The House Energy and Commerce Committee is sending a group of lawmakers to the U.N. climate talks this year after all.
After originally planning to sit out COP29 amid the anticipated chaos of the elections and the start of the lame duck legislative session, a nine-member official delegation will travel to Baku, Azerbaijan, in the coming days to participate in the annual summit.
The delegation — to be led by Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), a fierce defender of his state’s oil and gas sector — will be composed of six Republicans and three Democrats. One of those Democrats will be Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, who said months ago he intended to make the trip in some capacity.
Just days after former President Donald Trump’s decisive reelection, Republicans are eager to boast of the United States’ contributions to lowering global emissions and producing oil and gas more cleanly than many other countries — and perhaps preview what climate policy will look like under a second Trump administration.
