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United States House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis

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Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
Select committee
Defunct

United States House of Representatives
History
Formed2019
DisbandedJanuary 3, 2023
Leadership
ChairKathy Castor (D)
Vice chairGarret Graves (R)
The committee's logo, showing a silhouette of the Capitol dome before a warming stripes graphic depicting annual global temperature rise[1]
Greg Stanton speaking to the Committee about climate change in 2019

The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis was a select committee established in the 116th United States Congress in 2019 when Democrats regained a majority in the United States House of Representatives.[2] Its chair was Congresswoman Kathy Castor of Florida.[3][4] The committee had no mandate or subpoena power to compel witnesses to testify.[5]

Its predecessor was the United States House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, which existed from 2007 to 2011, and was not renewed when Republicans gained control of the House for the 112th Congress.[6]

Nancy Pelosi, in her role as House Minority Leader, called for the Select Committee a week prior to the 2018 House elections,[7] telling The New York Times she wanted it to "prepare the way with evidence" for legislation to mitigate climate change.[8] In November and December 2018, youth climate activists with the Sunrise Movement pushed House Democrats to form a select committee with the mandate to draft "Green New Deal" legislation, working with incoming freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who proposed language for the committee's authorization.[9] The activists staged a series of sit-ins in the offices of Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and Jim McGovern, 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. Frank Pallone and Raúl Grijalva, opposed it.[10][11]

The committee held its first field hearing on August 1, 2019, at the University of Colorado Boulder. The witnesses started with Colorado governor Jared Polis, followed by a panel that included the mayors of Boulder and Fort Collins, an expert in rural agricultural energy issues from Colorado State University, a representative of the oil and gas industry, and the director of the university's chief sustainability officer.

Following the November 2022 elections, the Republican Party obtained a majority in the House of Representatives. Garret Graves, the committee's ranking Republican, expressed an intent to end the committee.[12] On December 14, 2022, the committee released its final report.[13] The committee ceased to exist at the beginning of the 118th Congress on January 3, 2023.

Historical committee rosters

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116th Congress

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Majority Minority

117th Congress

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Majority Minority

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Served until his death on November 28, 2022.

References

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  1. ^ "United States House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis / About". United States House of Representatives. 2019. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Crediting Shawna Faison and House Creative Services.
  2. ^ "Democrats Establish a New House 'Climate Crisis' Committee". The Atlantic. December 28, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  3. ^ "Karen Castor named to lead restored House panel on climate change". The Guardian. December 28, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  4. ^ Curwood, Steve (January 11, 2019). "Living on Earth: Capitol Hill Panel on Climate Crisis". Living on Earth. World Media Foundation. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  5. ^ Zhang, Sharon (January 15, 2019). "Democrats Would Be Foolish Not to Embrace the Green New Deal". Pacific Standard. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  6. ^ H.Res. 5 (112th Cong.)
  7. ^ "HOUSE: Pelosi wants to resurrect select climate panel". Environment & Energy Publishing. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  8. ^ Fandos, Nicholas (October 31, 2018). "First Up if Democrats Win: Campaign and Ethics Changes, Infrastructure and Drug Prices". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  9. ^ Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria. "FINAL Select Committee for a Green New Deal".
  10. ^ Cook, Christopher D. (November 20, 2018). "Can the Blue Wave Deliver a Green New Deal?". The Nation.
  11. ^ Green, Miranda; Cama, Timothy (December 10, 2018). "More protesters storm Pelosi's office demanding climate change action". The Hill.
  12. ^ Frazin, Rachel (November 18, 2022). "House GOP expected to eliminate climate crisis committee". The Hill. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  13. ^ Cappabianca, Corina (December 14, 2022). "House climate crisis panel issues final report before GOP retakes chamber". Spectrum News NY1. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  14. ^ "Pelosi names members to climate panel". Politico. February 7, 2019.
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