Hill Heat

With the international climate change talks in Copenhagen fast approaching, there is real urgency to reach diplomatic consensus on a planetary solution. In a hearing this Wednesday, the Select Committee will explore with climate scientists from the Obama administration the urgent, consensus view on our planetary problem: that global warming is real, and the science indicates that it is getting worse.

At the hearing, Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) will host two of America’s preeminent climate scientists, Dr. John Holdren and Dr. Jane Lubchenco.

Dr. Holdren is the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and was formerly a professor at Harvard University and the director of the acclaimed Woods Hole Research Center.

Dr. Lubchenco is the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the United States’ leading climate office.

The past decade has been the hottest in recorded history, with all of the years since 2001 being in the top 10 of hottest, according to NASA. This summer, the world’s oceans were the warmest in NOAA’s 130 years of record-keeping. Meanwhile, global heat-trapping pollution continues to rise.

Witnesses * Dr. John Holdren, Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy * Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Witnesses

Panel I

• Dr. Joseph Glauber, Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.

Panel II

• Dr. Joe L. Outlaw, Professor and Extension Economist-Farm Management and Policy, Department of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
• Dr. Patrick Westhoff, Co-Director, Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri
• Dr. John M. Antle, Professor of Agricultural Economics and Economics, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana
• Dr. Jude Capper, Assistant Professor of Dairy Science, Department of Animal Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
• Mr. Richard C. Pottorff, Chief Economist, Doane Advisory Services, St. Louis, Missouri

Witnesses

• Dr. Ray Kopp, Resources for the Future
• Dr. Ted Gayer, The Brookings Institution
• David Hawkins, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Jonathan Banks, Clean Air Task Force
• Dr. John Alic – Independent Consultant

On Friday, November 20, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will host a Clean Energy Economy Forum focused on the public health benefits of a clean energy economy with business, medical, public health, policy, environmental, and community leaders from around the country.

HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Howard K. Koh, EPA Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation Gina McCarthy, other Administration officials, and featured speakers at the forum will also discuss the ways in which transitioning to a clean energy economy will yield immediate and lasting public health benefits. Advances and use of clean energy will help to reduce soot, smog, and toxic pollution, which are major causes of health problems including asthma attacks, heart attacks, and premature death.

In addition to addressing the public health benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and moving toward clean energy, speakers will focus on the need for comprehensive energy and climate legislation, that will put America back in control of its energy future and strengthen the nation’s economy, environment, and national security by breaking its dependence on oil.

Federal officials will exchange perspectives with public health experts and community leaders who have worked to limit negative health impacts of energy sources and improve the built environment, community resilience and health through clean energy choices.

Witnesses

• Dr. Walter Cruickshank, Deputy Director, Minerals Management Service, United States Department of the Interior
• Marvin Odum, President, Shell Oil Company
• John Amos, President, SkyTruth
• David Rainey, Vice President, Gulf of Mexico Exploration, BP America Inc.
• Dr. Jeffrey Short, Pacific Science Director, Oceana

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a briefing on engaging the American public to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions through people-centered programs and policies. Much of the recent discussion on energy efficiency has focused on technologies. However, rapid and large scale change in energy use will ultimately be determined by the number of people who are engaged and empowered to put those technologies to good use and to redefine their own energy service demands. This briefing will examine how and why people use (or don’t use) energy efficient technologies, describe new initiatives being deployed by the U.S. military, utilities and communities, and discuss the economic and environmental benefits for households, businesses, and the nation.

Speakers

• Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA), Chair, Energy and Environment Subcommittee, House Science and Technology Committee
• Doug McKenzie-Mohr, Founder, Community-Based Social Marketing; Author, Fostering Sustainable Behavior; Professor of Psychology, St. Thomas University, Canada
• Gene Rodrigues, Director of Energy Efficiency, Southern California Edison
• Richard Andres, Energy and Environmental Security Chair, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University
• Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez, Research Associate, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE); Chair, ACEEE’s 2009 Behavior, Energy and Climate Change Conference

Studies indicate that although people are often aware of the benefits of using energy more efficiently, a variety of social, cultural, and economic factors often prevent them from doing so. Even when high efficiency technologies have been installed, 30 percent or more of the energy savings that could potentially be realized through such technologies is lost, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). In July 2009, Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) introduced H.R. 3247 to establish a social and behavioral sciences research program at the U.S. Department of Energy.

This briefing is presented in conjunction with the 2009 Behavior, Energy and Climate Change (BECC) Conference, in session through November 18 in Washington, D.C. The BECC Conference is co-convened by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center (Stanford University), and the California Institute for Energy and Environment (University of California). More information is available here.

Witnesses

Panel 1

• Dr. Kit Batten, Science Advisor, Office of the Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior
• Tom Tidwell, Chief, U.S. Forest Service

Panel 2

• Dr. Beverly Law, Oregon State University
• Dr. Elaine Oneil, University of Washington
• Chris Wood, Chief Operating Officer, Trout Unlimited

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will hold two public hearings on the proposed greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions thresholds defining when Clean Air Act permits would apply to new or existing industrial facilities. This program would cover nearly 70 percent of the nation’s total GHG emissions from stationary sources. The nation’s largest facilities, including power plants, refineries, and cement production facilities, that emit at least 25,000 tons of GHGs a year would be required to obtain operating and construction permits.

The hearings will be held on November 18 in Arlington, Va. and November 19 in Rosemont, Ill. Both hearings will begin at 10:00 a.m. and end at 7:00 p.m. local time.

Arlington, Va.
Hyatt Regency Crystal City at Reagan National Airport
2799 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, VA 22202
Note: Anyone attending the Arlington hearing will need to bring photo identification.

Please join us at our upcoming Senate briefing, bringing together four prominent scientists and four leading evangelical Christians to share their concerns about climate change. Rarely have these two groups spoken with one voice, but they are coming together with a shared sense of urgency about the profound implications of climate change for human health and for the natural support systems that sustain all life on Earth, and about the political paralysis in Washington on this issue. 



Speakers

• Dr. Eric Chivian, Director, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School
• Rev. Richard Cizik, President, New Evangelicals
• Dr. Jim McCarthy, Alexander Agassiz Progressor of Biological Oceanography, Harvard University
• Rev. Joel Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland Church, Chairman of the Creation Care Advisory Team, National Association of Evangelicals
• Dr. Nancy Knowlton, Sant Chair for Marine Science, Smithsonian Natural Museum of History
• Rev. Gerald Durley, Senior Pastor, Providence Missionary Baptist Church of Atlanta
• Deborah Fikes, Executive Advisor, World Evangelical Alliance
• Dr. Tom Lovejoy, chief biodiversity adviser to the president of the World Bank, senior adviser to the president of the United Nations Foundation, and president of the Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment

Witnesses

• Dr. Michael Levi, Council on Foreign Relations
• Nigel Purvis, Climate Advisers
• Karen Harbert, Institute for 21st Century Energy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• Taiya Smith, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• Jake Colvin, National Foreign Trade Council