Climate science, policy, politics, and action
Speakers:
The Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, led by Chair Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), will hold a legislative hearing on the following bill:
H.R. 8802 (Grijalva), To require the Secretary of the Interior and the Chief of the Forest Service to align management of public lands and waters with the President’s greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, and for other purposes. Public Lands and Waters Climate Leadership Act of 2022
Witnesses
With the Arctic warming two to four times faster than the rest of the planet, the purpose of this hearing is to discuss the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee’s Arctic Research Plan 2022-2026, which is informed by the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. The hearing will explore gaps in research and analysis, needed improvements to federal science capabilities, research vessels and infrastructure, and barriers to strengthening our response to local and global climate change impacts, such as carbon and methane emissions released from permafrost thaw. Additionally, we will discuss gaps in Arctic system monitoring, observing, modeling, and prediction efforts. Importantly, we will examine the role of traditional knowledge holders and equitable practices in the coproduction of research, especially in critical areas such as food security and biodiversity. Finally, the hearing will be an opportunity to discuss the impact of geopolitical tensions on science diplomacy in the Arctic and challenges for future international collaboration in key research including boreal forest fires, sea ice melt and land ice loss, particularly the Greenland Ice Sheet.
Witnesses:
On Tuesday, September 20, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. ET, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, will hold a hybrid business meeting to consider bills that will improve federal government operations and provide Washington D.C. with more autonomy.
The Committee will consider the following legislation:
S. 3510 was introduced by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters and Senator Rick Scott on January 13, 2022. The bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent on June 22, 2022. Companion legislation in the House, H.R. 7863, is led by Rep. Troy Carter. In 2021, GAO released a report on the efforts of federal agencies to mitigate the impact of natural disasters on federal property and assets. In the five years preceding the report, billions of taxpayer dollars were appropriated to help repair assets from natural disasters. To better protect these federal assets and taxpayer dollars in the face of the escalating frequency and severity of natural disasters, the report recommended that OMB direct agencies to incorporate natural disaster risk information assessments into asset management investment decisions. That recommendation remains open today. To address this recommendation, S. 3510 would direct OMB to establish guidance within 180 days of enactment for the incorporation of natural disaster resilience into the real property asset management and investment decisions of federal agencies. As recommended by GAO, agencies would be required to incorporate their natural disaster risk information assessments into such decisions. OMB would also be required to report to Congress on the guidance, and to later brief Congress on its implementation.
The Committee will also consider additional legislative business and several postal naming measures.
On Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. ET, in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building and via Cisco WebEx, the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States (SCIP) will hold an oversight hearing entitled “Examining Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta: The Implications of the Supreme Court’s Ruling on Tribal Sovereignty.”
On June 29, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals’ ruling in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta by determining that the State maintains concurrent jurisdiction with the federal government to prosecute major crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian Country. The 5-4 opinion led by Justice Kavanaugh held that Indian Country within a state’s territory is part of the State, which therefore confers State jurisdiction to the prosecution of crimes committed in Indian Country unless it is otherwise preempted.
Castro-Huerta overturns nearly 200 years of federal Indian legal precedent and further complicates an already complex framework for the investigation and prosecution of crimes committed in Indian Country. This expansion of State jurisdiction is anticipated to add greater uncertainty over what government entity maintains the authority to deliver public safety services on tribal lands and will likely influence the quality of such services.
The oversight hearing will provide an overview of Castro-Huerta’s national impacts in Indian County and explore how this ruling may pose additional threats to tribal sovereignty.
Witnesses
Panel I: Administration Panel
Panel II: Tribal Leader Panel
Panel III: Legal Panel
Witnesses:
Join the Stop the Money Pipeline coalition on Friday,
September 16 at 2 pm ET/11 am PT for a global online
event
to kick off a month of action in defense of forests.
Speakers, including Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, activist and former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and Maria Luisa Mendonça of the Network for Human Rights and Social Justice in Brazil, will share why forests are critical to climate justice, what Indigenous and frontline communities are doing to stop deforestation, and how you can join the fight to hold Wall Street and corporations accountable.
A joint hearing with the Committee on Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture and the Committee on Transportation Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
THE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS will meet in OPEN SESSION, HYBRID FORMAT to conduct a hearing entitled, “Oversight of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.”
Witness: