Hill Heat

Visit Hill Heat’s continuing coverage of. S 2191.

The initial draft.

Witnesses

• Kevin Anton – president, Alcoa Materials Management
• Frances Beinecke – president, Natural Resources Defense Council
• William R. Moomaw – director, Institute for the Environment, Tufts University
• Will Roehm – vice president, Montana Grain Growers Association
• Paul Cicio – executive director, Industrial Energy Consumers of America

_Witnesses_

• Ms. Val Little, Director, Water Conservation Alliance of Southern Arizona
• Mr. Ron Thompson, District Manager, Washington County Water Conservancy District, State of Utah
• Mr. Ed Clerico, President, Alliance Environmental LLC
• Dr. Glen Daigger, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer CH2M Hill

_Witnesses_

• Adam Gardner – Guster guitarist, singer and founder, Reverb
• Don Endres – CEO, VeraSun
• Steve Gatto – CEO, Bioenergy LLC
• Nathanael Greene – senior policy analyst, Natural Resources Defense Council

Nathanael Greene posts on the hearing:

As I said I would in my last post, I testified yesterday before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming as part of a hearing on biofuels. And Adam Gardner of Guster was sitting there on the witness panel with me. In fact he spoke first and probably the most eloquently.

Adam and his wife started Reverb, a non-profit that helps bands green their tours by helping them use biodiesel in their buses, offsetting carbon emissions, setting up educational eco-villages outside of concerts, and other cool stuff. During his oral testimony, he talked about about how people from band members to students were getting inspired and taking action but also looking to Congress for leadership. I would assume that the transcript of this statement and his written testimony will be available on the Committee web site (link above) soon, I would recommend them to anyone worried about “kids these days” or generally feeling pessimistic.

(If you’re feeling down, don’t read the latest Global Environmental Outlook from UNEP. Here’s a quote from the press release:

It salutes the world’s progress in tackling some relatively straightforward problems, with the environment now much closer to mainstream politics everywhere. But despite these advances, there remain the harder-to-manage issues, the “persistent” problems. Here, GEO-4 says: “There are no major issues raised in Our Common Future for which the foreseeable trends are favourable.”

In addition to Adam’s testimony you could also read my recent post on optimism and environmentalism.)

Witnesses

• David Powner, Director, Information Technology Management Issues, Government Accountability Office
• Mary Ellen Kicza, Assistant Administrator for Satellite and Information Services, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Contact Bettina Poirier, Democratic Staff Director at 202-224-8832

Witnesses

• Julie Louise Gerberding – director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Howard Frumkin – director, National Center for Environmental Health, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
• Susan R. Cooper – commissioner, Tennessee Department of Health
• Michael McCally – executive director, Physicians for Social Responsibility
• Don Roberts – professor emeritus, The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Archive Webcast

Update: Geberding’s written testimony was censored by the White House; see this post for more.

Influential leaders will gather for a U.S. Leadership Retreat on Climate Change & a Green Energy Future. This is the second leadership retreat convened by the Garrison Institute designed to help a broad cross-section of leaders and organizations strengthen ties, build the capacity to actually reverse global warming, and coalesce around a positive vision of a prosperous, green and more equitable future.

The emerging climate movement does not lack ideas, leaders, or organizing capacity. It lacks coherence and collective power. Inhibited by institutional imperatives and political constraints, we have not yet aligned ourselves (let alone America!) behind solutions as big as the problem. At the same time, leaders seldom have the chance to pull back from campaigns and projects to take stock of the larger picture together. This retreat has three primary objectives:

• To create an opportunity for some of the most innovative leaders working on global warming & a green economy to meet, share, and explore new opportunities for mobilizing America for real climate solutions;
• To shape, develop and advance the 1Sky campaign to its next stage of development;
• To provide leaders with time to slow down and explore practices that can help deepen vision, gain perspective, and sustain commitment, energy and hope in the face of immense loss.

The retreat will be facilitated by Robert Gass, one of the most gifted facilitators and leadership coaches in the country.

Featured Panelists:

• Carleton Brown CEO, Full Spectrum, LLC
• Majora Carter Executive Director, Sustainable South Bronx
• Sadhu Johnston Chief Environmental Officer, City of Chicago
• Van Jones, President and Founder, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights

Moderated by:

• Bracken Hendricks, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

A new wave of green investment is sweeping our nation’s cities, driven by policies from green building laws, to renewable energy standards, to the mayors’ climate pledges. Reorienting our antiquated urban and energy infrastructure around the platforms of efficiency, sustainability and reduced greenhouse gas emissions represents perhaps the preeminent engine for innovation, job creation, and economic productivity growth in coming decades. While federal policy remains in a stalemate, America’s cities are taking the lead in promoting a cleaner and more secure energy future – seizing the enormous opportunity afforded by the exploding “green” economic sector to rebuild communities, regional economies, and people’s lives.

With billions of dollars poised to flow into cities in the form of green investment, a movement is growing to ensure that the new green economy builds local businesses and creates good jobs for those who need them most. The question people are asking is: “who will get the green jobs of the future?” Around the country, cutting edge businesses, community activists, and forward-thinking elected officials are making good on the promise of green cities to expand economic opportunity and build career ladders into family-supporting green jobs with living wages.

This panel of national experts on “green collar jobs” and environmentally-oriented economic development comes at a critical moment for our city and our nation, as we grapple with how to leverage emerging policies on green building, clean energy, waterfront restoration, and climate change as an opportunity to reinvest in jobs, skills, and local businesses, even as we rebuild our neighborhoods and restore aging infrastructure. These experts will tell their concrete stories of how community groups, developers, and city governments are forging a better path forward into a green, equitable, and prosperous economy.

