Hill Heat

Hearing page

• John Porcari, Managing Partner, 3P Enterprises, former deputy secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation
• Rachel Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
• Phillip Washington, Chief Executive Officer, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles County, California
• Danielle Eckert, International Representative, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO
• Carbett Duhon, Director, Texans Against High Speed Rail; Director, Gulf Coast Rail District
• Andy Kunz, President and Chief Executive Officer, U.S. High Speed Rail Association

Panel II

• Carlos Augilar, President and Chief Executive Officer, Texas Central High Speed Rail
• William Flynn, Chief Executive Officer, National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak)
• Josh Giegel, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Virgin Hyperloop
• Andrés De León, Chief Executive Officer, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies
• Michael Reininger, Chief Executive Officer, Brightline Trains
• Wayne Rogers, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Northeast Maglev

Join us for a webinar to learn more about the 2021 legislative and administrative landscape on climate change and health. Our team from the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health will discuss the agenda outlined by the Biden Administration, prospects for Congressional action, and upcoming ways to engage.

Hearing page

Currently, the United States is the largest producer of oil and gas in the world. Under President Donald Trump, the fossil fuel industry received between $10.4 billion and $15.2 billion in direct pandemic relief from the federal government.

This hearing will discuss the dire health and economic impacts of fossil fuel subsidies and why the current Administration and the rest of the international community should fulfill their commitments to repeal fossil fuel subsidies.

The hearing will also examine how federal subsidies for the fossil fuel industry disproportionately affects already vulnerable communities.

Witnesses

• Greta Thunberg, Founder, Fridays For Future
• Tara Houska, Founder, Giniw Collective
• Joseph Aldy, Professor, Harvard University
• Peter Erickson, Climate Policy Program Director, Stockholm Environmental Institute
• Jill Antares Hunkler, Seventh Generation Ohio Valley Resident

Republican witness:

• Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president of Policy, Economics and Regulatory Affairs, American Petroleum Institute

Hearing page

Witnesses

• Subin DeVar, Director, Initiative for Energy Justice
• Chandra Farley, Just Energy Director, Partnership for Southern Equity
• Donnel Baird, Chief Executive Officer, BlocPower
• Kiran Bhatraju, Chief Executive Officer, Arcadia
• José L. Pérez, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hispanics in Energy
• Louise Carter-King, Mayor, City of Gillette, Wyoming

A February 22, 2021 notice announced a Commissioner-led workshop to be held on April 16, 2021, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The workshop will follow a series of listening sessions with stakeholder groups.

The workshop will provide interested parties with the opportunity to provide input to the Commission on the creation of the Office of Public Participation. The Commission intends to establish and operate the Office of Public Participation to “coordinate assistance to the public with respect to authorities exercised by the Commission,” including assistance to those seeking to intervene in Commission proceedings, pursuant to section 319 of the Federal Power Act (FPA). 16 U.S.C. § 825q–1. Congress directed the Commission to provide, by June 25, 2021, to the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress a report on the Commission’s progress towards establishing the Office of Public Participation, including an organizational structure and budget for the office, beginning in fiscal year 2022.

The Commission plans to hear input on the following considerations in forming the Office of Public Participation, including:

• the office’s function and scope as authorized by section 319 of the FPA;
• the office’s organizational structure and approach, including the use of equity assessment tools;
• participation by tribes, environmental justice communities, and other affected individuals and communities, including those who have not historically participated before the Commission; and
• intervenor compensation.

The Commission seeks nominations for stakeholder panelists to provide input about each of these areas of consideration at the workshop by March 10, 2020. Each nomination should indicate name, contact information, organizational affiliation, what issue area the proposed panelist would speak on, and suggested workshop topics to [email protected].

For questions, please contact Stacey Steep of the Office of General Counsel at (202) 502-8148, or send an email to [email protected], and Sarah McKinley, (202) 502-8368, [email protected], for logistical issues.

On Wednesday, March 31, Secretary Janet L. Yellen will preside over a meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council via videoconference. The agenda will include both an open and an executive session. The preliminary agenda for the open session includes climate change and its potential impacts on financial stability. The preliminary agenda for the executive session includes hedge fund activity and open-end mutual fund performance during the COVID-19 crisis.

