DNC Summer Meeting
The Democratic National Committee will be holding its Summer Meeting on September 8-10 in Maryland. At the Summer Meeting, we will be discussing, among other things: the 2024 Call to Convention, the 2024 Delegate Selection Rules and amendments to the Charter & Bylaws, as well as proposed nominations for DNC members to fill current vacancies. You can find the draft Call to Convention (marked from 2020) and the 2024 Delegate Selection rules (marked from 2020) as well as proposed amendments to the Charter and Bylaws.
- Draft 2024 Call for Convention
- Draft Delegate Selection Rules
- Proposed Amendments to DNC Charter and Bylaws
- Proposed Resolutions
Resolution 15, introduced by DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, praises the Inflation Reduction Act.
Resolution 16, introduced by Nebraska chair Jane Kleeb, Nevada chair Judith Whitmer, California delegates RL Miller, David Atkins, Michael Kapp, and Sean Dugar, Maryland’s Larry Cohen, and Nadia Ahmad and Thomas Kennedy of Florida, praises the Inflation Reduction Act and opposes the pipeline permitting and fast-tracking bill supported by Sen. Joe Manchin and drafted by the American Petroleum Institute.
Nominations of William J. Renick, Adam Wade White, and Joe H. Ritch to be Members of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority
- Willliam J. Renick, Nominee to be Member of the Board of Directors, Tennessee Valley Authority
- Adam Wade White, Nominee to be Member of the Board of Directors, Tennessee Valley Authority
- Joe H. Ritch, Nominee to be Member of the Board of Directors, Tennessee Valley Authority
Bill Renick is serving as the chair of the Commission on the Future of Northeast Mississippi. Until last summer, the 68-year-old Renick served as director of the workforce division for the Northeast Mississippi-based Three Rivers Planning and Development District. Renick was elected to the Ashland Board of Aldermen at age 18 and later served as mayor. He also served on the Benton County Board of Supervisors and in the state Senate. Renick was chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Eddie Briggs in the 1990s and later as chief of staff for Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. Renick also was a hospital administrator.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., recommended Kentucky’s Lyon County Judge-Executive Adam Wade White. In 2013, White helped rally support for the Freedom to Fish Act, which was renewed in 2018 and signed by both Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. This came about as a response to learning about the proposed closing of fishing below 10 dams on the Cumberland River, which White knew would devastate the local economy. In 2018, White began what many refer to as the “War on Carp,” when he focused his efforts on removing Asian Carp that were having a negative impact on Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, both natural resources and tourist draws.
Previously nominated by former President Barack Obama, Huntsville lawyer Joe Ritch served on the TVA board from 2013 to 2017, including a four-year tenure as board chair. He was the first Alabamian to serve as TVA board chair.
Buying Power: How Federal Procurement Can Drive Clean Energy Innovation
Use of federal procurement to advance national clean energy goals and accelerate innovation has had limited success in the past. The Biden administration seeks to break this pattern with an ambitious “buy clean” program. For its effort to succeed, the plan must be well-aligned with agency missions, funded adequately, and fix perverse budget and procurement rules.
Join ITIF for an expert panel discussion about a new report by ITIF board member and former DOD and GSA sustainability leader Dorothy Robyn.
Questions for the speakers? Ask on Slido.
Keynote Speaker- Andrew Mayock, Federal Chief Sustainability Officer, White House Council on Environmental Quality
- Dorothy Robyn, Senior Fellow, ITIF Center for Clean Energy Innovation and Boston University Institute for Sustainable Energy
- David M. Hart, Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Clean Energy Innovation
- Jim Connaughton, CEO, Nautilus Data Technologies, former George W. Bush CEQ chair
- Xavier de Souza Briggs, Senior Fellow, Brookings Metro
Nomination of Douglas J. McKalip, of the District of Columbia, to be Chief Agricultural Negotiator, Office of the United States Trade Representative
Vote on the nomination of Douglas J. McKalip, of the District of Columbia, to be Chief Agricultural Negotiator, Office of the United States Trade Representative.
