About the Committee

Chair Castor Bio Photo

The U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis is charged with coordinating and advancing policies, strategies, and innovations to achieve substantial and permanent reductions in pollution and other activities that contribute to the climate crisis. 

It is chaired by Congresswoman Kathy Castor of Florida’s 14th Congressional District.

In June of 2020, the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Democrats released the majority staff report Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America. This report provides a roadmap for Congress—a Climate Crisis Action Plan—to build a prosperous, clean energy economy that values workers, advances environmental justice, and is prepared to meet the challenges of the climate crisis.

The Climate Crisis Action Plan calls on Congress to:

  • Grow Our Economy and Put Americans Back to Work in Clean Energy Jobs
  • Protect the Health of All Families
  • Make Sure Our Communities and Farmers Can Withstand the Impacts of Climate Change
  • Protect America’s Land and Waters for the Next Generation

The Climate Crisis Action Plan would put the country on a path to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, if not earlier. It would power economic recovery through clean energy investment and family-sustaining jobs, and address the legacy of environmental injustice harming America’s low-income communities and communities of color.

According to an independent analysis, the Climate Crisis Action Plan would save more than 60,000 American lives every year by 2050 thanks to reduced air pollution, as well as nearly $8 trillion saved through 2050 thanks to health and climate benefits.

Background and Jurisdiction

Acknowledging the threat of climate change, Speaker Nancy Pelosi created the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis at the outset of the 116th Congress.

The Speaker reauthorized the Select Committee in the 117th Congress through House Resolution 8, which was passed by the House of Representatives on January 4, 2021.

The Select Committee is authorized to investigate, study, make findings, and develop recommendations on policies, strategies, and innovations to solve the climate crisis, which will honor our responsibility to be good stewards of the planet for future generations and advance environmental justice.

The Select Committee may hold public hearings in connection with any aspect of its investigative functions.

Website and Image Credits

The blue and red background in the Select Committee's logo represents changes to annual global temperatures from 1850 to 2018; these "warming stripes" were developed by climate researcher Ed Hawkins. Thanks to Shawna Faison and House Creative Services for developing the logo.