Dem Freshman Sean Casten Not Interested In Select Climate Cmte, But James Sensenbrenner Is
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"I don't want to spend two years talking about pie-in-the-sky things that would be great if we ever got the authority to do them," said Casten, who won his suburban Chicago seat by defeating six-term Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.). "Would I love 100 percent renewable energy? You betcha. Would I love a world that has a lot of green jobs? You betcha," Casten added.
But he said there are steps Congress could take in the interim. "You can't just start charging people off a cliff," he said. As an example, Casten talked about amending the Clean Air Act to encourage power plants to increase their efficiency — a proposal he floated during the 2018 campaign. Casten, who made a career of cutting carbon emissions by helping companies make use of wasted energy, also floated the possibility of finding ways to encourage the federal government to buy more clean energy.
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Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), who will chair the select committee, said she's expecting the panel's roster to be filled out sometime in the next one to two weeks. An aide for Pelosi gave a similar timeline. "I hope we'll have a blend of passionate, knowledgeable freshmen and experienced members," Castor said Friday.
On the Republican side, a few names have cropped up as potential ranking members. Reps. Francis Rooney of Florida and Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin have both reached out to Republican leadership about it, though they would offer decidedly different perspectives. Rooney was the co-sponsor of a carbon tax bill last Congress, while Sensenbrenner is a longtime skeptic and former ranking member of the last Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Castor said she doesn't know who will be ranking member and asked reporters last week whether they had heard any names.
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https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060111049
