Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change, Former Ambassador of Mexico to Germany
and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico
Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the European Green
Deal, European Commission, Former First Vice-President of the EU
Commission in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional
Relations, the Rule of Law, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights
Rachel Kyte CMG, Dean, The Fletcher School,
Tufts University, Former Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary
General
Nicolas Loris, Deputy Director, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic
Policy Studies and Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow in Energy and
Environmental Policy The Heritage Foundation
House Foreign Affairs Committee
Europe, Energy, the Environment and Cyber Subcommittee
A February 22, 2021 notice announced a Commissioner-led
workshop
to be held on April 16, 2021, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The workshop
will follow a series of listening sessions with stakeholder groups.
The workshop will provide interested parties with the opportunity to
provide input to the Commission on the creation of the Office of Public
Participation. The Commission intends to establish and operate the
Office of Public Participation to “coordinate assistance to the public
with respect to authorities exercised by the Commission,” including
assistance to those seeking to intervene in Commission proceedings,
pursuant to section 319 of the Federal Power Act (FPA). 16 U.S.C. §
825q–1. Congress directed the Commission to provide, by June 25, 2021,
to the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress a report
on the Commission’s progress towards establishing the Office of Public
Participation, including an organizational structure and budget for the
office, beginning in fiscal year 2022.
The Commission plans to hear input on the following considerations in
forming the Office of Public Participation, including:
the office’s function and scope as authorized by section 319 of the
FPA;
the office’s organizational structure and approach, including the use
of equity assessment tools;
participation by tribes, environmental justice communities, and other
affected individuals and communities, including those who have not
historically participated before the Commission; and
intervenor compensation.
The Commission seeks nominations for stakeholder panelists to provide
input about each of these areas of consideration at the workshop by
March 10, 2020. Each nomination should indicate name, contact
information, organizational affiliation, what issue area the proposed
panelist would speak on, and suggested workshop topics to
[email protected].
For questions, please contact Stacey Steep of the Office of General
Counsel at (202) 502-8148, or send an email to [email protected], and
Sarah McKinley, (202) 502-8368, [email protected], for logistical
issues.
This hearing will explore the changes we are seeing in climate, the
efforts underway to study those changes, and the economic risks and
impacts the climate crisis poses to labor supply, human health, and the
American economy. It will also explore the disparate impacts of the
climate crisis on low-income communities and communities of color.
Witnesses:
Heather McTeer
Toney,
Climate Justice Liaison, Environmental Defense Fund & Senior Advisor,
Moms Clean Air Force. A former Southeast Regional Administrator for
President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Toney now
supports a network of more than one million moms and dads united
against air pollution and climate change. She was also the first
female, first Black, and youngest Mayor of Greenville, Mississippi,
where she served for two terms.
Waleed
Abdalati,
Director, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences
(CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder. Abdalati leads a team
of more than 800 scientists who work in collaboration with the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to study issues
related to weather and climate, changes at Earth’s poles, air quality
and atmospheric chemistry, water resources, and solid Earth sciences.
A professor of geography, Abdalati also works on research that uses
satellites and other science-based observations to measure changes in
Earth’s glaciers and ice sheets, studying the processes that
contribute to sea level rise.
Michael
Greenstone,
Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics,
University of Chicago. An expert on environmental and energy
economics, Greenstone served as the Chief Economist for President
Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, where he co-led the development
of the government’s social cost of carbon. He also serves as director
of the University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute for Economics
and the Energy Policy Institute at Chicago (EPIC).
Shawn
Gillen,
PhD, City Manager, Tybee Island. Gillen is in charge of daily
operations in Tybee Island, a coastal city in Georgia with
approximately 3,000 residents. He previously served as city manager in
Doraville, Georgia; as city administrator in Grand Rapids, Minnesota;
and as mayor of Monmouth, Illinois.