Pelosi Announces Members of Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming

Washington, DC - Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced today the Democratic members of the newly created Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.  Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts will chair the Select Committee.

“The members of the new Select Committee I am appointing today are outstanding for their creativity, diversity of experience, and knowledge of energy and global warming issues,” Speaker Pelosi said. “I have great faith in their ability to lead our efforts to confront these serious challenges. Global warming and energy independence are urgent issues that have profound implications for our nation’s economic competitiveness, national security, environmental quality and public health. The wide-ranging expertise of these members will be critical in finding viable solutions that stimulate our economy, promote jobs, and protect our environment.”

Chairman Markey said: “We are facing an issue that will test the capacity of democracy to respond in time to affect the fate of the planet. We have the technology, the ingenuity, and the experience to reverse the inexorable buildup of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. I look forward to working with my colleagues to find the consensus needed to move boldly and quickly. I am honored that the Speaker has asked me to help make the response of the 110th Congress proportionate to the threat.”

The House has a long history of creating Select Committees focused on crucial issues. The authority to legislate on energy and climate change will remain with the committees of jurisdiction, which have been asked by Speaker Pelosi to produce legislation on global warming and energy independence by June. With a large number of committees exercising jurisdiction over issues affecting energy and climate, the Select Committee will provide the coordination of information on these critical issues.

The Select Committee will hold hearings and investigations locally, nationally, and internationally to gather the information needed to protect our national security and the environment. It is charged with recommending to the Congress policies, strategies, technologies and other innovations to reduce the dependence of the United States on foreign sources of energy and prevent global warming.

The new Select Committee on Energy Independent and Global Warming will raise the profile of these crucial issues in the Congress, the media, and the public eye and will target the younger generation—who have the most at stake—using cutting-edge means of communications.

The House approved the creation of the Select Committee yesterday on a vote of 269 to 150, with 44 Republicans voting in favor. The Committee’s official duties will end when this two-year session of the House ends.

The Democratic members of the Select Committee are listed below:

• Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Chairman
• Congressman Earl Blumenauer of Oregon
• Congressman Jay Inslee of Washington
• Congressman John Larson of Connecticut
• Congresswoman Hilda Solis of California
• Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota
• Congressman Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri
• Congressman John Hall of New York
• Congressman Jerry McNerney of California

Republican Leader John Boehner named minority members to the Select Committee:

• Congressman James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, Ranking Member
• Congressman John Shadegg of Arizona
• Congressman Greg Walden of Oregon
• Congressman John Sullivan of Oklahoma
• Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee
• Congresswoman Candice Miller of Michigan

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