Congressional Champions of Color Lead the Way

This year, climate champions worked to hold large corporate polluters accountable for their climate impacts on investors and the general public. As ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, Representative Maxine Waters (CA-43) led efforts to urge the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to finalize the strongest possible rule to protect investors, including orchestrating a letter to the agency and defending the SEC’s authority in committee hearings.

As a founding co-chair of the Congressional Sustainable Investment Caucus and a member of the Financial Services Committee, Representative Juan Vargas (CA-52) also pushed to support a strong climate risk disclosure rule with a press conference, and he co-led a letter with Representative Sean Casten (IL-06) urging Congress to oppose all poison pill riders targeting sustainable investing strategies.

To meet our country’s increasing energy demand and reliability needs, updates to our electricity grids and transmission systems are sorely needed. Building on his longtime leadership tackling climate change and advancing affordable clean energy, Representative Mike Levin (CA-49) introduced critical legislation to address this need with Representative Casten: the Clean Energy and Transmission Acceleration (CETA) Act. The CETA Act would prioritize transmission planning, public engagement, and buildout within and between regional grids, allowing affordable clean electricity to flow to where it is needed most and boosting reliability.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) included the largest investment ever in conservation programs and climate-smart agriculture practices. These investments help to ensure the agricultural sector is part of the solution to climate change while also making our food systems more resilient and sustainable. Despite the popularity of these Department of Agriculture programs, House Republicans attempted to cut this funding in their version of the 2024 Farm Bill. Fortunately, climate champions like House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member David Scott (GA-13) and Representative Gabe Vasquez (NM-02) fought back against these efforts. Scott consistently pushed for the IRA climate-smart agriculture investments to be incorporated into the baseline of the Farm Bill, thus permanently increasing funding levels for these important, oversubscribed programs. During the committee mark-up, Vasquez helped lead the fight by offering an amendment to restore the critical climate-smart guardrails, which was supported by all committee Democrats.

Again this year, Representative Lauren Underwood (IL-14) introduced the Climate and Health Protection Act to strengthen the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Climate and Health Program, the only federal program that supports state, tribal, territorial, and local governments in order to prepare for and mitigate the health impacts of climate change.

To help workers exposed to extreme heat, Representatives Alma Adams (NC-12), Judy Chu (CA-28), Bobby Scott (VA-03), and then-House National Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl Grijalva (AZ-07), along with Senators Alex Padilla (CA) and Sherrod Brown (OH), continued to advocate for their Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act and welcomed protections proposed from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in July, the hottest month on record. Chu also joined Representatives Greg Casar (TX-35) and Jamie Raskin (MD-08) in urging the U.S. Postal Service to implement the proposed rule straightaway.

Environmental champions in Congress have been working tirelessly to defend clean transportation progress. Senator Padilla led the charge on the Senate floor against attacks that would overturn Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations to protect our air from harmful transportation pollution. Representative Raul Ruiz (CA-25) also took to his chamber’s floor to defend the cleaner cars rules, drawing on his experience as a physician to speak about the negative health impacts of eliminating the regulations. Champions in Congress continued to fight against rollbacks of clean energy incentives, including Representative Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), who defended against attempts to eliminate consumer incentives for used electric vehicles.

Throughout 2024, congressional climate champions around the country held dozens of in-district events – from press conferences to town halls – to raise awareness about how to access the consumer and community-facing benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). They educated constituents about home energy rebates and “direct pay” resources that could help schools, faith institutions, hospitals, and government buildings transition to affordable clean energy. They showcased large-scale solar, wind, and clean energy manufacturing investments in their districts that are creating family-sustaining jobs. These influential in-district events were led by Senator Tammy Duckworth (IL) and Representatives Shontel Brown (OH-11), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), and Bobby Scott (VA-03) among many others.

This year, conservation champions in Congress successfully continued efforts to protect our public lands and waters across the country. In the House, Representative Ruiz introduced the Chuckwalla National Monument Establishment Act and the Joshua Tree National Park Expansion Act and Ranking Member Grijalva introduced the Great Bend of the Gila National Monument Establishment Act, both seeking to protect environmentally and culturally important landscapes in southern California and Arizona, respectively. Representative Chu celebrated the expansion of San Gabriel Mountains National Monument by presidential proclamation, which followed her reintroduction of a bill to do the same. Senator Padilla advocated for the San Gabriels monument expansion as well, while also teaming up with Senator Laphonza Butler (CA) to introduce legislation and urge President Biden to protect the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla National Monument, which Biden did in January 2025.

Representative Salud Carbajal (CA-24) has been a tireless champion for the yearslong tribally- and locally-led effort to establish the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary off California’s central coast, which came to fruition in October 2024.

