Climate Change and the Environment

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… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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 U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act: “The House of Representatives just sent a clear message to the White House and the rest of the world: we are still in the fight against climate change. “Today, we are… Read more »

Arlington Magazine |  Give us a snapshot of your district. We are the second-most-educated district in the country, second only to New York’s Upper East Side in college graduates. We are one of the wealthiest and certainly the most politically sophisticated. Politics and government are in our blood. It’s our hometown business. I never have to simplify things for audiences. At… Read more »

Today, Co-Chairs of the New Democrat Climate Change Task Force, Reps. Don Beyer, Sean Casten, Elaine Luria, and Susan Wild, released the following statement on Earth Day: "As we mark Earth Day, the planet faces environmental hazards which are already having significant impacts on the country. Recent scientific reports have made it clear that climate change is an existential threat to… Read more »