Castor, Kathy Rep

<div>=</div><div><a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2019/10/23/google-spends-millions-on-climate-denial/">https://cleantechnica.com/2019/10/23/google-spends-millions-on-climate-denial/</a></div><div>
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</div><div>ew 519</div><div><div class="widgetbrief">Jessica CorbettProgressives are urging federal lawmakers to pursue a "real solution" to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">climate</a> crisis while House Democrats gear up for a vote this week on a bill to block President Donald <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">Trump</a> from ditching the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">Paris agreement</a>.</div><div class="js-appear-on-expand" style="transition: all 350ms ease 0s; height: auto; overflow: hidden; opacity: 1;"><div class=" rebellt-item is--desktop col1" id="rebelltitem1" data-id="1" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-action-now-act-2636094272.html?rebelltpage=1#rebelltitem1" style="">"This action from the House is better than no action at all, but not much better," Food & Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter said in a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/01/house-vote-paris-climate-agreement-little-more-nothing-all" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">statement</a> Wednesday. "Given all that's known about the severity of the climate crisis we face, and the urgent, aggressive action required to stem it, this legislation is merely symbolic."The legislation in question, the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/9/text" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">Climate Action Now Act</a> (H.R. 9), was <a href="https://castor.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?documentid=398936" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">introduced</a> in late March by Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.).In June of 2017, Trump <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/01/destructive-fossil-fuel-puppet-trump-ditches-climate-deal-fact-free-speech" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">vowed</a> to withdraw from the Paris agreement — but he can't officially take action until November of next year.</div><div class=" rebellt-item is--desktop col1" id="rebelltitem2" data-id="2" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-action-now-act-2636094272.html?rebelltpage=2#rebelltitem2" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">H.R. 9 would prevent the president from bailing on the accord — which is backed by <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/11/07/america-last-us-vs-entire-world-after-syria-agrees-join-paris-accord" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">every other country</a> on the planet — and require his administration to develop a public plan detailing how the U.S. "will achieve an economy-wide target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent below its 2005 level by 2025."Although a primary priority of the bill is keeping the country signed on to the agreement that coordinates global efforts to combat the climate crisis, E&E News <a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060249437" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">reported</a> Wednesday that "during a closed-door caucus meeting yesterday ahead of floor action today on H.R. 9, leaders told the rank and file to focus on the economic benefits of climate action and not 'some international standards.'""It's all about unleashing the clean economy here in America," said Castor, who chairs the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. "That agreement would allow countries to create their own goals — America did and it has already created a wave of green jobs."</div><div class=" rebellt-item is--desktop col1" id="rebelltitem3" data-id="3" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-action-now-act-2636094272.html?rebelltpage=3#rebelltitem3" style="">The bill's co-sponsors include Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/12/28/not-leadership-moment-calls-progressives-slam-pelosi-pushing-weak-climate-panel-over" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">created</a> the climate committee late last year, after Democrats took control the House in the midterms. Some progressives criticized the committee as a "weak" response to mounting demands for ambitious action on the scale of scientists' warnings about looming <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/10/08/un-experts-warn-climate-catastrophe-2040-without-rapid-and-unprecedented-global" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">climate catastrophe</a> — and they leveled similar criticism at H.R. 9 this week."Simply put, it's the junior varsity bill," RL Miller, chairman of the California Democratic Party's environmental caucus and co-founder of the political action committee <a title="About the group" href="http://climatehawksvote.com/about/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">Climate Hawks Vote</a>, told Bloomberg. "It's nice but extremely insufficient."</div><div class=" rebellt-item is--desktop col1" id="rebelltitem4" data-id="4" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-action-now-act-2636094272.html?rebelltpage=4#rebelltitem4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-01/pelosi-invokes-obama-to-head-off-ocasio-cortez-s-green-new-deal" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">reported</a> Wednesday that "Pelosi is trying to head off her party's restive progressive caucus by invoking the legacy of President Barack Obama to build support for a climate change bill that falls well short of the ambitions of the Green New Deal," a resolution sponsored in the House by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).Ocasio-Cortez told the outlet "there is no harm in passing" H.R. 9, but lawmakers can't stop there. "The idea that we can just reintroduce 2009 policies is not reflective of action that is necessary for now in the world of today," she said, reiterating the need for a Green New Deal.The resolution that Ocasio-Cortez <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/07/major-party-backing-ocasio-cortez-and-markey-unveil-green-new-deal-outlining-wwii" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">unveiled</a> in February with Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) calls for transitioning the American energy system away from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">fossil fuels</a> to 100 percent <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">renewable</a> sources over a decade, creating millions of green jobs, and providing for vulnerable communities impacted by the climate crisis.