With the second Trump administration underway, the Possibly team takes a look at a group hoping to shape the country’s energy policy: a Republican caucus in the House of Representatives.
Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.
In Washington, action on climate seems to fall pretty much along party lines. But in recent years a group of Republicans in the House of Representatives has come together to call for serious climate solutions. They’re called the Conservative Climate Caucus or the CCC.
What does this group stand for? And how might they influence climate in Congress?
We had Charlie Adams and Nat Hardy from our Possibly team investigate.
Charlie Adams: Hello!
Nat Hardy: Hi, Megan!
Megan Hall: So when did the Conservative Climate Caucus get started?
Nat Hardy: The CCC launched in 2021, with around 40 members. Today it has over 80. That makes it the second largest caucus in the Republican party.
Megan Hall: Who are its members?
Charlie Adams: There’s quite a range of perspectives. To learn more, we talked to Jackie Hunley, the executive director of the caucus.
Jackie Hunley: It’s really diverse, right? So we have members with nuclear facilities in their district. Congresswoman Kiggans is from Virginia, she has offshore wind in her district. We have membership in Oregon, Washington, and we have membership from traditional fossil fuel producing states as well.
Nat Hardy: Jackie says that diversity among the members is part of what makes their caucus stronger.
Megan Hall: Got it, but I imagine it could also make coming to agreements on climate harder. What does the CCC believe in?
Charlie Adams: The caucus’ official stance is that “The climate is changing, and decades of a global industrial era that has brought prosperity to the world has also contributed to that change.”
Megan Hall: Sounds right to me. So does that mean they support moving away from using fossil fuels?
Nat Hardy: Not exactly. The caucus’ website continues by saying, “With innovative technologies, fossil fuels can and should be a major part of the global solution.”
Charlie Adams: Keeping fossil fuels in the picture comes from an idea that the caucus’ leaders and other experts we spoke with call an “all of the above” energy policy.
Megan Hall: How does that work?
Nat Hardy: To learn more, we talked to Philip Rossetti, a senior fellow for Energy and Environment at the R Street Institute, a center-right free market think tank. He says,
Philip Rossetti: So all of the above is just this idea that you’re not going to have the government dictate what the energy solution is going to be.
Charlie Adams: The idea is that the US should use the energy sources it has – be it natural gas, oil, or renewables – in order to stay economically competitive.
Nat Hardy: But as you might have guessed, many climate scientists disagree with this approach, they say we need to reduce our emissions as quickly as possible.
Charlie Adams: The science shows that if we don’t significantly reduce our fossil fuel use, the world won’t hit net zero by 2050.
Nat Hardy: And if we miss that goal, our planet will reach temperatures that would really push the limits of our ability to adapt to climate change.
Megan Hall: Got it, so what is the caucus doing to act on their ideas?
Charlie Adams: So far the CCC has only existed under the Biden administration. During that period members largely spent their time critiquing the President’s climate actions.
Nat Hardy: And none of the members of the caucus voted for The Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, which created funding for all sorts of climate projects.
Charlie Adams: But, two years after the bill passed, a handful of those caucus members called on Republican leadership to keep some of the IRA’s energy tax credits. So it’s a mixed bag.
Nat Hardy: Jackie says the CCC has also served an educational role, helping to brief members of Congress on climate policies and share legislative fixes.
Megan Hall: What do they plan to do now that Republicans have control of Congress and the White House?
Charlie Adams: Jackie says they want to reform the way the government approves large infrastructure projects- like new transmission lines or oil pipelines.
Nat Hardy: She also expects them to push to overturn some parts of the Inflation Reduction Act – like the tax breaks for electric cars.
Charlie Adams: But they’ll probably try to keep parts of the IRA that incentivize manufacturing and energy production, and benefit Republican districts.
Nat Hardy: Of course, Republicans have a pretty narrow control of the House, so it’s unclear exactly what this group can actually accomplish.
Charlie Adams: But it’s worth noting that the influence of the caucus is growing. One of its former members is Trump’s pick to lead the EPA.
Nat Hardy: So we’ll have to stay tuned and see what happens once they are shaping policy.
Megan Hall: Great! Thanks, Charlie and Nat!
That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, at askpossibly.org. You can also subscribe to Possibly wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or Bluesky at “askpossibly”
Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.
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