Join
us
on March 3rd at 4 pm in Lafayette Square to tell President Biden he must
#StopWillow before it’s too late!
On Feb. 1st, the Biden administration took another step towards
approving the Willow Master Development Project – a massive oil drilling
development in Alaska’s western Arctic that threatens local communities
and wildlife, and the global climate.
President Biden promised to deliver on climate – but ConocoPhillips’
dirty and dangerous Willow project would irreversibly take us backward.
Willow would emit 278 million metric tons of climate pollution over the
next 30 years. That’s equivalent to the annual emissions from 74 coal
plants — one-third of all remaining U.S. plants.
Extracting millions of barrels of oil in Alaska would only increase
temperatures in a region that’s already warming four times faster than
the rest of the world. Willow will disproportionately impact the
community of Nuiqsut, a predominantly Iñupiaq village of about 500
people already experiencing extreme pollution from existing oil
projects.
The Biden administration is expected to issue its final decision on the
project as soon as March 6th. That means we still have time to pressure
Biden and his Department of Interior to deny this dangerous project,
#StopWillow, and prevent this climate bomb!
There will be a
hearing
of the Committee on the Budget on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, 10:00 AM in
Room SD-608. Members of the Committee may participate in person or by
video conference technology. To consider: “Rising Seas, Rising Costs:
Climate Change and the Economic Risks to Coastal Communities”
Witnesses:
Dr. Sean Becketti, Principal, Elliott Bay Analytics
Matthew Eby, Founder And Chief Executive Officer, First Street
Foundation
Kate Michaud, Town Manager, Warren, Rhode Island
Dr. Jessica Weinkle, Associate Professor, University of North Carolina
Wilmington
Marlo Lewis, Jr., Senior
Fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Business
meeting,
following the caucus lunches, to consider the nominations of
Career diplomat Stephanie Sanders Sullivan, of Maryland, to be
Representative to the African Union, with the rank and status of
Ambassador
Career diplomat Michael Alan Ratney, of Massachusetts, to be
Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Geeta Rao Gupta, of Virginia, to be Ambassador at Large for Global
Women’s Issues
Former Los Angeles mayor Eric M. Garcetti, of California, to be
Ambassador to the Republic of India
Former ambassador to India and current Mastercard lawyer Richard R.
Verma, of Maryland, to be Deputy Secretary for Management and
Resources, Department of State
Cuban-American technologist, political operative, and venture
capitalist L. Felice Gorordo, of Florida, to be Alternate Executive
Director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
ExxonMobil lawyer Richard L.A. Weiner, of the District of Columbia, to
be Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Venezuelan-American politician and law professor Leopoldo Martinez
Nucete, of Virginia, to be Executive Director of the Inter-American
Development Bank
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has placed
holds
on most of the nominees.
On Tuesday, February 28, 2023, at 2:00 p.m., in Room 1324 Longworth
House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources will hold a
legislative
hearing
on H.R.
___
(Graves of Louisiana), “Building United States Infrastructure through
Limited Delays and Efficient Reviews Act of 2023”.
On Tuesday, February 28, at 1:00 p.m. (or 30 minutes after the
Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security markup concludes),
the Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials
will meet in open markup
session
in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building to consider the following.
Legislation to be considered includes:
H.R.
1070,
a bill to amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) to treat the owner
or operator of a critical energy resource facility as having been
issued an interim permit for the treatment, storage, and disposal, of
hazardous waste, and for other purposes. This legislation, which was
included in Title VI of H.R. 8981 of the 117th Congress, is patterned
after a previous SWDA practice. It would
address delays for SWDA-regulated waste
permitting that is a condition of operation, but only for facilities
that deal with critical energy resources. Specifically, the permitting
involved would relate to on-site storage of more than 90 days, onsite
waste treatment, or on-site waste disposal. The legislation would
provide a facility, that files a Part A permit application, “interim
status” until EPA or the State requires the
facility to submit its Part B permit application for a long-term
permit. (Rep. Carter introduced this legislation.)
H.R.
1131,
a bill to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency to authorize the use of flexible air permitting with respect to
certain critical energy resource facilities, and for other purposes.
This legislation would authorize EPA to
issue flexible air permits and facilitate flexible, market-responsive
operations for critical energy resource facilities. Flexible air
permitting is a procedure that has been promoted by
EPA to allow industrial facilities to obtain
advance approval for changes to an emissions source without requiring
the change to be reviewed and approved individually. Flexible air
permitting ensures equal or greater environmental protection than
conventional air permits. (Rep. Joyce introduced this legislation.)
H.R.
1140,
a bill to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency to waive application of certain requirements with respect to
processing and refining of a critical energy resource at a critical
energy resource facility, and for other purposes. This legislation
would authorize the EPA Administrator, under
certain conditions, to waive temporarily any Clean Air Act (CAA) or
Solid Waste Disposal Act requirement the Administrator determines is
necessary to allow for the processing or refining of a critical energy
resource to meet national security or energy security needs and to
serve the public interest. The introduced bill includes new language
that establishes requirements, timeframes, and a public interest
protection by which the Administrator must act to avoid or minimize
any adverse environmental impacts of a temporary waiver. (Rep. Pence
introduced this legislation.)