</div><div class=" rebellt-item is--desktop col1" id="rebelltitem5" data-id="5" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-action-now-act-2636094272.html?rebelltpage=5#rebelltitem5" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Green New Deal, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/18/warren-markey-and-pressley-join-launch-sunrise-movements-250-city-road-green-new" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">backed</a> by a youth-led grassroots movement, goes beyond the goals of the Paris agreement and more closely aligns with the demands of scientists and climate campaigners."The latest science is clear: In order to adequately address deepening climate chaos, we must transition completely to clean, renewable energy generation in little more than a decade," said Food & Water Watch's Hauter. "The terms of the Paris accord aren't low-hanging fruit, they're fruit that has fallen to the ground and begun to rot."The House kicked off debate on H.R. 9 Wednesday, and is expected to pass the bill as early as Thursday. However, the Republican-controlled Senate is unlikely to send the legislation to Trump's desk — and even if it does, the White House already <a href="https://twitter.com/AriNatter/status/1122979696252268544" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">issued</a> a veto threat.Despite the bill's legislative barriers and the Paris agreement's limitations, as Alden Meyer <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/alden-meyer/challenging-trump-withdrawal-from-paris-agreement" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">wrote</a> for the Union of Concerned Scientists Tuesday, the House's upcoming vote "will provide some hope to international observers that the United States may soon return to the fold of countries committed to climate action."But symbolic gestures aren't enough for Hauter, who called on lawmakers to actually address the problem."Any meaningful response from Congress to the climate crisis we face must include a quick halt to new fossil fuel development, including bans on oil and gas exports, and drilling and fracking on federal lands," she said. "Anything less cannot be considered part of a real solution."</div><div class=" rebellt-item is--desktop col1" id="rebelltitem6" data-id="6" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-action-now-act-2636094272.html?rebelltpage=6#rebelltitem6" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><twitter-widget class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" id="twitter-widget-3" data-tweet-id="1120772023083520005" style="position: static; visibility: visible; display: block; transform: rotate(0deg); max-width: 100%; width: 500px; min-width: 220px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><div data-twitter-event-id="6" class="SandboxRoot env-bp-350" style="max-height: 10000px; direction: ltr; background: 0px 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.4; white-space: initial; position: relative;"><div class="EmbeddedTweet EmbeddedTweet--cta js-clickToOpenTarget tweet-InformationCircle-widgetParent" data-click-to-open-target="https://twitter.com/orosane/status/1120772023083520005" data-iframe-title="Twitter Tweet" data-scribe="page:tweet" id="twitter-widget-3" data-twitter-event-id="7" style="overflow: hidden; cursor: pointer; border: 1px solid rgb(225, 232, 237); border-radius: 5px; max-width: 520px; position: relative;" lang="en"><div class="EmbeddedTweet-tweetContainer"><div class="EmbeddedTweet-tweet" style="padding: 20px 20px 10px;"><blockquote class="Tweet h-entry js-tweetIdInfo subject expanded" cite="https://twitter.com/orosane/status/1120772023083520005" data-tweet-id="1120772023083520005" data-scribe="section:subject" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none; border: none;"><div class="Tweet-header" style="display: flex;" /></blockquote></div></div></div></div></twitter-widget></div></div></div><div>
</div><div>...</div><div></div><div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis</a></div><div>
</div><div> House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis 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; 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; 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; 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; background: none;">United States House of Representatives</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-1" style="background: none;">[1]</a> The Chair is Congresswoman <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Castor" title="Kathy Castor" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kathy Castor</a> of Florida.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a> The committee has no mandate or subpoena power to compel witnesses to testify.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a>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; 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; 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; background: none;">112th Congress</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi" title="Nancy Pelosi" style="text-decoration-line: 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; background: none;">House Minority Leader</a>, called for the Select Committee a week prior to Election Day<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a>, telling the New York Times 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."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a> 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: none; text-decoration-line: 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: none; text-decoration-line: 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: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a>, who proposed language for the committee's authorization.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a> The activists staged a series of sit-ins in the offices of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi" title="Nancy Pelosi" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Nancy Pelosi</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steny_Hoyer" title="Steny Hoyer" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Steny Hoyer</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McGovern(American_politician)" title="Jim McGovern (American politician)" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Jim McGovern</a>, the incoming Speaker, Majority Leader, and Rules Committee chair. About two dozen Democratic members of Congress supported their proposal, but the incoming chairs of the Energy & Commerce and Natural Resources Committees, Reps. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Pallone" title="Frank Pallone" 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;">Frank Pallone</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raul_Grijalva" class="mw-redirect" title="Raul Grijalva" 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;">Raul Grijalva</a>, opposed it.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="direction: ltr; position: absolute; opacity: 0; z-index: -1; display: none;" /><div class="toctitle" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;" lang="en">
