Climate Politics Today: The View from Washington

The article first appeared on my blog site Civil Notion

Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) made history the other day. He was the first sitting Speaker of the House to be fired. Talk about being hoisted on your own petard. One congressman was heard to say after the vote that the former speaker’s “chickens finally came back to roost.” More on that in a moment.

The change in leadership is going to have an impact on climate and clean energy programs and policy. Some of the impacts will be specific, e.g., attempting to amend the Inflation Reduction Act and streamlining the environmental regulatory process. Other consequences will be a function of personalities and personal politics.

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But first, a bit of context. The vote to vacate was 216 to 210 to oust the speaker. The Democrats all turned their thumbs down on McCarthy, but it was the eight Republicans who voted with them that caused his demise and all the chaos that’s now going on in the House. Representative Westerman (R-AR) pretty well-summed things up now that the House is headless.

“It’s all up in the air right now, there’s no certainty about anything.”