Climate Change

Climate Change represented by a split image of a healthy tree and a dead tree

Human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels, are warming our planet and changing our climate at a rate that cannot be attributed to natural variations. We are already feeling the effects of climate change in the form of warmer temperatures, extreme weather variations, rising seas, and ocean acidification. Comprehensive climate solutions are available to us today. Clean energy, energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture, and lower carbon transportation systems are possibilities right now, with existing technology. Growing an innovation economy will help to accelerate the deployment of these solutions while continuing to lower costs. Climate change is problem we cannot and should not neglect. Nearly every country on the planet, including the U.S., China, and India, have signed the Paris Climate Agreement to act on climate. If we continue to ignore the threats posed by climate change, we risk serious damage to our national and economic security, international collaboration, and the health and safety of our children, grandchildren, and all future generations.

More on Climate Change

May 20, 2014
House Adopts SEEC WRRDA Extreme Weather Provision

Washington, D.C.—Today, the House passed H.R. 3080, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA). The conference bill authorizes 34 water infrastructure projects and eight project modifications that provide for navigation of our waterways, flood protection, and environmental restoration.

May 19, 2014
Media Advisory: SEEC & Senate Environmental Groups to Host Event on Climate Threats

Washington, D.C. – Tomorrow evening, the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) and Senate Climate Action Task Force will host a panel discussion on the threat climate change poses to our health, security, and economy. To further inform the conversation, attendees will watch an episode from Showtime’s climate change documentary series “Years of Living Dangerously” examining the health and security implications associated with climate change. A Q&A session with the panel will take place after the screening.

SEEC May Newsletter
May 12, 2014
Newsletter
Issues: Climate Change Environment
May 6, 2014
Statement on the Third National Climate Assessment

Washington, D.C.—Today, the United States Global Change Research Program released our third National Climate Assessment (NCA). Required by Congress through the United States Global Change Research Act of 1990, the NCA is the product of four years of work by hundreds of our nation's top scientists. It provides the latest insights into the historical, current, and future state of climate in the United States.

SEEC April Newsletter
April 11, 2014
Newsletter
Issues: Climate Change Environment
Mar 27, 2014
Top Obama advisers brief House Dems on emissions agenda

From E&E:

President Obama's top two climate advisers yesterday met with Democrats in the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition to discuss his carbon emissions agenda, focusing on a new White House data initiative.

Mar 27, 2014
Top Obama advisers brief House Dems on emissions agenda
E&E News
President Obama's top two climate advisers yesterday met with Democrats in the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition to discuss his carbon emissions agenda, focusing on a new White House data initiative. John Podesta and Dan Utech, Obama's climate advisers, met with 19 of the coalition's 56 members to share details about the White House-centered elements of the president's government-wide Climate Action Plan, according to a source briefed on the meeting. The sit-down "primarily" looked at the Climate Data Initiative, a project unveiled last week to allow easy visualization of government scientists' projections for sea-level rise and other global warming effects at Climate.Data.gov (Greenwire, March 19). Agency actions, such as U.S. EPA rules for power plant emissions that are expected to advance to the next stage in their regulatory process within weeks, were "a part of" the meeting, but the White House played the central role in Podesta and Utech's discussion, the source explained, speaking on condition of anonymity. The coalition is eyeing future meetings with the European Union commissioner for climate action and the Bureau of Land Management.
SEEC March Newsletter
March 7, 2014
Newsletter
Issues: Climate Change Environment
Mar 6, 2014
SEEC Asks: GOP, What is Your Plan for Climate Change?
Washington, D.C.—Today the House Republican majority passed the Polluter Protection Act, yet another measure that would protect polluters by barring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from taking necessary action to reduce carbon pollution from power plants.
Mar 05, 2014
Wanted: A new Waxman for Dems’ green caucus

The House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition has built a caucus of 56 Democrats who are vowing to carry on Waxman’s legacy.

POLITICO Pro
Rep. Henry Waxman’s decision to retire at the end of the year has left greens wondering who will step in as House Democrats’ moral compass on environmental issues. But it might not be just one lawmaker who emerges as the chamber’s loudest voice on climate change and other hot-button topics. The House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition has built a caucus of 56 Democrats who are vowing to carry on Waxman’s legacy. “We’re not just leaving it to a handful of individuals,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the co-chair of the coalition, told POLITICO in a recent interview.
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