House Democrats are off to a U.N. climate summit in Turkey that President Donald Trump is skipping, and a green group is helping cover the cost.
asserted
group → skip → cost
Nineteen House members are due in Antalya from Nov. 14 to 16 for the summit, known as COP31, the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Institute said in a media advisory.
asserted
Institute → know → advisory
Politico reported in October that the institute was giving the lawmakers financial help to make the trip.
asserted
institute → report → trip
The Guardian reported Monday that the lawmakers — all Democrats — had been denied the State Department help congressional travelers normally get and were relying on philanthropic funding to attend.
asserted
travelers → report → funding
“I’m glad we found a way to get there, but it is insane,” Democratic Illinois Rep. Sean Casten, a vice chair of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, told the outlet.
asserted
Casten → ’m → outlet
“We have a lot of rebuilding to do.
asserted
We → have → rebuilding
It hinges on Congress to maintain diplomatic continuities at COP and minimize the damage until adults are back in the White House.”
asserted
adults → hinge → House
(RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Trump Pressed To Bench Big Tech From UN ‘Climate Hoax’ Summit)
Casten, a former environmental entrepreneur, is currently a candidate to become chair of the House Financial Services Committee, and is challenging the panel’s top Democrat, California Rep. Maxine Waters.
asserted
Casten → press → Democrat
The trip comes days after Democrats won control of the House and the Senate in the Nov. 3 midterm elections, The Guardian reported.
asserted
Guardian → come → elections
Casten acknowledged that other countries have watched U.S. climate commitments swing back and forth, The Guardian reported.
asserted
Guardian → acknowledge → ?
“We go in with a fair amount of humility — as important as we are, the U.S. has been an extremely unreliable partner on climate,” he said.
asserted
he → go → climate
“But going to COP on the heels of these results feels a lot better.
asserted
going → go → results
The SEEC Institute did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s questions about travel and funding.
asserted
Institute → respond → travel
Steve Milloy, a senior fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute, said that E&E Legal wants to know who is bankrolling the outside organizations and lawmakers heading to the summit, foreign donors in particular.
asserted
who → say → summit
“COP31 is against the policy and national security interests of the U.S.,” Milloy said in a statement to the DCNF.
asserted
Milloy → say → DCNF
He added that E&E Legal “will not be able to obtain records about this travel and activity because neither the private groups nor Congress is subject to the Freedom of Information Act.”
asserted
groups → add → Act
Karly Matthews, vice president of communications for the American Conservation Coalition, a conservative environmental group, said that American leaders should use the summit to make the case for U.S. energy and industry.
asserted
leaders → say → energy
“On the world stage at COP31, our leaders should champion the fact that American energy and manufacturing are cleaner,” Matthews said in a statement to the DCNF.
asserted
Matthews → champion → DCNF
“Our environmental challenges are real, but so is the opportunity for robust American leadership,” she said.
asserted
she → say → leadership
Craig Rucker, president of the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, a conservative group with a team at the summit, said that Americans should view the delegation’s trip skeptically.
asserted
Americans → say → trip
“Americans should see the Democratic congressional delegation’s presence at this summit for what it is: political theater that is disconnected from both the recent election and the real-world costs of the agenda being promoted here,” Rucker said in a statement to the DCNF.
asserted
Rucker → see → DCNF
“The travel and costs associated with this summit reveal priorities that are more about elite convening than about the urgency or practicality of the climate agenda being advanced,” he said.
asserted
he → associate → agenda
The delegation’s public schedule for Nov. 14 lists a conversation “with Amazon leadership and congressional participants” on clean energy policy, the institute’s website shows.
asserted
website → list → policy
The schedule also lists a Nov. 16 session titled “Accelerating Decarbonization to Drive Down Global Demand for Oil and Gas.”
asserted
schedule → list → Oil
In June, the institute paid for five House Democrats, Casten included, to travel to France and Belgium, a post-travel disclosure that Democratic North Carolina Rep. Deborah Ross filed with the House clerk shows.
asserted
Ross → pay → clerk
Their transportation ran anywhere from $2,491 to $4,764 apiece, and they flew commercial, the filing says.
asserted
filing → run → 4,764
Lawmakers need written approval from the House Ethics Committee before they go on a privately sponsored trip, the committee says.
asserted
committee → need → trip
After the trip, they have 15 days to report the costs to the clerk, according to the House’s post-travel disclosure form.
uncertain
they → have → form
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom is leading a delegation of his own, his office announced Tuesday.
asserted
office → lead → own
The governor’s Tuesday release did not say how the delegation would travel or who is paying.
asserted
who → say → ?
Newsom’s office did not respond to the DCNF’s questions about the trip.
asserted
office → respond → trip
Former Secretary of State John Kerry, the Biden-era climate envoy, was also at the summit, Legal Planet, an environmental law blog, reported Wednesday.
asserted
Planet → report → summit
Kerry spoke at a plenary session in Antalya.
asserted
Kerry → speak → Antalya
He said that moving the world off fossil fuels “is the prime discussion that we need to engage in” during a 2028 review of global climate policy, Climate Home News reported.
asserted
News → say → policy
A representative for Kerry did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
asserted
representative → respond → comment
A White House official confirmed to The Guardian that the Trump administration would not be sending anyone.
asserted
administration → confirm → anyone
“This summit rejects reality by failing to acknowledge that extremist climate policies are destroying countries around the world,” the official said.
asserted
official → reject → world
Trump told world leaders at the U.N. in September 2025 that climate change was “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” The Guardian reported.
asserted
Guardian → tell → world
The State Department said in an email to NPR that the U.S. is not sending a delegation.
asserted
U.S. → say → delegation
It skipped last year’s summit in Brazil, too, the outlet reported.
asserted
outlet → skip → Brazil
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
