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Inslee wins seat on congressional global-warming panel

9 March 2007

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) was named to the much anticipated House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.  The 15-member panel, established by a vote in the House on Thursday, is charged with investigating emerging technologies that could help address global warming and making recommendations on policies that would reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

“This is as much an economic opportunity as it is an environmental imperative,” said Inslee, a conservationist and longtime advocate of comprehensive clean-energy legislation.  “If we face it with as much optimism as the original Apollo Project, we’ll get the job done.”

U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) has been tapped to lead the first congressional panel to focus solely on climate change.  Other Democrats appointed to the committee include: U.S. Reps. Jerry McNerney and Hilda L. Solis from California, Emanuel Cleaver II from Missouri, John Hall from New York, Stephanie Herseth from South Dakota, Earl Blumenauer from Oregon, and John B. Larson from Connecticut.

Republicans members include U.S. Reps. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, John Shadegg of Arizona, Greg Walden of Oregon, John Sullivan of Oklahoma, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Candice Miller of Michigan.  Sensenbrenner will be the ranking member.

In January, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced her intention to create for the 110th Congress a new committee focused on global warming.  She argued it would help streamline the process of drafting climate-change legislation because at least eight separate House committees claim some jurisdiction over the issue.  Pelosi has said she wants the House to consider broad global-warming legislation this summer.

“I look forward to being a voice from Washington state as the policy framework for this revolution is crafted,” added Inslee, who serves on the House Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources committees.

In 2005, he introduced his New Apollo Energy Act, a bold legislative initiative, reminiscent of President John F. Kennedy's call for a mission to the Moon.  The 400-page bill is aimed at marshalling resources of the federal government to solve economic, environmental and security problems caused by our nation’s addiction to fossil fuels.  Currently, Inslee is writing a book on the clean-energy revolution.