Hill Heat

President Biden has a choice to make: Will he side with the people or a handful of fossil fuel executives? It’s a test with results that will determine the future of our planet and the wellbeing of future generations that will inhabit it. We are putting our bodies on the line to ensure President Biden passes this crucial test.

As we face the worsening climate emergency, frontline communities have been fighting the fossil fuel projects which threaten their health and homes for generations. While our government has largely ignored their demands, climate chaos has intensified across the globe. The Glasgow UN climate summit in November is the “last, best chance” for our government to change course and ensure a just, renewable energy future for all of us.

From October 11-15, we will gather in DC for the largest civil disobedience action in decades, demanding President Biden use his executive authority to hasten the end of the era of fossil fuels.

Join us.

This is not a single “day of action”, but instead a wave of action from October 11th – 15th that will involve civil disobedience to put sustained pressure and a bigger spotlight on our demands. If that involves risking arrest, we are prepared and willing to take that risk and deal with the consequences. We believe that the risks of inaction are far greater than the risks of taking action.

All components of the actions — trainings the night before and the start of the actions themselves — will be at McPherson Square in downtown DC. The McPherson Square Metro station is on the orange, blue, and silver lines; Farragut North (red line) is also very close by.

10/13/2021 at 08:00AM

President Biden has a choice to make: Will he side with the people or a handful of fossil fuel executives? It’s a test with results that will determine the future of our planet and the wellbeing of future generations that will inhabit it. We are putting our bodies on the line to ensure President Biden passes this crucial test.

As we face the worsening climate emergency, frontline communities have been fighting the fossil fuel projects which threaten their health and homes for generations. While our government has largely ignored their demands, climate chaos has intensified across the globe. The Glasgow UN climate summit in November is the “last, best chance” for our government to change course and ensure a just, renewable energy future for all of us.

From October 11-15, we will gather in DC for the largest civil disobedience action in decades, demanding President Biden use his executive authority to hasten the end of the era of fossil fuels.

Join us.

This is not a single “day of action”, but instead a wave of action from October 11th – 15th that will involve civil disobedience to put sustained pressure and a bigger spotlight on our demands. If that involves risking arrest, we are prepared and willing to take that risk and deal with the consequences. We believe that the risks of inaction are far greater than the risks of taking action.

All components of the actions — trainings the night before and the start of the actions themselves — will be at McPherson Square in downtown DC. The McPherson Square Metro station is on the orange, blue, and silver lines; Farragut North (red line) is also very close by.

10/12/2021 at 08:00AM

President Biden has a choice to make: Will he side with the people or a handful of fossil fuel executives? It’s a test with results that will determine the future of our planet and the wellbeing of future generations that will inhabit it. We are putting our bodies on the line to ensure President Biden passes this crucial test.

As we face the worsening climate emergency, frontline communities have been fighting the fossil fuel projects which threaten their health and homes for generations. While our government has largely ignored their demands, climate chaos has intensified across the globe. The Glasgow UN climate summit in November is the “last, best chance” for our government to change course and ensure a just, renewable energy future for all of us.

From October 11-15, we will gather in DC for the largest civil disobedience action in decades, demanding President Biden use his executive authority to hasten the end of the era of fossil fuels.

Join us.

This is not a single “day of action”, but instead a wave of action from October 11th – 15th that will involve civil disobedience to put sustained pressure and a bigger spotlight on our demands. If that involves risking arrest, we are prepared and willing to take that risk and deal with the consequences. We believe that the risks of inaction are far greater than the risks of taking action.

All components of the actions — trainings the night before and the start of the actions themselves — will be at McPherson Square in downtown DC. The McPherson Square Metro station is on the orange, blue, and silver lines; Farragut North (red line) is also very close by.

10/11/2021 at 08:00AM

Legislative hearing to receive testimony on S. 648 & S. 1911.

• S. 648, Technical Correction to the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation Water Rights Settlement Act of 2021
• S. 1911, Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2021

S. 648 directs the Department of the Interior to deposit specified interest payments into the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes Water Rights Development Fund and the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes Operation and Maintenance Fund. These funds were established under the water rights settlement agreement for the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation.

