Twenty-nine House Republicans are joining 29 House Democrats to resurrect the bipartisan House Climate Solutions Caucus, E&E News reported Friday.
The caucus will seek to find bipartisan compromise on green energy and climate initiatives, which the Biden administration has committed to spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to facilitate.
The bipartisan group is the latest iteration of the Climate Solutions Caucus, which sought to pursue bipartisan climate compromise during the trump administration and counted 90 representatives among its ranks before going effectively dormant after the 2018 midterm elections, according to E&E News.
Prominent Republicans joining the caucus include Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, and Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, according to E&E News.
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Legislators established a previous iteration of the caucus in 2016, but it was effectively defunct by 2018 after several of its prominent Republican members lost their seats in that year’s election cycle, according to E&E News.
One of the caucus’ first undertakings will be to examine solutions to the permitting process, which currently drowns crucial energy infrastructure development in bureaucratic red tape, according to E&E News. Neither of the caucus leaders provided details regarding the specific policies or bills they would like the caucus to consider, according to E&E News.
Prominent Republicans joining the caucus include Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, and Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, according to E&E News. Legislators established a previous iteration of the caucus in 2016, but it was effectively defunct by 2018 after several of its prominent Republican members lost their seats in that year’s election cycle, according to E&E News.
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The leaders of the caucus, Republican Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York and Democratic Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, became well-acquainted while attending the 2021 United Nations COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, according to E&E News.
“I’d like us to be active in discussions” on green policy, Garbarino said in a Thursday interview, according to E&E News. “Whatever climate bill that’s going to come out and become law, it’s going to have Republicans and Democrats; I think we could actually do some really good legislation and get it passed.”
“Climate change is real. The Biden Admin is using it as a cudgel to hurt people,” Gaetz said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “I’m a member of the caucus to advocate for free-market solutions. I also love trees.”
Gaetz voted in favor of Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy’s National Defense Authorization Act amendment Friday to prohibit the Department of Defense from using any funds to implement President Biden’s executive orders relating to climate change, according to a spokesman from his office.
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