Select committee | |
---|---|
Defunct United States House of Representatives | |
History | |
Formed | 2019 |
Disbanded | January 3, 2023 |
Leadership | |
Chair | Kathy Castor (D) |
Vice chair | Garret Graves (R) |
The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis was a select committee established in the 116th United States Congress in 2019 when Democrats regained a majority in the United States House of Representatives. [2] Its chair was Congresswoman Kathy Castor of Florida. [3] [4] The committee had no mandate or subpoena power to compel witnesses to testify. [5]
Its predecessor was the United States House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, which existed from 2007 to 2011, and was not renewed when Republicans gained control of the House for the 112th Congress. [6]
Nancy Pelosi, in her role as House Minority Leader, called for the Select Committee a week prior to the 2018 House elections, [7] telling TheNew York Times she wanted it to "prepare the way with evidence" for legislation to mitigate climate change. [8] In November and December 2018, youth climate activists with the Sunrise Movement pushed House Democrats to form a select committee with the mandate to draft "Green New Deal" legislation, working with incoming freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who proposed language for the committee's authorization. [9] The activists staged a series of sit-ins in the offices of Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and Jim McGovern, the incoming Speaker, Majority Leader, and Rules Committee chair. About two dozen Democratic members of Congress supported their proposal, but the incoming chairs of the Energy & Commerce and Natural Resources Committees, Reps. Frank Pallone and Raúl Grijalva, opposed it. [10] [11]
The committee held its first field hearing on August 1, 2019, at the University of Colorado Boulder. The witnesses started with Colorado governor Jared Polis, followed by a panel that included the mayors of Boulder and Fort Collins, an expert in rural agricultural energy issues from Colorado State University, a representative of the oil and gas industry, and the director of the university's chief sustainability officer.
Following the November 2022 elections, the Republican Party obtained a majority in the House of Representatives. Garret Graves, the committee's ranking Republican, expressed an intent to end the committee. [12] On December 14, 2022, the committee released its final report. [13] The committee ceased to exist at the beginning of the 118th Congress on January 3, 2023.
Majority | Minority |
---|---|
|
|
Majority | Minority |
---|---|
|
|
Nancy Patricia Pelosi is an American politician who served as the 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first woman elected as U.S. House Speaker and the first woman to lead a major political party in either chamber of Congress, leading the House Democrats from 2003 to 2023. A member of the House since 1987, Pelosi currently represents California's 11th congressional district, which includes most of San Francisco. She is the dean of California's congressional delegation.
Edward John Markey is an American lawyer, politician, and former Army reservist serving as the junior United States senator from Massachusetts since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served 20 terms as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 7th congressional district from 1976 to 2013. Before his congressional career, he was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1973 to 1976.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the furthest left-leaning faction of the Democratic Party. It was founded in 1991 and has grown since then, becoming the second-largest Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives.
A select or special committee of the United States Congress is a congressional committee appointed to perform a special function that is beyond the authority or capacity of a standing committee. A select committee is usually created by a resolution that outlines its duties and powers and the procedures for appointing members. Select and special committees are often investigative, rather than legislative, in nature though some select and special committees have the authority to draft and report legislation.
The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees the entire financial services industry, including the securities, insurance, banking and housing industries. The Financial Services Committee also oversees the work of the Federal Reserve, the United States Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other financial services regulators.
The 112th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2011, and ended on January 3, 2013, 17 days before the end of the presidential term to which Barack Obama was elected in 2008. Senators elected to regular terms in 2006 completed those terms in this Congress. This Congress included the last House of Representatives elected from congressional districts that were apportioned based on the 2000 census.
The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources or Natural Resources Committee is a Congressional committee of the United States House of Representatives. Originally called the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (1951), the name was changed to the Committee on Natural Resources in 1991. The name was shortened to the Committee on Resources in 1995 by the new chairman, Don Young. Following the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives in 2006, the name of the committee was changed back to its title used between 1991 and 1995.
The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming was a select committee of the United States House of Representatives. It was established March 8, 2007 through adoption of a resolution by a 269–150 vote of the full House.
The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2019, and ended on January 3, 2021, during the final two years of Donald Trump's presidency. Senators elected to regular terms in 2014 finished their terms in this Congress, and House seats were apportioned based on the 2010 census.
Green New Deal (GND) proposals call for public policy to address climate change along with achieving other social aims like job creation, economic growth and reducing economic inequality.
Rohit Khanna is an American politician and lawyer serving as the U.S. representative from California's 17th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated eight-term incumbent Democratic Representative Mike Honda in the general election on November 8, 2016, after first running for the same seat in 2014. Khanna also served as the deputy assistant secretary in the United States Department of Commerce under President Barack Obama from August 8, 2009, to August 2011.
Joseph D. Neguse is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Colorado's 2nd congressional district since 2019. The district is based in Boulder and includes many of Denver's northwestern suburbs, as well as Fort Collins. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a regent of the University of Colorado from 2008 to 2015. Neguse is the first Eritrean-American elected to the United States Congress and Colorado's first black member of Congress. Neguse has served as House assistant Democratic leader since 2024.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known by her initials AOC, is an American left-wing politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of the Democratic Party.
On January 3, 2019, the first day of the 116th United States Congress and two months after the 2018 U.S. House elections, the incoming members of the U.S. House of Representatives held an election for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. This was the 126th U.S. speaker election since the office was created in 1789.
Abigail Anne Spanberger is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from Virginia's 7th congressional district since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Spanberger is a former CIA officer.
Sean Thomas Casten is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 6th congressional district. The district covers southwestern Chicago, as well as many of Chicago's inner southwestern suburbs, such as Downers Grove, Wheaton, Lisle, Orland Park, and Western Springs. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Sunrise Movement is an American 501(c)(4) political action organization that advocates political action on climate change. When launched in 2017, the movement's goal was to elect proponents of renewable energy in the 2018 midterm elections, first in the Democratic primaries and then in the general election held on November 6, 2018. Since the midterm elections, the movement has been working towards shifting the Overton window on climate policy to center the environmental program known as the Green New Deal.
The Squad is an informal group of eight Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives. It was initially composed of four women elected in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. They have since been joined by Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri following the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections, and Greg Casar of Texas and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania following the 2022 elections. The Squad is well known for being among the most progressive and left-wing members of the United States Congress.
The 2018 New York's 14th congressional district election was held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. The primaries for New York's federal elections were held earlier in the year on June 26. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated incumbent congressman Joe Crowley in the primary, and went on to defeat Republican opponent Anthony Pappas in the general election.
Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal, sometimes just referred to as the Green New Deal, is a major resolution introduced in the 117th Congress. The Resolution calls for the creation of a Green New Deal which would create high paying jobs and prevent the Earth from exceeding 1.5°C of warming by investing in renewable energy and putting the United States on track for net-zero emissions.