Water, Permitting Rank High on Retiring Democrats’ To-Do Lists

A trio of Democrats, their Senate careers waning, are seeking to build environmental legacies on promoting clean energy, ensuring access to clean water, and combating climate change.

Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Tom Carper (Del.) and panel members Ben Cardin (Md.) and Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), with 18 months before their announced retirement, have long track records as bipartisan negotiators on clean water and infrastructure matters.

“I want to make sure we do another great WRDA bill, and of course I’m very focused on the Great Lakes,” Stabenow said in a brief hallway interview. Stabenow was referring to the bipartisan, ...