Excellent news! From an announcement via Facebook:
Tonko to Lead Key Climate Subcommittee
January 15 · PUBLIC
Upstate NY congressman elected to chair powerful Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Environment & Climate Change
WASHINGTON – Congressman Paul D. Tonko has just been elected by his colleagues on the powerful House Energy & Commerce Committee to serve as Chair of the Subcommittee on the Environment and Climate Change. This subcommittee has exclusive jurisdiction over the Clean Air Act and will be at the forefront of tackling climate change and carbon pollution. Tonko has been developing a framework for climate action over the past year with input from climate experts and numerous industry, social and environmental stakeholders.
“Climate change is a threat to the American people, our military and countless jobs and industries throughout our U.S. economy,” said Tonko. “We don’t have the time or resources to let this President and his allies in Congress sit on their hands for another two years while historic hurricanes, wildfires, illnesses such as Lyme disease and countless other climate-driven threats ravage our nation. As an engineer in Congress, I look forward to working with my colleagues to put evidence before politics so that we can finally take bold, necessary action to address the growing climate crisis and protect the American people.”
As ranking member of the subcommittee during the 115th Congress, Tonko was a leading voice in bipartisan efforts to reauthorize critical EPA programs for drinking water and brownfields while organizing House Democratic to oppose rollbacks of clean air and climate protections. He has stated his intention to build on these efforts in the new Congress.
“Environmental threats are not just a public health concern, they’re also an economic one,” Tonko continued. “We need to understand and work to avoid the mounting costs of climate inaction and environmental mismanagement, fight back against suspicious Trump Administration rollbacks of clean air and climate rules, and advance legislation that will significantly reduce emissions. As broad awareness of these challenges grows, I am confident that we can continue the bipartisan spirit of the subcommittee as we continue conducting oversight and restoring critical expired programs.”
The Subcommittee on Environment & Climate Change has jurisdiction over critical environmental statutes, including the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and Superfund. A routine step, the full Democratic caucus is expected to ratify the results of today’s election in the coming days. Tonko was also selected to serve on the Energy & Commerce subcommittees on Energy and on Oversight and Investigations, continuing his service from the 115th Congress.
Tonko is my congressman. I have encountered him many times over the past few years. He makes a point of getting back to the district frequently and being very accessible.
I play in a marching band — I’ve seen him at a lot of Memorial Day parades mixing with the crowds, and I’ve also seen him at meetings for groups dealing with our military and veterans.
More to the point, he has the background to bring a lot to this committee.
“...Tonko was president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, from 2007 until his resignation on April 25, 2008.[1
...He graduated from Amsterdam's Wilbur H. Lynch High School in 1967, and received a degree in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering from Clarkson University in 1971.
...While in the [NY State] Assembly, Tonko served as the Chairman of the Committee on Energy, a position he held from 1992 until retirement. Tonko was also a member of standing committees on Agriculture, Transportation and Education,…”
There’s quite a bit more at the wikipedia article cited above. The subcommittee chairmanship is something he’s more than ready to assume. For those who haven’t had the chance to meet with Tonko, I had the pleasure of hearing him address the annual meeting of the Empire State Passenger Association together with the Rail Passengers Association March 10, 2018 in Schenectady, NY. (This year’s 2019 meeting is coming up.)
I was able to get a cell phone video of most of his speech. He was speaking about the Northeast Corridor, other rail matters, and infrastructure proposals from the Trump administration back in March of 2018. I’m including the video below, along with a transcript. (Any errors are my responsibility.) The video starts about two minutes into his speech.
Keep in mind that he’s speaking to a pro-rail crowd here; he brings the same energy and focus to the rest of his agenda. With luck we’ll be hearing a lot more from Congressman Tonko in the days ahead.
