The Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Oversight,
Investigations, and Regulations will hold a hybrid
hearing
titled: “SBA’s Role in Climate Solutions.” The hearing is scheduled to
begin at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, July 21, 2021 in Room 2360 of the
Rayburn House Office Building. Participating members can also join
remotely via Zoom.
Climate change is increasingly becoming a threat to local economies, but
small businesses can take steps to become more resilient and boost their
competitiveness. The SBA can support efforts
to facilitate access to capital for climate change mitigation
investments and resilience efforts. This hearing will allow members to
learn more about the role that small businesses can play in addressing
climate change, and how federal programs and services support small
businesses adapt, innovate, and thrive.
Witnesses
Laurel Walk, Chief Lending Officer, Colorado Lending Source, Ltd.,
Testifying on behalf of the National Association of Development
Companies (NADCO)
Rick Chapman, General Manager and Certified Marina Manager, Port of
Sunnyside Club, Inc., Stillwater, MN, Testifying on behalf of the
Midwest Marina Association in his role as President
Dr. Lynn Abramson, President, Clean Energy Business Network
Mark Glenn, Owner and Chief Executive Officer,
FASTSIGNS, Carrollton, TX, Testifying on
behalf of the International Franchise Association (IFA)
House Small Business Committee
Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations Subcommittee
Dr. Vivek Shandas, Ph.D., Professor, Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban
Studies and Planning, Founder and Director, Sustaining Urban Places
Research Lab, Portland State University
Dr. Melissa Guardaro, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor, Healthy
Urban Environments & Knowledge Exchange for Resilience, Global
Institute of Sustainability and Innovation, Arizona State University
Shimon Elkabetz, CEO, Co-Founder,
Tomorrow.io
Dr. Aaron Bernstein, MD, MPH, Interim
Director, The Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment,
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Pediatrician, Boston
Children’s Hospital, Fellow, Adrienne Arsht – Rockefeller Foundation
Resilience Center
On Wednesday, July 21, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. ET, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney,
Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, will hold a hybrid
hearing
with environmental justice leaders and activists to examine the
Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative to direct 40 percent
of the benefits of climate and clean infrastructure investments to the
hardest hit communities. The Initiative is part of the American Jobs
Plan and the Build Back Better Agenda.
The hearing will center the voices of environmental justice leaders
while highlighting the Committee’s role in advancing the Justice40
Initiative, including by ensuring a whole-of-government response, strong
federal data collection, and a voice for state and local partners.
Witnesses
Richard Moore, Co-Coordinator, Los Jardines Institute, National
Co-Coordinator, Environmental Justice Health Alliance, Co-Chair, White
House Environmental Justice Advisory Council
Nicole Lee Ndumele, Vice President, Racial Equity and Justice, Center
for American Progress
Harold Mitchell, Founder and Executive Director, ReGenesis Community
Development Corporation, Member, White House Environmental Justice
Advisory Council
Raya Salter, Esq., Member, New York State Climate Action Council
Michael Leon Guerrero, Executive Director, Labor Network for
Sustainability
Republican witness
Shay Hawkins, Chairman and CEO, Opportunity
Funds Association
Congressional
Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, House Transportation and
Infrastructure Chair Peter DeFazio, Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Debbie
Dingell, Rep. Juan Vargas, Rep. Melanie Stansbury, Rep. Peter Welch,
Rep. Seth Moulton, Rep. Yvette Clarke, Rep. Andy Levin and other members
of Congress will join Green New Deal Network organizational principals,
community leaders, and allies to push for Congress to “Go Bigger to
Meet the Need” on
climate, jobs, and justice.
“We are concerned that a $3.5 trillion infrastructure and jobs plan will
not sufficiently tackle challenges, from extreme weather disasters to
access to public transit and dignified care employment. After the Senate
budget committee announced its proposal on July 13, eyes have turned to
the House, which is developing its own approach, with an opportunity to
go bigger to ensure the level of investment meets the need.”
Dr. Abdollah
Shafieezadeh,
Lichtenstein Endowed Professor Of Civil, Environmental And Geodetic
Engineering And Director Of The Risk Assessment And Management Of
Structural And Infrastructure Systems Lab, The Ohio State University
Dr. Rachel
Cleetus,
Policy Director, Union of Concerned Scientists
Frank
Nutter,
President, Reinsurance Association of America
Republican witnesses
Roger Pielke
Jr.,
Professor Of Environmental Studies, University of Colorado
Jerry
Theodorou,
Director Of Finance, Insurance, And Trade, R Street Institute
Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee
Andrew Von Ah, Director of Physical Infrastructure Issues, Government
Accountability Office
David Lubar, Senior Project Leader, Civil Systems Group, the Aerospace
Corporation
Dr. Jordan Gerth, Honorary Fellow, Space Science and Engineering
Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Bill Mahoney, NCAR Associate Director and
Director of the Research Applications Laboratory (RAL) at the National
Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), in Boulder, Colorado
Jennifer Manner, Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, EchoStar
Corporation / Hughes Network Systems LLC
At 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 15, 2021, The House Select Committee on
the Climate Crisis will hold a
hearing
titled “Advancing Environmental Justice Through Climate Action.” This
hearing will take place remotely via Zoom video conferencing.
The hearing will review opportunities to advance environmental justice
through climate action, including targeting infrastructure investments
to environmental justice communities, understanding the impact of
extreme heat on low-income workers and students, and supporting tribal
investments in clean energy and climate resilience.
Witnesses:
Catherine Flowers, Founder, Center for Rural Enterprise and
Environmental Justice (CREEJ). An internationally-recognized advocate
for the human right to water and sanitation, Flowers works to improve
access to clean air, water, and soil in marginalized rural communities
within the context of climate change and through the lens of
environmental justice. She is a member of the Board of Directors for
the Climate Reality Project and the Natural Resources Defense Council,
and serves as the Rural Development Manager for the Equal Justice
Initiative. Flowers is a 2020 MacArthur Fellow and a member of the
White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council.
R. Jisung Park, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Luskin School of
Public Affairs, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Park is
an expert in environmental economics, labor economics, and public
finance. His research focuses on how market failures such as climate
change affect social and economic outcomes. In particular, Park
studies the labor and human capital impacts of climate change, the
prospects for long-run climate adaptation, and environmental
determinants of economic mobility.
Nikki Cooley, Co-Manager of Tribes & Climate Change Program and
Interim Assistant Director of the Institute for Tribal Environmental
Professionals (ITEP), Northern Arizona University. Cooley co-leads a
program to help Tribal Nations as they address and prepare for climate
impacts. She works with Tribal and Indigenous partners across the
continental United States and Alaska on climate change adaptation,
mitigation, and resilience planning. Cooley is of the Diné (Navajo)
Nation and received a master’s degree in Forestry from Northern
Arizona University.
Republican witness:
Derrick Hollie, Founder and
President, Reaching America. Hollie is the founder of Global
Advertising 1st and Reaching America, a non-profit organization with a
focus on African American outreach. He has over 25 years of experience
in advertising and marketing.
Congressional
Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, House Transportation and
Infrastructure Chair Peter DeFazio, Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Debbie
Dingell, Rep. Juan Vargas, Rep. Melanie Stansbury, Rep. Peter Welch,
Rep. Seth Moulton, Rep. Yvette Clarke, Rep. Andy Levin and other members
of Congress will join Green New Deal Network organizational principals,
community leaders, and allies to push for Congress to “