Energy and the Environment
As a local meteorologist for over two decades, I know what so many other scientists know: the climate is changing. To me, there’s nothing political about that. We’ve seen the negative impacts of extreme weather firsthand across Central and Northwestern Illinois.
We need to find ways to protect our homes and farms from draughts, floods, and other adverse weather events while investing in clean power sources that will create sustainable, good-paying jobs right here in our district.
We owe it to our kids and grandkids to build a cleaner environment and we owe it to our farmers to make sure they can pass down their family farms to the next generation.
More on Energy and the Environment
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17) announced that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has designated four counties in Illinois 17th Congressional District (McDonough, Mercer, Fulton, and Tazewell) as primary natural disaster areas due to a recent drought.
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17), alongside Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17), introduced the Advancing Research on Agricultural Climate Impacts Act, bipartisan legislation to support farmers and combat extreme weather by better tracking farmers’ conservation efforts.
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17) introduced bipartisan legislation with Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (IA-02) to preserve and restore the Driftless Area between Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
Rep. Eric Sorensen brings a rare resume to Congress. The freshman lawmaker, who represents part of the Quad Cities area of Illinois, is, by his own accounting, the first former television meteorologist in Congress in more than four decades. (The last one was Rep. Dale Milford (D-Texas), who left in 1979.)
Sorensen is a member of the Agriculture Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee. He represents a very purple district and is being targeted by Republicans in next year’s elections.
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17) today introduced the bipartisan Flood Resiliency and Land Stewardship Act with Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (IA-02). This legislation will improve flood and drought mitigation in the Driftless Area through existing U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation programs.
When Eric Sorensen wanted to start talking about climate change while delivering the weather forecast in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa, it wasn’t an easy lift.
The Illinois Democrat said he heard a lot of “hell, no” from management at his television station, WREX.
Back then, more than a decade ago, climate change was a highly politicized topic — a fact he attributed at least in part to former Vice President Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” which had been out just a few years at that point.
WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17) joined Congressman Brandon Williams (NY-22) in introducing the bipartisan DOE and NASA Interagency Research Coordination Act, which codifies the relationship between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Department of Energy (DOE) to advance the work of both entities.