Rep. Scott Peters
Scott H. PetersTrump's illness sparks new urgency for COVID-19 deal Moderate Democrats push leadership to pull marijuana legislation One doctor's thoughts on a hopeful future MORE (D-Calif.) says there's a way to speed up the process of passing climate change legislation: Revisit bills that garnered bipartisan support and fill in the gaps of the Green New Deal.
The California Democrat on Wednesday previewed to The Hill what he calls a "climate playbook" that examines legislation introduced since 2017, arguing the already vetted bills could help give a boost to legislative action on climate following the introduction of the Green New Deal resolution.
Peters said he hopes the playbook will be viewed as a response to the Green New Deal by “filling in the blanks” with legislative goals that were not detailed in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Alexandria Ocasio-CortezBitter fight over Barrett fuels calls to nix filibuster, expand court Scaramucci says Trump has united country: 'It just happens to be against him' CNN won't run pro-Trump ad warning Biden will raise taxes on middle class MORE’s (D-N.Y.) resolution.
The Green New Deal, he said, was well intentioned and “aspirational,” but inflicted some damage on moderate Democrats after Republicans seized on some aspects of it.
“I think the important thing is some of the moderates we're getting killed by the way the anti-climate Republicans were defining the Green New Deal — no cars, no cows, no planes,” Peters said. “But that’s not really what it’s about. What it’s about is the bills we will pass.”
Peters, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he wanted to pull from past bills and see what proposals Republican and Democrats had offered on key topics like carbon pricing, energy efficiency and electric vehicles. The biggest challenge, he said, was that there was no easy place to find all of the legislation.
Many of the 53 bills in the playbook, he said, are passable since they had bipartisan support.
“We can help define what our action on climate is by looking at what’s already done,” he said.
The Democratic Party has weathered a few storms, including internally, in terms of how best to approach climate change legislation. While progressive members in the House, led by Ocasio-Cortez, have pushed a comprehensive approach to climate, some veteran lawmakers have favored piecemeal bills.
One of those bills includes Rep. Kathy Castor
Katherine (Kathy) Anne CastorDemocrats see Green New Deal yielding gains despite GOP attacks OVERNIGHT ENERGY: House passes sweeping clean energy bill | Pebble Mine CEO resigns over secretly recorded comments about government officials | Corporations roll out climate goals amid growing pressure to deliver OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Democrats push resolution to battle climate change, sluggish economy and racial injustice | Senators reach compromise on greenhouse gas amendment stalling energy bill | Trump courts Florida voters with offshore drilling moratorium MORE’s (D-Fla.) Climate Action Now Act, which would bind the Trump administration to emissions goals laid out by the Paris climate accord. The measure has support from Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Nancy PelosiOn The Money: Trump says stimulus deal will happen after election | Holiday spending estimates lowest in four years | Domestic workers saw jobs, hours plummet due to COVID Hoyer lays out ambitious Democratic agenda for 2021, with health care at top CNN won't run pro-Trump ad warning Biden will raise taxes on middle class MORE (D-Calif.) and was marked up in the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
While Peters’s playbook includes Castor’s legislation, he said bills that have been introduced in the 115th Congress seem the most likely to generate the bipartisan support needed to pass the Senate and make it to President Trump
Donald John TrumpGiuliani goes off on Fox Business host after she compares him to Christopher Steele Trump looks to shore up support in Nebraska NYT: Trump had 7 million in debt mostly tied to Chicago project forgiven MORE’s desk.
He cited measures like the USE IT Act, a bill on carbon capture supported by Rep. Liz Cheney
Elizabeth (Liz) Lynn CheneyMcCarthy faces pushback from anxious Republicans over interview comments Steve King defends past comments on white supremacy, blasts NYT and GOP leaders in fiery floor speech GOP lawmakers distance themselves from Trump comments on transfer of power MORE (R-Wyo.) and bills that focus on U.S. electric grid modernization.
“It was a big change to bring these new people in here, and they bring a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of experience in many cases,” Peters said, with a nod to Ocasio-Cortez.
“But the real change is that we are in the majority now. And a lot of stuff that we’ve been working on is primarily Democratic, but not exclusively, and a lot was bipartisan and is just not getting through. Now, let’s pick up where we left off.”
