On Wednesday, August 4, at 10:00 AM ET, the
Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold a
hearing
on three of President Biden’s nominees to key positions at the
Environmental Protection Agency.
Amanda Howe to be Assistant Administrator for Mission Support of the
Environmental Protection Agency
David Uhlmann to be Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance of the Environmental Protection Agency
Carlton
Waterhouse to
be Assistant Administrator of Land and Emergency Management of the
Environmental Protection Agency
Uhlmann, nominated to be the chief enforcement officer at
EPA, served for 17 years as a federal
prosecutor, including seven years as chief of the Environmental Crimes
Section at the U.S. Department of Justice.
At the end of the 2020 election season, Uhlmann
wrote
of the urgency to enact sweeping climate legislation:
The United States may soon have the chance, for the first time in more
than a decade, to enact urgently needed legislation to address global
climate change—but only if Democrats don’t repeat the mistakes they
made at the start of the Obama administration.
The top corporate-polluter law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth
warned
that Uhlmann’s nomination “is a very strong signal of how serious” the
Biden administration’s intention to “increase environmental enforcement”
is, and that “companies should prioritize review of environmental
compliance and performance and remain vigilant.”
Waterhouse, a Howard
University law
school graduate and professor, is an “an international expert on
environmental law and environmental justice, as well as reparations and
redress for historic injustices.” He served as an
EPA lawyer from 1991 to 2000. If confirmed, he
will oversee the Superfund and related programs.
The purpose of the
hearing
is to consider the nominations of:
Dr. Geraldine
Richmond
to be Under Secretary for Science, Department of Energy
Cynthia Weiner
Stachelberg
to be an Assistant Secretary of the Interior (Policy, Management, and
Budget)
Dr. Asmeret Asefaw
Berhe
to be Director of the Office of Science, Department of Energy
Dr. Geri Richmond is a renowned water chemist who has
written:
Environmental concerns about adequate clean water resources have
increasingly become more global with the recognition that unwanted
chemicals in the atmosphere, in our soils and in our surface waters
often transport well beyond the national boundaries of origin. As a
result, there is a growing international urgency to understand
environmental issues that can cross boundaries with climate change,
healthy air quality and clean water resources being the most obvious.
The focus of the studies in the Richmond Laboratory is to provide
fundamental insights into molecular processes that underlie some of
the aforementioned global concerns, with a particular focus on
understanding environmentally important processes that occur at water
surfaces and aqueous-oil boundary layers.
Winnie Stachelberg is a long-time executive at the Center for American
Progress. Previously she was the political director for the Human Rights
Campaign.
Dr. Asmeret Berhe is a soil
biogeochemist
who studies climate change. She was born and did undergraduate education
in Eritrea before receiving a master’s degree in political
ecology
from Michigan State and her PhD from UC Berkeley. She is a professor and
assistant dean at UC Merced.
The main goal of her research is to understand the effect of changing
environmental conditions on vital soil processes, most importantly the
cycling and fate of essential elements in the critical zone. She
studies soil processes in systems experiencing natural and/or
anthropogenic perturbation in order to understand fundamental
principles governed by geomorphology, and contemporary modifications
introduced by changes in land use and climate.
The President and The Vice President meet with Governors to discuss
ongoing efforts to strengthen wildfire prevention, preparedness and
response efforts, and hear firsthand about the ongoing impacts of the
2021 wildfire season, which are growing more severe.
The virtual meeting will last an hour with governors whose states are
experiencing wildfires and drought: Govs. Greg Gianforte of Montana,
Jay Inslee of Washington, Gavin Newsom of California, Brad Little of
Idaho, Kate Brown of Oregon, Tim Walz of Minnesota and Mark Gordon of
Wyoming.
Biden and Harris will discuss efforts to strengthen wildfire
prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response efforts, and will
hear how an early and severe wildfire season is impacting residents
and land in the states. The group is also expected to discuss funding
and investing in wildland firefighters, including increasing pay for
federal firefighters who are battling blazes, and extending hiring for
temporary firefighters.
The White House on Friday will also announce two new interagency
working groups pointed at the impact wildfires and extreme heat.
Biden’s National Climate Task force, which is chaired by National
Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, will announce a Wildfire Resilience
Interagency Working Group, and an Extreme Heat Interagency Working
Group.
The Wildfire Resilience Interagency Group will be chaired by US
Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Secretary of the
Interior Deb Haaland, while the Extreme Heat Interagency Working Group
will be chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator Dr.
Richard Spinrad, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator
Michael Regan. There are 82 large fires burning in the West this week.
Around 3.4 million acres have been burned in wildfires so far this
year.
The Red Road to DC is an online and on-the-ground
mobilization happening in July connecting 20 Native-led struggles to
protect sacred lands, waters, and wildlife from threats posed by dams,
climate change, and extractive industries.
Members of Lummi Nation carved a 25 foot totem pole that is being
transported from Washington State to Washington DC, visiting tribal
nations and Native communities leading efforts to protect sacred places
along the way. The journey ends in Washington, DC, with a totem pole
blessing, press conference, exhibition at the Smithsonian National
Museum of the American Indian, and delivering the pole to Secretary Deb
Haaland at the Department of the Interior.
The House of Tears Carvers and our partners cordially invite you to the
culmination of the
#RedRoadtoDC Totem Pole Journey in Washington D.C., after thousands of
miles traveled visiting dozens of Native-led struggles to protect sacred
places. On the 29th, Secretary Deb Haaland will receive the totem pole
at a 2pm blessing
ceremony on the National
Mall, followed by a rally featuring tribal leaders, organizers, and
Congressional representatives.
On the 30th, the public is invited to view the totem
pole
outside the National Museum of the American Indian.
Join us in action, in prayer, or in person to demand:
The Biden administration must support and uphold Native People’s Free
Prior & Informed Consent, as guaranteed by the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Support the demands and struggles of our frontline partners at each
and every journey stop starting June 30.
Exposure to pollution and lack of access to clean, affordable energy
solutions has created economic and health disparities – particularly in
Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities. What are the Biden
administration’s policy priorities around environmental justice and
pollution-free energy infrastructure? And how do we ensure all Americans
have access to clean air, water, and sustainable housing?
The jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Readiness includes Department of
Defense policy and programs and accounts related to the environment and
energy.
The Red Road to DC is an online and on-the-ground
mobilization happening in July connecting 20 Native-led struggles to
protect sacred lands, waters, and wildlife from threats posed by dams,
climate change, and extractive industries.