FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
From left, representatives Brian Fitzpatrick, Elise Stefanik and Mia Love are the newest Republicans to join the bipartisan House Climate Solutions Caucus.
3 Republicans join Climate Solutions Caucus
WASHINGTON, JAN. 18, 2017 — Bipartisan efforts to solve climate change are alive and well in the 115th Congress, as three new Republicans announced this week they are joining the House Climate Solutions Caucus.
The new members – Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Rep. Mia Love (R-UT) – replace three of the four Republican caucus members from the 114th Congress who retired or lost their seats in last November’s election.
“Many people are buying the narrative that nothing significant will be done about climate change in the next four years,” said Mark Reynolds, Executive Director of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. “The addition of these Republicans to the Climate Solutions Caucus shows that assumption is premature and that there are Republicans and Democrats eager to work together on this critical issue.”
Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), who won re-election despite having his district redrawn to be majority Democrat, will again co-lead the caucus with Florida Democrat Ted Deutch. Curbelo was also named to the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which would have jurisdiction over any legislation to price carbon. With the addition of the three Republicans, membership for the Climate Solutions Caucus now stands at 18, with nine Republicans and nine Democrats.
“I am excited to welcome representatives Love, Stefanik, and Fitzpatrick as the newest members of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus,” said Curbelo. “I look forward to working with these new members and the rest of my colleagues to have serious conversations about what we can do to protect our environment without hurting our economy. I’m grateful to have such a varied group of partners in this effort and inspired that we’ve gained such great momentum only a few weeks into the 115th Congress.”
Co-chair Deutch said, “I’m thrilled to kick off the new Congress with a strong surge of bipartisanship by welcoming the newest members of the Climate Solutions Caucus, and I look forward to working with them on developing solutions to the challenges caused by climate change. Working with my Florida colleague Congressman Curbelo, this caucus will bring to the Hill substantive and productive conversations of what needs to be done to address this growing threat. From the record high King Tide levels in Fort Lauderdale to our at-risk U.S. Navy bases around the world, we must not waste any more time in taking action to bolster our resilience and preparedness.”
Statements from new members:
Rep. Stefanik:
“The Climate Solutions Caucus is a bipartisan group of lawmakers doing critical work to address this issue, and I am pleased to join. New York’s 21st district is the proud home of the Adirondacks and we understand that protecting our environment plays an important role in promoting economic growth and opportunity.”
Rep. Fitzpatrick:
“Washington needs independent voices now more than ever – especially when it comes to the environment and public health. The reality is, climate change is real and that humans are a contributing factor; leaders on both sides of the aisle must take serious and reasonable steps to protect our planet. The bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus will play a major role in shaping the discussion surrounding environmental policy in the 115th Congress and provide a lead role in dealing with the incoming administration’s plans regarding climate change. While there is room for debate and discussion on the issue, it is vital that we never politicize protecting our environment or let partisanship prevent Washington from accomplishing common goals.”
Citizens’ Climate Lobby is a grassroots advocacy organization with more than 300 chapters in the U.S. working to enact climate solutions, such as Carbon Fee and Dividend, which places a rising fee on the carbon content of fuels and returns the revenue from that fee back to households.
