“I would say four or five years ago there was this new class of members of Congress interested in climate and clean energy, many of whom ran on those issues — and you were told even a decade ago not to come near those issues — and here they were, running and winning on those issues,” said Clinton Britt, president of Grove Climate Group and president of the SEEC Institute board who previously served as Tonko’s chief of staff. And the resources the institute can offer will only make SEEC’s presence stronger, said Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), former chair of the now-disbanded House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis who is serving on the SEEC Institute’s board.