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The Congress continues to be focused on health care, with energy and climate change continuing on the backburner.  Members in both chambers nevertheless continue substantive conversations.  Most of the action on energy will be in the various appropriations subcommittees.  EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson will appear before the Senate Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, where she will likely be asked about Administrative rulemaking on stationary sources of greenhouse gasses and what, if anything, the Administration plans to do.  Secretary Chu will appear before the House Energy and Water subcommittee and the Senate Appropriations committee. Likely topics will be carbon capture and storage, alternative and renewable energy funding, hydrogen, and nuclear loan guarantees.  Also appearing before the committees will be Interior Secretary Salazar and Commerce Secretary Locke.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Lisa Jackson, U.S. EPA  Administrator, will testify before the Senate Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee  to defend the White House’s $10 billion budget request for EPA. The hearing will be held at 9:30 a.m. in Room 124 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, will testify before the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee to defend the White House’s FY 2011 budget for the Department of Energy. The hearing will be held at 12:00 p.m. in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to discuss the President’s FY 2011 budget for the U.S. Department of Interior. Secretary, Ken Salazar, will testify before the Senate at 10:00 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will also hold a hearing to consider the nominations of Larry Persily as Alaska’s coordinator for natural gas transmission projects and Patricia Hoffman as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Electricity Delivery and Energy Liability. The hearing is scheduled before the budget hearing at 10:00 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, will testify before the Senate Committee on Appropriations to defend the White House’s FY 2011 budget for the Department of Energy. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 192 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The Senate Committee on Appropriations will hold a hearing on the Department of Commerce FY2011 budget which significantly increases climate satellite spending. Witnesses include Gary F. Locke, Secretary of  Commerce and Todd J. Zinser, Inspector General of Commerce. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 138 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Secretary of Commerce, Gary F. Locke, will also appear before the House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee regarding Commerce’s  FY2011 budget. The hearing will be held at 2:00 p.m. in Room 2359 in the Rayburn House Office Building.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to “examine the Department of Energy’s implementation of programs authorized and funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.” The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Witnesses include Matthew Rogers, senior adviser to the Secretary for recovery act implementation, DOE; Malcolm Woolf, director, Maryland Energy Administration, and vice chair for the National Association of State Energy Officials; Patricia Dalton, managing director, Natural Resources and Environment, GAO; and Michele Nellenbach of the National Governors Association.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the Clean Air Subcommittee will hold a joint hearing entitled, “”Legislative Hearing: S. 2995, The Clean Air Act Amendments of 2010.”  The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

 This Week on the Hill

After two weeks away, one for the President’s Day Recess and the other for the snow, Congress returns this week to a full plate though it will mostly be focused on job creation and health care reform.  Progress towards a bi-partisan energy bill got a boost over the recess with President Obama’s announcement on nuclear energy, a favorite issue for southern Republicans. All indications continue to point to steady progress being made by Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman to a consensus legislation, though whether cap and trade is part of it is still very much in doubt. 

This week most committees with jurisdictional oversight on the environment and energy continue their examinations of the budget needs of various agencies under their purview.  The Senate Commerce Committee will have a hearing on Tuesday to take a look at smart grid and electricity management technologies.  At the same time the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing on the infrastructural needs for making the shift to large scale adoption of plug in hybrid technologies.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation will hold a hearing entitled “Improving Energy Efficiency Through Technology and Communications Innovation” at 10:00 a.m. in room 253 of the Russell House Office Building. Witnesses include Aneesh Chopra, chief technology officer, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President; Dan Hesse, CEO, Sprint Nextel; Adrian Tuck, CEO, Tendril Networks Inc.; Kathrin Winkler, chief sustainability officer, EMC2 Corp.; and Lorie Wigle, general manager, Eco-Technology Program Office, Intel Corp.

The Energy and Water Development Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the infrastructural needs for making the shift to large scale adoption of plug in hybrid technologies at 10:15 a.m. in Room 192 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Witnesses include Henry Kelly, EERE principal deputy assistant secretary; Fredrick Smith, president and chairman of FedEx and member of the Electrification Coalition; Richard Lowenthal, founder and CEO of Coulomb Technologies; Alan Taub, vice president of research and development for General Motors; and David West, vice president of Raser Technologies.

