House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is naming a handful of Republicans to the newly formed House committee designed to address climate change, E&E News reported Thursday.
McCarthy, a Republican from California, is expected to name GOP Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana as a ranking member on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, a panel Democrats resurrected after they retook the House during the midterms. Graves believes climate change and is considered a more moderate choice.
Graves served for several years on his state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and received the support of both Koch Industries and the Environmental Defense Fund. Other GOP members include Reps. Morgan Griffith of Virginia, Buddy Carter of Georgia, Gary Palmer of Alabama, Carol Miller of West Virginia and Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota.
Youths demonstrate for climate change during the “Fridays for Future” school strike, in front of the Ecology Ministry in Paris, France, Feb. 15, 2019. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
Conservatives are reacting to the news with relief. “We are relieved that Minority Leader McCarthy has not chosen a member of the Climate Solutions Caucus to be ranking member of the select committee,” Myron Ebell, a climate change director at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said in a statement to The Daily Caller News Foundation following the news.
Some worried McCarthy would choose Rep. Francis Rooney of Florida, a Republican who heads a bipartisan group called the Climate Solutions Caucus, which is supported by the Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
“Although Rep. Graves was not my first choice to be ranking member, I think he will do a good job and will be ably assisted by the other members appointed today, particularly Reps. Palmer and Griffith,” Ebell added.
Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida will chair the board and will likely start planning hearings as soon as the Republican members are named. (RELATED: Top Democrat On New Climate Change Panel Lays Out Her First Priority. It’s Not Ocasio-Cortez’s ‘Green New Deal’)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the creation of a special House climate committee in December. The committee doesn’t have the authority to introduce legislation or issue subpoenas, much to the dismay of Democrats who supported the so-called “Green New Deal.”
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