Republicans have added two new members to their roster representing the GOP on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, the Washington Examiner exclusively learned.
Reps. Dan Crenshaw of Texas and Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio are joining the committee under Republican Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana.
Graves is back as the ranking member of the committee, which Pelosi re-upped this year after she created it in 2019 at the beginning of the 116th Congress as a way to draw attention to climate change.
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Other returning Republicans include Reps. Gary Palmer of Alabama, Buddy Carter of Georgia, Carol Miller of West Virginia, and Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota. Rep. Morgan Griffith of Virginia is the only departing GOP member.
Graves in a statement said that the additions of Crenshaw and Gonzalez, who were both elected in 2019, “will be a real asset in our efforts to reduce global emissions while ensuring the U.S. economy continues to grow and our American workers are protected.”
Crenshaw, 36, a former Navy SEAL, is considered a rising GOP star by the Republican leadership. Gonzalez, also 36 and a former professional football player, was 1 of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump.
Pelosi in 2019 tasked the climate committee, which cannot write legislation, with producing a report on climate policy that would inform the work of committees of jurisdiction. Democrats released the report last year without the input of Republicans, proposing a suite of ideas that closely mirrored the policies President Biden ran on during the campaign.
Pelosi said that the committee still serves a purpose this year to help coordinate the aggressive climate policies proposed by Biden and other Democrats. Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida remains the Democratic chairwoman.
Republicans will use the committee as a vehicle to continue communicating an alternative climate change agenda to compete with Democrats, focusing on promoting innovation in clean energy technologies, such as carbon capture for fossil fuel plants and smaller nuclear reactors.
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Republicans intend to contrast their proposals with more aggressive policies, such as pricing carbon or mandating clean electricity use, that Democrats say are needed to avert the worst consequences of climate change.