</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; background: none;">1Members, 116th Congress</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; background: none;">2See also</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; background: none;">3References</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; background: none;">4External links</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;">Members, 116th Congress[<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; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><table class="wikitable" style="background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); margin: 1em 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody><tr><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); padding: 0.2em 0.4em; background-color: rgb(234, 236, 240); text-align: center;">Majority</th><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); padding: 0.2em 0.4em; background-color: rgb(234, 236, 240); text-align: center;">Minority</th></tr><tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); padding: 0.2em 0.4em; background: rgb(176, 206, 255);" valign="top"><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" 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" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Castor" title="Kathy Castor" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kathy Castor</a>, Florida, Chair</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Ray_Luj%C3%A1n" title="Ben Ray Luján" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ben Ray Luján</a>, New Mexico</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzanne_Bonamici" title="Suzanne Bonamici" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Suzanne Bonamici</a>, Oregon</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Brownley" title="Julia Brownley" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Julia Brownley</a>, California</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Casten" title="Sean Casten" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sean Casten</a>, Illinois</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Huffman" title="Jared Huffman" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jared Huffman</a>, California</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Levin" title="Mike Levin" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mike Levin</a>, California</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_McEachin" title="Donald McEachin" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Donald McEachin</a>, Virginia</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Neguse" title="Joe Neguse" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Joe Neguse</a>, Colorado<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_the_Climate_Crisis#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a></li></ul></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); padding: 0.2em 0.4em; background: rgb(255, 182, 182);" valign="top"><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" 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" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garret_Graves" title="Garret Graves" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Garret Graves</a>, Louisiana, Ranking Member</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Palmer(politician)" title="Gary Palmer (politician)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Gary Palmer</a>, Alabama</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Griffith" title="Morgan Griffith" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Morgan Griffith</a>, Virginia</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Armstrong" title="Kelly Armstrong" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kelly Armstrong</a>, North Dakota</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Miller(politician)" title="Carol Miller (politician)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Carol Miller</a>, West Virginia</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Carter" title="Buddy Carter" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Buddy Carter</a>, Georgia</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;">See also[<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; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" 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" 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; background: none;">Climate change mitigation</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; background: none;">Climate change policy of the United States</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; background: none;">Effects of global warming</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; background: none;">Efficient energy use</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; background: none;">Global warming</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; background: none;">Energy resilience</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; background: none;">U.S. Climate Change Science Program</a></li></ul></div><div>=<a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060122773/print">https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060122773/print</a><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; border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Republican roster for the climate change select committee reflects the party's larger variety of stances on climate change, although its most outspoken advocates for aggressive action on emissions were left off.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In short, the GOP is all over the place.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The roster of Republicans for the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, announced yesterday by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), will be led by Rep. Garret Graves.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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. 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 (R-La.).<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"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."<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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." 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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">They'll sit across from a group of Democrats, led by Chairwoman Kathy Castor of Florida, 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="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; font-weight: bold;"><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;">Greenwire</a>, Feb. 7).<h3 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Low scores, big dollars</h3><p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Republican roster is primarily defined by low ratings from environmental groups and big campaign donations from the fossil fuel industry.