Whitehouse seeks to ‘reassure’ world at climate conference

The final U.N. climate summit of the Biden era is due to kick off next week amid gloom from many in the environmental community over the election of Donald Trump.

But a top Democrat will be there to “reassure the international community that large swaths of the U.S. remain committed to steering the planet away from climate catastrophe.”

This pledge from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the chair of the Senate Budget Committee who has used his gavel to link climate change to economic calamity, comes days after Trump's resounding victory and with Republicans on track to retake control of Congress.

It also comes as green advocates fear the new balance of power in Washington will lead to a rollback of environmental regulations and the end of climate leadership on the world stage.

“Cracking down on methane leakage, decarbonizing our economy, and combatting sea level rise are firmly on my agenda for COP29,” said Whitehouse in a statement to POLITICO’s E&E News. “But we can’t ignore that Donald Trump, Republicans, and their fossil fuel mega-donors are aiming a torpedo at the climate progress Democrats have made in the last four years.”

He added, “We will not give up the fight for climate action and against the fossil fuel corruption that’s soon to take power in Washington.”

Whitehouse had already announced plans to head to Baku, Azerbaijan, for the climate talks, which are set to take place from Nov. 11-22. His office confirmed Thursday he will still be leading a “smaller delegation of just Democrats” from Nov. 16-17.

House Energy and Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said in September he, too, would be attending the summit. His spokesperson had no further details to share this week about whether he would be traveling with colleagues.

But the significance of this year’s summit has intensified in the aftermath of the election, which will usher in a dramatic shift in climate policy. Trump, who has called climate change a “hoax,” withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate accord during his last time in the White House and deprioritized climate action across the federal government.

The expectation is he’ll take similar steps during his second administration. He's similarly likely to target aggressive emissions reduction measures put in place by President Joe Biden’s EPA and stymie implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act.

A Republican Congress, meanwhile, could also take steps to gut spending in the IRA for climate grant programs and clean energy investments.

Dan Lashof, director of the World Resources Institute, said in a press call with reporters Thursday morning that he didn’t believe the election results would “reverse progress on the path to a clean energy economy,” citing the bipartisan popularity of many IRA clean energy tax credits and recognition around the globe that there are good business reasons to embrace a clean energy economy.

“At the same time,” he warned, “I do think we have to recognize it will stall federal leadership at a time when we not only need to continue the progress we’ve been making, but accelerate it. … I don’t want to be Pollyanna-ish about it: There will be consequences.”

‘The worst outcome’

While members of Congress don’t get to negotiate on behalf of the United States at the annual climate conferences, they do play an important role in representing their country on the world stage and showing that elected officials are eager to engage.

Last year’s COP had a record number of lawmakers attending on both sides of the aisle and chamber, with Republicans making a particularly strong showing. This year’s attendance will be significantly scaled back, with lawmakers citing a variety of reasons why.

Some say they feel uncomfortable traveling to Azerbaijan given its concerning human rights record; others aren’t confident the host country, as a petrostate, can be trusted to act against its own economic self-interests when it comes to phasing out fossil fuels.

Mostly, however, Democrats and Republicans both cited the inconvenient timing, with COP29 coming so close after the elections and at the start of the lame duck session of Congress.

While neither party could have anticipated what the lame duck agenda would look like several months ago when they were making their plans, this could now be Democrats' last chance for at least two years to fight steep spending cuts and protect certain priorities Republicans might otherwise let fall to the wayside.

Ben Jealous, president of the Sierra Club, said in a call with reporters Thursday morning he didn’t begrudge members for making that calculation: “Given all the questions about what folks were going to be facing in the lame duck session, people had to make some tough choices. It strikes me as very reasonable for them to opt to stay here and fight.”

Jonathan Pershing, the program director of environment at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation who previously had a leading role in U.N. climate talks on behalf of the Biden and Obama administrations, suggested in the press call hosted by the World Resources Institute that the international community wouldn’t miss Congress’ participation one way or the other.

Congress has an important role to play in approving aid for climate projects abroad, but Republican opposition to foreign assistance has prevented the U.S. from meaningfully increasing funding, Perishing said.

The Biden administration has increased climate finance from the previous Trump administration, but it remains well below what small economies in Europe contribute. In other words, U.S. contributions won‘t be missed.

At the same time, Pershing recalled the time it took to “rebuild trust” between the international community and the United States in 2008, when President Barack Obama was elected after eight years of President George W. Bush. When Biden was elected to replace Trump in 2020, Pershing continued, “it took the first entire year to establish the sense that the U.S. was a worthy partner.”

He predicted a similar dynamic will be at play this time around, where the United States would “abdicate” its role as a leader on climate action and the country’s reputation would suffer for it.

“To me,” Pershing said, “that is the worst outcome.”

Democratic lawmakers could fill that void, said Lori Lodes, president of Climate Power.

“One of the most important things” members can tell counterparts in Baku, she told reporters, “is that America is still all in. Just because Trump is president doesn’t mean that those 26 governors are all of a sudden going to walk away from their 100 percent clean energy plans."

"The emissions reductions are happening at the state and local levels, the investments in clean energy are skyrocketing, and so the U.S. is not going anywhere," Lodes continued. "This changes nothing.”

Reporter Sara Schonhardt contributed.

This story also appears in E&E Daily.