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

SEEC Co-Chairs applaud passage of sustainable recovery policies as first step

December 21, 2020 Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – SEEC Co-Chairs Reps. Doris Matsui, Gerry Connolly and Paul Tonko made the following statement in response to the passage of SEEC priorities in the end-of-year-funding package.

Co-Chairs Applaud the Nomination of SEEC Member Rep. Deb Haaland

December 18, 2020 Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – SEEC Co-Chairs Reps. Gerry Connolly, Paul Tonko and Doris Matsui made the following statement in response to the announcement that the Biden-Harris Adminstration will nominate SEEC Member Rep. Deb Haaland for the role of Interior Secretary.

Sustainability leaders call for aggressive increases in clean energy innovation funding

July 29, 2020 Press Release

Washington D.C. – Today leaders in the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), led by Vice-Chair Rep. Matt Cartwright, introduced a bill to authorize robust increases in funding to advance clean energy innovation in the next four years. The legislation demonstrates a path to quickly scale up clean energy investments in the coming years, both to address the climate crisis and promote job creation and a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic.

SEEC Leadership applauds passage of the Moving Forward Act

July 1, 2020 Press Release
Washington D.C. – Today the leaders of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) made the following statement in response to the passage of H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act in the U.S. House of Representatives:

House Democrats push aid for wind and solar in new infrastructure bill

June 23, 2020 In The News
House Democratic leaders included extensions of tax breaks long sought by the renewable energy sector as part of a $1.5 trillion infrastructure package. The decision to include them is a victory for environmentalists and environmentally minded Democrats in Congress, who had pressed for more aid to the clean energy sector, which has lost 620,000 jobs since the start of the pandemic. In a letter last week, eight leaders of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition told Pelosi and other Democratic leaders the emergency payroll loans for small businesses were not enough to save the jobs of many solar panel installers and wind turbine technicians. “[I]t’s hard to keep workers on payroll even with federal support when the projects employees would return to are collapsing,” they wrote.

Clean energy, environmental justice must be part of the plan as we rebuild our economy

June 22, 2020 In The News
As Rep. Chellie Pingree and other leaders of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition said in a letter Monday, this is a rare opportunity to remake America’s economy in a more energy-efficient way. The group listed numerous bills and administrative actions that should be taken as the country responds to, and ultimately emerges from, the coronavirus pandemic. These include dedicated support for the clean energy sector — and its more than 3 million employees — in any future relief packages that are passed by Congress. They also suggest changes to tax incentives, loan programs and federal funding for renewable energy, water treatment, transportation infrastructure, land conservation and others. They also highlight how federal investments, clean energy and environmental protection are intertwined with concerns about racial and economic inequality and justice. There is an urgency to this work. World leaders have a short time — perhaps only six months — to capitalize on the carbon dioxide emission reductions that have accompanied the pandemic, an international energy expert told the Guardian newspaper.

House Sustainability Coalition Submits Energy and Environment Requests to Leadership

June 18, 2020 In The News
The leaders of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition have delivered a letter asking Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and nine committee chairs to use coronavirus recovery legislation to promote a sustainable economy. The 17-page document, provided to Morning Consult, outlines specific policy across such topics as electric grid infrastructure, transportation and equity and environmental justice. Some of these policy objectives, SEEC Executive Director Maria Laverdiere said, are expected to appear in the House Democrats’ $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan.

SEEC Leadership Calls for Sustainable Relief & Recovery; Outlines Policy Pathways

June 18, 2020 Press Release
Washington D.C. – Today, the leaders of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and House Committee Chairs calling for sustainable relief and recovery legislation in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Democrats prepare to push clean energy in recovery packages

June 8, 2020 In The News
House Democrats are ratcheting up pressure to insert financial help for clean energy into upcoming bills, setting up a clash with GOP lawmakers who’ve so far derided attempts to aid renewables as a bid to implement the Green New Deal. Evergreen Action, a collection of former staffers on Gov. Inslee's presidential campaign, has released its own plan outlining ways for Democrats to boost clean energy as part of recovery. They’ve briefed House and Senate Democratic leadership on their proposals and did the same with the House Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition on Friday.

Group of House Democrats Prepping Letter on Climate Priorities as Leadership Considers Future Pandemic Relief

May 20, 2020 In The News
Setting their sights on a fifth coronavirus economic relief package, the leaders of the House sustainability coalition are drafting an outline of clean energy, infrastructure and other climate priorities to share with the chamber’s leadership. Rep. A. Donald McEachin (D-Va.) said in a statement that the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition “will continue to strongly advocate for clean energy policies that support workers and family-sustaining jobs, along with other sustainability policies that advance the cause of environmental justice and promote the development of sustainable infrastructure.” McEachin, a vice chair of the coalition, confirmed that the group is staying in touch with House leadership, encouraging a “climate-smart” rebuild following the coronavirus pandemic “with the future in mind.” And according to McEachin spokesperson Ralph Jones, SEEC’s detailed outline of policy priorities will come in the form of a letter from the group’s eight leaders, with the goal of supporting a future recovery bill.