Hill Heat

Coal gasification can provide an efficient, clean, and versatile way to generate electricity and other energy products from coal as an alternative to traditional generation methods. The process allows for the removal of pollutants such as sulfur and nitrogen compounds that contribute to smog and acid rain, and the capability to capture carbon dioxide without releasing it into the atmosphere. The Subcommittee will examine coal gasification technologies, including the challenges and advantages over traditional technologies, and the need for large scale integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) demonstration projects that feature carbon capture and sequestration.

Witnesses

• John Marburger III, Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President
• James Childress, Executive Director, Gasification Technologies Council
• Joseph P. Strakey Jr., Chief Technology Officer, U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory
• Michael J. Mudd, Chief Executive Officer, FutureGen Alliance, Inc.
• David Hawkins, Director, Climate Center, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Mr. John Novak, Executive Director, Federal and Industry Activities, Environment and Generation, The Electric Power Research Institute

Witnesses

• Carol M. Browner, Principal, The Albright Group, LLC, Former Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Alexander B. Grannis, Commissioner, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
• Joan Card, Water Quality Division Director, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
• David P. Brand P.E., P.S., Sanitary Engineer, Madison County, State of Ohio
• Randall P. Smith, Smith 6-S Livestock

This Wednesday, April 9, Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will take a look at the health of our warming planet, and how climate change affects the health of her citizens. During a week where major public health bodies are calling attention to the links between an unhealthy planet and an unhealthy people, the hearing’s panel of scientists, practicing doctors, and public health professionals will describe the various ways climate change poses a serious public health threat.

Despite the international and national scientific consensus that climate change impacts public health, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has refused to state that heat-trapping carbon dioxide is a threat to public health.

The witnesses will also address whether the United States has an unlimited capacity to adapt to this growing public health concern, or whether the only true preventative medicine is to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and stop global warming.

According to the World Health Organization, climate change is a significant and emerging threat to public health. The WHO estimates that changes in the Earth’s climate may have caused at least five million cases of illness and more than 150,000 deaths in 2000, and predict these impacts are likely to increase in the future. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) determined that climate change contributes to the global burden of disease, premature death and other adverse health impacts due to extreme weather events, changes in infectious disease patterns, air quality, quality and quantity of water and food. Adverse health impacts of climate change also include increases in heat stress, asthma, allergies and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

• Howard Frumkin, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., Center for Disease Control, Director of National Center for Environmental Health, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
• Jonathan Patz, M.D., M.P.H., Professor and Director of Global Environmental Health, University of Wisconsin at Madison
• Georges Benjamin, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.E.P. (Emeritus), Executive Director, American Public Health Association
• Mark Jacobson, Ph.D., Director, Atmosphere and Energy Program and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University
• Dana Best, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.P., American Academy of Pediatrics

This hearing is the first in a series of hearings exploring emerging themes in transportation policy and practice, the needs of our national surface transportation system, and the reauthorization of our surface transportation laws. The Subcommittee will continue this series by holding hearings in the near future on the issues surrounding freight access and goods movement, infrastructure preservation and modernization, highway safety, mobility and connectivity of rural areas, and other issues.

Witnesses

• Robert Puentes, Metropolitan Policy Program at The Brookings Institution
• Robert D. Yaro, President of the Regional Plan Association in New York
• The Honorable Ron Sims, King County Executive, Seattle, Washington
• Jolene Molitoris, Assistant Director of the Ohio Department of Transportation
• Michael R. Wiley, Executive Director of Sacramento Regional Transit District
• Ron Kirby, Transportation Director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

Witnesses

• Tim Williford, Chairman Government Affairs Committee, Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors – National Association (PHCC)
• Gary Gilberti, Chesapeake Rehab Equipment
• John Urbanchuk, Director, LECG, LLC
• Michael J. Graff, President & CEO Graff Trucking, Inc.
• Vincent F. Orza, Jr., Dean, Meinders School of Business, Oklahoma City University

Witnesses * The Honorable James Rispoli, Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, Department of Energy * The Honorable Edward F. Sproat, III, Director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Department of Energy

Witnesses

• The Honorable John Paul Woodley, Jr, Assistant Secretary of the Army, Department of Army
• LTG Hans Van Antwerp, Chief of Engineers, Army Corps of Engineers
• Kameran Onley, Assistant Deputy Secretary, Department of Interior
• Robert L. Johnson, Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation

Please join mountain lovers from across the country to:

Celebrate Appalachia

Join citizens in the fight to protect their communities from mountaintop removal mining.

Reception Hosted By:

The Alliance For Appalachia

Appalachian Citizens Law Center * Appalachian Voices * Appalshop * Coal River Mountain Watch * Heartwood * Kentuckians For The Commonwealth * MACED * Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition * Save Our Cumberland Mountains * Sierra Club Environmental Justice Program * Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards * Southwings * West Virginia Highlands Conservancy

With special thanks to:

Alaska Wilderness League, Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Christians for the Mountains, EarthJustice, Environment America, Friends of the Earth, Natural Resource Defense Council, Rainforest Action Network, and the national Sierra Club.

RSVP to J.W. Randolph at (202) 669-3670 or jw@appvoices.org

Witnesses

• The Honorable Ed Schafer, Secretary of Agriculture
• Mr. Chuck Conner, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture
• Dr. Joseph Glauber, Chief Economist, Department of Agriculture
• Mr. W. Scott Steele, Budget Officer, Department of Agriculture

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills: S.2259/H.R. 813, to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the Prado Basin Natural Treatment System Project, to authorize the Secretary to participate in the Lower Chino Dairy Area desalination demonstration and reclamation project, and for other purposes; H.R. 31, to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District Wildomar Service Area Recycled Water Distribution Facilities and Alberhill Wastewater Treatment and Reclamation Facility Projects; H.R. 716, to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the Santa Rosa Urban Water Reuse Plan; H.R. 786, to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the Los Angeles County Water Supply Augmentation Demonstration Project, and for other purposes; H.R. 1140, to authorize the Secretary, in cooperation with the City of San Juan Capistrano, California, to participate in the design, planning, and construction of an advanced water treatment plant facility and recycled water system, and for other purposes; H.R. 1503, to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the Avra/Black Wash Reclamation and Riparian Restoration Project; H.R. 1725, to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the Rancho California Water District Southern Riverside County Recycled/Non-Potable Distribution Facilities and Demineralization/Desalination Recycled Water Treatment and Reclamation Facility Project; H.R. 1737, to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the design, planning, and construction of permanent facilities for the GREAT project to reclaim, reuse, and treat impaired waters in the area of Oxnard, California; and H.R. 2614, to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in certain water projects in California.

Witness

• Mr. Kris Polly , Deputy Commissioner for External & Intergovernmental Affairs, Bureau of Reclamation, DOI