In the News

Eight House Democrats are pushing automakers to join several fellow vehicle manufacturers in signing a deal with California that would sideline the Trump administration as it works to roll back fuel efficiency standards for vehicles. In a letter to 14 automakers on Wednesday, Democrats from the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition pleaded with them to join the deal, calling it “an important alternative to the administration's proposal to gut public health protections, reduce climate pollution, and create regulatory certainty for automakers.”

Eight senior House Democrats are asking 14 automakers to sign onto an agreement reached between California and four other major car companies last month to boost their average vehicle fuel efficiency to 50 miles per gallon by 2026. Their push, led by Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), follows a similar effort from 30 Senate Democrats last week and seeks to bring more automakers into the agreement, which serves as an alternative to the Trump administration's plan to freeze federal standards. The letter's other signatories included senior members of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition: Reps. Gerry Connolly (Va.), Donald McEachin (Va.), Chellie Pingree (Maine), Matt Cartwright (Pa.), Alan Lowenthal (Calif.) and Mike Quigley (Ill.). Matsui and Tonko are co-chairs of that group, along with Connolly.

Sen. Ed Markey hosted a bicameral meeting Tuesday with the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition that was attended by six senators and more than a dozen representatives. "The discussion was comprehensive, including hitting topics such as green infrastructure, energy efficiency, pushing committee chairs to make a plan for climate as a priority in their offices, putting a price on carbon, and reversing worsening trends on appropriations," a Democratic aide told ME.

The most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that we have barely more than a decade to take serious action on climate change if we are going to prevent its most catastrophic impacts. Experts advise robust improvements in energy efficiency, innovative polices that support electrification across our economy, and investments to deploy clean energy resources if we hope to prevent a global temperature increase that threatens all communities. These are areas where we should be able to find bipartisan support and should be included in a forward-thinking, broad reaching infrastructure plan.

Jared Polis, who won Colorado's gubernatorial race to become the nation's first openly gay governor-elect, is charting the state's bold path towards clean energy. The Democrat ran on a platform of transitioning Colorado to 100 percent renewable energy by 2040—the most ambitious renewable goal in the entire country. Polis had the endorsement of the Colorado Sierra Club, which praised Polis for being a leader on environmental issues during his time in Congress. The press release noted that Polis is a founding member of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition.

Members of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition sent a letter Tuesday to House and Senate appropriators urging higher funding levels for DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee member Alan Lowenthal, D-Calif., told American Shipper that Trump’s plan resembles a “skeleton” with “no meat on it,” in contrast with the House Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition’s plan. Lowenthal’s approach and SEEC’s plan seek to eschew the notion that environmental sustainability and economic growth are competing goals, he said. “What competes with economic development is a lack of money. That’s what stopped all these projects" Lowenthal said. "Yeah, we can always look at things that get in our way, but environmental protections are there for a reason, and we can work with them to create a better society for all involved.” SEEC co-chairs Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., Gerald Connolly, D-Va., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif., will "absolutely" follow up with Shuster and members of House GOP leadership to push for incorporation of their proposal in any sweeping infrastructure legislation, a spokesperson for the coalition said in an email. "The SEEC proposal would help make smart, long-term investments to restore critical public infrastructure and help ensure the U.S. economy remains ready to compete," she said.

A coalition of 55 House Democrats called the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition plans to release its own set of principles today, calling for investments in things like sustainable transportation, water infrastructure and reducing carbon emissions.