After the demise of the Lieberman-Warner legislation in early June, it was widely acknowledged that legislators still lacked a comprehensive understanding of the science and policy choices surrounding climate change. It is widely expected that the 111th Congress will again take up the issue, but this time with an Administration supportive of its efforts and on-going international negotiations that will need more active American engagement. With the increased likelihood of some legislative success in the next Congress, the policy making process has shifted to committee inquiries and hearings.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will use its oversight mandate to examine the role of the White House in climate science and in the creation of CO2 regulations in response to the Massachusetts v. EPA decision at a hearing Tuesday morning. The hearing will focus on the pressures exerted by the White House on the EPA after the Massachusetts decision. One of the witnesses will be Jason Burnett, a former senior EPA official, who worked on possible regulations for a year before recently leaving the agency. Global warming skeptic Roy Spencer is also a witness for the hearing, having been invited by Sen. James Inhofe. He will testify on political pressure from the Clinton Administration while he worked at NASA.

On the House side, the Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing in the Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee on the EPA’s proposed rules governing carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). CCS technology, while still in its infancy, will be necessary to continue to the extraction and use of coal for the production of energy- a key political requirement for any national carbon policy. The injection of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses into wells has implications for ground water safety and other liability issues. Witnesses have yet to be announced.

The House Agriculture Committee will examine the renewable fuel standard (RFS) at a hearing on Thursday. In recent weeks the standard has become controversial as the price of feed stocks has increased and scientific studies have called into question the utility of the standards and fuels. Texas Governor Rick Perry has asked EPA for a waiver from the requirement, a decision is expected by the end July. No witnesses have yet been announced.

Due to technical difficulties at ClimateIntel.com, this entry could not be published as scheduled on Monday.

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