The Climate Solutions Caucus is a bipartisan caucus of U.S. legislators supported by the Citizens' Climate Lobby whose members work to achieve action addressing the risks from climate change. The House of Representatives and Senate each have a caucus. The House caucus was founded in February 2016, during the 114th Congress, by representatives Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) and Ted Deutch (D-FL). The Senate Caucus was founded in 2019 by senators Mike Braun (R-IN) and Chris Coons (D-DE).
On November 27, 2018, House caucus members Ted Deutch (D-FL), Francis Rooney (R-FL), Charlie Crist (D-FL), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and John Delaney (D-MD) introduced the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (HR 763), which would implement a national carbon fee and dividend. It had also been introduced in the Senate in 2018 as S. 3791.
The 2018 midterm elections illustrated a growing partisan divide over climate, and one third of incumbent Republican members of the Caucus, including co-chair Curbelo, lost their seats. One study concluded that this showed limited value for GOP members in pursuing bipartisan climate action.
The House caucus went partially dormant after the 2018 elections, relaunching in 2023 with leaders Andrew Garbarino and Chrissy Houlahan.
Mission The House caucus web site describes the caucus as "working together to combat climate change while also protecting the economic prosperity of the United States. This is a group dedicated to building a constructive dialogue about climate change, economics, energy, and conservation among members of Congress, global leaders, environmental organizations, and business leaders."
House members, 118th Congress
Membership of the caucus is restricted to consist of equal representation of Republicans and Democrats. After the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections for the 116th Congress this rule was loosened, but strict balance was restored again in 2023 in the 118th Congress. In the 118th Congress, the members were as follows (independent Kevin Kiley (CA-03) caucuses with the Republicans):
Name Party DistrictAndrew Garbarino (co-chair) Republican New York's 2nd congressional districtChrissy Houlahan (co-chair)Democratic Pennsylvania's 6th congressional districtAmata Coleman Radewagen Republican American Samoa's at-large congressional districtAmi Bera Democratic California's 7th congressional districtAnn McLane Kuster Democratic New Hampshire's 2nd congressional districtAnna Eshoo Democratic California's 18th congressional districtAnthony D'Esposito Republican New York's 4th congressional districtBill Posey Republican Florida's 8th congressional districtBobby Scott Democratic Virginia's 3rd congressional districtBrad Schneider Democratic Illinois' 10th congressional districtBrendan Boyle Democratic Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional districtBrett Guthrie Republican Kentucky's 2nd congressional districtBrian Fitzpatrick Republican Pennsylvania's 1st congressional districtBrian Mast Republican Florida's 18th congressional districtCarlos A. Gimenez Republican Florida's 28th congressional districtDavid Joyce Republican Ohio's 14th congressional districtDavid Schweikert Republican Arizona's 6th congressional districtDavid Valadao Republican California's 22nd congressional districtDerek Kilmer Democratic Washington's 6th congressional districtDon Bacon Republican Nebraska's 2nd congressional districtDon Beyer Democratic Virginia's 8th congressional districtDusty Johnson Republican South Dakota's at-large congressional districtEarl Blumenauer Democratic Oregon's 3rd congressional districtEleanor Holmes Norton Democratic District of Columbia's at-large congressional districtJack Bergman Republican Michigan's 1st congressional districtJan Schakowsky Democratic Illinois's 9th congressional districtJenniffer González-Colón Republican Puerto Rico's at-large congressional districtJim Himes Democratic Connecticut's 4th congressional districtJimmy Panetta Democratic California's 20th congressional districtJohn Curtis Republican Utah's 3rd congressional districtJohn B. Larson Democratic Connecticut's 1st congressional districtJosh Gottheimer Democratic New Jersey's 5th congressional districtJuan Ciscomani Republican Arizona's 6th congressional districtJuan Vargas Democratic California's 51st congressional districtJulia Letlow Republican Louisiana's 5th congressional districtJudy Chu Democratic California's 27th congressional districtKevin Kiley Independent California's 3rd congressional districtKevin Mullin Democratic California's 15th congressional districtLori Chavez-DeRemer Republican Oregon's 5th congressional districtMarcus Molinaro Republican New York's 19th congressional districtMarcy Kaptur Democratic Ohio's 9th congressional districtMaria Elvira Salazar Republican Florida's 27th congressional districtMariannette Miller-Meeks Republican Iowa's 1st congressional districtMark Amodei Republican Nevada's 2nd congressional districtMatt Cartwright Democratic Pennsylvania's 8th congressional districtMatt Gaetz Republican Florida's 1st congressional districtMike Gallagher Republican Wisconsin's 8th congressional districtMike Lawler Republican New York's 17th congressional districtMike Thompson Democratic California's 5th congressional districtNancy Mace Republican South Carolina's 1st congressional districtNydia Velázquez Democratic New York's 7th congressional districtNick LaLota Republican New York's 1st congressional districtNicole Malliotakis Republican New York's 11th congressional districtPete Aguilar Democratic California's 31st congressional districtSalud Carbajal Democratic California's 24th congressional districtScott Peters Democratic California's 52nd congressional districtSeth Moulton Democratic Massachusetts's 6th congressional districtShri Thanedar Democratic Michigan's 13th congressional districtStacey Plaskett Democratic United States Virgin Islands's at-large congressional districtSusan Wild Democratic Pennsylvania's 7th congressional districtStephen F. Lynch Democratic Massachusetts's 8th congressional districtSuzanne Bonamici Democratic Oregon's 1st congressional districtTom Kean, Jr. Republican New Jersey's 7th congressional districtTony Gonzales Republican Texas' 23rd congressional districtTroy Carter Democratic Louisiana's 2nd congressional districtYoung Kim Republican California's 40th congressional district
Senate members, 116th Congress The Senate Climate Solutions Caucus was announced by senators Mike Braun (R-IN) and Chris Coons (D-DE) on October 23, 2019. The two Senators wrote in an op-ed announcing the caucus:
The Climate Solutions Caucus in the Senate is bi-partisan, the rules of the caucus require that new members may only join with a member of the opposite party to ensure that the number of Democrats and Republicans stays the same. All actions by the caucus require unanimous agreement among the members. The caucus membership for the 116th Congress is as follows (independent Angus King (I-ME) caucuses with the Democrats): Name Party StateMike Braun (co-chair) RepublicanIndianaChris Coons (co-chair)DemocraticDelawareAngus King Independent MaineDebbie Stabenow Democratic MichiganJeanne Shaheen Democratic New HampshireLindsey Graham Republican South CarolinaLisa Murkowski Republican AlaskaMarco Rubio Republican FloridaMitt Romney Republican UtahMichael Bennet Democratic ColoradoSusan Collins Republican MaineTammy Baldwin Democratic WisconsinJacky Rosen Democratic Nevada
See also Citizens' Climate Lobby Friends Committee on National Legislation Problem Solvers Caucus
References