The Congressional Safe Climate Caucus this week welcomed nine new members into its ranks for the 116th Congress. With these new additions, the Safe Climate Caucus is officially 61 members strong. “We are honored to welcome our new members to the Safe Climate Caucus. As the Trump administration walks us back years in the fight to protect the environment and public health, the American people need committed public servants who will stand up to the White House and fight for action on the moral issu... Read more

Daily Press | In the latest effort to remove Virginia from offshore drilling plans, the state’s Democratic representatives in Congress are pushing federal officials to revoke seismic testing permits that include the waters off Hampton Roads. In a letter sent Tuesday to the heads of the departments of Commerce and the Interior, the Virginia delegation said the Trump administration’s draft five-year energy plan “runs counter to the explicit wishes of coastal communities up and down the Atlantic th... Read more

Today, the Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Chair of the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Tom Carper (D-DE), Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and co-chair of the Congressional Safe Climate Caucus Don Beyer (D-VA), led two letters sent to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Army Corps of ... Read more

Today, Representatives Jared Huffman (D-CA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Don Beyer (D-VA) and 56 other representatives introduced the “Still-In Resolution,” a bipartisan House Concurrent Resolution to reaffirm that Congress remains committed to the Paris Agreement to combat climate change. In response to President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, this House Concurrent Resolution has a simple, but strong, message: Congress is Still In. Climate change threaten... Read more

Today Rep. Don Beyer (VA-08) was named Co-Chair of the Climate Change Task Force for the New Democrat Coalition, along with Reps. Sean Casten (IL-06), Susan Wild (PA-07), and Elaine Luria (VA-02). The Climate Change Task Force will provide the New Dem perspective on combating climate change and building the green economy. Rep. Beyer plans to use his position on the task force to advocate for action on the climate crisis, and fight for solutions that spur economic growth and enhance climate resil... Read more

The Hill | Democratic Rep. Don Beyer (Va.) is throwing his support behind the progressive climate change vision known as the Green New Deal, and he thinks a carbon tax should be its driving policy. “A Green New Deal would use major infrastructure investments and policy changes to rapidly shift the U.S. economy towards clean energy solutions and away from greenhouse gas emissions in a way that grows employment in the green economy. This is an idea whose time has come, and I fully support it,” Bey... Read more

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) announced today that he has received an appointment to the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, one of the five exclusive House committees. Ways and Means has a wide breadth of jurisdiction, including health care, trade policy and tariffs, and oversight of Medicare and Social Security. It is the House Committee directly responsible for writing tax legislation, and the oldest standing committee in the United States Congress. Beyer said: “I am thrilled to accept this appo... Read more

Huff Post | Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has often said that he’s not afraid of a fight. In an interview with Breitbart News last month, the former Montana congressman and Navy SEAL dismissed reports that his days in the Trump administration were numbered as nothing more than rumors. “I’ve been in a lot of firefights. I don’t mind getting shot at,” he said. “It is better to charge up a hill under fire than cower in a foxhole.” ... Stepping down now “may spare Zinke some embarrassment, but it wi... Read more

The Hill | Democratic lawmakers joined conservation groups Saturday in cheering President Trump’s announcement that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is leaving his job by the end of the year. Zinke’s departure comes as Democrats prepare to take over as the majority in the House, which included gearing up to challenge policies created under Zinke and questioning a number of the secretary’s own ethical decisions. Under Zinke’s watch, the Interior Department carried out an aggressively pro-industry ag... Read more

Newsweek | Donald Trump’s Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will be leaving his post at the end of the year and top Democrat Chuck Schumer says “the swamp cabinet will be a little less foul without him.” “Ryan Zinke was one of the most toxic members of the cabinet in the way he treated our environment, our precious public lands, and the way he treated the [government] like it was his personal honey pot,” the Senate Minority Leader tweeted. Trump announced Zinke’s departure in a tweet on Saturday mor... Read more