Generation Climate: Young Leaders Urge Climate Action Now

The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis will hold its first hearing on Thursday, April 4th. In contrast to a typical Congressional hearing, the committee will hear from young leaders who are urging policymakers to take climate action now and finally address the climate crisis.

Witnesses

  • Aji Piper, Plaintiff, Juliana v. United States
  • Chris J. Suggs, Student and activist, Kinston, NC
  • Melody Zhang, Climate Justice Campaign Coordinator, Sojourners, Co-Chair, Young Evangelicals for Climate Action
  • Lindsay Cooper, Policy Analyst, Office of the Governor of Louisiana, Office of Coastal Activities
House Climate Crisis Committee
2318 Rayburn

04/04/2019 at 09:00AM

Budget: Science, Energy, and Environmental Management Programs

Marcy Kaptur Opening Statement

The Subcommittee will come to order as we begin our hearing on the Department of Energy’s fiscal year 2020 budget request with respect to its energy, science, and nuclear cleanup programs. Thank you, to both Under Secretaries Mr. Menezes and Mr. Dabbar, for being here. DOE addresses our nation’s most pressing energy, environmental, and nuclear security challenges through transformative science and technology. But the Trump Administration’s budget request drastically reduces or eliminates the very programs necessary for the Department to pursue its mission.

DOE’s budget request is 11 percent below last year’s levels, with most cuts in the non-defense side of the Department. In fact, non-defense programs (relating mostly to the innovation programs) are cut by 37 percent while defense programs are increased by 4 percent.

As I said last week at our hearing with Secretary Perry, this request is riddled with wrongheaded proposals:

  • Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy funding is cut by 86 percent. EERE’s research over the last nearly four decades has invented the future – it has driven down the costs of clean energy technologies that save consumers money and reduce carbon pollution. For example, since 2008, the cost of wind energy has dropped by 75%, electric vehicle batteries by 79%, and LED light bulbs by 94%.
  • Further, this budget yet again eliminates the Weatherization Program, which has a direct, positive impact on the lives and pocketbooks of Americans, particularly elderly and low-income Americans. At a time when one in five households have had to forego necessities to pay energy bills, the Weatherization Program saves average citizens – our taxpayers – hundreds of dollars per home annually.
  • Funding for the Office of Science—the nation’s largest federal supporter of basic research in the physical sciences—is cut by over $1 billion. These programs invest in foundational science to address national needs, promote scientific discovery, and develop 21st Century tools. In fact, this research has yielded over 100 Nobel prizes. And its researchers have made key scientific advances ranging from solar energy and batteries, to inventing new materials, to decoding DNA. Those all are “wows” historically speaking.
  • Finally, this request cuts Environmental Management by over $700 million and thus fails to meet our moral and legal obligation to clean up the nuclear legacy of nuclear weapons production and government research.

In addition to opposing these destructive cuts, I want to be clear that we will not support the use of budget gimmicks, in this case, the use of prior year balances to fund future projects. Last week we heard from Secretary Perry, who repeatedly committed to executing Congressional intent as directed. This means DOE must continue to execute its dollars appropriately and expeditiously. This Subcommittee will be closely monitoring this implementation.

The energy future of our country depends on DOE’s vital investments to solve our toughest energy challenges. The President’s budget request harms America’s energy future, our competitiveness, our consumers, and our economy. The Trump budget also falls short in meeting our obligations to the communities that have sacrificed, and still bear the brunt of costs borne from winning World War II.

With that, I’ll close my remarks. Thank you, Mr. Menezes and Mr. Dabbar, for being here today. We look forward to discussing the Department’s budget request and adapting it accordingly. I would like to turn to our Ranking Member, Mr. Simpson for his opening remarks.

Witnesses

  • Paul Dabbar, Under Secretary for Science, U.S. Department of Energy
  • Mark Menezes, Under Secretary for Energy, U.S. Department of Energy
House Appropriations Committee
Senate Appropriations Committee
   Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee
2362-B Rayburn

04/03/2019 at 01:45PM

Review of the FY2020 Budget Request for FEMA

Member Statements

  • Senator Shelley Moore Capito (Republican – West Virginia)

Witness

  • Peter Gaynor, Acting Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency
Senate Appropriations Committee
   Homeland Security Subcommittee
138 Dirksen

04/03/2019 at 09:30AM

Review of the FY2020 Budget Request for the Environmental Protection Agency

Hearing to review the Fiscal Year 2020 funding request and budget justification for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Member Statements

  • Senator Lisa Murkowski (Republican – Alaska)

Witnesses

  • Andrew Wheeler, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
  • Holly Greaves, Chief Financial Officer, Environmental Protection Agency
Senate Appropriations Committee
   Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee
124 Dirksen

04/03/2019 at 08:45AM

Lessons From Across the Nation: State and Local Action to Combat Climate Change

The Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Tuesday, April 2, at 10 a.m. in the John D. Dingell Room, 2123 Rayburn House Office Building on how state and local leaders are responding to the climate crisis in the wake of President Trump’s intent to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement.

Witnesses

Panel I

Panel II

House Energy and Commerce Committee
   Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee
2123 Rayburn

04/02/2019 at 10:00AM

The Application of Environmental, Social, and Governance Principles in Investing and the Role of Asset Managers, Proxy Advisors, and Other Intermediaries

Member statements

Witnesses

  • Phil Gramm, hedge fund advisor and lobbyist
  • James R. Copland, Senior Fellow And Director Of Legal Policy, Manhattan Institute
  • John Streur, President And Chief Executive Officer, Calvert Research and Management
Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee
538 Dirksen

04/02/2019 at 10:00AM

How Climate Change Threatens U.S. National Security

Witnesses

  • Sherri Goodman, Former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Environmental Security
  • Vice Admiral Dennis V. McGinn (Ret.) , Former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment
  • Paul Weisenfeld, Executive Vice President, International Development, RTI International, Former Assistant to the Administrator for the Bureau for Food Security, U.S. Agency for International Development
  • Barry Worthington, Executive Director, United States Energy Association
House Foreign Affairs Committee
2172 Rayburn

04/02/2019 at 10:00AM

Protecting Coastal Communities from Offshore Drilling

On Tuesday, April 2, at 10:00 a.m., in Room 1334 of the Longworth House Office Building, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources will hold a legislative hearing titled, “Protecting Coastal Communities from Offshore Drilling,” including discussion on:

  • H.R. 1941 (Rep. Cunningham): To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior including in any leasing program certain planning areas, and for other purposes. “Coastal and Marine Economies Protection Act”
  • H.R. 205 (Rep. Rooney): To amend the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 to permanently extend the moratorium on leasing in certain areas of the Gulf of Mexico. “Protecting and Securing Florida’s Coastline Act”
  • H.R. 1149 (Rep. Van Drew): To prohibit the Department of the Interior from issuing certain geological and geophysical exploration permits under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, and for other purposes. “Atlantic Coastal Economies Protection Act”

Witness List

Panel I

  • Rep. Joe Cunningham, South Carolina, 1st District
  • Rep. Jeff Van Drew, New Jersey, 2nd District
  • Rep. Francis Rooney, Florida, 19th District

Panel II

  • Jimmy Carroll, Mayor, Isle of Palms, SC
  • Vipe Desai, Founding Member, Business Alliance for Protecting the Pacific Coast, Owner, HDX Mix, Huntington Beach, CA
  • David Yates, Executive Director & CEO, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Clearwater, FL
  • Sharon Hewitt, Senator, Louisiana State Senate, District – 1, Baton Rouge, LA
House Natural Resources Committee
   Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee
1334 Longworth

04/02/2019 at 10:00AM