No was particularly shocked in 2019, shortly after the Democrats took control of the House of Representatives that party leader and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi used that control to her advantage, creating several small “select” committees with which her party could further their agenda.
It’s also no surprise that one of those select committees was created for the sole purpose of handling what the political left has come to call the “climate crisis” in recent days. And thus, the “Select Committee on the Climate Crisis” was born.
To be clear, this Committee was established with absolutely no Republican input. And with very few GOP voices added to the Committee, it’s a clever way to get Democratic ideas pushed through with the least amount of push back.
Pelosi noted last year, in the aftermath of the Committee’s June report, “I wish it weren’t a fight, but it will be a fight as long as it needs to be. We will turn this report into law, saving the planet.”
However, there’s just one small problem with the Committee, well, several actually.
The first is that it doesn’t hold any real power. As a committee of this kind, its sole purpose is to do little more than report on recent changes in the climate and how those best might be dealt with. That report is then released, and Congress as a whole may or may not choose to put forth bills to address it.
Another problem is that, as the House has continued to lose its Democratic majority, the GOP has found more and more ways of making sure their voice is heard in select committees such as this one.
And they just received a massive gift.
As the Examiner recently reported, the Committee will be gaining two new members – and both are Republicans.
Furthermore, they aren’t just any Republicans.
Enter hard-hitting Texas Representative Dan Crenshaw and Ohio’s Anthony Gonzalez, who were just appointed to the Committee to begin the 117th Congress.
To be clear, these new members of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis are not the only GOP voices. For example, Representative Garret Graves from Louisiana is on the Committee and will remain the ranking members of his party.
However, it’s no stretch of the imagination to believe that these newest additions will drastically change the Committee’s process and be a “real asset” for bipartisanship.
And Graves basically said as much, remarking in a recent statement that the pair “will be a real asset in our efforts to reduce global emissions while ensuring the U.S. economy continues to grow and our American workers are protected.”
While both Crenshaw and Gonzalez are newcomers to the Committee and Congress as a whole, beginning their career there in 2019, you have likely heard of them both before.
Crenshaw, for instance, is known in large part for his former military career, in which he served our nation as a Navy Seal and even lost an eye in that service. And since his election into Congress, that fight hasn’t lessened. Instead of carrying a gun, he now uses his voice, and quite loudly at times, to fight for the American people’s rights.
In his short tenure on Capitol Hill, he has already introduced two bills that directly correlate to the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, both advocating for the use and expansion of carbon capture technology.
These efforts have led House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to speak very highly of the man.
He recently said, “When America is the leader in energy production, the world’s climate benefits. What we need isn’t to make energy production harder, we need leaders across the private sector and in Congress who can leverage innovative solutions to help make cleaner energy, and also provide Americans with good-paying jobs. Since coming to Congress, Representative Dan Crenshaw has embodied this idea. That is why I am proud to have selected him to serve on the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.”
McCarthy added, “I am confident that Dan will be an invaluable resource in helping the committee meet the challenges of the climate crisis.”
Crenshaw himself noted that his goal will be to move away from the idea that climate change ideas have to be either “inaction or economy-crushing regulations.” He said in a recent statement, “I look forward to serving on this committee to push for policies that will protect our environment and our economy and our energy independence all at the same time.”