House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) is considering discussions with the Office of the U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry and environmental advocacy groups in connection with joining a group of countries seeking to phase out coal. .
Late last year, Prime Minister Kerry announced that the United States would join the Powering Past Coal Alliance, which commits to not building new coal-fired power plants and phasing out existing coal-fired power generation.
Comer's office released Friday's email revealed that someone at the State Department had written to an official at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, asking for input on the group “Powering Past Coal.” Ta.
It also released letters between State Department officials and additional environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, think tank E3G, and the World Resources Institute.
In a letter to the department, Comer said the document raises “grave concerns” about what information is being shared with the organization.
He called for communication not only between the State Department and the Alliance, but also between the State Department, the White House, and nongovernmental organizations associated with the Alliance.
Mr. Kelly's office declined to comment.
“In our role as a nonprofit public interest organization, we publicly and publicly advocate for global efforts to curb coal-fired power generation,” Natural Resources Defense Council spokesman Bob Deans said in a written statement. “I will.”
“Governments have a duty to protect the public from the human suffering and rising costs of dangerous heatwaves, devastating droughts, species collapse, raging wildfires, storms and flooding,” Deans added. “That’s what this initiative is about.”
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