Democrats Lean On Green Group To Reach UN Climate Talks Without Trump

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.

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. Politico reported in October that the institute was giving the lawmakers financial help to make the 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.

“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. “We have a lot of rebuilding to do. It hinges on Congress to maintain diplomatic continuities at COP and minimize the damage until adults are back in the White House.”

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.

The trip comes days after Democrats won control of the House and the Senate in the Nov. 3 midterm elections, The Guardian reported.

Casten acknowledged that other countries have watched U.S. climate commitments swing back and forth, The Guardian reported.

“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. “But going to COP on the heels of these results feels a lot better. It can be a much more positive process now.”

The SEEC Institute did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s questions about travel and funding.