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, a fierce EPA critic, recommended six members for the panel, but only Griffith made the cut. The Virginia lawmaker said he has not talked with the group about the opening.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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. 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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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. 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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Carter has a similarly abysmal record in LCV's estimation, coming in with a zero percent lifetime score, but he doesn't take as hard a stance on climate science.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"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="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; font-weight: bold;">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. "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."<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">His district runs the span of Georgia's coast and is near Plant Vogtle, currently the nation's sole nuclear power project.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The two freshmen selected for the panel hail from rural states heavily reliant on the fossil fuel industry.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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="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; font-weight: bold;"><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</a>, Jan. 11).<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<h3 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">'I'll take that two ways'</h3><p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">While conservative and moderate climate activists praised Graves, there were also some notable omissions from the panel.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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.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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"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."<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"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."<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Alex Flint, executive director of the Alliance for Market Solutions, a conservative carbon tax group, similarly praised the selection of Graves.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But even Graves has just a 3 percent lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters 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.<h3 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">'We're speaking for ourselves now'</h3><p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The mix of Republican ideologies — and the tension between deniers and nominal believers — is also evident elsewhere on Capitol Hill.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On Wednesday, the Congressional Western Caucus gathered reporters outside the Capitol to rail against climate science and the "Green New Deal." 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="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; font-weight: bold;"><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</a>, Feb. 28).<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"We're speaking for ourselves now," as opposed to letting Democrats control the message on climate, Walden told reporters.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"There's a lot of stuff we can work together on," he added.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">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.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I think the 'Green New Deal' may have gotten people's attention," Rooney said. "It certainly got Walden's."<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Asked about carbon pricing yesterday as he ducked back into the House chamber, Walden didn't rule it out.<p 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: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I'm not going to get into all those discussions yet," he said.</section>=</div><div>
</div><div><div></div><div><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/27/what-climate-leadership-looks-democrats-bill-would-stop-trump-ditching-paris-accord">https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/27/what-climate-leadership-looks-democrats-bill-would-stop-trump-ditching-paris-accord</a></div><div>
</div><div>House Democrats Wednesday introduced legislation to bar President Donald Trump from ditching the Paris climate accord and force the White House to submit a plan to slash carbon emissions, drawing praise from environmental groups.</div><p class="pullquote" style="font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; box-sizing: border-box; float: right; font-weight: 700; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px 20px; text-align: right; width: 263.344px;">"Donald Trump's attempt to withdraw the United States from this landmark agreement is one of his most egregious steps to weaken our country's international standing."  —Michael Brune, Sierra Club"The Climate Action Now Act sends a powerful message to the rest of the world that when it comes to climate change and the Paris agreement, President Trump is out of step with the strong majority of Americans who want the U.S. to be a global leader, not a rogue nation," Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/27/house-leaders-introduce-legislation-requiring-us-remain-paris-climate-agreement" style="box-sizing: border-box; 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;">statement</a>.The <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/blog/CASTOR_010_xml.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; 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;">bill</a> (pdf), also known as H.R. 9, comes nearly two years after Trump sparked global outrage by <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/01/destructive-fossil-fuel-puppet-trump-ditches-climate-deal-fact-free-speech" style="box-sizing: border-box; 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;">declaring his intent to withdraw</a> from the Paris deal. Under the terms of the agreement, the earliest possible withdrawal date is <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/08/trump-and-the-paris-agreement-what-just-happened/536040/" style="box-sizing: border-box; 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;">November 4, 2020</a>.If passed, the Democrats' legislation would block Trump from using federal funds to pull the U.S. from the Paris deal and require the president to develop a plan to meet the accord's emissions targets.The bill was unveiled at a press conference Wednesday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), and other House Democrats</div><div>
