Some Congressional Democrats-- Not All-- Are Eager To Start Dealing Seriously With Climate Change

Ted Lieu invited all the House Dems to a special session of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, of which he was recently elected co-chair. Tomorrow's session is to go over the art of social media, particularly twitter-- and how members can use it effectively in their jobs. As special guests, Lieu invited freshman member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a representative from Twitter to work with some of the less tech-savvy, old school members. Some members of Congress, like Bernie (8.06 million twitter followers), Elizabeth Warren (4.75 million twitter followers), Ocasio (2.4 million twitter followers) and Lieu (914K twitter followers), have been able to advance policy ideas and bring large numbers of people into the national conversation through social media. I love the idea of long-serving members-- who are perpetually whining about how freshmen (particularly freshmen from the Bronx, Detroit, Boston and Minneapolis) should keep quiet and learn what makes Congress one of America's most hated institutions before they offer their perspectives, are going to learn something from one of those brand new freshmen. It's good for them and it's good for her. In fact, who knows what will happen... one day they may even be open to learning what a popular marginal tax rate is and what the Green New Deal means.

And... speaking of the Green New Deal and Lieu, we haven't really discussed his Climate Solutions Act here. He introduced it on January 9 and it is now one of five climate bills pending, in some ways the strongest of them and a great way to help drive the conversation. Take my word for it-- there is going to be a lot of discussion (fighting) within the House Democratic Caucus over what actions Congress can take on climate. When I first met Lieu, a happy California state senator with a family, I asked him why he would want to move to DC's corrupt den of vipers. He didn't hesitate for a moment: it was all about climate and environment, for his two young sons and for the people of California, the U.S. and beyond. There's plenty he wants to accomplish, but that appeared to be his top motivator.

So it didn't surprise me to see him go on record with an extremely ambitious bill.  More than most members he gets what a real national (global) emergency we're facing (now) and he's told me that if we don't start pushing the envelope now in what we are asking for, we won't get there in time to-- literally-- save the world. The bill had 10 immediate co-sponsors, all Democrats:

Nanette Barragan (CA)
Matt Cartwright (PA)
Steve Cohen (TN)
Rosa DeLauro (CT)
Jimmy Gomez (CA)
Barbara Lee (CA)
Grace Napolitano (CA)
Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)
Harley Rouda (CA)
Mark DeSaulnier (CA)

Basically, what the bill does-- you can read the whole thing here-- is encourage strong renewable energy standards by requiring that 100% of electricity sold in the U.S. is generated from renewable sources by 2035, while aggressively targeting greenhouse gases by requiring such emissions to be 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. This is a more aggressive version of bills be introduced in both the 114th and 115th Congress, each of which was bottled up in the House Energy and Commerce Committee by an on-the-take Republican chairman. It will be interesting to see what an on-the-take Democratic chairman, Frank Pallone, will do now.

"There is no threat greater to our nation’s security," said Lieu when introducing the bill, "than climate change. Failing to protect our planet will endanger the lives of millions, hurt our economy and jeopardize our children’s future. The wildfires in my district were worsened by drought conditions and are a sliver of what is in store if we fail to act. My bill is bold because we need to be bold on climate change. Now that Democrats are in the majority, we can and will be more aggressive on curbing the impact of climate change and creating a sustainable future for generations to come."

There are other excellent climate bills out there by Peter Welch (D-VT), one sponsored by Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), one sponsored by Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and, of course, the Alexandria Ocasio-sponsored Green New Deal from the Sunrise Movement, which has been endorsed by pretty much all the sponsors of the other bills as well.

I guess it would be out of the question for Pelosi to disinvite the illegitimate fake "president" from giving a State of the Union address based on his actions hastening the end of mankind of this planet. But for something more targeted, like the government shut down? That works.