Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana has been named the top Republican of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s new climate change committee.
A spokesman for Graves confirmed Thursday to the Washington Examiner that Graves will be ranking member of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.
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Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., had earlier Thursday told reporters that he submitted the names of Republican members to the committee to Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida, who is the Democratic chairwoman of the panel.
“Thank you, Leader McCarthy, for your confidence in me and a great group of members to help lead the new select committee,” Graves said in a statement. “We look forward to working with Chair Kathy Castor to advance an all-of-the-above energy strategy that increases employment opportunity for generations, improves America’s competitiveness, and protects our environment.”
Graves represents a more moderate choice for Republican leadership. McCarthy had faced competing pressures from outside groups on whether to appoint a conservative skeptic such as Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc., as his top GOP committee member, or members with more mainstream views on climate change, such as Graves and another contender, Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Fla.
Other Republicans serving on the committee are Reps. Morgan Griffith of Virginia, Buddy Carter of Georgia, Carol Miller of West Virginia, Gary Palmer of Alabama, and Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota.
But GOP leadership spurned both Sensenbrenner and Rooney.
Rooney is the House Republican most aggressive about combating climate change, recently introducing a carbon tax bill.
Rooney said that the GOP representation on the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis is an early demonstration of the party’s approach to the contentious issue in the lead-up to the 2020 election.
“It shows they are not quite where I am yet, and it makes me feel really good about being where I am,” Rooney told reporters Thursday, referencing GOP leadership. “It’s probably just as good that I am not on it [the committee] if they are going to use it as a political weapon against the other side.”
Rooney complimented Graves, calling him a “pretty reasonable guy” who is “really smart in the environmental area.”
Graves represents a district feeling sea level rise, like Rooney.
Last Congress, Graves chaired the Transportation Committee’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, where he helped pass legislation on flood protection and encouraged federal disaster response and recovery programs to emphasize climate change adaptation and resilience to global warming impacts.
According to the House rules package establishing the committee, McCarthy was responsible for recommending six of the 15 members, including a ranking member. Democrats have already named their members.
House Democrats first created the select climate committee in 2007, but it was later disbanded by Republicans after they took control of the chamber in January 2011.