</div><div><div>=</div><div><h1 class="widgetheadline h1" style="margin: 10px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; word-wrap: break-word; line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a class="widgetheadline-text custom-post-headline" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/scott-pruitt-resignation-congress-2561438310.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; line-height: 31px;">Record Number of Lawmakers Sign Resolution Calling for Pruitt's Resignation</a></h1><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url expanded" data-elid="2561438310" data-authors="Lorraine Chow" data-headline="Record Number of Lawmakers Sign Resolution Calling for Pruitt's Resignation" style="margin: 10px; line-height: 24px;"><div class="body-description"><div class="widgetbrief" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A group of 39 senators and 131 representatives signed a <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/376735298/Resolution-Calling-on-Resignation-of-EPA-Administrator-Scott-Pruitt" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">resolution</a> calling for the "immediate resignation" of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Scott Pruitt</a>, the scandal-plagued U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">EPA</a>) administrator.The document represents a record number of senators to formally demand a cabinet official to step down.</div><div class="js-appear-on-expand" style="transition: all 350ms; height: auto; overflow: hidden; opacity: 1;">The resolution comes in the wake of Pruitt's growing list of controversies: his request for a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/scott-pruitt-epa-email-addresses-2560865264.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">$43,000 sound-proof phone booth</a> violated federal law; his <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-corruption-scandal-condo-2555549162.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">$50-a-night</a> stay at a Capitol Hill condo owned by the wife of an energy lobbyist; his questionable use of taxpayer money for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/scott-pruitt-travel-expenses-2537510018.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">first-class and charter flights</a>, as well as a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-pruitt-bodyguards-2500198933.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">'round-the-clock security detail</a>; and reports that he gave large pay raises to his closest aides.That's not to mention Pruitt's continued efforts to dismantle the legacy of the very agency he heads.Per the resolution, "The Agency is hemorrhaging staff and experts needed to protect the health, safety, and livelihood of millions of people of the United States, with <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-employees-leaving-2519323571.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">more than 700 employees</a> of the Agency having left or been forced out of the Agency during his tenure as Administrator.""By delaying the effective date of regulations, easing enforcement of existing regulations, and delaying implementation of new regulations, Administrator Pruitt is helping polluters at the expense of the health, safety, and livelihood of millions of people of the United States," it adds.No Republicans added their name to the document, even though Republican Reps. Elise Stefanik (NY), Carlos Curbelo (FL) and Illeana Ros-Lehtinen (FL.) have previously called for Pruitt's resignation or firing.The effort was led by Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) and Representative Kathy Castor (D-FL)."During his time in office, Pruitt has waged all-out war on the bedrock protections that keep our air and water clean, prevent toxic chemicals from contaminating our communities, and safeguard the health of our kids and families," Udall said. "He has done lasting damage to public health and safety—gutting the EPA's core mission—all to benefit his campaign donors and grease the wheels for his big polluter friends."
It's not just politicians who are calling for Pruitt's ouster. More than 30 environmental and civil rights organizations, including the <a href="http://www.naacp.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">NAACP</a>, the <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Sierra Club</a> and <a href="https://foe.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Friends of the Earth</a>, took out full-page newspaper ads on Wednesday in The New York Times, the New York Post and Pruitt's home-state paper, The Oklahoman, <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/383744-naacp-calls-for-pruitt-to-be-fired" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">The Hill</a> reported.Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has praised Pruitt—who has carried out the administration's deregulatory agenda—for "doing a great job."Trump is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/06/us/politics/trump-kelly-pruitt-fired.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">reportedly</a> fond of his EPA chief, even though John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, has urged the president to let Pruitt go."No one other than the president has the authority to hire and fire," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said earlier this month. "The president feels that the administrator has done a good job at EPA."She said the White House is conducting an internal investigation into Pruitt's conduc...</div></div></div></div><div>=</div></div><div>=</div><div><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07122017/scott-pruitt-epa-testimony-congress-hearing-climate-clean-power-plan-red-team-fossil-fuel-lobby">https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07122017/scott-pruitt-epa-testimony-congress-hearing-climate-clean-power-plan-red-team-fossil-fuel-lobby</a></div><div>
