This is a relatively quiet week in both the House and the Senate on climate change, with few Committee hearings and legislation that directly address the issue.

On Tuesday, the House Science and Technology Committee will hold a hearing on the Department of Energy’s FutureGen program. The apparent reversal of Bush Administration policy on the clean coal program will offer the most contentious debate this week on energy policy. The hearing will start at 10:00am on Tuesday, set to testify are C.H. “Bud” Albright Jr., undersecretary of Energy, DOE; Jeffrey Phillips, program manager of advanced coal generation, Electric Power Research Institute; Ben Yamagata, executive director, Coal Utilization Research Council; and Paul Thompson, senior vice president, E.ON U.S.

On Wednesday, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will have a hearing on the impact of surface transportation to the global economy. The hearing will cover an expansive array of subjects, but expect discussion on fuel economy, auto emissions, and scarcity of fuel to be at the top of the agenda. Siva Yam, president, United States of America-China Chamber of Commerce; John Isbell, global director of Nike’s delivery logistics; Ray Kuntz, Watkins and Shepard Trucking’s CEO on behalf of the American Trucking Associations; and Edward Wytkind, president, Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO.

Though a date has not been noticed as of this writing, the Energy and Commerce Committee has announced a full committee mark-up of H.R. 3754, a bill that authorizes the EPA to accept a diesel emissions reduction plan. The Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee had previously approved the bill on February 13.

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