Rep. Sean Casten on the New Democrat Path to Fighting Climate Change

In this episode of Political Climate, we speak to a clean energy entrepreneur-turned-lawmaker leading the Democrats’ pro-market approach to climate policy.

Julia Pyper November 08, 2019

Julia Pyper

Senior Editor
Greentech Media

Julia Pyper is a Senior Editor at Greentech Media covering the energy transition. She is also the host and producer of the Political Climate podcast. She previously reported for E&E Publishing, and has covered clean energy and climate change issues across the U.S. and abroad, including in India, Haiti, Israel and the Maldives. She holds degrees from McGill and Columbia Universities. Find her on Twitter @JMPyper.

If you’re following political news, you’ve probably heard of the Squad, a group of four newly elected congresswomen advocating for progressive policies like the Green New Deal.

But have you heard of the New Democrat Coalition and its plans for dealing with climate change? In this episode of Political Climate, we hear from a lawmaker who is leading that charge.

Last year, Sean Casten ran one of the most overtly pro-climate-action campaigns of the 2018 midterms — and in a historically Republican district. In the end, Casten, a biochemical engineer and a clean energy entrepreneur, beat out six-term Republican Rep. Peter Roskam.

Rep. Casten’s race in Illinois' 6th District was identified as a key 2018 battleground that could have determined whether Democrats took control of the House. And it’s a moderate, suburban district that Democrats will want to keep in 2020.

As you’ll hear in this interview, Rep. Casten is intent on finding solutions to climate change and doesn’t shy away from getting wonky on topics like energy storage and attracting capital to the solar sector. But he also takes a critical stance toward some of the policies his fellow Democrats have put forward.