</div><div>For the first time since taking office, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt sat before a Congressional committee on Thursday to field questions about his controversial handling of the agency.Within the first hour, Pruitt told lawmakers he plans to replace the Clean Power Plan—the Obama administration's core legislation to cut carbon emissions—rather than just repeal it.Pruitt also said he would conduct a critique of a key finding that underpins <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/topic/climate-change" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">climate change</a> law using a "red team, blue team" exercise as soon as January."Beginning part of next year at the latest," Pruitt told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment during the hearing. "That would be a process that would be focused on an objective, transparent, public review of questions and answers around the issues around carbon dioxide," he said.This exercise would take aim at the EPA's 2009 "endangerment finding," which determined that carbon dioxide is a harmful pollutant and provides the scientific basis for federal regulation of greenhouse gases and the Clean Power Plan. Pruitt has long opposed the finding, arguing in court that the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which brings together thousands of scientists from around the world to synthesize the latest science on climate change, is flawed.The endangerment finding has been in the crosshairs of certain fossil fuel interests, including the conservative think tank Heartland Institute and Bob Murray, CEO of  the largest private coal company in the United States, which have pushed Pruitt to review it. Pruitt has mentioned the "red team, blue team" exercise before, but this was the first time he publicly announced a timeframe.  <h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.333; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'Signs of an Agency Captured by Industry'</h3>At the top of the hearing, members of the Republican majority thanked Pruitt for what they called his efforts to engage with state regulators and to roll back regulations.Democrats pointedly questioned Pruitt about growing influence within the EPA of industries the agency regulates, especially a recent directive that ushered industry-backed scientists onto influential <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09112017/scott-pruitt-epa-investigation-scientists-advisory-board-gao-congress" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">scientific advisory panels</a>."Rules across the agency are being undone capriciously," said Rep. Paul Tonko, (D-N.Y.) the subcommittee's ranking member. "I believe the EPA has all the signs of an agency captured by industry."Over the past several months, critics have pointed out that the peer-review process that underpins the science is already a much more rigorous "red team, blue team" process."Scott Pruitt's call for a 'red team, blue team' debate on climate change is a farce and a distraction," Peter Frumhoff, director of science policy for the Union of Concerned Sciences, said in an email. " If he has questions about climate science, he should turn to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, not hacks from the Heartland Institute."<h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.333; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'Why All This Secrecy?'</h3>Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J), the ranking member on the Energy and Commerce Committee, blasted Pruitt for attempting to scrap the Clean Power Plan and for urging Trump to withdraw from the 2015 <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/tags/paris-climate-agreement" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Paris climate agreement</a>. He also noted Pruitt's lavish expenditures, including the installation of a $25,000 "secret phone booth.""Why all this secrecy? One has to wonder," Pallone said, adding, "Even today, after finally agreeing to appear before his authorizing committee after 10 months, Mr. Pruitt is planning to leave after only one hour."The initial part of the hearing lasted only one hour so Pruitt could meet with President <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/tags/donald-trump" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Donald Trump</a> at the White House. It resumed in the afternoon, and Democrats pressed him on his travel and phone booth expenditures.  Rep. Diana Degette (D-Colo.) wanted to know how often he uses the secure phone booth installed this year and for what.Pruitt's reply: "It's used for secure communication that needs to take place at the office."<h3 dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.333; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Travel Expenses Amid Agency Cuts</h3>Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.) asked Pruitt about his frequent visits to Oklahoma, his home state—43 times in 92 days in March, April and May—as well as nearly $60,000 spent on private air travel since February. The agency's Inspector General is <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/28082017/epa-inspector-general-will-investigate-pruitts-travel-expenses" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">investigating</a> the expenses."Every trip that I've taken to Oklahoma with respect to taxpayer expenses has been business related," Pruitt said. "When I travel back to the state for personal reasons, I paid for that, and that will bear out in this process."Cardenas said the "costs are especially offensive given the severe cuts" the administration has proposed to the agency, including eliminating the office of environmental justice. "Are the American people supposed to believe that we cannot afford $2 million to help our most vulnerable communities, but we can afford tens of thousands of dollars for you to fly on private jets?" he asked.Pruitt responded that he had recently met with environmental justice employees within the agency. "Environmental justice is an important issue," he said.<h3 dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.333; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Meetings with Energy Companies</h3>In one of the more contentious exchanges, Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) repeatedly asked Pruitt if he would recuse himself from agency proceedings involving his allies in the energy industry. She noted that Pruitt, as Oklahoma attorney general, had sued the agency 14 times, and in eight of those cases, Murray Energy was a co-plaintiff."Given your extensive history of suing the agency you now oversee and the vast amounts of money you've raised from the fossil fuel industry, offering to recuse yourself from only active cases or only cases where Oklahoma is a party is grossly inadequate," Castor said. "So will you commit to recusing yourself from cases involving your past co-litigants and donors?"Pruitt pointed out that his associations and lawsuits were deemed not to violate ethics rules by the agency's ethics reviewer. "I will follow the advice of counsel," he said.Earlier this week, the EPA's Office of Inspector General said it would investigate a meeting Pruitt held in April with the National Mining Association about the Paris Agreement.Castor also asked how many times Pruitt had met with representatives from energy companies, including Peabody Energy and the utility Southern Company. Pruitt responded that he didn't know.When Castor asked again if he would recuse himself from some of the agency's proceedings, Pruitt would not give a definitive yes or no. Castor told him: "If you cannot do that, you will cement your legacy as one who serves the powerful special interests and not the public interest."Pruitt started to elaborate, but the subcommittee chair, John Shimkus (R-Ill.) cut him off, saying Castor's allotted time had elapsed.</div><div>=</div>