US Congress displays new interest in climate change

Abstract

After years of showing little interest in climate change other than to challenge science, the US Congress has launched a series of hearings on the issue. The House of Representatives, which Democrats have controlled since January, examined federal inaction on the global 2015 Paris Agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions, federal research on climate, and the effects of climate change on oceans in hearings the week of Feb. 25. Holding those hearings were panels with jurisdiction over environment, federal funding, and science matters. Earlier in February, other House hearings probed the state of climate change science, the need to act on climate change, and the environmental and economic impacts of climate change. The House is not alone in demonstrating renewed interest in climate change. On March 5, the Republican-controlled Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will focus on “the electricity sector in a changing climate.” Notably, the House on Feb.