E&E News
Summary
As a teenager, Sean Casten just wanted to listen to gangsta rap group N.W.A.
But the wife of an up-and-coming Democratic senator had a crusade against explicit lyrics in the late 1980s. And Casten felt as if he needed a little libertarian-style freedom in his life.
"Remember when Tipper Gore was leading the charge to put labels on records so that you couldn't buy N.W.A records?" Casten recalled with a laugh, referring to the wife of future Vice President Al Gore, who was then a senator from Tennessee. "To my 19-year-old self, that was an assault on my personal liberties."
His first vote for president was for Republican George H.W. Bush in 1992. He followed suit and voted for Republican Bob Dole four years later.
Times have changed.
Casten is now a Democrat representing a quintessential swing district — Illinois' 6th — that was part of the party's 2018 House takeover strategy.
But unlike many newly elected Democratic moderates, Casten — an Irish-born clean energy entrepreneur — ran primarily on climate change.
"I'm quite certain that myself and [California Democratic Rep.] Mike Levin were the first two people to ever run for office on climate policy and win," Casten said during an extensive interview with E&E News shortly before COVID-19 turned the world on its head.
Both lawmakers now sit on the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. Casten is also working on flood insurance on the Financial Services Committee and other energy and environmental issues on the Science, Space and Technology Committee.
He's also one of four co-chairs of the New Democrat Coalition's Climate Change Task Force. It's part of a climate-tinged moderate flair that helped him win a district that had been in Republican hands for nearly 50 years.
"I spent 16 years building companies that had a mission to profitably reduce greenhouse gas emissions," Casten said. "That still is my top issue."
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