S. 1911 modifies and ratifies a specified water rights settlement agreement entered into by the United States, Montana, and the Fort Belknap Indian Community (i.e., the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana).

The bill requires the community’s water rights to be held in trust for the benefit of the community and its allottees. The community must enact a tribal water code to regulate its water rights.

Among other activities, the Department of the Interior must

• negotiate with Montana for the transfer of specified parcels of state land located on and off the reservation,
• hold transferred land in trust for the benefit of the community,
• allocate 20,000 acre-feet per year of stored water from Lake Elwell,
• establish a settlement trust fund, and
• enter into a cost-share agreement with Montana to contribute to the design and construction of the Peoples Creek Dam and Reservoir to support mitigation activities.

The bill requires the Bureau of Reclamation to modify the operating procedures of the Milk River Project to ensure that the Fresno Reservoir is operated in accordance with the agreement.

The bill also outlines certain waivers, releases, and retention of claims under the settlement agreement.

10/06/2021 at 02:30PM

The purpose of this hearing is to examine the status and management of drought in the western United States.

Opening Remarks

• Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.)

Witnesses:

• Tanya Trujillo, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, U.S. Department of the Interior
• Tom Buschatzke, Director, Arizona Department of Water Resources
• Julie Schaff Ellingson, Executive Vice President, North Dakota Stockmen’s Association
• Jennifer Pitt, Colorado River Program Director, National Audubon Society

10/06/2021 at 02:30PM

On Wednesday, October 6, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. (EDT), the Committee on Natural Resources Office of Insular Affairs will hold a remote Full Committee Oversight Hearing titled, “PREPA Post Implementation of the LUMA Transmission and Distribution Contract.” This hearing will take place via Cisco WebEx and will be streamed on YouTube.

10/06/2021 at 01:00PM

This hearing will examine various perspectives on emerging contaminants, so-called forever chemicals, and their impacts on public health and water quality. Specifically, the subcommittee will look at the growing concern in surface waters, their effects or potential effects on human and aquatic ecosystems, and the Clean Water Act’s framework for addressing contaminants in surface waters.

Witnesses:

• Dr. Elizabeth Southerland, Former Director of Science and Technology U.S. EPA Office of Water
• Chris Kennedy, Town Manager, Town of Pittsboro, North Carolina
• Dr. Elise Granek, Associate Professor, Environmental Science and Management Department, Portland State University
• Charles Moore, Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research
• Katie Huffling, Executive Director, Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment
• Dr. James Pletl, Director, Water Quality, Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Virginia Beach, VA

10/06/2021 at 11:00AM

On Wednesday, October 6, at 10:00 AM ET, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold an oversight hearing to examine the response by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Hurricane Ida.

Witnesses:

• Major General William H. “Butch” Graham, Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Brigadier General Thomas J. Tickner, Commanding General, North Atlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Colonel Stephen F. Murphy, Commander, New Orleans District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

