It also comes as green advocates fear the new balance of power in Washington will lead to a rollback of environmental regulations and the end of climate leadership on the world stage.
“Cracking down on methane leakage, decarbonizing our economy, and combatting sea level rise are firmly on my agenda for COP29,” said Whitehouse in a statement to POLITICO’s E&E News. “But we can’t ignore that Donald Trump, Republicans, and their fossil fuel mega-donors are aiming a torpedo at the climate progress Democrats have made in the last four years.”
He added, “We will not give up the fight for climate action and against the fossil fuel corruption that’s soon to take power in Washington.”
Whitehouse had already announced plans to head to Baku, Azerbaijan, for the climate talks, which are set to take place from Nov. 11-22. His office confirmed Thursday he will still be leading a “smaller delegation of just Democrats” from Nov. 16-17.
House Energy and Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said in September he, too, would be attending the summit. His spokesperson had no further details to share this week about whether he would be traveling with colleagues.
But the significance of this year’s summit has intensified in the aftermath of the election, which will usher in a dramatic shift in climate policy. Trump, who has called climate change a “hoax,” withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate accord during his last time in the White House and deprioritized climate action across the federal government.
