Politico: Wanted: A new Waxman for Dems’ green caucus

By Andrew Restuccia 

2/28/14

 

Rep. Henry Waxman’s decision to retire at the end of the year has left greens wondering who will step in as House Democrats’ moral compass on environmental issues.

 

But it might not be just one lawmaker who emerges as the chamber’s loudest voice on climate change and other hot-button topics.

 

The House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition has built a caucus of 56 Democrats who are vowing to carry on Waxman’s legacy.

 

“We’re not just leaving it to a handful of individuals,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the co-chair of the coalition, told POLITICO in a recent interview.

 

Connolly, who refers to members of the caucus as “green dogs,” says SEEC is trying to “institutionalize” the work that Waxman and others have done for decades on issues like climate change by building the broadest coalition possible.

 

“It’s not a handful of voices anymore. It’s large environmental crowd-sourcing,” he said, adding that SEEC is now the second-largest Democratic caucus in the House behind the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

 

Waxman’s retirement at the end of this Congress — along with the upcoming retirement of Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Ed Markey’s (D-Mass.) recent move to the Senate — will leave a gaping hole when it comes to House Democratic leadership on energy and environmental issues.

 

Waxman is one of the most vocal and high-profile advocates for action on climate change in Washington and he has spent years sparring with his Republican counterparts on the issue. He also co-authored the cap-and-trade bill that passed the House in 2009 and subsequently died in the Senate.

 

While there’s a brewing fight over who will replace Waxman as the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the top two contenders — Reps. Frank Pallone (N.J.) and Anna Eshoo (Calif.) — aren’t seen as particularly green-minded. Eshoo has devoted much of her attention to technology policy and Pallone has focused on healthcare issues.

 

That’s where SEEC comes in.

 

“They were such powerful voices with institutional memory that their absence requires cohesiveness,” Connolly said, referring to Waxman and Dingell.

 

Leaders of the caucus, which was formed in 2009, say they hope to function as a “think tank” that counters Republican talking points on everything from fracking to President Barack Obama’s climate change regulations.

 

Armed with messaging of their own, they plan to help Democrats push back on Republican claims. Connolly, for example, said his work at SEEC helped him counter former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s claim that Obama’s regulations are killing the coal industry.

 

“I just ate him alive,” Connolly said.

 

Still, SEEC members acknowledge that it’s unlikely they’ll make much legislative progress on their green agenda as long as House Republicans hold on to their majority.

 

To that end, the group is hoping to reach beyond the halls of Congress to build more public support for environmental policies.

 

“A lot of this discussion has to be put into a bigger picture,” said Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), who co-chairs SEEC along with Connolly and Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.).

 

“You’ve got to move away from the normative and talk more about the practical, imminent impacts of global warming on me as a citizen,” Connolly added. “It’s one thing to talk in the abstract, it’s another to show your community.”

 

SEEC holds semi-regular meetings with administration officials and leaders of the energy and environmental community to offer its ideas about key policies and educate members.

“By bringing us together in the numbers that we’ve now realized, we’re able to reach out to presenters to get real-life experience,” Tonko said.

 

Past speakers include EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and billionaire anti-Keystone activist Tom Steyer.

 

The group is also talking to the White House about scheduling a meeting with Dan Utech, Obama’s energy and environmental adviser, and John Podesta, the newly installed White House adviser to Obama on a range of issues including climate change.

 

And while SEEC has a close relationship with the administration and often works to promote Obama’s climate agenda, Connolly stressed that the coalition isn’t afraid to press the president to do more.

 

“We’re not here as pure acolytes or cheerleaders for the administration. We’re here as stewards and guardians of the environmental mandates themselves,” he said. “That relationship is one of supporting sometimes, and prodding and pushing some other times.”