In the News
Some suburbanites will be virtual State of the Union guests
Although the COVID-19 pandemic is preventing congressional representatives and senators from bringing guests to President Joe Biden's first State of the Union address, some Chicago-area residents will be virtual guests of the Illinois delegation.Labor leader Pete Olson of Antioch will watch the speech as a virtual guest of U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, a Deerfield Democrat serving the 10th District.Olson is the business representative for Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local 130 and president of the … Continue Reading
June 21, 2022
Nearly 90 House Dems want climate change to be the "starting point" for new talks on their rebooted party-line spending bill
What happened: A group of 89 House Democrats is asking President Joe Biden to make provisions aimed at addressing climate change the "building block to restart negotiations" on their stalled social spending bill. "Inaction now will mean irreversible consequences for our future generations. Given the widespread agreement in the U.S. Senate for House passed climate provisions, we have an opportunity to recommence negotiations with climate serving as a key starting point." — the House Democratic … Continue Reading
June 21, 2022
Why the return of earmarks could be good news for the planet
Last week, as Russian soldiers and tanks pushed deeper into Ukraine, members of Congress came together in a rare show of bipartisan cooperation to rapidly approve and pass a $1.5 trillion government spending bill that will fund the federal government through September. The 2,700-page bill, which President Joe Biden signed on Tuesday, averts a government shutdown, amply funds domestic programs and the military, and channels $13.6 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine. But that's not all the … Continue Reading
June 21, 2022
Burr Ridge gets nearly $800,000 in federal funds for culvert project
Burr Ridge officials this week announced the village will get $785,000 in federal funds to replace a failing culvert on Elm Street.The funding comes from America Rescue Plan Act, a pool of money set aside to help communities hit hard by COVID-19. Burr Ridge was among many communities in Rep. Sean Casten's district to get almost $7.9 million. Casten announced the approval of the funds last week, after they were approved as part of the federal spending bill signed into law Saturday.The village … Continue Reading
June 21, 2022
Producing and exporting more US gas helps Putin
Vladimir Putin's horrific war against the Ukrainian people has all of us talking about how to prevent him—and other fossil fuel autocrats—from holding the global economy hostage as he funds his war machine. In response, the fossil fuel industry is attempting to convince lawmakers and the public that the solution is more fossil fuels.This is a lie. Increasing our economy's dependence on fossil fuel increases our exposure to fossil fuel volatility. The industry doesn't want to export U.S. supply … Continue Reading
June 07, 2022
How Rep. Sean Casten went from ‘Licensed to Ill’ to climate policy pragmatist
Sean Casten once gave a speech on the House floor riffing on Fergie's "Fergalicious," with the goal of getting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to embrace renewables quicker. But long before he was making dad jokes, the Illinois Democrat could claim some street cred. Look close enough and you can spot him in a Beastie Boys video, at a show opened by then-unknown rap group Public Enemy. Casten's love of rap and the issue he is best known for — climate change — help explain how he … Continue Reading
June 07, 2022
Democrats push to pass climate change policy
Environmentalists are betting on Democrats getting climate change policy across the finish line before the midterms.President Joe Biden is vowing to make the effort a top priority after Senators failed last month to get his larger Build Back Better plan passed.Collin O'Mara, the president of the National Wildlife Federation, says he wants Congress to pass key environmental protections before Biden's first State of the Union address this March."We have to act now," O'Mara said. "We can't afford … Continue Reading
June 07, 2022
Manchin's Coal Corruption Is So Much Worse Than You Knew
One of the hardest things to grasp about the climate crisis is the connectedness of all things. One recent drizzly afternoon, I drove from Charleston, West Virginia, to the John Amos coal-fired power plant on the banks of the Kanawha River, near the town of Nitro. In the rain, the plant looked like one of the dark satanic mills that poet William Blake wrote about, with three enormous cooling towers that steamed like giant witches' cauldrons. Across the river from the plant, mobile homes … Continue Reading
June 07, 2022
Fear, anger, and trauma. How the Jan. 6th attack changed Congress
A year later, the House of Representatives can still look like a crime scene some days. Five metal detectors ring the outer doors to prevent weapons from getting onto the chamber floor, including one that stands just a few feet from where a Capitol Police officer shot and killed a Jan. 6 rioter trying to crawl through a door just off the House floor. But the detectors aren't there to deter armed insurrectionists. Instead, those detectors are there to prevent lawmakers or their staff from … Continue Reading
June 07, 2022
Reflecting on a dark anniversary: The latest D.C. Memo
