CCL statement on House Climate Solutions Caucus relaunch

July 2023 – Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) is glad to see the Climate Solutions Caucus reigniting its efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives. We appreciate Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY-02) and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-06) for their leadership in co-chairing the group, and we applaud their commitment to restoring bipartisan parity among caucus membership.

American politics still desperately needs more bipartisan climate efforts. This caucus was one of the first explicit spaces for those efforts in Congress, and it remains one of the few dedicated spaces for those efforts to continue. Climate change should not be a wedge issue in our politics. The Climate Solutions Caucus helps bridge the gap and build common ground.

CCL is proud of our role in helping the Climate Solutions Caucus form in 2016 and grow significantly. 

In those early years, bipartisan pairs of representatives stepping up to join the caucus together was, in itself, worthy of celebration. CCL staff and volunteers considered ourselves enthusiastic cheerleaders for the Climate Solutions Caucus’s existence and growth. 

Today, thanks in part to persistent citizen lobbying from our grassroots volunteers, Congress has passed many examples of bipartisan climate legislation. Compared to 2016, much more bipartisan climate action has happened, and it’s clear that more is still possible.

It’s also clear that climate change has continued to advance at alarming rates, with extreme weather harming millions of Americans through extreme heat, poor air quality, and flash flooding in the last few weeks alone.

With all of that in mind, Citizens’ Climate Lobby now expects the Climate Solutions Caucus to achieve more than its previous iterations. We plan to push its members for more ambition and action than ever. 

We will continue to celebrate growing caucus membership, but it’s not enough for representatives simply to join the caucus. We are hoping to see — and our grassroots volunteers will be lobbying for — meaningful bipartisan climate legislation.