Hill Heat

Sen. Kerry presiding.

Witnesses Panel 1

• Paula J. Dobriansky, Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, Department of State
• Dan Reifsnyder

Panel 2

• Timothy Wirth, President, United Nations Foundation
• Dr. Richard Sandor, Chairman and CEO, Chicago Climate Exchange
• Dr. Jonathan Pershing, Director, Climate, Energy, and Pollution Program, World Resources Institute

2:40 Kerry The 95-0 vote against the Kyoto treaty was not meant as a rejection of action on climate change.

2:45 Lugar It is critical that the international dialogue on climate change move beyond the disputes of the Kyoto protocols.

2:48 Dobriansky Climate change is a serious problem and humans are contributing to it. We are committed to doing our part. At Bali we will work to launch a new phase in climate diplomacy. The US is committed to concluding this effort by 2009. I recently met with key heads in Bogor, Indonesia. There are four key factors: mitigation, adaptation, finance, and technology. We enter the Bali meeting with an open mind. Our deliberations will be guided by two considerations: environmentally effective and economically sustainable.

. . .

3:46 Reifsnyder The threat of sanctions and tariffs is not popular.

The second full committee hearing on Lieberman-Warner.

Witnesses

• David Hawkins, Director, Climate Center, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Dr. David Greene, Corporate Fellow, Geography and Environmental Engineering, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Robert Baugh, Executive Director, Industrial Union Council, AFL-CIO
• Andrew Sharkey, President and CEO, American Iron and Steel Institute
• Donald R. Rowlett, Director of Regulatory Policy and Compliance, OGE Energy Corp.

The events in the Science and Society: Grand Challenges series will be held every Monday night in November from 6pm to 7:30pm in the AAAS Auditorium at 1200 New York Avenue. A reception will start at 5pm.

November 12th’s discussion will be about “Meeting the Global Energy Demand”

Speakers

• John Holdren, Director of the Science, Technology & Public Policy Program at the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government
• Lori Ryerkerk, General Manager of Government Relations at the ExxonMobil Corporation.

The first discussion was on “Climate Change”, and future discussions will be on “Managing a Pandemic” and “Containing the Spread of WMDs” and will feature experts from the White House, and the Center for American Progress.

RSVP.

The British-American Business Association is holding an energy briefing & reception on “Climate Change and Energy Policy – UK and US Policy Approaches and Perspectives”.

Panel Moderator:

• Professor Wilfrid Kohl, Director International Energy and Environment Program, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University

Panel

• The Honorable Karen Harbert, Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs, US Department of Energy [invited]
• David Thomas, First Secretary, Energy & Environment, British Embassy, Washington DC
• John Jimison, Counsel to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, US House of Representatives
• Chelsea Maxwell, Senior Policy Advisor to Senator John Warner of Virginia [invited]

Organized by the BABA Energy and Environment Committee

• 5:30 PM – Registration
• 6:00 – 7:30 PM – Presentation & Networking Reception

British Embassy Rotunda 3100 Massachusetts Ave., NW Washington, DC

Price: $40 / person (Members & their Guests) $50 / person (non-Members)

Online registration.

Members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and staff will hold an informal briefing on the provisions of America’s Climate Security Act of 2007 (S 2191).

Contact: Poirier, Bettina – Democratic Staff Director at 202-224-8832

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) invite you to a briefing at which a groundbreaking new report will be released entitled Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency: Economic Drivers for the 21st Century. This report from ASES is the nation’s first comprehensive study of the tremendous economic impact of these industries. It aims to answer the questions: how big are the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries and how large are they forecasted to grow? How many jobs and what types of jobs do they create? What are the economic development implications? The briefing will address these questions, as well as provide a special case study, and explore the important policy implications of this powerful research.

Speakers

• Sen. Ken Salazar, (D-CO), Member, Senate Energy and Natural Resources, Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and Finance Committees
• Brad Collins, Executive Director, American Solar Energy Society
• Drew McCracken, Director, Washington Office of the State of Ohio
• Roger Bezdek, Ph.D, President, Management Information Services, Inc.

While policymakers consider how to tackle climate change and energy policy, the study to be released shows that renewable energy and energy efficiency can offer the economic opportunity of the century – but only if we take advantage of this huge opportunity. Today, these industries generate 8.5 million jobs and nearly $1 trillion in annual revenue in the United States, and they contain some of the fastest growing sectors in the economy. Among the study’s findings are: if the country fails to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency, it runs the risk of losing ground to global competitors. If policy and regulatory barriers to the sustained development of the industry are not addressed now, other countries like Germany, Denmark, and China will take the lead and reap the economic benefits. However, this new report also illustrates the tremendous opportunity for the United States to harvest these green collar jobs and how these industries, with the correct support, are poised to be economic powerhouses for the 21st century.

This briefing is free and open to the public. No RSVP required. For more information, contact Neal Lurie at the American Solar Energy Society at nlurie@ases.org or 303.443.3130×105 or Leanne Lamusga- EESI, llamusga@eesi.org or 202-662-1884.

Originally scheduled for Oct. 17.

Witnesses

• Stephen L. Johnson – administrator, EPA

Panel II

• Ron Curry – secretary, New Mexico Environment Department
• David Doniger – policy director, Climate Center, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Daniel M. Kammen – director, Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley
• John Cline – partner, Troutman Sanders LLP

Full committee hearing on Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade legislation.

Witnesses

• Peter A. Darbee, Chairman of the Board, CEO, and President, PG&E Corporation
• Jonathan C. Pershing, Director, Climate, Energy and Pollution Program Climate and Energy, World Resources Institute
• Anne E. Smith, Vice President, CRA International
• Dr. Margo Thorning, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, American Council for Capital Formation
• Wiley Barbour, Executive Director, Environmental Resources Trust

PG&E and WRI are members of US-CAP. The Environmental Resources Trust is connected to Environmental Defense, another US-CAP member.

Thorning has appeared regularly as a minority witness challenging cap-and-trade in previous hearings. Anne Smith also has appeared as a minority witness challenging cap-and-trade in a recent House hearing.

• Dr. Howard Herzog, Principal Research Engineer, MIT Laboratory for Energy and the Environment
• Mr. Charles E. Fox, Vice President, Kinder Morgan CO2 Company, L.P.
• Dr. Sally Benson, Executive Director, Global Climate and Energy Project, Professor, Energy Resources Engineering Department, Stanford University
• Dr. Robert C. Burruss, Research Geologist, Energy Resources Team, U.S. Geological Survey
• Mr. Ron Wolfe, Corporate Forester and Natural Resources Manager, Sealaska Corporation
• Dr. Bryan Hannegan, Vice President, Environment Electric Power Research Institute

Senate Democrats will hold a news conference to discuss the nutrition programs in the Food and Energy Security Act of 2007 (HR 2419 – Farm, Nutrition and Bioenergy Act of 2007) and the impact they will have on children’s health. The bill would expand access to the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program and increase funding, grants and research to growers of fruits, vegetables and other specialty crops. Contact: Jim Manley at 202-224-2939

Participants

• Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
• Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.)
• Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.)
• Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)