Tensions are running high in Washington ahead of Thursday's anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Asked to reflect on the attack a year later, members of the Illinois congressional delegation said the memories remain sharp. "I was in the House Gallery during the attack," Rep. Robin Kelly, a Matteson Democrat, recalled. "I crawled on my hands and knees and hid behind chairs and railings praying for safety for my colleagues, staff and all who work in the Capitol complex. This attack … Continue Reading
June 07, 2022
Democrats push to pass climate change policy
Environmentalists are betting on Democrats getting climate change policy across the finish line before the midterms.President Joe Biden is vowing to make the effort a top priority after Senators failed last month to get his larger Build Back Better plan passed.Collin O'Mara, the president of the National Wildlife Federation, says he wants Congress to pass key environmental protections before Biden's first State of the Union address this March."We have to act now," O'Mara said. "We can't afford … Continue Reading
September 02, 2021
Democrats' 'Hot FERC Summer' campaign aims to boost FERC's visibility on Capitol Hill
Dive Brief: What do the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, rapper Megan Thee Stallion and climate change have in common? They're all tied to a new campaign launched on the House floor Tuesday intended to boost FERC's visibility on Capitol Hill. The "Hot FERC Summer" campaign, launched by Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., and supported by other Democratic members of Congress is a play on Stallion's 2019 hit "Hot Girl Summer" — a move Casten's office hopes will bring increased attention to FERC … Continue Reading
August 27, 2021
SEC accelerates inquiry into gamification of trading on sites like Robinhood
A top Wall Street regulator is officially taking a deeper look at the gamification of trading. On Friday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked for public comment within the next 30 days on how brokerages, wealth managers, and other financial-technology companies use so-called digital engagement practices like behavioral prompts, specified marketing, and gamelike features on their platforms. "While these new technologies can bring us greater access and product choice, they … Continue Reading
August 18, 2021
WH Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy, Rep. Sean Casten Discuss Climate Change and Solutions in Illinois
You can watch the video … Continue Reading
August 11, 2021
Casten, Underwood Tour Northern Illinois Facilities with White House Official
U.S. Reps. Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove, and Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville, accompanied White House Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy on a tour Tuesday of several scientific facilities in northern Illinois. The tour featured stops at Fermilab in Batavia, North Central College in Naperville and Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont.IPCC ReportThe timing of the tour closely followed the Aug. 9 release of a report compiled and presented by the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) detailing … Continue Reading
August 10, 2021
Midwest Climate Innovation tour to highlight region's most pressing environmental needs
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August 10, 2021
‘Answer to the code red’: Dems cite IPCC for climate agenda
Congressional Democrats are pointing to yesterday's major U.N. climate change report as new justification for their legislative proposals to slash greenhouse gas emissions and enact President Biden's climate agenda.Republicans, on the other hand, had less to say about the report, with one member warning that "flawed policies" would only benefit China and Russia.The report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found, among other conclusions, that many impacts of human-induced … Continue Reading
August 10, 2021
Casten, Underwood highlight infrastructure bill's environmental positives
Two suburban lawmakers and the White House climate czar toured two national scientific research facilities Tuesday to promote the economic and environmental benefits of President Biden's proposed infrastructure plan that passed a U.S. Senate hurdle earlier in the day.Their visit comes a day after the release of a damning report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the state of the worldwide environment. The report states world leaders have to act immediately to reduce human … Continue Reading
August 05, 2021
A Chat With the Congressman Trying to Make 'Hot FERC Summer' Happen
The Congressional Record chronicles nearly everything that happens in the House and Senate. It includes watershed moments such as Rep. Barbara Lee's speech as the only vote against authorizing the use of force in Afghanistan and Sen. Edward Dirksen's speech that ended up helping quash a filibuster against landmark civil rights legislation.Now, it also includes a declaration of Hot FERC Summer. Rep. Sean Casten, a 49-year-old member of Congress who is among the chamber's most prolific energy … Continue Reading
August 04, 2021
Let down by infrastructure bill, climate hawks eye reconciliation
With significantly less funding for climate programs than the White House requested in the Senate's nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, climate advocates are pinning their hopes on a budget reconciliation bill likely to pass only if Democrats can hold disparate wings of their party together.And even as Democrats are struggling to maintain party unity in support of the tandem bills, conservative Republicans are trying to peel away support for the infrastructure bill among GOP … Continue Reading