Reps. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) and Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) have reintroduced the Challenges and Prizes for Climate Act of 2019 to spur innovation in key areas critical to combating climate change. The bipartisan list of co-sponsors includes: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1), Charlie Crist (FL-13), Francis Rooney (FL-19), Ted Deutch (FL-22), Jennifer González-Colón (Puerto Rico),
“I’m interested in solutions to environmental securitythis bill will help spur necessary innovation and bridge us to a more sustainable future,” Fortenberry said. The bill would direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a program called “Climate Solutions Challenges” to organize prize competitions around five topics, including carbon capture, energy efficiency, energy storage, climate resiliency, and data analytics to better understand the changing climate and weather patterns. “Federal and private sector prize competitions have led to incredible breakthroughs and have the opportunity to play an important role in addressing the global climate change crisis,” Lipinski said in a written statement.
The bill was referred to the Science Committee, of which Lipinski, González-Colón, and Crist are members.