Gov. Charlie Baker will head to Washington, D.C., to testify alongside a Democratic colleague about climate change and how it affects communities at a hearing of a U.S. House committee.
Baker plans to join North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper Wednesday to testify before the U.S. House's Natural Resources Committee. The committee said the hearing is being held to discuss "the need to address climate change and its impacts on American communities, natural resources and economic well-being."
Earlier this month, Baker unveiled a plan to direct $1 billion over the next 10 years toward helping municipalities prepare for a changing climate and to deal with the impacts of climate change.
"It's pretty clear that climate change is starting to have a very significant impact on our communities, on our infrastructure, on personal property, on real property and on community property," Baker said earlier this month.
Baker's plan involves raising the excise tax paid on real estate transfers to generate an estimated $137 million a year to fund the climate change program and requires Legislative approval.
Baker and Cooper, a Democrat, have worked together on federal issues in the past. After President Donald Trump was inaugurated, the two governors served together on a White House panel aimed at tackling the opioid crisis.
Wednesday's Natural Resources Committee hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the committee hearing room at the Longworth House Office Building. Baker and Cooper are listed as the first panel of witnesses. The committee is chaired by Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva. No members of the Massachusetts delegation serve on the committee.
