Safe Climate Caucus co-chairs Reps. Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) and Don Beyer (VA-08) released the following statement today after the Trump administration announced its replacement for the Clean Power Plan: “After decades of progress, the United States’ air quality has slipped for the first time in decades under President Trump. One day after this report, the Administration announced its plan to rollback clean air standards that safeguard public health and help us act on the climate crisis. “This Ad... Read more

Rep. Don Beyer (VA-08) released the following statement today after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would move the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture to Kansas City: “Once again, the Trump administration is toying with the lives of hardworking civil servants. Secretary Perdue’s decision to relocate the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture will have adverse effects on many families in Virginia’s Eighth Congr... Read more

U.S. Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA), David Schweikert (R-AZ), and Anthony Brown (D-MD) today introduced the Securing Energy for our Armed Forces Using Engineering Leadership (SEA FUEL) Act, which would direct the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to invest in carbon capture technology. “We have an opportunity to address both carbon emissions and military readiness with the SEA FUEL Act,” said Congressman Don Beyer. “We know that we need to address increased concentration of carbon i... Read more

Today, the New Democrat Coalition Climate Change Task Force expressed support for the House passage of H.R. 1921 – the Ocean Acidification Innovation Act (Rep. Kilmer), H.R. 1237 – the COAST Research Act (Rep. Bonamici), and H.R. 1716 – the Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act (Rep. Pingree). These pieces of legislation expand research and innovation to understand and address ocean acidification and coastal community vulnerabilities, which are driven in large part by climate change. The b... Read more

Today, ahead of Endangered Species Day on May 17, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative Don Beyer (D-Va.) introduced the bipartisan Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act of 2019 to begin reversing the tide of habitat loss and fragmentation for America’s fish, wildlife, and plant species – a major factor in species decline and extinction. The legislation would give authority to key federal agencies to designate National Wildlife Corridors on federal lands in order to create a comp... Read more

Today Rep. Beyer issued the following statement on the report issued by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) outlining wasteful spending on travel by disgraced former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt: “The OIG investigation confirms the warnings that I and others made at the time about Scott Pruitt’s gross abuse of his official position. Pruitt owes the American people a lot of money and he should pay them back. The OIG report also makes it clear that P... Read more

Rep. Don Beyer today led 68 bipartisan Members in a letter to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt urging him to withdraw a politically motivated proposal to delist gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act. The Members voiced concerns over the science underlying the proposal and highlighted that while gray wolves have made strides in the recovery process, populations continue to struggle in regions of the United States with suitable habitat. The Members argued that delisting would harm not onl... Read more

Today, Congressional Safe Climate Caucus co-chairs Reps. Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) and Don Beyer (VA-08) released the following statement after the Arctic Council failed to issue its final declaration because the United States refused to mention climate change: “Just last week, the House of Representatives passed, on a bipartisan basis, legislation to ensure we honor our commitment to the Paris Agreement. It is unacceptable that days later the Trump administration again acted unilaterally against t... Read more

WyoFile | An influential cattlemen’s group is trying to rescind a U.S. Interior Department big game migration route protection order that brought $3.2 million to Wyoming in the last three months. The 121-year-old National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says stockmen and women haven’t been considered in the program spawned by former Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s Secretarial Order 3362. The year-old order seeks to improve habitat in Western big game migration routes and winter ranges and di... Read more

EOS | The U.S. House of Representatives today (2 May) approved legislation that directs President Donald Trump to honor the nation’s commitments under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, despite Trump’s earlier pledge to withdraw the United States from the accord. The Climate Action Now Act, formally known as House Resolution 9, requires the administration to develop and update the nation’s plan to meet its “nationally determined contribution” (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. That NDC includes a t... Read more