Hill Heat

The home insurance industry is collapsing and failing communities across the United States. Its collapse is due in part to the impacts of the climate crisis, but also speaks to more systemic problems of the industry–it focuses more on profit than providing safe and dignified homes to people. Meanwhile, policymakers commonly focus on saving the insurance industry through de-risking instead of interrogating the deeper root causes of housing instability in a climate-impacted United States.

This webinar brings together CCP fellows and allies in a conversation about the contours of the current and future home insurance crisis and collective visions for policy changes that will make housing safer and more affordable for all.

Panelists:

• Rebecca Elliott, Associate Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science
• Paula Jarzabkowski, Professor, Bayes Business School, University of London MacKenzie Marcelin, Climate Justice Director, Florida Rising
• Seana O’Shaughnessy, CEO, California Housing Improvement Program
• Zac J. Taylor, Assistant Professor, Delft University of Technology
• Jordan Haedtler, Climate Finance Strategist, Climate Cabinet

Moderator:

• Moira Birss, Fellow, Climate and Community Project

Full committee hearing.

Witness:

• Richard R. Verma, Deputy Secretary of State, Management and Resources, U.S. Department of State

On Thursday, May 16, 2024, at 10:00 a.m., in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources will hold an oversight hearing titled “Examining the Council on Environmental Quality Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request and Related Policy Matters.”

Witness:

• Brenda Mallory, Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality

The budget request for the White House Council on Environmental Quality is $4,676,000, supporting an FTE level of 22. This represents no change from the FY 2024 annualized continuing resolution level.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, will convene a full committee executive session on Thursday, May 16, 2024, at 10:00 AM EDT to consider the following legislation and nomination:

Agenda:

• S. 275, Rural Broadband Protection Act of 2023
• S. 690, Network Equipment Transparency Act
• S. 1570, Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening Enhancement Act
• S. 1956, Invent Here, Make Here Act of 2023
• S. 2086, Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance Act of 2023 (Markey)
• S. 2233, Youth Poisoning Protection Act
• S. 2498, Hotel Fees Transparency Act of 2023
• S. 3277, Marine Debris Program Reauthorization (Sullivan, R-Alaska)
• S. 3475, Strengthening the Commercial Driver’s License Information System Act
• S. 3788, National Landslide Preparedness Act Reauthorization Act of 2024 (Murkowski)
• S. 3879, Illegal Red Snapper Enforcement Act (Cruz)
• S. 4207, Spectrum and National Security Act
• S. 4213, The Kids Off Social Media Act
• Nomination of Samuel Slater to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (PN112, PN113)

The purpose of this hearing is to examine the President’s budget request for the U.S. Forest Service for Fiscal Year 2025. The budget request is $8.9 billion; $6.5 billion for base programs and $2.39 billion for the wildfire suppression cap adjustment in the Wildfire Suppression Operations Reserve Fund.

Witnesses:

• Randy Moore, Chief, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Accompanied by:

• Mark Lichtenstein, Director of Strategic Planning, Budget & Accountability, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

The request includes:

• $58 million for recreation, heritage and wilderness (+$18M from 2024)
• $33 million for vegetation and watershed management (+$3M from 2024)
• $207 million for hazardous fuels reduction (+$31.55M from 2024)
• $315.6 million for forest and rangeland research (+$15.6M from 2024)
• $25 million to address the urgent need for maintenance of employee housing.

Subcommittee hearing. The President’s FY 2025 budget request to Congress includes $10.183 billion for NSF, an increase of 3.1% over the FY 2023 total budget.

Witnesses:

• Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director, National Science Foundation
• Dr. Dan Reed, Former Chair, National Science Board

Subcommittee hearing on the FY2025 budget request for the Department of Commerce. The budget proposes $11.4 billion in discretionary funding and $4 billion in mandatory funding.

Chair Shaheen

Witness:

• Gina M. Raimondo, Secretary, Department of Commerce

The Budget includes $6.6 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), $188 million or 3% more than the FY 2024 Annualized CR. This NOAA Budget prioritizes operations, infrastructure, and continuing initiatives that provide the environmental intelligence necessary to make informed oceans, coastal, fisheries, weather, and climate decisions. The Budget is bolstered by funds previously provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. The Administration continues its commitment to the Nation’s weather and climate satellite enterprise by providing $2.1 billion for the Nation’s weather and climate satellites, $430 million above the FY 2024 Annualized CR level. FY 2025 funding will enable NOAA to maintain all current satellite programs by including $84 million for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites R Series (GOES-R), $342 million for Polar Weather Satellites (PWS), and $40 million for Space Weather Follow On (SWFO). The Budget also continues strategic investments in the next generation of climate, weather, and space weather satellites to continue development of world leading, mission-driven weather satellite programs that will offer new state-of-the-art capabilities to improve forecasting.

