The Atlantic

The House Republicans Calling for Climate Action in the Trump Era

A group of GOP lawmakers have signed a resolution warning that “the consequences of a changing climate have the potential to adversely impact all Americans.” Will it translate to legislative action?
Source: Susan Walsh / AP

At a time when President Donald Trump is working to dismantle former President Barack Obama’s environmental legacy, more than a dozen House Republicans are calling for action to confront the threat of a changing climate.

Seventeen Republican lawmakers, including Elise Stefanik of New York, Carlos Curbelo of Florida, Mark Sanford of South Carolina, Mia Love of Utah, Don Bacon of Nebraska, and Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania, introduced a resolution on Wednesday that urges the House of Representatives to “address the causes and effects” of climate change,  according to a press release sent out by Costello’s office.

The resolution, which revives a call to action endorsed by nearly a dozen House Republicans in 2015, describes environmental protection as a “conservative principle.” And it warns that “if left unaddressed, the consequences of a changing climate have the potential to adversely impact all Americans.”

“This is an issue where there really is consensus within the scientific community,” Sanford said in

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