Lisa Jackson, U.S. EPA  Administrator, will testify before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to defend the White House’s $10 billion budget request for EPA. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Lisa Jackson, U.S. EPA  Administrator, will testify before the The House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee  to defend the White House’s $10 billion budget request for EPA. The hearing will be held at 2:00 p.m. in Room 308 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

The Full Committee and Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife will hold a joint hearing at 9:30 a.m. in Room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building entitled “Joint Hearing on the Legislative Approaches to Protecting, Preserving, and Restoring Great Water Bodies.” Witnesses include Peter Silva, assistant water administrator, U.S. EPA; Harris Sherman, undersecretary for natural resources and environment, Agriculture Department; Patrick Wright, executive director, California Tahoe Conservancy; David Dicks, executive director, Puget Sound Partnership; Alexander “Pete” Grannis, commissioner, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; Debrah Marriott, executive director, Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership; David Naftzger, executive director, Council of Great Lakes Governors; John Tauzel, senior associate director of public policy, New York Farm Bureau; and David Ullrich, executive director, Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiatives.

 It is a largely quiet week on the Hill, as far as climate legislation or hearings go.  The big news this week will be roll out of the President’s budget and the expected votes to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.  All of which will overshadow the one truly interesting hearing on climate science that will be held in the House Science and Technology Committee on Thursday.  The hearing will be the first real Congressional examination of geoengineering and whether it would work to reverse climate trends.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The Senate Budget Committee will hold a hearing for the FY 2011 budget at 10:00 a.m. in Room 608 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The House Budget Committee will also hold a hearing for FY 2011 budget at 2:00 p.m. in Room 210 of the Cannon House Office Building. The Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag will testify for the budget committee hearings.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold nomination hearings for Larry Persily and Patricia Hoffman at 2:30 p.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Persily has been nominated to serve as federal coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects and Hoffman has been nominated to be assistant secretary of Energy for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

The House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Energy and Environment will hold a hearing in Room 2325 of the Rayburn House Office Building to continue to explore the science and engineering specifics of the geoengineering concept, which many scientists say is a potential “Plan B” to cool the planet.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to receive testimony by the Secretary of Energy Steven Chu on the U.S. Department of Energy’s budget for fiscal year 2011. The hearing will be at 10:00 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Another hearing on the Fiscal 2011 Budgets, as previously mentioned, will be held by the Senate Finance Committee at 10:00 a.m. in Room 215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu will be testifying before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Secretary Chu was invited to address the Committee on the research, development and technology priorities necessary to meet medium and long-term efforts to reduce carbon and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Wednesday, January 20

The House Science and Technology Committee will hold a hearing on “America COMPETES: Big Picture Perspectives on the Need for Innovation, Investments in R&D and a Commitment to STEM Education,” at 10:00 am in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing will discuss the America COMPETES Act of 2007, which encourages people to study and teach mathematics and science, along with supporting research into emerging technologies and increasing funds for federal science-based organizations.

Thursday, January 21

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will conduct a hearing on the Department of Energy climate priorities at 10:00 am in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

It will be a fairly quiet week on the climate front in the House and the Senate, with most key staff members in Copenhagen and Senators and Congresspeople busily trying to finish health care reform, meet the federal government’s funding requirements and increase the debt ceiling of the United States.  Late last week the tri-partisan climate leadership (Sens. Graham, Kerry and Lieberman) released the broad outlines of what they will likely propose to the full Senate next year.  Already it looks like Majority Leader Reid will reserve much of March or April for floor discussion for the proposal.  

That being said, the Senate Energy Committee will be taking a look at a bevy of nuclear related legislation on Tuesday, that would create more standardization in the creation of nuclear reactors- particularly small reactors.  Many policymakers point to small reactors as a way to increase nuclear power for carbon reductions.

At 1:15 PM EST today, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson will hold a press briefing at which it is expected she will release EPA’s finding that emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) constitute a danger to human health and the environment pursuant to Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

 On April 24, 2009, Administrator Jackson proposed to find that:

• The current and projected concentrations of the mix of six key greenhouse gases-carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆)-in the atmosphere threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations; and
• The combined emissions of CO₂, CH₄, N₂O and HFCs from new motor vehicles and motor vehicle engines contribute to the atmospheric concentrations of these key greenhouse gases and hence to the threat of climate change.

The former is referred to as the “endangerment” finding and the latter is referred to “cause or contribute” finding.  74 Fed. Reg. 18886 (April 24, 2009).

These findings are prerequisite to certain additional regulatory action under the CAA, including EPA’s proposed GHG emission standards for passenger cars, light-duty trucks and medium-duty passenger vehicles, covering model years 2012 through 2016 .  74 Fed. Reg. 49454 (Sept. 28. 2009).

