The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis was a

select committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system) A select committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues originating in the Westminster system o ...

established in the

116th United States Congress 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 Janu ...

in 2019 when Democrats regained the majority of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. The chair is Congresswoman

Kathy Castor Katherine Anne Castor (born August 20, 1966) is an American politician and lawyer currently representing in the United States House of Representatives, serving since 2007. The district, numbered as the 11th district from 2007 to 2013, is base ...

of Florida. The committee has no mandate or subpoena power to compel witnesses to testify. 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 the Republicans gained control of the House for the

112th Congress 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 ...

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

, in her then-role as House Minority Leader, called for the Select Committee a week prior to Election Day 2018, telling the ''New York Times'' she wanted it to "'prepare the way with evidence' for

energy conservation Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavior to use less service (f ...

and other

climate change mitigation Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases or removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caused by emissions from fossil fuels bu ...

legislation ... Pelosi said it was clearly still needed to educate the public about the impact of more frequent

extreme weather Extreme weather or extreme climate events includes unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Often, extreme events are based on a locat ...

events." In November and December of 2018, youth climate activists with the

Sunrise Movement 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, fi ...

pushed House Democrats to form a select committee with the mandate to draft "

Green New Deal Green New Deal (GND) proposals call for public policy to address climate change along with achieving other social aims like job creation and reducing economic inequality. The name refers back to the New Deal, a set of social and economic re ...

" legislation, working with incoming freshman Rep.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of ...

, who proposed language for the committee's authorization. The activists staged a series of sit-ins in the offices of

Steny Hoyer Steny Hamilton Hoyer (born June 14, 1939) is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. representative for since 1981 and as House Majority Leader since 2019. A Democrat, Hoyer was first elected in a special election on May 19, 19 ...

, 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 Frank Joseph Pallone Jr. (; born October 30, 1951) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving since 1988. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 3rd district from 1988 to ...

and

Raúl Grijalva Raúl Manuel Grijalva (; born February 19, 1948) is an American politician and activist who has served as the United States representative for since 2003. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 7th from 2003 to 2 ...

, opposed it. The committee held its first field hearing on August 1, 2019, at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado. The witnesses started with Colorado Governor

Jared Polis Jared Schutz Polis (; born May 12, 1975) is an American politician, entrepreneur, businessman, and philanthropist, serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since January 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 20 ...

, followed by a panel that included the mayors of

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

and

Fort Collins A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, an expert in rural agricultural energy issues from

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado S ...

, a representative of the oil and gas industry, and the director of the Boulder university's chief sustainability officer. Following the November 2022 elections, the Republican Party obtained a majority in the House of Representatives.

Garret Graves Garret Neal Graves (born January 31, 1972) is an American politician serving as the United States representative from Louisiana's 6th congressional district since 2015. Early life Garret Graves was born on January 31, 1972, to John and Cynthia ( ...

, the committee's ranking Republican, expressed an intent to end the committee. On December 14, 2022, the committee released its final report. The committee ceased to exist at the beginning of the

118th Congress The 118th United States Congress is the next meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It is scheduled to meet in Washing ...

on January 3, 2023.

Historical committee rosters

116th Congress

117th Congress

Notes

References

{{reflist

External links

Archived version of now-defunct official website

Climate Crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term describing global warming and climate change, and their impacts. The term and the alternative term ''climate emergency'' have been used to describe the threat of global warming to humanity (and their planet), and to u ...