Leading efforts to preserve culturally significant places, Senator Tammy Duckworth (IL) introduced the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument Act, part of the effort that led to the designation of the monument. In similar fashion, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (NV) introduced legislation to establish the Bahsahwahbee National Monument, honoring a sacred Indigenous site in Nevada. She also continued her commitment to additional public land protections through mineral withdrawals for the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

Ranking Member Grijalva also continued to lead opposition to schemes undermining the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and other bedrock environmental laws, including the Fix Our Forests Act and Energy Permitting Reform Act. The NEPA process ensures that communities know about environmental and health impacts from potential projects and can provide input to improve, change, or stop proposed projects. He led a Supreme Court amicus brief with Senator Ed Markey (MA) and 28 other members of the House on the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, CO. (Seven Counties) case, highlighting the importance of NEPA in analyzing how governmental actions impact climate change and environmental injustice.

In the face of unprecedented judicial ethics crises and a relentless power grab by the Supreme Court’s extreme justices, Representative Hank Johnson (GA-04) pioneered efforts to restore integrity and balance to the nation’s highest court. He sponsored critical legislation, including the Judiciary Act and the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act. Along with LCV and Accountable.US, Johnson led the successful push for Justice Neil Gorsuch to recuse himself from a major environmental case, Seven Counties. Johnson and colleagues, including Representative Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), also launched the Court Reform Now Task Force.

As President Biden appointed a historically high number of people of color to federal judgeships, many nominees of color faced racist vitriol from opposing senators. Judiciary Committee Members Senators Mazie Hirono (HI), Cory Booker (NJ), Padilla, and Butler have been tireless advocates for the inclusive, multiracial judiciary the people deserve, and their work has been essential to confirming the most diverse and civic-minded slate of judicial appointees in the nation’s history.

After more than a decade of attacks on the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by the Supreme Court’s extreme justices, voter suppression and gerrymandering continue to rise, but so do efforts to address them. Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock (GA), Booker, and Butler joined with colleagues including members of Senate leadership to reintroduce the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, an essential bill to restore and modernize our most effective civil rights law.

In 2024, environmental champions kept up the fight to decouple public leases for fossil fuels from those for renewable energy. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) sponsored the Nonrestrictive Offshore Wind (NOW) Act to address offshore energy, and Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37) sponsored the Comprehensive Legislation for Expanding and Advancing Nonrestrictive (CLEAN) Energy Act to address onshore energy.

It is critical that we hold oil and gas polluters accountable for the damage they have done to people and the planet. This year, Representative Nanette Barragán (CA-44) introduced the Big Oil Collusion Accountability Act, to assign responsibility to big oil and gas companies for fueling the climate crisis and to protect public lands from future drilling. Representative Chu joined colleague Representative Jerry Nadler (NY-12) to introduce the Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act, which would require the biggest polluters to pay into a $1 trillion fund to support communities threatened or damaged by climate change.

Members of Congress also publicly pressed for polluter accountability with news conferences, including Representatives Barragán, Kamlager-Dove, Joe Neguse (CO-02), and Ilhan Omar (MN-05).

In January 2024, the Biden-Harris administration announced a pause in approvals of new liquefied methane gas (LNG) exports projects as the Department of Energy (DOE) worked to update analysis on the impacts of LNG exports. As a part of a press conference, Representatives Grijalva, McClellan, and Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) spoke out in support of this historic action.

Following the announcement of the pause, Jayapal joined Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) on a tour of various toxic sites in Port Arthur, Texas, to understand the devastating impacts that oil and gas corporations have had on frontline communities. Representatives Barragán, Crockett, Tony Cárdenas (CA-29), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), and Doris Matsui (CA-07) spoke out in committee and on the House floor to debunk oil and gas execs’ talking points, counter Republican attacks, and share their support for DOE assessing the full impacts of LNG exports on people and the planet.

In May, environmental champs including Representatives Grijalva, McClellan, Barragán, and Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) led a successful letter thanking the administration for announcing a pause in new LNG exports approvals and urging DOE to finalize robust studies.

Environmental and public health champions in both chambers urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to finalize strong requirements for all lead pipes across the country to be replaced within 10 years.

Senators Booker and Duckworth led the Senate Lead Task Force to create long-term visibility around the public health crisis of lead, push for a strong rule to protect all communities from lead poisoning, and oversee state and federal implementation of lead pipe removal and replacement funding.

In the House, Representatives Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Barbara Lee (CA-12), and Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-AL) helped lead the parallel Get the Lead Out Caucus effort with letters to EPA and the Office of Management and Budget urging the finalization of a strong Lead and Copper Rule Improvements.