Hill Heat

Under the stimulus, GSA will receive $4.5 billion to make its facilities “high-performance green buildings” that reduce energy and water use and generate less waste.

Witnesses

Panel 1

• Paul F. Prouty, Acting Administrator, General Services Administration

Panel 2

• Doug Gatlin, Vice President, Market Development, U.S. Green Building Council *Lane Burt, Energy Policy Analyst, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Dr. Harvey Bryan, Professor, School of Architecture & Landscape Architecture, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on energy efficiency resource standards, including S. 548, a bill to amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to establish a Federal energy efficiency resource standard for retail electricity and natural gas distributors, and for other purposes.

Witnesses

Panel 1

• Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)

Panel 2

• Patricia Hoffman, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy
• Paul A. Centolella, Commissioner, Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Mr. David Manning, Executive Vice President of External Affairs, National Grid
• Thomas Skains, Chairman, American Gas Association
• Steven Nadel, Executive Director, American Council for an Energy-Efficent Economy
• Rich Wells, Vice President of Energy, The Dow Chemical Company

U.S. EPA is poised to create a new national greenhouse gas registry. Data collected by the registry is expected to serve as a foundation for any national effort to regulate carbon dioxide emissions.

EPA is required by law to finalize the rule establishing the registry by June. The agency submitted a revised proposal to the White House Office of Management and Budget last month, replacing a draft released last fall by the outgoing Bush administration.

Witnesses

• Dr. Alexander MacDonald, Director, Earth Systems Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Dina Kruger, Director, Climate Change Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs, Environmental Protection Agency
• Dr. Beverly Law, Professor, Global Change Forest Science, Oregon State University; Science Chair of the AmeriFlux Network
• Dr. Patrick Gallagher, Deputy Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology
• Michael Freilich, Director, Earth Science Division, NASA
• Richard Birdsey, Project Leader, Climate, Fire, and Carbon Cycle Science, USDA Forest Service; Chair of the Carbon Cycle Scientific Steering Group

Witnesses Panel 1

• Todd Stern, Special Envoy for Climate Change, Department of State

Panel 2

• Helene Gayle, President and Chief Executive Officer, CARE
• Ned Helme, President, Center for Clean Air Policy
• Paul Camuti, President and Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Corporate Research

Panel I: Administration

• Lisa Jackson, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
• Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy
• Ray La Hood, Secretary of Transportation

Panel II: USCAP

Panel III: The Economic Benefits of Green Jobs

Member statements.

Nominations include:

• Ms. Sherburne B. Abbott of Texas, to be Associate Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the Executive Office of the President
• Mr. Peter Appel to be the Administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration at the U.S. Department of Transportation
• Ms. April S. Boyd to be Assistant Secretary for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce
• Mr. Dana G. Gresham to be the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Government Affairs, at the U.S. Department of Transportation
• Mr. Cameron Kerry to be General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Commerce
• Mr. Roy W. Kienitz to be the Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation
• Mr. Robert Rivkin to be the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Transportation
• Mr. Joseph C. Szabo to be Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration

On April 21, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) will release the results of a two-year study that found that the United States can significantly reduce carbon emissions and lower energy bills by implementing an emissions cap in conjunction with a suite of energy and transportation policies. UCS’s recommended approach is similar to the one proposed recently by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) in a draft discussion climate bill.

The UCS analysis, “Climate 2030: A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy,” uses a modified version of the Department of Energy’s National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) and projects how UCS recommendations would reduce emissions and lower energy costs over the next 20 years. The analysis also provides projections of net business savings on energy and net consumer savings by household and region.

WHO

• Kevin Knobloch, UCS president
• Rachel Cleetus, UCS climate economist
• Steve Clemmer, UCS Clean Energy Program research director
• David Friedman, UCS Clean Vehicles Program research director

For the visual portion of UCS’s “webinar,” go to: cc.readytalk.com/r/i6a7q64a5vtw (please log in early to avoid any bottlenecks)

For the audio portion, call: 866-740-1260, access code: 3018025

“This committee hearing will examine how the administration plans to help prepare workers for these jobs and what the missing policy and resource tools to support that agenda are,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chairwoman of the Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee, in a statement.

A bill introduced earlier this month by Murray and Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) would authorize grants for partnerships among two-year colleges, industry and organized labor in an effort to develop customized regional work forces.

Witnesses

Panel I

• Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor

Panel II

• Lee D. Lambert, President, Shoreline Community College
• Phillip C.L. Lou, Former Student in the Shoreline Community College Solar Design and Installation Program
• Dean Allen, Chief Executive Officer, McKinstry Company
• Mark H. Ayers, President, Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
• Joan Evans, Director, Wyoming Department of Workforce Services

Witnesses

Panel 1

• J. Charles Fox, Director, Chesapeake Bay Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Panel 2

• Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia 11th), Former Chairman, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
• Will Baker, President and CEO, Chesapeake Bay Foundation
• Robert Hutchison, Partner, Hutchison Brothers (Grain Operation)

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation released a report last week that found phosphorus loads, water quality, dissolved oxygen and toxin levels in the bay had either remained static or worsened over the last year.

And in a report issued last month, the Chesapeake Bay Program found that the continued flow of nutrients and sediment from sewage treatment plants, farms, air pollution and urban and suburban runoff have prevented the bay from progressing toward a full recovery. The Bay Program consists of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia; the Chesapeake Bay Commission, a federal, state and local body; U.S. EPA; and citizen advisory groups.