The House Climate Solutions Caucus gained two new members, including Virginia Republican Rep. Scott Taylor, who represents the coastal Virginia Beach area. Last month the caucus picked up New York Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney. With the addition of their Democratic counterparts, the bipartisan group now stands at 42 members.
In other news, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he continues to support the Paris climate agreement, despite President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. from the international pact. “My views were heard out,” Tillerson said. “My views never changed.” He added that the decision was “run through an interagency process” and that the president was “quite deliberative on the issue.”
Environmental Protect Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt left a G7 meeting of environmental ministers early; the U.S. refused to sign a joint statement by the G7 national on the environment. “We are resetting the dialogue to say Paris is not the only way forward to making progress,” Pruitt wrote in a statement.