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Democrats Plan to Reinstate House Climate Committee

The committee was disbanded by Republicans when they took the House in January 2011.

House Democrats will likely reinstate a special committee focusing on climate change that was shuttered by Republicans in 2011, according to a Thursday report from Bloomberg News. Nancy Pelosi, who will likely be re-elected as speaker of the House, will reportedly work to bring back the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, which was originally formed 11 years ago. Although the committee likely won’t be able to draft legislation itself, it could help Democrats make climate change a more prominent legislative issue. In the past, Bloomberg notes, its work helped establish a foundation for 2009 cap-and-trade legislation. “They can only do messaging,” an environmental policy expert told Bloomberg, but the “committee can have as many messaging hearings as their little hearts desire.”