9:00am to 10:30am Admission is free.

A light breakfast will be served.

Center for American Progress 1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor Washington, DC 20005 Map & Directions

Nearest Metro: Blue/Orange Line to McPherson Square or Red Line to Metro Center

RSVP for this Event

For more information, please call 202.682.1611.

Biographies

Carleton Brown is founding partner and Chief Operating Officer of Full Spectrum of NY. He oversees the development and deployment of high performance and sustainable building technologies and strategies in Full Spectrum’s developments and insures that all projects meet appropriate performance and quality standards. Based on a belief that all communities regardless of race, ethnicity or income are entitled to a sustainable future, Mr. Brown and his team have become market leaders throughout the US in restructuring urban investment to create green, economically sustainable and equitable urban habits that value cultural diversity. Carlton Brown is a 1973 graduate of Princeton University – School of Architecture and Urban Planning. He has served on numerous business and governmental boards, and is currently a member of NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s Sustainability Advisory Board.

Majora Carter is connecting poverty alleviation & the environment in ways that benefit both concerns, demonstrating Clean-Tech solutions for our most persistent urban public health & global climate concerns. By creating positive physical environments, demonstrating cool and green roof technologies, working to replace an under-utilized expressway with local-value driven development, and the Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training program, she is creating a skilled green-collar workforce with personal & economic stakes in their urban environment. Majora was born, raised, and continues to live & work in the South Bronx, an environmentally challenged community. She founded Sustainable South Bronx in 2001 to fight for Environmental Justice through innovative, economically sustainable projects that are informed by community needs. She earned a 2005 MacArthur Fellowship for her vision, drive, and tenacity as an urban revitalization strategist; and in 2007 was named one of Newsweek’s “Who’s Next in 2007”, NY Post’s 50 most influential women in New York City, Vibe Magazine’s New Power Generation, and awarded the National Audubon Society’s Rachel Carson Award.

Sadhu Johnston is Chief Environmental Officer for the Mayor’s Office in the City of Chicago. As Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Chief Environmental Officer, Johnston is responsible for oversight of all City of Chicago environmental initiatives, helping to implement Mayor Daley’s commitment to green economic development. Prior to serving in this capacity, Johnston served as the Commissioner of the City of Chicago Department of Environment (DOE). He was appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley in July of 2005 after serving as the Assistant to the Mayor for Green Initiatives. His responsibilities as commissioner included the overall management of the Department of the Environment, which administers programs to protect and restore Chicago’s natural resources, reduce waste, clean up brownfields, promote energy efficiency and reliability, educate the public about environmental issues, and enforce the City’s environmental protection laws. Prior to working for the City of Chicago, Sadhu served as the Executive Director of the Cleveland Green Building Coalition. Sadhu is quoted as saying “My role is to bring the department of environment into each department.”

Van Jones is working to combine solutions to America’s two biggest problems: social inequality and environmental destruction. Van co-founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, which is now headquartered in Oakland, California. In June 2007, the City of Oakland adopted a proposal from the Ella Baker Center and the Oakland Apollo Alliance to create a “Green Jobs Corps” to train youth for eco-friendly “green-collar jobs.” Now the Center is working with the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) to create the country’s first-ever Green Enterprise Zone, to attract environmentally sound industry to Oakland. At the national level, Van and the Ella Baker Center helped to pass the Green Jobs Act of 2007, as Title 1 of the U.S. House energy package. When signed and authorized, this path-breaking, historic legislation will provide $125 million in funding to train 35,000 people a year in “green-collar jobs.” Van is also the founding president of “Green For All,” a national campaign for green-collar jobs and opportunities.

Bracken Hendricks is a Senior Fellow with the Center for American Progress where he works on the issues of climate change and energy independence, green jobs, infrastructure investment, and economic policy, with a focus on broadening progressive constituencies and message framing. Bracken was the founding Executive Director and is currently a National Steering Committee member of the Apollo Alliance for good jobs and energy independence, a coalition of labor, environmental, business and community leaders dedicated to changing the politics of energy independence. Hendricks served as a Consultant to the Office of the President of the AFL-CIO and as an Economic Analyst with the AFL-CIO Working for America Institute. He has been a member of Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell’s Energy Advisory Task Force, the Cornell University Eco-Industrial Round Table, and the Energy Future Coalition. He is also a philanthropic advisor to the Wallace Global Fund on matters of Civic Engagement and Democratic Participation. Hendricks serves on the board of Green HOME, a Washington DC based non-profit promoting green building in affordable housing.

The winner of the Solar Decathlon will be announced at the awards ceremony at the conclusion of the Engineering judging.

The Solar Decathlon competition is being held on the National Mall, Washington D.C., from October 12-20, 2007.

On Thursday, October 18, 2007, the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) will hold a House briefing on the release of the third in a series of 21 reports to advance climate science research. Coordinated by the U.S Department of Energy (DOE), this Synthesis and Assessment Product report, numbered 4.5 and titled “Effects of Climate Change on Energy Production and Use in the United States,” summarizes what is known about potential effects of climate change on energy production and use in the United States.

• Dr. William J. Brennan, Acting Director of the Climate Change Science Program
• Dr. Jeffrey S. Amthor, DOE Office of Science, Coordinator of CCSP Report 4.5
• Dr. Thomas J. Wilbanks, CCSP 4.5 Report Lead Author, Oak Ridge National Laboratory