In January, “committed environmentalist” Henry Waxman will take the chair of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, the body through which environmental legislation – and most significantly, climate change legislation – will pass on its way to the floor of the House of Representatives next year. As it happens, Representative Waxman is a charter member of the Center for Progressive Reform’s Advisory Council, and has been very supportive of the organization’s work.
CPR isn’t in the business of endorsing candidates, nor involving itself in intra-party battles for leadership positions. But we recognize an environmental leader when we see one, and our Member Scholars look forward to contributing their policy ideas to the work of his committee.
Yesterday, CPR President Rena Steinzor sent a letter of congratulations to Representative Waxman. She wrote:
On behalf of the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR), I want to congratulate you on your new position in the 111th Congress as Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. We’re not absolutely certain that your membership on our Advisory Council was the deciding factor, but we’re proud of our association with your achievement. We also congratulate your dedicated and knowledgeable staff on their years of service and know that they will be very successful in working on the important issues you will face as chairman.
You and CPR have a long history of mutual support. Your address to CPR at our January 2007 Meeting inspired our Member Scholars and staff. During your address, you were kind enough to compliment our work, “keeping the light burning so that we could combat the misinformation, the ideology, the misuse of science, the distortion of truth that we’ve seen in the last twelve years, and particularly the last six.” We want you to know we are equally grateful for your continued pursuit of transparent government, clean science, and progressive health and safety regulation….
As you move into your new position at Energy and Commerce, we look forward to continuing our work together.
Congratulations, Mr. Chairman!
