The Energy 202: Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus tries to find footing in new political reality

By Dino Grandoni
June 21 at 8:38 AM
THE LIGHTBULB

The Climate Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers seeking to find a consensus about how to tackle climate change, is still trying to find its footing in the new Congress.

It held its first meeting of the year on Thursday. But only four members showed up.

And the caucus, once dubbed “the Noah's Ark caucus" for having an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, is now tilting leftward. The blue wave in the 2018 election helped wash away roughly half of the caucus's GOP members, who lost in either races against Democrats or through retirement. Many of them, including caucus co-founder Carlos Curbelo of Florida, were moderates who lost tight contests.

Now another coastal Florida Republican, Francis Rooney, is picking up the pieces and rebuilding the group. “We're trying to rev up some more enthusiasm,” Rooney told reporters in the hallway after the meeting.

The new co-chair chalked up the meeting's low attendance to the sheer number of other commitments lawmakers had this week as the House tees up a number of spending bills. "This is probably not a good week to do the meeting," he said. "We're going to have to regroup and find a better time."

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