This Week on the Hill
The end game on health care reform looms this week. This past weekend, Sen. Lindsay Graham, the leading Republican engaged in climate change policy, reiterated his belief that bitterness resulting from the reconciliation process on health care made him hesitant about the chances of his “tri-partisan” energy bill. Still, there continues to be hope that Sens. Graham, Kerry and Lieberman, will release an outline of their proposal before Congress adjourns for the Easter/Passover recess.
This week, the Senate will take up the nominations of various NOAA nominees and the Assistant Secretary of Energy for legislative affairs. Meanwhile, the House, while waiting for the reconciliation vote, will continue to hold hearing on the President’s energy budget. The Energy and Water Subcommittee of Appropriations will hear from Assistant Secretary of Energy for energy efficiency and renewable energy Cathy Zoi and Undersecretary of Energy Kristina Johnson on DOE’s energy efficiency budget. The House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing in the Energy and Environment Subcommittee on the HomeStar Program-otherwise known as “Cash for Caulkers.” Later in the week the Energy and Water Subcommittee will again hear from DOE on its advanced energy programs.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
The House Subcommittee on Investigations & Oversight will hold a hearing on investigating rare earth metals and minerals which are used in many energy technologies. This hearing will likely cover the research and development opportunities to improve the extract techniques for certain minerals found in the earth’s core. The hearing will be held at 2:00 p.m. in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Witnesses include Stephen Freiman, president, Freiman Consulting; Karl Gschneider Jr., materials science and engineering professor, Iowa State University; Steven Duclos, chief scientist and manager of material sustainability, General Electric Global Research; Mark Smith, CEO, Molycorp Minerals; and Terence Stewart, managing partner, Stewart and Stewart.
The Senate Water and Power Subcommittee will hold a hearing at 10:00 a.m. in Room 355 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in regards to the Bureau of Reclamation’s study on water usage in the West and how climate change may effect future water supplies. Witnesses include Commissioner Mike Connor, Bureau of Reclamation; Melinda Kassen, director of the Western Water Project for Trout Unlimited, Boulder, Colo.; Dan Keppen, executive director, Family Farm Alliance, Klamath Falls, Ore.; Pat Mulroy, general manager, Southern Nevada Water Authority (representing the Colorado River Basin states), Las Vegas; and Tony Pack, general manager, Eastern Municipal Water District, Perris, Calif.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco will appear before the House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee to review the FY2011 budget. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room H-309 of the Capitol.
The House Committee of Science and Technology will hold a hearing entitled “The Future of Manufacturing: What is the Role of the Federal Government in Supporting Innovation by U.S. Manufacturers?” This hearing’s discussions will include the need for greater research in emerging technologies, such as nanotechnology. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Witnesses include Susan Smyth, director of GM’s Manufacturing Systems Research, GM R&D, and chief scientist for manufacturing; Len Sauers, vice president of global sustainability at Procter & Gamble; Debtosh Chakrabarti, president and chief operating officer, PMC Group Inc.; Mark Tuominen, director of National Nanomanufacturing Network; and Wayne Crews, vice president for policy and director of technology studies for Competitive Enterprise Institute.
The House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Department of Energy’s FY2011 Budget focusing on energy efficiency, renewable energy, fossil energy, electricity delivery and energy reliability. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 2362-B of the Rayburn House Office Building. Witnesses include Kristina Johnson, undersecretary of Energy; Cathy Zoi, assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy; James Markowsky, assistant secretary for fossil energy; and Patricia Hoffman, director, electricity delivery and energy reliability.
The House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a hearing at 3:00 p.m. in Room B308 of the Rayburn House Office Building to discuss the FY2011 budget for the Fish and Wildlife Service, which invests heavily into climate change research and decreases in traditional endangered species programs. Witnesses include Rowan Gould, acting director, Fish and Wildlife Service and Thomas Strickland, assistant Interior secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a nominations hearing to discuss President Obama’s nominee, Jeffrey Lane, as the Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for congressional and intergovernmental affairs. The hearing will be held at 9:30 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
The House Committee of Energy and Commerce will hold a hearing entitled, “HomeStar: Job Creation Through Home Energy Retrofits.” The hearing will be at 9:30 a.m. in Room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
The House Energy and Water Development Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the FY2011 budget for the Department of Energy’s research funding and ARPA-E requests. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 2362-B of the Rayburn House Office Building. Witnesses include Steven Koonin, under secretary for science, DOE; William Brinkman, director, DOE’s Office of Science; and Arun Majumdar, director, ARPA-E.
The House Committee of Science and Technology will hold a hearing entitled “Geoengineering III: Domestic and International Research Governance.” The hearing will be held at 12:00 p.m. in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Witnesses include Phil Willis, chairman, Science and Technology Committee, U.K. House of Commons; Frank Rusco, director of natural resources and the environment, Government Accountability Office; Granger Morgan, engineering professor and department head, Carnegie Mellon University; Scott Barrett, natural resource economics professor, Columbia University; and Jane Long, principal associate director at large, Lawrence Livermore National Lab.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a nominations hearing at 10:00 a.m. in Room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. The nominees to oversee ocean policy at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are Robert Papp Jr., nominee for commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard; Larry Robinson, nominee for assistant secretary of Commerce for oceans and atmosphere; Earl Weener, nominee to be a member of the National Transportation Safety Board; Michael Tillman and Daryl Boness, nominees to be members of the Marine Mammal Commission; and Jeffrey Moreland, nominee to be a director of Amtrak.