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by Causes | 1.8.19

Climate change was a pivotal element of freshman Rep. Sean Casten’s (D-IL) successful campaign, but he’s not convinced that a new House committee on climate change has the right idea.
Casten is concerned that the goals of newly-elected progressive lawmakers, championed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), don’t align with political reality. He prefers to focus on policy approaches that stand a chance of passing a Republican-controlled Senate and White House.

Details

At least 15 Democrats have committed to Ocasio-Cortez’ \"Green New Deal\" proposal, which describes a massive economic stimulus package aimed at tackling climate change and environmental issues by 2020.

House Democrats’ selection last month of Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) to head a revived panel on climate change all but ended Ocasio-Cortez’ efforts to create a select committee tasked with drafting legislation for the Green New Deal. Nevertheless, the committee will still face strong pressure to take up elements of the proposal.

Casten, a former clean energy entrepreneur who made a career of cutting carbon emissions, explained his position to E&E News:

\"I desperately, desperately want to be involved in making a positive difference on climate change right away. It is the most important challenge of our lifetime. It's existential… [But] I don't want to spend two years talking about pie-in-the-sky things that would be great if we ever got the authority to do them… You can't just start charging people off a cliff.

Casten said he’d prefer to sit on the Energy and Commerce Committee, where he believes “expertise is” and where he thinks barriers to reducing emissions can be better addressed:

\"Some of the barriers to lowering CO2 emissions are tax barriers. Some of the barriers to lowering CO2 emissions are actually in the Clean Air Act itself. Some of the barriers to lowering CO2 emissions have to do with the way that capital is allocated by the private sector.\"

Technological limitations

Ocasio-Cortez also has called for the U.S. to transition to 100 percent renewable energy within 10 years. However, a recent scientific study warned that the renewable energy industry could be about to face a fundamental obstacle: shortages in the supply of rare metals that are critical components of such technologies as solar panels and wind turbines.

Absent a radical, global ramp-up in electronics recycling to recover and reuse rare earth metals, the study suggests a hard limit on the expansion of renewable technologies.

What do you think?

Do you want policy action to address climate change, but feel proposals like the \"Green New Deal\" may not be the answer? Why or why not? Tell your reps what you think, then share your thoughts below.

—Sara E. Murphy

(Image Credit: iStock.com / Petmal)

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