Climate Change and the Environment

Congressman Don Beyer today announced that he introduced bipartisan legislation, in partnership with Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ),  to stop seismic airgun blasting along the Atlantic seaboard. While offshore petroleum extraction is off limits in the Atlantic until at least 2022 due to a recent Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) decision, permits for seismic airgun blasting remain… Read more »

Ranking Member of the Oversight Subcommittee, Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), joined Science Committee Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Congresswoman Katherine Clark (D-MA), and Congressman Paul Tonko (D-NY) in delivering the following statement on the Chairman’s issuance of eleven subpoenas to the Massachusetts and New York attorneys general (AGs) and a number of… Read more »

Congressman Don Beyer released the following statement on his vote against the H.Con.Res. 89, which expresses the sense of Congress that a carbon tax is detrimental to the United States economy: Read more »

Rep. Don Beyer wrote House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s (SST) Chairman Lamar Smith today, in response to his missives to seventeen state attorneys general, including Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, and eight environmental organizations requesting documents related to their work on climate change. The Smith letters, signed by thirteen Republican SST… Read more »

Congressmen Don Beyer (D-VA) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ) led 49 other Members of Congress in writing to thank President Obama for the Department of the Interior’s decision to remove the Atlantic Ocean from the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Program.  The decision removes the Atlantic from any offshore drilling plans until 2022. “Offshore drilling… Read more »

Congressman Don Beyer expressed his strong approval of the Paris Agreement, signed today as part of a celebration of Earth Day in a ceremony in New York City.  “The Paris Agreement contains the kind of bold action needed to address climate change,” said Rep. Don Beyer. “Climate change represents the most significant threat to future generations. Our commitment today is crucial to… Read more »

Congressman Don Beyer welcomed today’s announcement from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell to protect Atlantic states, including Virginia, from offshore drilling. “One of the first things I did in Congress was join my fellow Virginia Congressmen Gerry Connolly and Bobby Scott in urging Secretary Jewel to block offshore drilling in Virginia,”… Read more »

Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) voiced his support for the joint agreement announced today by President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to reduce methane emissions. The leaders announced today’s agreement in a ceremony at the White House to greet the Canadian Prime Minister, the first official visit by a Canadian head of state in two decades. “Today’s accord between… Read more »

U.S. Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) introduced legislation today that would require the federal government to measure the outdoor recreation industry’s impact on the U.S. economy. The Outdoor Recreation’s Economic Contributions (REC) Act would direct the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis… Read more »

2015 was the hottest year in recorded history, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Both agencies confirmed today that the global average temperature recorded in 2015 was 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit over the 20th century average and surpassed last year’s record by .29 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the annual global temperature record by the largest margin in the 136-year scientific record. Read more »