Nancy Pelosi leads Democratic delegation to international climate change summit


The White House may be carving out its own path when it comes to climate change, but Washington will still be involved at an upcoming international climate summit in Madrid.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is leading a Democrat-only congressional delegation consisting of 13 House members and one senator to Madrid's COP25 summit. "One of the goals we have is to make sure that all of those who are in the Paris Accord know that the Democratic majority in the Congress of the American people are very concerned about the climate issue, understand that we have to set goals and have a plan on how to achieve them, and to talk about some of the things that we have done," Pelosi told Bloomberg Environment before departing for Spain.
The Democrats attending reportedly range from members of Congress who support the Green New Deal to those who want to approach Washington's environmental policy more cautiously in the hopes of hammering out legislation alongside Republicans.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
President Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, which was brought to light in 2016 at the COP25 summit in the French capital. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier this month that the U.S. had begun formal proceedings to leave the accord, though it won't become official until after the 2020 presidential election. Trump isn't expected to make an appearance in Madrid, but the administration is sending a small delegation of diplomats to represent Washington, CBS News reports. Read more at Bloomberg.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Music reviews: Chance the Rapper, Cass McCombs, and Molly Tuttle
Feature "Star Line," "Interior Live Oak," and "So Long Little Miss Sunshine"
-
Film reviews: Eden and Honey Don't!
Feature Seekers of a new utopia spiral into savagery and a queer private eye prowls a high-desert town
-
Critics' choice: Three chefs fulfilling their ambitions
Feature Kwame Onwuachi's grand second act, Travis Lett makes a comeback, and Jeff Watson's new Korean restaurant
-
How 'freakosystems' are becoming the norm
The explainer Ecosystems are changing permanently
-
Cloudbursts: what are the 'rain bombs' hitting India and Pakistan?
The Explainer The sudden and intense weather event is almost impossible to forecast and often leads to deadly flash-flooding and landslides
-
What do heatwaves mean for Scandinavia?
Under the Radar A record-breaking run of sweltering days and tropical nights is changing the way people – and animals – live in typically cool Nordic countries
-
Blue whales have gone silent and it's posing troubling questions
Under the radar Warming oceans are the answer
-
Acid rain is back: the sequel nobody wanted
Under The Radar A 'forever chemical' in rainwater is reviving a largely forgotten environmental issue
-
Why is the world so divided over plastics?
Today's Big Question UN negotiations on first global plastic treaty are at stake, as fossil fuel companies, petrostates and plastic industry work to resist a legal cap on production
-
Tuvalu is being lost to climate change. Other countries will likely follow.
Under the Radar Sea level rise is putting islands underwater
-
Massive earthquake sends tsunami across Pacific
Speed Read Hundreds of thousands of people in Japan and Hawaii were told to evacuate to higher ground