House Republicans Plan to Ax Democrats’ Climate Crisis Committee

(Bloomberg) -- Republicans plan to kill a special committee focused on climate change when they take control of the House next year, the top GOP member of the panel said Thursday.

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“The climate crisis committee will not exist,” Louisiana Representative Garret Graves, the top GOP member of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, said in an interview. “I don’t think that’s really consistent with what we are going to be focused on.”

The committee was resurrected by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2019 when Democrats took back control of Congress. It’s served as a platform for the party to highlight the consequences of climate change and potential solutions to reduce emissions and increase clean energy. It held dozens of hearings and produced an action plan that called for limiting fossil fuel production, though the body lacks the power to advance legislation.

Read: GOP Plans to Offer Oil, Gas and Trees As Climate Fixes

Graves said that he and fellow House Republicans will instead focus on a strategy they previewed over the summer that called for boosting domestic fossil fuel production and increasing liquefied natural gas exports, but that didn’t specify emission reduction targets. While it’s possible for House Republican leaders to re-brand the committee with a different name and focus, Graves said “there are no plans at this point” to do that.

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and a spokesman didn’t respond to requests seeking comment Thursday about the future of the committee.

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