Nomination Number: PN2250-117
Received: 06/08/22
HearingL 07/28/22
Legislation on wildland smoke, exempting livestock greenhouse pollution from regulation, and exempting hot rods from pollution regulation
- S.1475, Livestock Regulatory Protection Act of 2021, to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing permits under the Clean Air Act for any carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, water vapor, or methane emissions resulting from biological processes associated with livestock production (Thune)
- S.2421, Smoke Planning and Research Act of 2021 requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to research and mitigate the impacts of smoke emissions from wildland fires (Merkley)
- S.2661, Smoke-Ready Communities Act of 2021 establishes a grant program for supporting local communities in detecting, preparing for, communicating about, or mitigating the environmental and public health impacts of wildfire smoke (Merkley)
- S.2736, RPM Act of 2021 authorizes the modification of a vehicle’s air emission controls for vehicles that are not legal for operation on a street or highway and are used solely for competition, and prohibits the EPA from creating or authorizing a database of vehicle registration information that is required to be consulted at the point of manufacture, sale, installation, or use of parts or components (Burr)
Witnesses:
Panel 1- John Thune, United States Senator, South Dakota
- Dr. Cassandra Moseley, Vice Provost for Academic Operations and Strategy; Research Professor, Institute for a Sustainable Environment; Senior Policy Advisor, Ecosystem Workforce Program, The University of Oregon
- John Walke, Director, Clean Air Project, Climate and Clean Energy Program, National Resources Defense Council
- Antron Brown, Company Owner, Professional Driver, AB Motorsports Incorporated, National Hot Rod Association
- Scott VanderWal, Vice President, American Farm Bureau Federation
Stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline Action Party
The International Energy Agency has concluded that there must be no new oil, gas or coal development if the world is to reach net zero by 2050.
On September 6th at 7 pm (ET), Climate Action Now will host a free action party with four extraordinary activists battling the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and Senator Manchin’s side deal to accelerate new fossil fuel infrastructure.
Our featured guests will brief us on what’s at stake and guide us through concrete actions we can take to help stop the MVP and side deal during the party with the free Climate Action Now app.
Why September 6th? The timing is critical. First, activists will assemble at Congressional offices on Sept. 8 in Washington D.D. to lobby against the MVP and we want them to walk into offices that have already heard from a LOT of people opposing the project. Also, rumor has it that the “Manchin side-deal” will be voted on by the end of September as part of the budget package. So, we need to quickly ramp up our efforts to stop it.
About Our Featured Guests
- Crystal Cavalier-Keck is the co-founder of Seven Directions of Service with her husband. She is a citizen of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation in Burlington, NC and Chair of the Environmental Justice Committee for the NAACP.
- Russell Chisholm serves as Mountain Valley Watch Coordinator for the Protect Our Water, Heritage Rights (POWHR) coalition in the campaign to stop Mountain Valley Pipeline and dangerous fossil fuel expansion through Virginia and West Virginia. The Mountain Valley Watch project documents and reports potential violations of environmental law from pipeline construction.
- Jessica Sims is the Appalachian Voices Virginia Field Coordinator. Born and raised in Central Virginia. Jessica is has worked extensively with Chesapeake Climate Action Network and the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter on their pipeline campaigns.
- Jonathan Sokolow is an attorney and activist in Reston, Virginia who served as a Staff Attorney with the Legal Aid Society of the City of New York, General Counsel to the Vermont State Employees Union. and Senior Assistant General Counsel to the United Mine Workers of America Health and Retirement Funds.
About Our Co-Hosts
- Justin J. Pearson is a leader of Memphis Community Against Pollution and co-founder of Memphis Community Against the Pipeline (MCAP) which is a Black-led environmental justice organization that successfully defeated a multi-billion dollar company’s crude oil pipeline project.
- Tim Guinee, President of Climate Action Now, has been a veteran in numerous climate campaigns around the country, most notably as the Legislative Coordinator for the New York Climate Reality Chapters Coalition. Former Vice President Al Gore awarded Tim the Alfredo Sirkis Memorial Green Ring Award for this work on the climate crisis.
- Here’s What’s Wrong With Manchin’s Side Deal to the Inflation Reduction Act, Crystal Mello of POWHR
- No One Owes Joe Manchin Anything, Bill McKibben
Effective Environmental Enforcement: Tools and Strategies to Protect Vulnerable Communities
On Thursday, August 25, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. ET, Rep. Ro Khanna, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, and Subcommittee Vice Chair Rep. Rashida Tlaib will hold a field hearing in Detroit, Michigan to examine the gaps in current laws and regulations that leave frontline communities vulnerable to pollution, and the policy changes necessary to safeguard public health and the environment. The hearing will focus on the reality of living in “sacrifice zones”—areas where Americans feel their lives are being sacrificed for the profits of corporate polluters.
Countless Americans live in environmental justice communities where current air and water pollution permitting schemes fail to protect residents from the cumulative health and environmental impacts of concentrated industrial pollution. These sacrifice zones are disproportionately found in low-income communities and communities of color.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) permitting processes under the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts currently fail to consider these cumulative impacts on health and the environment. Advocates and legislators alike have called for mandatory consideration of cumulative impacts in all permitting and for EPA standards that would require the rejection of applications that would cause harm to communities.
