U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Appointed to Energy and Natural Resources Committee

Washington D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin has been appointed to serve on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. 

The Committee oversees energy production, innovation and technology issues through the U.S. Departments of Energy and Interior, while also holding responsibility for stewardship of public lands and forests managed by Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service.

“This opportunity will allow me to support Wisconsin’s leadership in the areas of bioenergy, energy efficiency and advanced battery production. We have a lot of great Made in Wisconsin stories to tell that can serve as models for the rest of the country as we work together to build the next generation of energy innovation and promote American energy independence,” Baldwin said.

In her first floor speech, Senator Baldwin highlighted the work being done in Wisconsin on innovation, science, research and technology, including the Global Water Center in Milwaukee, which will open this summer as an incubator for water technology businesses; the partnership of Johnson Controls and UW-Milwaukee for an Innovation Campus research park being built in Wauwatosa; the advances in energy efficiency technology being realized at Orion Energy Systems in Manitowoc; and the work on sustainable biofuels at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center in Madison.

“I am also proud to carry on Wisconsin’s long tradition of protecting our natural resources, promoting conservation of our public lands, and supporting our timber and paper industries,” Baldwin said. “Utilizing our natural resources through careful practices that sustain both our local economies and the resources themselves is important to both Wisconsin’s economy and our quality of life.”

“Tammy Baldwin has a long history of fresh thinking, and her energy and creative ideas will be a welcome addition to our committee,” said Senator Ron Wyden, Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “I'm especially pleased because Wisconsin is a state with a number of parallels with Oregon, including my mentor Wayne Morse who, like Senator Baldwin was born in Dane County, Wisconsin.”

In addition to her Energy and Natural Resources Committee appointment, Senator Baldwin will continue to serve on the Senate Budget Committee; the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

In the House of Representatives Baldwin served on the Energy and Commerce Committee from 2005 to 2013.

“Global climate change is real,” said Baldwin. “Its impact can be seen on agriculture, biodiversity, rising sea levels, and extreme weather.  The question is not whether climate change is occurring, but how our nation is going to respond to it. I look forward to giving Wisconsin a voice to our nation’s response on this important issue.”