Much of the world’s climate attention, for the next two weeks, will be focused on the negotiations in Copenhagen for a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol.  Among the Americans planning a visit are dozens of  congressional staffers, a handful of senators (assuming they pass a health care bill) and representatives (assuming they pass a financial regulatory bill), as well as members of the Administration and the President.  With so much attention pointed to Denmark, the work of the House and the Senate will proceed along a more routine path.

In the Senate, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to consider a bevy of bills referred to them by the House.  Among the legislation that they will examine are bills to increase funding for solar energy research and commercialization; advanced automotive development; wind energy research; and to train architects and engineers in green building design.  All of these bills passed the House with large bi-partisan majorities.  Additionally, the Energy Committee will take a look at a few bills introduced in the Senate, including legislation creating an “X Prize” for developing CO2 scrubbing technologies.

Tuesday, December 8

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will conduct a hearing on the energy bills at 2:30 p.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Thursday, December 10

At 10 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will receive testimony on the role of grid-scale energy storage in meeting our energy and climate goals.

While Washington waits for the Senate to complete its work on health care, the rest of the world is gearing up for the beginning of the U.N. Climate Conference in Copenhagen.  With the United States and China both announcing aspirational limits on their own carbon emissions, the Copenhagen talks might provide more concrete outcomes than seemed possible only a few weeks ago.  Congressional delegations will be attending the talks, and with a House bill and the outlines of a Senate companion being fashioned, there is a level of optimism for meaningful accomplishment both internationally and in Congress.

There are three hearings of note this week in Congress.  In the House, the Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on the economic impacts of climate change.  Remember, Democrats on the Agriculture Committee forced major concessions from Chairman Waxman before a climate bill could be brought to the floor.  A second hearing in the Select Committee on Global Warming will discuss climate science.  This will be the first hearing since leaked e-mails from the University of East Anglia climate scientists became public knowledge.  Look for this hearing to turn on the issue of those e-mails.  Finally, the Senate Energy Committee will hold a hearing on policy options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  With the acrimony on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) panel, the Senate Energy Committee will be taking a broader role than in previous years.  Key to their success may be comments from Ranking Member Murkowski, who has previously acknowledged the consensus scientific position and could support a cap-and-trade system.

Wednesday, December 2

At 10 a.m. in the House, the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will hold a hearing on the “State of Climate Science” in Room 318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, and the House Committee on Agriculture will hold a hearing on the economic impacts of climate change in Room 1300 of the Longworth House Office Building.

Also at 10 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will conduct a hearing on policy options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

After the divisiveness that marked the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW)  mark up of climate legislation last week, the legislation moves to the two other committees with significant climate jurisdiction-Finance and Energy and Natural Resources.  Senator Max Baucus, who last week supplied the only “no” vote among Democrats on EPW, will lead his committee in an examination of the legislation and, in particular, look at the contentious issues surrounding offsets and allocations.  In the Senate Energy Committee, Chairman Bingaman and Ranking Member Murkowski are hoping to forge a moderate consensus on the renewable energy and production titles of the bill.  Many senators are looking at this week’s action as a chance to start fresh, away from the ideological schisms in the EPW Committee. 

Meanwhile, a group of Senators, led by Lindsay Graham, John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, are looking to create their tri-partisan compromise on expanded offshore and nuclear production in exchange for caps on carbon.  This group of three intends to  meet with Administration officials, including Carol Browner.

Tuesday, November 10

At 10 a.m. both the Senate Finance Committee and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold hearings in Room 215 and Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, respectively, on climate legislation.

 To view Part 1 in the series, please click here.

To view Part 2 in the series, please click here.

On October 29, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) held its third and final day of hearings on S. 1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.  The committee took testimony from four panels of witnesses, with each panel providing a broad spectrum of perspectives on the issues.    

First Panel

Preston Chiaro, CEO of Energy Products Group and John Rowe, Chairman and CEO of Exelon Corporation, provided testimony from the industry perspective.  Mr. Chiaro explained that his group supports a strong, global climate agreement for the investment certainty it will bring.  Mr. Rowe highlighted his company’s recently-produced Exelon 2020, which he characterized as the only industry plan to offset carbon emissions by 2020.  Mr. Rowe focused on the need for cost containment mechanisms and advocated the inclusion of a definitive price collar on allowances to remove price uncertainty. 

Bon Winger, President of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers; Mike Carey, President of the Ohio Coal Association; and Bob Stallman, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation focused on employment impacts of the proposed legislation.  Mr. Winger testified that blue collar jobs are diminishing and expressed the hope that blue collar jobs can flourish under S. 1733.  Mr. Carey, by contrast, warned that S. 1733 will kill jobs in the coal industry and bankrupt the communities that depend upon coal and expressed the view that new jobs created under the legislation would not be as high paying.  Mr. Stallman claimed that, because a cap-and-trade program would put a hole in the energy supply without providing a substitute, the U.S. agriculture sector will shrink “under any scenario.”