A live webcast of the open session will be available at: https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/Video-Audio-Webcasts/Pages/Webcasts.aspx

Table modified by Hill Heat from the Committee for a Responsible Budget from the White House’s Fact Sheet.

	10-Year Estimate
Invest in Transportation Infrastructure	$621 billion
Invest in Electric Vehicles (EV), including consumer rebates to purchase EVs, grants and incentives to build 500,000 new charging stations, and replacing and electrifying federal vehicle fleet	$174 billion
Modernize bridges, highways, roads, and main streets in critical need of repair	$115 billion
Modernize public transit	$85 billion
Improve passenger and freight rail service	$80 billion
Improve infrastructure resilience by safeguarding critical infrastructure and services, defending vulnerable communities, and maximizing resilience of land and water resources	$50 billion
Improve airports	$25 billion
Establish dedicated fund for beneficial projects to regional or national economy	$25 billion
Improve road safety and establish Safe Streets for All program	$20 billion
Establish program to reconnect neighborhoods and ensure new projects increase opportunity	$20 billion
Improve ports and waterways	$17 billion
Other spending	$10 billion
Invest in Domestic Manufacturing, Research & Development, and Job Training Initiatives	$590 billion
Provide additional funding for domestic manufacturing, investing in capital access programs, supporting modernizing supply chains, and creating a new financing program to support debt and equity investments	$52 billion
Provide additional funding to the National Science Foundation	$50 billion
Establish Department of Commerce office to monitor domestic industrial capacity and to fund investments in the production of critical goods	$50 billion
Provide funding for semiconductor manufacturing and research	$50 billion
Provide funding for workforce development infrastructure and worker protection	$48 billion
Support clean energy manufacturing with federal procurement	$46 billion
Provide funding to upgrade research infrastructure in laboratories	$40 billion
Establish Dislocated Workers Program and invest in sector-based training	$40 billion
Provide additional funding for climate change research and development	$35 billion
Provide funding for community-based small business incubators and innovation hubs	$31 billion
Provide additional funding for research and development to spur innovation and job creation	$30 billion
Protect against future pandemics through medical countermeasures	$30 billion
Establish regional innovation hubs and Community Revitalization Fund	$20 billion
Create centers of excellence that serve as research incubators for HBCUs and MSIs	$15 billion
Provide additional funding to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)	$14 billion
Provide funding for workforce development in underserved communities	$12 billion
Provide funding for research and development at HBCUs and other MSIs	$10 billion
Provide funding for enforcement of workforce protections	$10 billion
Establish Rural Partnership Program	$5 billion
Other manufacturing investments	$2 billion
Expand Home Care Services and Provide Additional Support for Care Workers	$400 billion
Expand access to long-term, home and community-based care services under Medicaid and extend the Money Follows the Person program	$400 billion
Clean Energy Tax Credits	~$400 billion
Improve Housing Stock, Modernize Schools and Child Care Facilities, and Upgrade VA Hospitals and Federal Buildings	$328 billion
Build over a million energy efficient housing units and eliminate certain zoning & land use policies	$126 billion
Provide direct grants to upgrade and build new public schools, with an additional $50 billion leveraged through bonds	$50 billion
Provide funding to improve public housing system	$40 billion
Establish Clean Energy & Sustainability Accelerator	$27 billion
Establish Child Care Growth and Innovation Fund and provide tax credits to encourage businesses to build child care facilities	$25 billion
Incentivize the building or rehabilitation of over 500,000 homes for low- and middle-income homebuyers with a Neighborhood Homes Investment Act (NHIA) tax credit	$20 billion
Modernize VA hospitals and clinics	$18 billion
Improve community college facilities and technology	$12 billion
Modernize federal buildings through bipartisan Federal Capital Revolving Fund	$10 billion
Invest in Broadband, Electrical Grid, and Clean Drinking Water	$311 billion
Purchase 100% carbon-free power for federal buildings.
Establish an Energy Efficiency and Clean Electricity Standard (EECES) of 100% carbon-free power (including nuclear and hydropower) by 2035
Provide funding to build high-speed broadband, reduce the cost of broadband internet service, and promote transparency and competition	$100 billion
Invest in power infrastructure	$100 billion
Upgrade and modernize drinking water supplies through grants and low-cost flexible loans to states, Tribes, territories, and disadvantaged communities	$56 billion
Replace all lead pipes and service lines	$45 billion
Provide funding to monitor PFAS substances in drinking water and invest in rural small water systems & household well & wastewater systems	$10 billion
Plug orphan oil and gas wells and cleaning up abandoned mines	$16 billion
Remediate and redevelop Brownfield and Superfund sites	$5 billion
Establish the Civilian Climate Corps	$10 billion
Total	~$2.65 trillion

