Hill Heat

Join Evergreen Action as we chat with Senator Ed Markey, Representative Pramila Jayapal, and Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. of the Hip Hop Caucus about the climate provisions in the new Inflation Reduction Act. Evergreen Action Senior Policy Advisor Dr. Leah Stokes will moderate a conversation about the trade-offs and historic investments contained in the historic bill.

Webinar link

08/01/2022 at 07:00PM

On July 28th, we will converge en masse on the Congressional Baseball Game. And we will shut it down.

We will not stand by, watching them play games while the world burns. Everything we love is at stake. Our safety, our future, our one and only home. It’s time to leave everything on the field.

6 PM. Nationals Park.

Members of Congress accepted $11,982,170 dollars from giant fossil fuel corporations. This year alone. The baseball game itself is sponsored by Chevron and BP. But if the oligarchs think we’ll stand by, watching them play games while the world burns, then they are sorely mistaken.

Join the action.

07/28/2022 at 06:00PM

On Thursday, July 28, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. ET, Rep. Ro Khanna, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, will hold a hybrid hearing to examine the health harms associated with leaded aviation fuel and its impacts on American communities and the environment.

Airborne lead exposure from aviation fuel is an urgent yet little-known health crisis impacting millions of people who live near general aviation airports in the United States. Lead is highly toxic and a probable carcinogen, causing health effects such as brain damage, learning disabilities, reduced fertility, nerve damage, and death. Despite the dangers associated with it, many airplanes continue to utilize leaded fuel, putting the health and safety of Americans—especially children—at risk.

Despite clear evidence of harm and the existence of unleaded fuel alternatives, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have failed for many years to take meaningful action to curb the use of leaded aviation fuel. Simultaneously, the fossil fuel and aviation industries have lobbied to delay efforts to phase out leaded fuel.

In the United States, general aviation airports are often located in low-income communities and communities of color, causing those communities to suffer disproportionately from the health impacts of leaded aviation fuel. Lead exposure from aviation fuel is an ongoing environmental justice crisis. This hearing will examine the impacts of leaded aviation fuel on American communities and on the environment to better understand the urgency of permanently phasing out the dangerous substance.

Witnesses:

• Marciela Lechuga, Resident, Reid-Hillview Airport Buffer Zone
• Cindy Chavez, Supervisor, County of Santa Clara (California)
• Bruce Lanphear, Professor, Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University

07/28/2022 at 02:00PM

The Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States (SCIP) will hold a hybrid legislative hearing on the following bill:

• H.R. 5549 (Rep. Don Young, R-AK), To amend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to authorize advance appropriations for the Indian Health Service by providing fiscal-year budget authority, and for other purposes. Indian Health Service Advance Appropriations Act.

07/28/2022 at 01:00PM

Hearing page

Chair Katie Porter (D-Calif.)

07/28/2022 at 10:00AM

The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills:

• S. 3145, to amend the Natural Gas Act to expedite approval of exports of small volumes of natural gas, and for other purposes (Cassidy, Kennedy, Inhofe, Rubio, Scott);
• S. 3543, to support research, development, and other activities to develop innovative vehicle technologies, and for other purposes (Peters, Hagerty, Stabenow);
• S. 3719, to establish the Southwestern Power Administration Fund, and for other purposes (Moran, Marshall);
• S. 3740, to provide for a comprehensive and integrative program to accelerate microelectronics research and development at the Department of Energy, and for other purposes (Kelly, Blackburn);
• S. 3769, to amend the Energy Conservation and Production Act to improve the weatherization assistance program, and for other purposes (Reed, Collins, Coons, Shaheen);
• S. 3856, to prohibit the importation of uranium from the Russian Federation (Barrasso, Lummis, Marshall, Cramer, Hoeven, Capito, Rubio);
• S. 4038, to increase the production and use of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel, and for other purposes (Barrasso, Feinstein, Cassidy, Lujan, Daines);
• S. 4061, to amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to modify the definition of water heater under energy conservation standards, and for other purposes (Stabenow, Blackburn, Hirono);
• S. 4066, to amend the Energy Act of 2020 to require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to accelerate the availability of commercially produced high-assay, low-enriched uranium in the United States and to make high-assay, low-enriched uranium produced from Department of Energy inventories available for use in advanced nuclear reactors, and for other purposes (Barrasso);
• S. 4280, to require the Secretary of Energy to remove carbon dioxide directly from ambient air or seawater, and for other purposes (Coons, Whitehouse)
• S. ___, to establish a new organization to manage nuclear waste, provide a consensual process for siting nuclear waste facilities, ensure adequate funding for managing nuclear waste, and for other purposes (Manchin)

07/28/2022 at 10:00AM

Hearing page

07/28/2022 at 10:00AM

Hearing page

Witnesses:

• Milancy Harris to be Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security
• Dr. Radha Plumb to be Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
• Brendan Owens to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment
• Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy

At the U.S. Green Building Council, Owens oversaw technical development of LEED, the green building rating.

If confirmed, Owens would oversee environmental planning and compliance, renewable energy, energy management, and energy resilience for DoD’s global portfolio of military bases and installations, housing, construction, and other property. The portfolio totals approximately 2.2 billion square feet of space across nearly 600,000 structures. It is valued at more than $1 trillion.

Some context for those numbers: Two billion square feet is larger than the built environment of most cities in the world. It is almost 100 times the amount of office space WeWork leased last year in the United States and Europe. One trillion dollars is more than the GDPs of Switzerland, South Africa, and Turkey.

07/28/2022 at 09:30AM

Hearing page

Chair: Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)

Witnesses:

• Mary Catherine Phee, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, U.S. Department of State
• Dr. Diana Putnam, Acting Assistant to the Administrator, Bureau of Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development

The FY 2023 budget request includes $1.6 billion for development assistance in Africa; $229 million for African Affairs in U.S. State, an increase of $20 million, which would support 26 new positions to “help embassies engage on global health, strengthen economic linkages, and counter the PRC’s malign influence in Africa”; $32.6 million for the Economic Support Fund for Africa including the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP), the Partnership for Regional East Africa Counterterrorism (PREACT), the Africa Regional Democracy Fund, and the Ambassador’s Special SelfHelp program; $33 million for the U.S. African Development Foundation; $55 million for the African Development Bank; $171 million for the African Development Fund; $20 million for the Young African Leader’s Initiative; $2.3 billion for international peacekeeping activities around the world, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo ($312.9 million), Central African Republic ($311 million), Sudan ($74.9 million) and South Sudan ($335 million), Western Sahara ($15.8 million), and Mali ($354 million); $5.6 billion in global health programs for Africa; $848 million in migration assistance for Africa; $50.8 million in international narcotics and law enforcement for Africa; $19.2 million in military training for Africa; $6 million in foreign military financing for Djibouti; among other spending. The budget request also includes $4.7 billion for international disaster assistance globally

07/27/2022 at 02:30PM

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, will convene an executive session on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, at 10 a.m. EDT to consider bipartisan children’s online privacy legislation and presidential nominations.

Agenda:

• S. 1628, Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act
• S. 3663, Kids Online Safety Act
• Nomination of David P. Pekoske to be Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (PN2063)
• Nomination of Donald R. Cravins to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development (PN2062)
• Nomination of Susie Feliz to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs (PN1862)

The TSA oversees oil and gas pipeline security.

The majority of the Department of Commerce’s budget is for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

07/27/2022 at 10:00AM