Climate science, policy, politics, and action
Witnesses
Witnesses
Representatives from CRS, EIA, EPA, and CBO discuss their economic analyses of Lieberman-Warner (S. 2191) and other emissions-controlling climate legislative proposals.
Witnesses
Witnesses
Panel I
Panel II
SEC. 201. GOAL.
The goal for NASA’s Earth Science program shall be to pursue a program of Earth observations, research, and applications activities to better understand the Earth, how it supports life, and how human activities affect its ability to do so in the future. In pursuit of this goal, NASA’s Earth Science program shall ensure that securing practical benefits for society will be an important measure of its success in addition to securing new knowledge about the Earth system and climate change. In further pursuit of this goal, NASA shall assume a leadership role in developing and carrying out a cooperative international Earth observations-based research and applications program.
SEC. 305. INTERAGENCY RESEARCH INITIATIVE ON THE IMPACT OF AVIATION ON THE CLIMATE. (a) In General- The Administrator, in coordination with the United States Climate Change Science Program and other appropriate agencies, shall establish a research initiative to assess the impact of aviation on the climate and, if warranted, to evaluate approaches to mitigate that impact. (b) Research Plan- Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the participating Federal entities shall jointly develop a plan for the research initiative that contains objectives, proposed tasks, milestones, and a 5-year budgetary profile. (c) Review- The Administrator shall enter into an arrangement with the National Research Council for conducting an independent review of the interagency research program plan, and shall provide the results of that review to the Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
The House Committee on Ways and Means today passed bipartisan legislation to extend vital tax relief to millions of families, strengthen investment opportunities for American businesses and encourage the production and use of renewable energy. The legislation, H.R. 6049, the Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008, was introduced by Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) and could be considered by the full House of Representatives as early as next week. H.R. 6049 passed the Committee by a vote of 25-12.
H.R. 6049 Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008
Summary: H.R. 6049, the Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008, will provide almost $20 billion of tax incentives for investment in renewable energy, carbon capture and sequestration demonstration projects, energy efficiency and conservation. The bill will also extends $27 billion of expiring temporary tax provisions, including the research and development credit, special rules for active financing income, the State and local sales tax deduction, the deduction for out-of-pocket expenses for teachers, and the deduction for qualified tuition expenses. In addition, the bill provides almost $10 billion of additional tax relief for individuals through an expansion of the refundable child tax credit and a new standard deduction for property taxes. The bill would be primarily offset by closing a tax loophole that allows individuals that work for certain offshore corporations, such as hedge fund managers, to defer tax on their compensation and would delay the effective date of a tax benefit that has not yet taken effect for multinational corporations operating overseas.
Live audio and video will be available at the start of the hearing, and can be accessed at http://agriculture.house.gov/hearings/audio.html
The Committee on Agriculture seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with disabilities. If in need of special accommodations, please call (202) 225-2171 at least four business days in advance of the event, whenever practicable. Questions with regard to special accommodations in general (including availability of Committee materials in alternative formats and listening devices) may be directed to the Committee as noted above.
Woody biomass refers to wood, branches, and other organic matter from trees and shrubs that can be used as a renewable substitute for fossil fuels in the production of both energy and products. Woody biomass can be an important component in a national renewable electricity standard (RES), a renewable energy feed-in tariff or any other efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to learn about the direct linkage between scale and sustainability inherent in the biomass technologies. A good understanding of this relationship is essential for the development of biomass applications that are economically and environmentally sustainable. Compared to fossil fuel deposits, forests are incredibly dynamic systems. They develop within relatively short time periods (tens to thousands of years) and are subject to sudden and unpredictable disturbances from fires, windstorms, and pest infestations. Forests are also complex systems, created and maintained in a state of flux by the innumerable interactions of biota, soils, topography, hydrology, climate, and human communities; but when forest ecosystems are perceived as static pools of market commodities, the door is opened to unsustainable exploitation. Excessive harvesting and bad management practices result in reduced ecosystem services, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, and other environmental impacts. They also result in the “boom-and-bust” cycles that have traditionally characterized many timber markets, leading to economic stagnation and reduced quality-of-life in many rural, forest-dependent communities.
Sustainable, appropriately-scaled biomass applications, on the other hand, can reverse this trend, providing forest communities with stable jobs, a local source of renewable energy, and full participation in the stewardship of diverse forest ecosystems. There is a wide array of biomass technologies available across a large range of scales, including thermal applications (wood pellets, “combined heat and power” or CHP), electric generation (steam boilers, gasification, co-firing), liquid transportation fuels (cellulosic ethanol, methanol, renewable diesel), and biobased co-products. Determining what is appropriate in a given location is not a small task. It requires a comprehensive evaluation of many resources in addition to the forest itself, such as infrastructure, available labor, and market demand for energy and products. In addition to these quantifiable resources, local culture and public values will also help determine what is appropriate, as well as the management constraints necessary to ensure biodiverse landscapes, ecological functioning, clean water, recreational opportunities, and the other values and environmental services that society demands. These are the topics that will be addressed at the briefing.
Speakers for this event include:
This briefing is open to the public and no reservations are required. Please feel free to forward this notice. For more information, contact Jetta Wong at 202-662-1885 ([email protected]) or Jesse Caputo at 202-662-1882 ([email protected])
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