The WHEJAC’s first meeting will be held on March 30, 2021.

Register for the March 30, 2021 Public Meeting

If you would like to submit your public comment in writing please complete the public comment form and email any additional materials to [email protected] with the subject line “WHEJAC March 2021 Meeting Public Comments.”

Today, the White House announced the members of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC). The advisory council will provide advice and recommendations to the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (soon to be Brenda Mallory) and the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council on how to address current and historic environmental injustices.

The first meeting of the WHEJAC will be held virtually tomorrow, March 30, and will be open to the public.

The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) was established by President Biden’s executive order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. Biden’s order also established the White House EJ Interagency Council as the successor to the Environmental Justice Interagency Working Group, which was established in 1994 by Executive Order 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations.

• LaTricea Adams, founder, Black Millennials For Flint, Michigan
• Susana Almanza, founder, People Organized in Defense of Earth and her Resources, Texas
• Jade Begay, climate justice campaign director, NDN Collective, South Dakota
• Maria Belen-Power, associate executive director, GreenRoots, Massachusetts
• Dr. Robert Bullard, Texas
• Tom Cormons, executive director, Appalachian Voices, Virginia
• Andrea Delgado, goverment affairs director, United Farm Workers Foundation, founding board member, Green Latinos, Washington, D.C.
• Catherine Flowers, founder, Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice, Alabama
• Jerome Foster II, founder, OneMillionOfUs, New York
• Kim Havey, director of sustainability, City of Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Angelo Logan, campaign director, Moving Forward Network, California
• Maria Lopez-Nunez, director of environmental justice and community development, Ironbound Community Corporation, New Jersey
• Harold Mitchell, founder, Regenesis, South Carolina
• Richard Moore, co-coordinator, Environmental Justice Health Alliance, New Mexico
• Dr. Rachel Morello-Frosch, environmental health scientist, Berkeley Public Health, California
• Juan Parras, founder, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, Texas
• Michele Roberts, co-coordinator, Environmental Justice Health Alliance, Washington, D.C.
• Ruth Santiago, environmental justice lawyer, trustee, EarthJustice, Puerto Rico
• Dr. Nicky Sheats, director, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, New Jersey
• Peggy Shepard, co-founder, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, New York
• Carletta Tilousi, Havasupai Tribal Council, Arizona
• Vi Waghiyi, Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Alaska
• Dr. Kyle Powys Whyte, environmental justice scholar, University of Michigan, Michigan
• Dr. Beverly Wright, executive director, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Louisiana
• Hli Xyooj, Director of Program Strategies, Hmong American Partnership, Minnesota
• Miya Yoshitani, executive director, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, California

The Environmental Protection Agency will fund and provide administrative support for the WHEJAC.

The council will advise on how to increase the government’s efforts to address current and historic environmental injustice through strengthening environmental justice monitoring and enforcement. The duties of the WHEJAC are to provide advice and recommendations on issues including, but not limited, to environmental justice in the following areas:

• Climate change mitigation, resilience, and disaster management
• Toxics, pesticides, and pollution reduction in overburdened communities
• Equitable conservation and public lands use
• Tribal and Indigenous issues
• Clean energy transition
• Sustainable infrastructure, including clean water, transportation, and the built environment
• NEPA, enforcement and civil rights
• Increasing the federal government’s efforts to address current and historic environmental injustice

The WHEJAC will complement the ongoing work of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, a federal advisory committee established in 1993 to provide advice and recommendations on EJ issues to the Administrator of the EPA.

For updates, subscribe to the EPA-EJ listserv.