Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change Leads Letter Supporting International Climate Talks

Press Release

As the Obama Administration prepares to release its greenhouse gas reduction commitment for the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris, the Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change is today leading more than 100 Members of Congress on a letter supporting President Obama's international climate efforts. Bicameral Task Force co-chairs Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-IL), Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) organized the letter, which is signed by 34 Democratic Senators and 83 Democratic House Members, including Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.

"One of the three pillars of the Climate Action Plan is to lead international efforts to address global climate change. As a nation that has contributed more than a quarter of all global carbon pollution, it is our responsibility to lead," the Senators and Representatives write. "As a nation already feeling the effects and costs of climate change, it is also in our national interest to do so."

They continue, "As the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) prepare to meet at the end of the year, they have agreed that each nation will pledge to reduce its carbon pollution in an amount and manner to be determined by each nation and that puts the world on a strong trajectory to address climate change. Proactive engagement in these negotiations, backed up by domestic climate action, is the best way to protect our nation's interests and ensure every country does its fair share."

The Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change, founded in January 2013, focuses on drawing congressional and public attention to climate change and developing effective policy responses to this urgent challenge.

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