…The truth of the matter is, that the $200 billion plan coming from Washington, let’s call it what it is. $20 billion a year over ten years. That’s a drop in the ocean. Where’s the investment in rail? Where’s the investment in water infrastructure and (grid?) modernization? It’s nowhere to be found. And so we need to raise our voices and say rail matters, rail grows the economy, rail is a multiplier, an economic multiplier for all the communities of upstate New York and New York State for that matter.
Applause
So let’s give rail (????) resources.
Why do I travel on rail? Because it’s the energy efficient, most energy efficient form of travel. So it’s not just the economy, it’s the environment, and it’s the energy policy that is favorably impacted when we invest in rail. And we need to do that abundantly well.
You look to invest in the domestic side of the federal budget, because God knows we spend enough on defense. And when we started parity this year, parity meant adding anything to either side of the equation will be equal. So it wasn’t like the investment in defense and the investment in domestic discretionary funding was equal. The additives were equal. So we start from that backlash that hurts somewhat. But let’s invest in our domestic side of the equation. It’s absolutely essential.
You know, again, we had $1.5 trillion that we borrowed that’s going to cost us $2.3 trillion to give tax breaks to the corporations and the wealthy. We mortgaged our future – and now we’re talking about infrastructure, now we’re talking about it. There better be dollars for rail, and when it comes, when it comes to the tunnel [Hudson River tunnel], I am told if any appropriations bill comes forward with dollars for the tunnel, it will be vetoed.
We better be ready to override the veto (applause) because that tunnel is essential to the quality of life of the people of this country. I represented the 105th Assembly District [NY State] that included this town [Schenectady] and points west. In 1987 the Thruway Bridge collapsed claiming 10 lives, none of which were part of the Assembly District I represented. So when there’s a weakness in the system, we’re all at risk. We’re all at risk. So let’s get wise, let’s fund that tunnel, and let’s stop the foolishness that we will veto any appropriations bill that includes the tunnel funding. That is ridiculous.
So we need to go forward and do things appropriately. The trans - the infrastructure bill I just mentioned has its weakness - weaknesses, and I shared them with you, but let’s look at the budget presentation by the president. $738 million is all that we can afford in that budget? It’s a cut, a cut that’s greater than 50% to what we had in the budget. We need to make sure there’s $1.7 billion, minimally, in the budget for Amtrak. What nation would be so foolish to cut its public transportation? When we look at the billions they’re investing in China, when we look at the attempt that President Obama made with high speed rail, when we fought back the recession and offered the ARA [American Recovery Act] to do things that would help build the rail infrastructure…
That lasted for a couple of years and then there was a switch in Congress and now we have no high-speed rail initiatives. That is foolishness. So the $738 million has to be pushed aside by $1.7 billion and we’d better include the $543 million for the northeast corridor because it’s that important. We know the numbers and we know the public system is required. It provides for an economic boost for our communities.
And then we look at investments, like one in this town, for the train station. That investment is not only about the rail passengers and the rail system, it’s about an economic multiplier for this region. Namely, people to have the quality of services, the investment in downtown areas, urban cores – that’s the order of business millennials are looking for. They want urban core investments.
So I’m here this afternoon to share a message of strength, a message of positive thinking, a message of investing in the domestic side of the equation, and making sure that we have our priorities right. Rail matters, rail is the energy-efficient form of travel, it is what business requires, it is what passengers require, every day ordinary citizens require. Let’s be real and let’s invest in the soundness of the system.
We look at the mistakes made. We see restrictive devices that can be retrofitting the system. Why aren’t we funding that? Why aren’t we putting the dollars forward so that we can avoid injury and death when we know the technology is shelf-ready? So there are things we need to do, investments we need to make, and I will continue to do my work on the Energy and Commerce Committee and speak as loudly and forcefully as I can because this investment matters.
If we’re going to do a once in a generation infrastructure bill, let’s do it right, and let’s do it with fervor and passion, and make a difference, be intellectually wise in our pursuits and academically sound. There’s no excuse for this kind of behavior and we need real leadership in Washington, and if you can’t lead, step aside. (applause)
Thank you etc. etc.