The two South Florida congressmen who run the Climate Solutions Caucus -- Republican Carlos Curbelo and Democrat Ted Deutch--added to their roster on Monday.
Curbelo and Deutch announced that five congressional freshmen--including Florida Republican Brian Mast--joined the caucus, bringing the membership up to 20 representatives, split evenly with 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats.
“We have a lot of work to do on this issue, and communities like mine in South Florida are counting on us to come together and have productive discussions about what we can do to mitigate the effects of climate change and make our nation more resilient,” Curbelo said. “The caucus has such a diverse group of members, and we’ve gained great momentum only a few weeks into the 115th Congress. I’d like to thank Representatives Love, Stefanik, Fitzpatrick, Mast and Beyer for joining our group and I’m looking forward to working with them and the rest of the caucus on solutions that will protect our environment and unleash a new era of American innovation.”
“Our bipartisan caucus is starting off the new Congress by expanding our membership and showing our colleagues that Republicans and Democrats can put partisan politics aside to work on climate change,” said Deutch. “These new members represent diverse regions of the country, from upstate New York to the Mountain West, and they have shown their readiness to find bipartisan solutions for this crisis.”
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehinten, R-Fla., a frequent ally of Deutch, is also a member. Ros-Lehtinen leads the U.S. House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee where Deutch is the raking Democrat.
The Climate Solutions Caucus defines it mission as “to educate members on economically-viable options to reduce climate risk and to explore bipartisan policy options that address the impacts, causes, and challenges of our changing climate."