H.R.
1158,
the Elimination of Future Technology Delays Act. This legislation
would address repeated, documented delays with
EPA reviewing and making legally mandated,
timely determinations of pre-manufacturing notices for new critical
energy resources and new uses of existing critical energy resources.
The legislation would prevent EPA from
withholding judgment on a notice and preventing commercialization –
without justification – of a substance beyond the Toxic Substances
Control Act’s (TSCA’s) statutory deadlines. This legislation would
also prevent EPA from proactively
encouraging manufacturers to exercise their right to suspend or end
the legal clock on EPA action if
EPA has not made an initial review of the
new critical energy resource and communicated the noted risks to the
applicant. Finally, this legislation would require
EPA to consider economic, societal, and
environmental costs and benefits when determining whether an
“unreasonable risk” exists from the manufacturing, processing,
commercial transportation, use or disposal of the critical energy
resource. (Rep. Curtis introduced this legislation.)
H.R.
1141,
Natural Gas Tax Repeal Act. This legislation would repeal the natural
gas tax contained in Sec. 136 of the CAA.
The natural gas tax was established through amendments to the
CAA contained in the Inflation Reduction Act
(IRA), which was signed into law on August 16, 2022. Sec. 136 of the
CAA authorizes the
EPA to impose or collect a “charge on
methane emissions,” also referred to as a tax on natural gas. H.R.
1141 also would rescind the unobligated balance of any amounts made
available under Sec. 136. The IRA authorized
and appropriated over $1.5 billion under Sec. 136 of the
CAA. (Rep. Pfluger introduced this
legislation.)
H.R.
1023,
a bill to repeal section 134 of the Clean Air Act, relating to the
greenhouse gas reduction fund. This legislation would repeal the
program established under section 134 of the
CAA and would rescind any unobligated
balance of any funds made available under this section. Section 60103
of P.L. 117-169, the IRA, added this new
section to the CAA to establish a Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Fund and appropriated $27 billion for
EPA to award grants under the program until
September 2024. (Rep. Palmer introduced this legislation.)
H.R.
1155,
Keeping America’s Refineries Act. This legislation responds to a
regulatory proposal in the Biden administration’s Risk Management Rule
(RMP) expansion (proposed on August 18, 2022). The regulatory proposal
would make petroleum refineries using hydrofluoric acid alkylation
units conduct technology and alternatives analyses of their existing
plant’s chemical usage and manufacturing practices to identify changes
that could be made. This bill would prevent this operations assessment
requirement from applying to refineries with active construction or
operating permits. A new refinery or refinery without its permits
could choose to follow the RMP assessment
requirement (if finalized) or demonstrate it conforms or will conform
to American Petroleum Institute Recommended Practice 751. Of note,
section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer Act of 1995,
requires the Federal government to defer to industry consensus
standards when those standards intersect with agency goals. (Rep.
Crenshaw introduced this legislation.)
House Energy and Commerce Committee
Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee
On Tuesday, February 28, 2023, at 10:15 a.m., in Room 1324 Longworth
House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee
on Energy and Mineral Resources will hold a legislative
hearing
on the following bills:
H.R.
___
(Westerman), “‘Transparency and Production of American Energy Act of
2023”
H.R.
209
(Stauber), “Permitting for Mining Needs Act of 2023”
On Tuesday, February 28, 2023, the Science, Space, and Technology
Committee will hold a
hearing
to examine the current state of the United States’ science and
technology enterprise and how it is impacting our global leadership, as
well as threats to that leadership from the Chinese Communist Party
(CCP). This hearing will examine the CCP’s
attempts to surpass U.S. scientific leadership and the economic and
national security implications that it has for America. It will also
serve as an opportunity to discuss and identify key objectives for a
U.S. National Science and Technology Strategy and quadrennial review to
ensure the United States’ continued growth and competitiveness.
Witnesses:
Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier, Regents’ Professor of Meteorology and
Weathernews, Chair Emeritus Roger and Sherry Teigen Presidential
Professor, University of Oklahoma and Former Director, White House
Office of Science and Technology Policy
Deborah Wince-Smith, President and CEO,
Council on Competitiveness
Dr. Kim Budil, Director, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Klon Kitchen, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
What is the current state of U.S. leadership in science and technology
(S&T), and what is the outlook for continued leadership, particularly
in areas of S&T that will help drive economic competitiveness and
national security in the coming decade? Why is it important for the
U.S. to maintain leading capabilities in both fundamental research and
technology development, and what are the consequences of loss of
leadership, especially to China?
What makes the U.S. S&T ecosystem of government, academia and industry
unique in the world, and how can we continue to use that system to our
competitive advantage?
What are the benefits to having a National Science and Technology
Strategy? What are the key characteristics of a National Science and
Technology Strategy that will ensure it is adopted and utilized by the
U.S. S&T ecosystem and leads to the public and private sectors working
together to ensure America’s S&T dominance?