The Budget provides $798 million for Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO), $68 million for Low Earth Orbit Weather Satellites, and $237 million for Space Weather Next. The Budget further invests in NOAA’s weather and climate enterprise. Specifically, it funds the National Weather Service (NWS) at $1.4 billion. At this level, the NWS will continue to operate and maintain 122 Weather Forecast Offices (WFO), 13 River Forecast Centers (RFC), 18 Weather Service Offices (WSO), and associated employee housing units, and 9 National Centers. NOAA’s Budget also includes $212 million for NOAA’s climate research programs to support the ongoing work of the National Climate Assessment and continue high-priority long-term observing, monitoring, researching, and modeling activities.

The Budget also includes an additional $10 million for Mitchell Act Hatcheries in the Columbia River Basin, complementing the resources previously provided in the Inflation Reduction Act. These additional funds are part of the Administration’s commitment to prioritize the restoration of healthy and abundant wild salmon, steelhead, and other native fish populations to the Columbia River Basin, and honor the United States’ obligations to tribal nations. The Budget also invests in expanding offshore energy while conserving and protecting high-priority natural resources.

The Budget provides NOAA $53 million to expand offshore wind permitting, a $31 million increase above the FY 2024 Annualized CR. This funding will enable NOAA to use the best available science to help support the goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore energy by 2030 while protecting biodiversity and promoting sustainable ocean co-use. It also provides $86 million, a $18.2 million increase above the FY 2024 Annualized CR, to support National Marine Sanctuaries and Marine Protected Areas as part of the Administration’s America the Beautiful initiative, which aims to conserve at least 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. With this funding NOAA will expand critical conservation work and support the designation process for additional sanctuaries.

Additionally, the Budget provides the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) a net increase of $71 million above the 2024 Annualized CR. These include increases across Marine Operations and Maintenance, Aviation Operations and Aircraft Services, and NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, to support expanded marine and aviation operations to support increased efforts to collect high quality data, enhance public safety, and improve understanding of climate-induced impacts on communities and ecosystems. OMAO’s budget also includes $21 million, an increase of $17 million above the FY 2024 Annualized CR, to finalize a second specialized high-altitude G-550 Hurricane Hunter to meet national needs.

Subcommittee hearing. $11.8 billion budget request.

Witness:

• David Pekoske, Administrator, Transportation Security Administration

Subcommittee hearing.

Chair Coons

Witnesses:

• Scott Nathan, Chief Executive Officer, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation
• Reta Jo Lewis, President and Chair, Export-Import Bank of the United States
• Alice Albright, Chief Executive Officer, Millennium Challenge Corporation

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation requests $1 billion. In FY2023, DFC committed $3.7 billion for climate financing.

EXIM requests $130.1 million for administrative resources plus $15.0 million in program budget. The EXIM FY 2025 Budget Request will support an estimated $11.3 billion in new authorizations. EXIM requests an exemption from its default rate calculation for defaults on the development of nuclear power projects and for the entire China and Transformational Export Products program, which includes renewable energy, storage, and efficiency.

EXIM currently has more than $1.6 billion in clean energy and climate infrastructure projects in the FY 2024 pipeline. The updated climate change mitigation project classes now include projects related to energy storage, grid efficiency, battery production and recycling, clean hydrogen and ammonia production and storage, low emission manufacturing, zero and low emission transport, and clean energy minerals and ores.

MCC’s FY 2025 budget proposal to Congress includes $937 million in discretionary funding. From promoting conservation activities in Mozambique or delivering low-carbon economic development models in Kosovo, to supporting countries’ efficient energy transition by expanding renewable energy in Indonesia, MCC helps many of the world’s most vulnerable communities address the impacts of climate change in alignment with its climate strategy.

Subcommittee hearing on the $7.9 billion foreign operations budget request for Africa.

Witnesses:

• Molly Phee, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, Department of State
• Monde Muyangwa, Assistant Administrator, Bureau of Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development