Solving the Climate Crisis: A House Committee Report

By David Kline, CO CCL State Co-Coordinator

After a year-long process, the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis issued its report: Solving the Climate Crisis, The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and Healthy, Resilient, and Just America. The report was written by the Democratic majority staff. So far, we have not seen a report from the Republican members of the committee. Although we were hoping for a bipartisan effort, that has not happened. While disappointing in some respects, the report does provide insights that may help us in our discussions with members of congress and key environmental groups in Colorado.

The Committee proposes an ambitious goal, consistent with science-based targets, of emissions 45% below 2010 levels by 2030 and zero net emissions by 2050. To achieve this, the report contains twelve “pillars” of suggested congressional action that include most known methods for reducing emissions. They rely heavily on standards, investment, and justice: it's primarily a regulatory and federal spending approach more than a market-based one.

This approach—characterizing carbon pricing almost as an afterthought—reinforces the impression we have from talking to Colorado environmental NGOs that there is considerable skepticism for carbon pricing on the Left, with a preference for regulatory rather than market-based approaches. We are keeping that observation in mind in our ongoing discussions with those groups.

I helped write a summary of the report for CCL volunteers that appeared in the CCL Bulletin.