House lawmakers are officially reviving the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus.
Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Fla., co-chairman of the caucus, confirmed the group’s comeback to the Washington Examiner. The caucus plans to have its first “organizing meeting” next week.
“I’d like to think we can continue to speak about these issues and get some more traction with some of the Republican members on climate change,” Rooney said in a phone interview Friday. “We have had a few Republicans say some things recently to speak up about climate change. It’s just that they haven’t gone as far as me. I am trying to rally support to get more people on board to where I am.”
The status of the Climate Solutions Caucus had been in doubt after it suffered huge losses of Republican members in November’s midterm elections, as Democrats won seats held by centrist GOP members in swing districts.
Former Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., created the Climate Solutions Caucus in February 2016 with Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., to “explore policy options that address the impacts, causes, and challenges of our changing climate.”
Curbelo lost a competitive race in his left-leaning South Florida district. Deutch remains the Democratic co-chairman.
The remaining 20 or so GOP members who won reelection, led by Rooney, vowed to rebuild it rather than fold, as some Democratic critics would prefer. At its peak before the election, the caucus had 90 members, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans.
Rooney, who has introduced carbon tax legislation, says he aims to impose standards on which members can join the caucus, in response to criticism from some Democrats accusing GOP members of using the group as political cover for poor environmental records.
Only one other caucus Republican, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, has also endorsed a carbon tax. Rooney said he’s received interest from at least three new Republicans interested in joining the caucus, but he wouldn’t name them.
Rooney said he and Deutch would try to reach an agreement on ground rules for members at next week’s meeting.
“What I am hoping to propose is to get everyone in the caucus to vote for some environmental measure,” Rooney said. “It would give the caucus a little more legitimacy.”
Since the last session of Congress, climate change has emerged as a more urgent issue thanks to the Green New Deal, so it’s questionable how relevant the Climate Solutions Caucus will be.
The caucus will be competing for airtime with the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, a select committee with nine Democrat and six Republican members created by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to raise awareness to the threat of climate change.
