This is the final week before Congress briefly adjourns for the Memorial Day recess. When they return, the Senate is expected to begin debate on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Change bill. Whether or not 60 votes can be mustered to take the bill to debate is still an open question. This week, the action and debate is still at the Committee level.

On Tuesday at 10 AM, Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman will be holding a hearing on the economic impact of climate change legislation. Scheduled to testify is Peter Orzag, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, along experts from the Congressional Research Service, and the Deputy Administrator of the Energy Information Administration. As mentioned previously, Senator Bingaman is a supporter of the inclusion of a so-called “safety valve” into any cap and trade system, so this hearing will be instructive as to where that debate is likely to head.

On Wednesday at 2:30 PM, the Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing entitled “Climate Solutions and Job Creation: How Agriculture and Forestry can Help Lower Costs in a Low Carbon Economy,” focusing on how the agriculture and forestry sectors could create carbon offsets. Also on Wednesday at 10 AM, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the rise of oil prices with executives from ExxonMobil, ConnocoPhillips, Chevron, Shell, and BP America scheduled to testify.

On Thursday at 10 AM, the hearings move to the House side with the Foreign Affairs Committee taking up the oil price issue with David Sandlow of the Brookings Institute, Anne Korin of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security testifying, and Paul Saunders of the Nixon Center. Additionally, on Thursday at 9:30 AM, the Select Committee on Global Warming and Energy Independence will have Secretary Bodman testifying in a hearing examining the Bush Administration energy policy.

For further information about this topic, please contact Akin Gump.