In addition, when those permits are violated, enforcement can be slow and lack transparency and public input. Legislators must strengthen the tools available to regulators in order to more meaningfully hold polluters accountable to their permits and better deter future violations.
This hearing will be an opportunity for Members to examine reforms that are necessary to protect frontline communities from pollution and prevent corporate polluters from incorporating permit violation penalties into their bottom lines as the cost of doing business.
WITNESSES
Panel I- Robert Shobe, Resident of Detroit, Michigan (Stellantis Impact Zone)
- Pamela McGhee, Resident of Detroit, Michigan (US Ecology Impact Zone)
- Daeya Redding, Resident of Detroit, Michigan (US Ecology Impact Zone)
- Nicholas Leonard, Executive Director, Great Lakes Environmental Law Center
- Jamesa Johnson Greer, Executive Director, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition
- Eden Bloom, Public Education and Media Manager, Detroit People’s Platform
- Dr. Stuart Batterman, Professor, Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022: Modeling Major Climate and Energy Provisions
Experts from RFF, Energy Innovation, the REPEAT Project, and Rhodium Group discuss new analyses that project the bill’s potential impacts on US households and economy-wide emissions reductions.
On July 27, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) released a new deal for a reconciliation package, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The proposal includes $369 billion for new climate and energy investments over the next decade. What does the broad package mean for US climate ambitions—and Americans’ pocketbooks?
Modeling experts from Resources for the Future (RFF), Energy Innovation, Princeton University’s REPEAT Project, and Rhodium Group have examined the legislation’s climate and energy provisions and projected their effects on US emissions reductions and costs for US retail electricity consumers. Join us on Wednesday, August 10, for an RFF Live webinar featuring these experts as they talk about their analysis, key provisions in the legislation, and their work to inform the conversation surrounding this landmark proposal.
Speakers- Jesse Jenkins, Princeton University REPEAT Project
- John Larsen, Rhodium Group
- Robbie Orvis, Energy Innovation
- Kevin Rennert, Resources for the Future
- Karen Palmer, Resources for the Future (Moderator)
- Jennifer Michael, Resources for the Future (Introductory Remarks)
Press Call to Discuss U.S. and Global Implications of the Inflation Reduction Act
The U.S. Senate is poised to pass the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a major landmark for American efforts to address the climate crisis that would be the most significant climate legislation in U.S. history and get the country within striking distance of its 2030 emissions reduction target.
If passed, the package of climate and clean energy investments will have a tremendous impact on innovation and cost reductions for a whole set of clean-energy solutions. The investments would help accelerate the U.S. transition to a clean energy economy and offer Americans a plethora of savings, health and economic benefits. The bill will also be critical in making progress toward the nation’s climate goal and show other countries that the U.S. is still a leader in the fight against climate change.
Join us for a press briefing on August 8, 20222 ET to help distill some of the major takeaways of the IRA, what it means for the U.S. ambitions to achieve its 2030 emissions reduction target, and how it may affect the global climate policy debate in the months ahead.
Building Climate-Resilient Coastal Communities: Perspectives from Oregon’s State, Local, and Tribal Partners
At 10:00 am PDT on Wednesday, August 3, 2022, the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis will hold a hybrid field hearing titled “Building Climate-Resilient Coastal Communities: Perspectives from Oregon’s State, Local, and Tribal Partners.” The hearing will be held in Patriot Hall, Clatsop Community College, 1650 Lexington Avenue, Astoria, OR 97103.
For the general public wishing to attend the hearing, please enter through the Patriot Hall front entrance and proceed to the gymnasium, which will open at 9 am for attendees.
Witnesses:- Dr. Elaine Placido, Executive Director, Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership. Placido is a veteran of the Coast Guard and has twenty-plus years of local government and non-profit experience prior to working with the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership.
- Dr. Francis Chan, Director, Cooperative Institute for Marine Ecosystem and Resource Studies; Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University. Chan leads the Institute’s research in conservation, protection, and restoration of marine resources; marine ecosystems; ocean acoustics; and ocean, coastal, and seafloor processes.
- Tyler Bell, Director, Westervelt Ecological Services’ Rocky Mountain Region. Bell primarily oversees the organization’s restoration site planning and development, agency relations and coordination, business development, and management of regional staff.
- Aja DeCoteau, Executive Director, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. DeCoteau leads the organization’s strategic direction and team of more than 130 employees in four locations in Oregon, Washington and Idaho to put fish back in the rivers, protect treaty fishing rights, share salmon culture, and provide direct services to tribal fishers along the Columbia River.