Democrats to meet on energy, environment priorities

Hundreds of energy and environment leaders — including 27 Democratic lawmakers — will convene Tuesday in Washington for a summit focused on crafting policies with broad support.

The conference, organized by the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Institute, is meant to produce “bold ideas of climate and energy action” that can be implemented under the Trump administration, according to promotional material.

Headlining the daylong event is House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who will speak alongside Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.). Castor is currently spearheading a monthslong SEEC initiative — the “Thriving Economy Project” — to crowdsource bipartisan policy proposals from around the country.

Castor said that she and Jeffries’ remarks will be “all about the cost of living.” She nodded to Jeffries’ major role in setting energy priorities should Democrats win a majority of House seats in the November midterm elections.

“I think folks are looking to this young, dynamic speaker-to-be for a dynamic vision of the future on innovation and how we really lower costs for families and businesses,” Castor said.

But Castor said the summit is not intended to be overly political. The members of Congress present — though all Democrats — are looking to discuss proposals that have bipartisan appeal and could be signed into law by President Donald Trump.

“We're really focused on this coming Congress. We know who the president will be. The question is, what can we do anyway? So we're not thinking about like two or three elections down the line,” said SEEC Institute executive director Max Frankel.

The conference will have lawmakers — like Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and House Natural Resources ranking member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) — lead breakout sessions where participants can be involved in policy suggestions.

Such policy recommendations are meant to become part of SEEC’s "Thriving Economy Project,” which will officially be released in the fall.

“It's not one of the boring summits in Washington, where you just listen to a panel. We’re going to be sitting down, discussing with the experts, having an exchange of ideas, and really begin to hone our policy recommendations to be released in September,” Castor said.

Frankel said that the summit should “dovetail nicely” with new Democratic affordability working groups that Jeffries announced earlier in the month. Among Jeffries’ five areas of focus is gasoline and utilities.

That group, led by Reps. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.) and Mike Levin (D-Calif.), met earlier this month and said they planned to follow Jeffries’ lead on whether they would ultimately produce energy affordability legislation.

Castor said she looked forward to discussing how Democrats should be approaching artificial intelligence and other new technologies. She recalled her time working on Democratic climate policies as chair of the now-defunct House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis during the 116th Congress.

“Life has changed since we wrote our climate action plans for the Select Committee,” Castor said. “Technology has advanced, even over the past few years. So, how do we bring those technological tools to bear, so they don't benefit just the corporations and the wealthy, but how do we make sure that they deliver for real people?”

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