House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has created a select panel on climate issues as part of her overhaul of the U.S. House policy apparatus.
Republican leadership quickly filled out its allotted slots for service in the panel’s minority, one of which is now held by Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL), according to a release from his office.
Palmer is one of six Republican House members chosen for the committee. All six come from states with abundant energy-producing natural resources.
In response to his inclusion on the panel, Palmer expressed an eagerness to work on the issues surrounding the climate debate.
“I look forward to serving on the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis,” he said. “My hope is that the Committee will examine the underlying causes of ‘climate change’ and focus on sensible solutions.”
On Palmer’s appointment, House Republican Leader McCarthy said, “I am pleased to appoint Congressman Gary Palmer to the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. Gary’s commitment to common sense solutions will ensure we continue to make strides towards a healthy environment without sacrificing the other priorities of the American people.”
Pelosi said she foresees the Green New Deal proposed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) as one of the many proposals put before the panel, while also acknowledging the uncertainty surrounding its substance.
“It will be one of several or maybe many suggestions that we receive,” Pelosi said. “The green dream or whatever they call it, nobody knows what it is but they’re for it right?”
While the Obama administration may have forever changed the landscape in American energy production, China and India continue to grow their fleets of coal-fired plants at a break-neck pace.
Some conservative commentators have pointed to China and India’s commitment to coal for energy production as one of the major flaws in Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal.
Guys, if we’re really going to dream big and stop climate change in its tracks — if this is truly like WWII and we’re preventing global destruction — it’s time to bomb coal plants in China and India. We simply have no other choice.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) February 21, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez declined Pelosi’s invitation to serve on the committee.
The partisan composition of the committee consists of nine Democrats and six Republicans.
Tim Howe is an owner and editor of Yellowhammer News
