Kathy Castor named to lead restored House panel on climate change

[left-of-center2012]

Last edited Fri Dec 28, 2018, 10:34 PM - Edit history (1)

The House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, has appointed the Florida representative Kathy Castor to lead a special committee on climate change that will be reinstated in the new Congress.

The climate panel is similar to one that Pelosi created when Democrats last controlled the House, from 2007 to 2011. It was eliminated when Republicans took the majority.

Pelosi, the likely House speaker, said Castor brings experience, energy and “urgency to the existential threat of the climate crisis” facing the US and the world. Castor is set to begin her seventh term representing the Tampa Bay area and serves on the energy and commerce committee.

“Congresswoman Castor is a proven champion for public health and green infrastructure, who deeply understands the scope and seriousness of this threat. Her decades of experience in this fight, both in Florida and in the Congress, will be vital,” Pelosi said.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/28/karen-castor-house-committee-climate-change

[Cha]

1. It's Kathy Castor.

[mcar]

2. Kathy Castor - please correct

and a great choice

[PDittie]

3. She and her husband

have a fossil fuel mutual fund holding:

The Florida representative, a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, has a good environmental voting record, according to the League of Conservation Voters, and has received a relatively small amount of campaign contributions from fossil fuel interests over her six-term career. But Castor’s 2017 financial disclosure document shows that she and her husband, Bill Lewis, share an investment worth between $50,001 and $100,000 in a mutual fund comprised mostly of holdings in utility companies that generate power from natural gas, oil, and coal. For a retirement account, the couple purchased shares in the Franklin Utilities Fund—Advisor Class, from July to October of 2017 and earned up to $2,500 in capital gains and dividends from the investment that year.

She and her husband should divest. If for no other reason ... her actions in this new responsibility should diminish the returns on this investment. Long-term. Since it's for their retirement.