a dire U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released last fall. Both reports warned that climate impacts are playing out now with dwindling time to avert heightened catastrophe.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lawmakers who express skepticism or outright deny climate change, meanwhile, <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/number-of-climate-deniers-decline-congress-8a0e657a12af/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">are on the decline</a>. That trend comes as some Democrats embrace radical climate action. <b>Three weeks ago, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced the Green New Deal resolution, </b>a blueprint for rapidly decarbonizing the U.S. economy in roughly a decade. Reactions to the proposal have varied dramatically even among Democrats — almost 90 House lawmakers and all Democratic 2020 presidential contenders in the Senate have signed on to the resolution, but many remain skeptical.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Republicans, meanwhile, <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/green-new-deal-socialism-cow-farts-2020-trump-ocasio-cortez-markey-c9ca93effede/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">have attacked the resolution</a> as “socialism” and argued it would decimate sectors of the U.S. economy, including agriculture. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) recently pledged to hold a vote on the Green New Deal resolution, in an effort to fracture unity among Senate Democrats. But <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/senate-house-democrats-green-new-deal-mcconnell-ocasio-cortez-b2c93c059247/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">that effort hit a stumbling block</a> as Democrats rallied behind a unity resolution acknowledging climate change and calling for congressional action to address the issue.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Other Republicans, meanwhile, are moving away from McConnell, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who broke ranks this week to oppose the appointment of EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler over his rollbacks of environmental regulations.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Others, like Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), <a href="https://www.citizen-times.com/story/elections/2015/01/22/burr-tillis-climate-change-global-warming-not-a-hoax/22170965/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">have acknowledged climate change</a> as its impacts take an increasing toll on their states.</b> More moderate Republicans are also increasingly embracing limited climate action responses like carbon pricing.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This shift toward a potentially more moderate take on climate change is reflected in the choice of Graves, but other omissions show Republicans are far from unified on even incremental climate action. Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL), arguably the Republican most committed to addressing climate change in the House, failed to make the cut for the climate committee.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And while he called Graves a “pretty reasonable guy,” Rooney told reporters on Thursday that his own exclusion from the committee speaks to a divide between his climate politics and Republican leadership.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It shows they are not quite where I am yet,” said Rooney, “and it makes me feel really good about being where I am.”</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div>