With nearly every US Senate race having been called, here’s an overview of where the incoming members of the upper chamber on Capitol Hill stand on climate change and clean energy ahead of their swearings-in on January 3, 2025:
Angela Alsobrooks (D-Maryland)
Senator-elect Angela Alsobrooks has consistently emphasized the importance of clean energy and environmental sustainability. Noting that her daughter suffers from asthma, Alsobrooks has spoken about her commitment to ensuring clean air. In her current role as the Prince George’s County Executive, she implemented several initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting renewable energy sources, including issuing an executive order setting ambitious goals for Prince George’s County to reduce 2005 emission levels by 50% by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2045. She has overseen investments in electric vehicles and sustainable building designs within the county to foster a greener future.
Additionally, Alsobrooks has supported federal efforts to combat climate change, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, and has said she plans to co-sponsor fellow Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen’s Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act, which seeks to hold major fossil fuel emitters accountable for their contributions to climate change. Alsobrooks supports expanding tax credits for clean energy and ensuring that all federal government purchases align with emission reduction goals.
Jim Banks (R-Indiana)
Senator-elect Banks, currently a House member, has consistently expressed skepticism about climate change and has opposed policies aimed at addressing it. In October 2016 he stated, “I believe that climate change in this country is largely leftist propaganda to change the way Americans live and create more government obstruction and intrusion in our lives.” Banks’s voting record reflects his stance on environmental issues. The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has assigned him a lifetime environmental score of 1%, with a 0% score in 2023, indicating a consistent pattern of votes against pro-environmental legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.
Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Delaware)
Senator-elect Blunt Rochester is a strong advocate for clean energy and environmental initiatives. As a current House member, she consistently voted for and advocated for pro-climate and pro-clean energy legislation and maintains a 97% lifetime score with the LCV. Blunt Rochester has been recognized for her leadership on climate change and clean energy, receiving the Climate Change-Maker Award alongside other members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Blunt Rochester has supported a number of bills that became law during the Biden administration that advance climate solutions and clean energy, including the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Last year, Blunt Rochester introduced the “Blue Collar to Green Collar Jobs Development Act,” aiming to expand the clean energy workforce and promote energy efficiency, and she co-sponsored a resolution with Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) to designate a week as “National Clean Energy Week,” celebrating American energy innovation. In October 2023, she announced that the Department of Energy selected the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub, a partnership involving Delaware, for future clean hydrogen research and development.
John Curtis (R-Utah)
Senator-elect John Curtis, currently a member of the House, has emerged as a leading Republican voice on climate change and clean energy. In 2021, he founded the Conservative Climate Caucus, aiming to engage Republicans in climate discussions and promote market-based solutions. Curtis advocates for reducing emissions through innovation and clean energy technologies, emphasizing the role of the private sector and the agricultural industry. He supports nuclear and geothermal energy development and believes fossil fuels can contribute to emission reductions when combined with advancements like carbon capture.
However, he voted against the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, and his lifetime score from the LCV is 6%, reflecting a voting record that often aligns with traditional Republican positions.
Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona)
Senator-elect Gallego, currently a House member, is a strong advocate for addressing climate change and promoting clean energy. He has consistently supported legislation aimed at reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to renewable energy sources. In Congress, Gallego voted in favor of the Inflation Reduction Act. He has earned a 97% lifetime environmental score from the LCV, with a 100% score in 2023.
Gallego has also been instrumental in preserving Arizona’s public lands and protecting the environment. He introduced the Excess Urban Heat Mitigation Act of 2022, creating a competitive grant program to combat the causes and mitigate the effects of excess urban heat. He also co-introduced the SHADE Act to create a grant program for planting trees in formerly redlined districts and other overburdened communities, addressing rising temperatures in cities.
Jim Justice (R-West Virginia)
Senator-elect Justice, the current West Virginia governor, has consistently supported the fossil fuel industry, particularly coal, and has expressed skepticism about climate change. In a 2022 speech, he referred to renewable energy sources like wind and solar as “the parsley around the side of the plate,” emphasizing that “oil, gas and coal” are the “meat and potatoes” of energy production. Regarding climate change, he stated, “I don’t know if it’s for real or not.”
Justice has also criticized federal climate policies. In December 2023, he accused the Biden administration of attempting to “eradicate” coal through its environmental policies, describing such efforts as “the dumbest thing on the planet.” While Justice has supported certain clean energy projects, such as a battery manufacturing facility in West Virginia, his overall stance remains firmly in favor of traditional fossil fuels. He has called for repealing many of the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean-energy incentives, which have funded renewable energy projects in the state.