Finally, Dr. Willett Kempton, Professor of Marine Policy at the University of Delaware, encouraged the panel to focus on “new technologies that are carbon-free, large and near commercial production today.” Fred Krupp, President of the Environmental Defense Fund, encouraged the U.S. to move beyond technology creation to technology manufacturing.  He claimed that the U.S. currently lags behind other countries and is missing a great economic opportunity. 

Second Panel

Testifying on behalf of the Bipartisan Policy Center, Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R- NY, retired) endorsed climate change legislation.  He endorsed requirements to establish emissions targets from transportation would provide a framework for performance driven federal transportation policies, linked to a set of clearly articulated goals, and accountable for results.  He stated that while the allowance set asides for the transportation sector are critical, they are still far below what the sector should receive based on the impact that investment in transportation could have on climate change. 

Similarly, American Public Transportation Association (APTA) President William Millar and Mike McKeever, Executive Director, Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) supported the bill.  Mr. Miller praised the legislation for demonstrating a strong commitment to reducing emissions from the transportation sector and also suggested that the bill can be a major step forward in invigorating transportation infrastructure while drastically reducing its environmental impact.  In concluding his statement, Mr. Miller emphasized that the allowance revenue under the bill must supplement and not replace investments in transit under the surface transportation program and called for the committee to consider the reauthorization.  Mr. McKeever addressed the local planning requirements under the bill that would promote sustainable communities.  He asserted that creating more livable committees would result in a number of benefits, including energy saving, congestion relief, increased productivity, efficient land use, environment and health benefits.

Testifying on behalf of the American Truckers Association, Barbara Windsor, President & Chief Executive Officer, Hahn Transportation, Inc., objected that the legislation would add costs to an already burdened industry.  She commented that while the industry supports the objectives of EPA regulations to control emissions, gains had come at substantial cost to trucking fleets.  She emphasized that the increased fuel prices under the bill, meant to reduce VMTs, would only raise costs for the industry because trucking is not discretionary driving.  She asserted finally that biodiesel and natural gas fuels are not currently viable to replace diesel. 

Third Panel

John Podesta, President and CEO for the Center for American Progress, argued that the U.S. should pass a bill and send a signal to the world that the “U.S. will seize the economic opportunity of the 21^st century.”  He suggested that S. 1733 include a clean energy deployment administration, a “green bank” and additional emphasis on efficiency retrofits.  Mr. Podesta maintained that more can be done to expand the use of natural gas, and suggested the committee look at language in the Nat Gas Act and borrow from that legislation.

Ned Helme, President of the Center for Clean Air Policy, argued that, in contrast to the Kyoto Protocol, developing nations are now committed to taking nationally appropriate mitigation actions funded by developed nations.  He supported the development of international standards to measure, report and verify emission reductions. 

Jonathan Lash, President of the World Resources Institute, maintained that committing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing an international agreement to the same effect is in the economic, environmental and security self interest of the country.   

Iain Murray, Vice-President for Strategy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, cited the struggle of European countries to meet emission targets, despite reductions resulting from the economic downturn.  He argued that the E.U. emissions trading scheme has been very expensive and has failed to produce emission reductions.   

Fourth Panel

Linda Adams, Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, said that California has experienced an economic gain following the implementation of clean energy technologies, including the addition of 125,000 new jobs.  She argued that state authority to implement climate change measures should be preserved and matched by national policies. 

Dave Johnson, Organizing Director for the Laborer’s International Union of North America, argued for the inclusion of carbon capture and sequestration, natural gas and nuclear technologies as part of the solution to climate change.   

J. Stephan Dolezalek, Managing Director for Vantage Point Venture Partners, explained that Vantage Point has the largest position in the venture capital industry in the country, with stakes in solar, vehicle electrification and other sectors.  He warned that if the U.S. does not commit to strong policies, it will become as dependent in the future on foreign renewable energy as it is dependent now on imported oil.   

Additional witnesses on this panel included David Hawkins; Eugen Trisko, speaking on behalf of the United Mine Workers of America; Director of the Climate Center for the Natural Resources Defense Council Matt Smorch; Vice President of Strategic Planning for CountryMark; and Paul Cicio, Executive Director for the Industrial Energy Consumers of America.  Mr. Hawkins urged the committee to adopt “strong” legislation, while the remaining three witnesses warned of potential dislocations from a cap-and-trade system.