Oregon Rep. Suzanne Bonamici on Thursday was appointed to a high-profile committee focused on combating climate change.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the appointment of Bonamici and seven other Democrats to the new panel on a day that also saw the release of the Green New Deal, a sweeping legislative resolution that calls for moving the economy away from fossil fuels.
The Green New Deal was introduced by freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. Ocasio-Cortez, who has quickly developed a national following, had unsuccessfully urged Pelosi to give the new House committee broad powers to push her Green New Deal measure through the House.
Pelosi declined to do so, and Ocasio-Cortez was not appointed to the panel, the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. Instead, the panel will largely serve an advisory role while existing committees will chiefly deal with legislation.
Bonamici, who is one of the House sponsors of the Green New Deal, said in a statement that she’s honored by the appointment.
“We have the opportunity and the imperative to reverse and mitigate the worst effects of climate change,” she said, “by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to clean energy sources while creating new, good-paying jobs.”
In addition, Bonamici will continue to serve on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, which has jurisdiction over climate change research.
Sen. Jeff Merkley and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, both Oregon Democrats, also announced that they were sponsoring the Green New Deal resolution.
The non-binding resolution calls for the U.S. to mobilize “on a scale not seen since World War II and the New Deal” to combat climate change while creating good-paying jobs and providing economic security for all.
Pelosi on Wednesday seemed to dismiss the resolution in an interview with Politico, calling it the “green dream or whatever.” On Thursday, Pelosi said at a press conference that she hadn’t seen the legislation but welcomed the enthusiasm behind it.
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