10/06/2021 at 10:00AM

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

• S. 336, to amend the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 to reauthorize the Ohio & Erie National Heritage Canalway, and for other purposes;
• S. 378, to reauthorize the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, the Lackawanna Valley National Heritage Area, the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, the Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage Area, and the Oil Region National Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 511, to establish the Bronzeville-Black Metropolis National Heritage Area in the State of Illinois, and for other purposes;
• S. 635, to reauthorize The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor and the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 654, to reauthorize the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 787, to amend the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area Act to extend the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance to the local coordinating entity for the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area under that Act;
• S. 825, to establish the Southern Maryland National Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 972, to reauthorize the Essex National Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 990, to reauthorize the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area;
• S. 1004, to extend the authorization of the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area, to designate the Great Basin National Heritage Route in the State of Nevada as the “Great Basin National Heritage Area”, to designate the Great Basin Heritage Route Partnership as the “Great Basin Heritage Area Partnership”, to extend the authorization of the Great Basin National Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 1112, to amend the National Trails System Act to designate the Chisholm National Historic Trail and the Western National Historic Trail, and for other purposes.
• S. 1224, to reauthorize, and increase the total funding cap for, the America’s Agricultural Heritage Partnership, to redesignate the America’s Agricultural Heritage Partnership as the “Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area”, and for other purposes;
• S. 1258, to extend the authorization of each of the National Coal Heritage Area and the Wheeling National Heritage Area in the State of West Virginia, and for other purposes;
• S. 1284 / H.R. 2497, to establish the Amache National Historic Site in the State of Colorado as a unit of the National Park System, and for other purposes;
• S. 1318, to reauthorize the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area;
• S. 1329, to amend the National Aviation Heritage Area Act to reauthorize the National Aviation Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 1620, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey to the city of Eunice, Louisiana, certain Federal land in the State of Louisiana, and for other purposes;
• S. 1643, to establish the Alabama Black Belt National Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 1942, to standardize the designation of National Heritage Areas, and for other purposes;
• S. 1954, to reauthorize the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, and for other purposes;
• S. 2158, to extend the authorization of the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission;
• S. 2296, to establish the Northern Neck National Heritage Area, and for other purposes;
• S. 2438, to modify the boundary of the Cane River Creole National Historical Park in the State of Louisiana, and for other purposes;
• S. 2441, to establish in the States of North Carolina and South Carolina the Southern Campaign of the Revolution National Heritage Corridor, and for other purposes;
• S. 2482, to amend the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership Act of 2006 to reauthorize the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership, and for other purposes;
• S. 2490, to establish the Blackwell School National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas, and for other purposes;
• S. 2580, to direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to make free National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Passes available to members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes;
• S. 2648, to amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to reauthorize the Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area in the State of Alaska, and for other purposes; and
• S. 2763, to extend the authorization for the MotorCities National Heritage Area in the State of Michigan, and for other purposes.

Witnesses:

• Joy Beasley, Associate Director of Cultural Resources, Partnerships, and Science, National Park Service
• Sara Capen, Chairwoman, Alliance of National Heritage Areas, Executive Director, Niagara Falls National Heritage Area, Inc.

10/06/2021 at 10:00AM

On Tuesday, October 5, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. ET, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, will hold a hearing entitled, “Hurricane Ida and Beyond: Readiness, Recovery, and Resilience.”

Disaster recovery efforts by federal, state, and local governments are being outpaced by a volatile and intense 2021 hurricane season, and Americans continue to need assistance. On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida made landfall at Port Fourchon, Louisiana, as a category-four hurricane before remnants of the storm moved to the Northeast. Significant storm surge, hurricane-force winds, flash flooding, and damaged electric grids impacted communities in Louisiana, across the Gulf Coast, and in the Northeast.

The hearing will focus on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) recovery efforts following Hurricane Ida, including improvements the Biden Administration has made to accelerate recovery efforts following natural disasters, and steps FEMA must take to implement an environmental justice strategy to improve equity in disaster recovery and build climate resilient communities.

Hurricane Ida and its storm-related impacts resulted in nearly 90 deaths across the United States. In New York alone, at least 13 people died from flooding, many perishing in basement units of residential homes. The National Weather Service issued an emergency flash flood warning, noting, “[T]his particular warning for NYC is the second time we’ve ever issued a Flash Flood Emergency (It’s the first one for NYC). The first time we’ve issued a Flash Flood Emergency was for Northeast New Jersey a [sic] an hour ago.”

Extreme weather events like these are becoming more frequent and catastrophic, with nearly one in three Americans living in a county hit by a weather disaster in the past three months of 2021. Although the President approved emergency and major disaster declarations during Hurricane Ida, a more robust readiness strategy is necessary for future natural disasters.

This hearing will also discuss the urgent need to enact the Build Back Better Act to mitigate the impacts of climate change and invest in more climate resilient infrastructure.

Witness:

• Deanne Criswell, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency

10/05/2021 at 11:00AM