Andy Kim (D-New Jersey)
Senator-elect Kim, currently a House member, has consistently advocated for addressing climate change and promoting clean energy initiatives. He views climate change as a national security crisis and has supported significant legislative measures to combat it. In 2022, Kim voted for the Inflation Reduction Act. He has earned a 99% lifetime environmental score from the LCV, with a 100% score in 2023. His Senate campaign was endorsed by LCV and the Sierra Club.
David McCormick (R-Pennsylvania)
Senator-elect McCormick advocates for an “all of the above” energy strategy. He emphasizes the importance of expanding domestic oil and gas production, particularly through fracking, to achieve energy independence and bolster national security. McCormick acknowledges climate change as a significant issue, stating, “I’m a strong believer that climate change is a phenomenon that we’re going to have to channel.” However, he expresses skepticism about the extent to which human activity contributes to climate change and the effectiveness of mitigation efforts. He supports the development of natural gas and nuclear energy as means to reduce global carbon emissions. Environmental advocates have described his platform as attempting to “have your cake and eat it too when it comes to climate change,” as his focus on fossil fuel expansion is inconsistent with meaningful climate action.
Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio)
Senator-elect Moreno, the former car dealership owner, has expressed skepticism about climate change and opposes policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions. He has criticized the Biden administration’s environmental initiatives, referring to them as part of a “Green New Deal agenda” intended to make gas-powered cars unaffordable and force Americans into electric vehicles they don’t want. Moreno has also emphasized the need for increased fossil fuel production, stating that America requires more fossil fuels. He has criticized the Inflation Reduction Act, describing it as a “down payment on the Green New Deal” and arguing that it fails to lower costs for Americans.
Adam Schiff (D-California)
Senator-elect Schiff, a current House member, has consistently prioritized addressing climate change and advancing clean energy. Schiff voted for the IRA and is an original cosponsor of the Green New Deal. He supports establishing a Civilian Climate Corps to create millions of jobs dedicated to fighting climate change and protecting natural resources. He's introduced the Renewable Roadsides Act, directing the Department of Transportation and the Department of Energy to study the feasibility of developing solar energy infrastructure along federal highways. In August, Schiff introduced the Standardized Calculation of Operational Polluting Emissions (SCOPE) Act, directing the Environmental Protection Agency to establish voluntary guidance for companies to disclose their indirect Scope 3 emissions, ensuring greater transparency about a company’s environmental footprint.
During his Senate campaign, Schiff released a detailed climate action plan, proposing to end federal subsidies for oil and gas production, offer federal wildfire insurance, and require insurance companies to disclose their fossil fuel investments. He emphasized boosting electric vehicles, investing in renewable energy, and banning fossil fuel leasing off the coast of California to lower costs for consumers while creating jobs and reducing greenhouse gases.
Tim Sheehy (R-Montana)
Senator-elect Sheehy has expressed varying positions on clean energy and climate change over time. As the founder and former CEO of an aerial firefighting company, Sheehy previously emphasized the importance of addressing climate change. His company’s website once stated its mission as “fighting on the front lines of climate change” and highlighted its “sustainable and environmentally safe firefighting methods.” As he was considering a Senate campaign, though, the website underwent changes, and references to climate change and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) standards were removed. As a Senate candidate, he called the Green New Deal a “disastrous socialist” policy that would harm Montana’s economy. He has also downplayed the role of climate change in increasing wildfire severity, instead attributing it to poor forest management and opposing what he describes as “radical environmentalists” who hinder timber projects. (HuffPost lays out many examples of the contrast between Sheehy’s comments as a candidate versus as a CEO.)
Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan)
Senator-elect Slotkin, currently a House member, has consistently supported initiatives to address climate change and promote clean energy. She emphasizes the importance of transitioning to carbon-free, clean energy sources and building resilience against climate-related disasters. In 2022, Slotkin voted for the Inflation Reduction Act. She has also co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to reduce carbon emissions and nutrient pollution. She has earned a 98% lifetime environmental score from the LCV, with a 100% score in 2023.
The question of an electric vehicle mandate became a flashpoint in her Senate campaign. Slotkin responded to GOP attacks on the issue by saying: “I don’t care if people drive an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle or a combustion engine — drive what you want.” She further emphasized the importance of the U.S. leading in EV production, saying, “If the question is who’s going to build the next generation of cars, I want it to be the United States of America, not China.” Slotkin voted against a measure that would have overturned a Biden administration rule on tailpipe emissions.
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