Hill Heat

Witnesses Panel I: Status of Surface Transportation Trust Funds and Impact on Federal Spending

• James S. Simpson, Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation
• James D. Ray, Administrator (Acting), Federal Highway Administration, U. S. Department of Transportation
• John F. McCaskie, Chief Engineer, Swank Associated Companies (Transportation Construction Coalition)
• William W. Millar, President, American Public Transportation Association

Panel II: Future Outlook and Budgetary Needs for AMTRAK

• Joseph H. Boardman, Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration
• Donna McLean, Chairman of the Board, National Railroad Passenger Corporation-AMTRAK
• Alexander Kummant, President & CEO, National Railroad Passenger Corporation-AMTRAK
• David Tornquist, Assistant Inspector General, United States Department of Transportation
• Joel M. Parker, International Vice President & Special Assistant to the President, Transportation Communications International Union

Senate briefing on “Climate Change and the Midwest,” a discussion of the impacts of climate change on Midwestern states.

Panelists Include:

• Dr. Donald Wuebbles, Director of the School of Earth, Society, and Environment at the University of Illinois, who will summarize the potential impacts of global warming on the Midwestern states. Dr. Wuebbles developed the concept of Ozone Depletion Potentials used in the Montreal Protocol and the U.S. Clean Air Act. He contributed to all of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) assessments on climate change, and coauthored both an assessment of the impacts of climate change on the Great Lakes region and, more recently, a similar assessment of the U.S. Northeast.
• Dr. Jonathan Pershing, Director of WRI’s Climate, Energy and Pollution Program, who will focus on how proposed federal legislation might be tailored to address Midwest-specific concerns through allowance allocation or complementary policies, including policy options that can mitigate economic impacts of a federal program. Dr. Pershing is active in U.S. and international climate policy design; he serves on the CA Market Advisory Committee, was the facilitator for both the Northeast states’ emissions trading initiative (RGGI) and the Illinois state climate advisory group, is a regular participant in international UN climate negotiations, and was a lead author for the IPCC.
• Doug Scott, Director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, who will present a summary of the actions taken to date by Midwestern states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Mr. Scott chairs Governor Blagojevich’s Climate Change Advisory Committee.

If you have any questions, please contact Senator Klobuchar’s office or Senator Lugar’s office.

On Wednesday, April 2, 2008, Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming is holding a hearing titled, “From the Wright Brothers to the Right Solutions: Curbing Soaring Aviation Emissions.” The hearing will take place on April 2, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 1310 of the Longworth House Office Building. Witnesses will be by invitation only.

At this hearing the Committee will also vote to subpoena documents from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) showing what progress that agency has made in response to Supreme Court decision, Massachusetts v. EPA, which was delivered April 2, 2007.

As Congress examines all causes and impacts of heat-trapping emissions, the Select Committee is assessing aviation’s present contribution to greenhouse gasses and the potential to curb such emissions in the future. Aviation emissions generate 12 percent of U.S. transportation carbon dioxide emissions and three percent of the United States’ total carbon dioxide emissions. The FAA estimates that demand for passenger and cargo aviation in the United States will double or triple by 2025. As the European Union is poised to extend its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to all airlines, it is imperative for Congress to consider how aviation can contribute to or curb heat-trapping emissions through operations, technology and fuel.

Witnesses

• Dan Elwell, FAA Assistant Administrator for Aviation Policy, Planning, and Environment
• Bob Meyers, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Tom Windmuller, Senior Vice President, International Air Transport Association
• James May, President and CEO, Air Transport Association

EPA Leaves Behind Wake of Broken Promises, Inaction as Anniversary of Landmark Global Warming Case Approaches

State Officials, Environmental Groups to Discuss Steps to Compel EPA Action

On April 2, 2007, the Supreme Court handed down a watershed decision in the case of Massachusetts v. EPA. Despite promises from EPA Administrator Johnson and even President Bush himself, EPA has willfully chosen to ignore the Supreme Court’s instructions. Indeed, EPA has instead proposed action consistent with the wishes of polluters and other special interests.

The petitioners in Mass v. EPA have repeatedly and publicly warned EPA that continued inaction on the so-called “endangerment finding” and promised regulations for global warming emissions from vehicles would force the petitioners to take steps to compel action. EPA’s brazen refusal to act has left the petitioners no choice but to take the agency back to court to force it to comply with the High Court’s decision.

This press teleconference will review developments over the past year, outline the Bush administration’s broken promises relating to this case, and outline the legal action that the petitioners are being forced to take in order to prevent EPA from continuing to ignore the Supreme Court.

• G. Edmund Brown, Jr., Attorney General of California
• James Milkey, Chief of Environmental Protection, Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office
• David Bookbinder, Sierra Club Chief Climate Counsel
• Joe Mendelson, Legal Director, International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA)

The ICTA brought the original petition that led to this case. James Milkey argued the case before the Supreme Court.

Conference ID: 41865683

Dial-in: (888) 228 – 9795

Contact: Josh Dorner, 202.675.2384 (w), 202.679.7570 (m), [email protected]

Dirk Kempthorne has not confirmed attendance.

Witnesses

• The Honorable Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior (INVITED)

• Dr. Douglas B. Inkley, Senior Scientist, National Wildlife Federation
• Kassie R. Siegel, Director of the Climate, Air, and Energy Program, Center for Biological Diversity
• William P. Horn Esq., Birch, Horton, Bittner & Cherot

Witnesses

• Raymond Orbach, Under Secretary for Science, Department of Energy
• Alexander Karsner, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy
• David Frantz, Director, Office of Loan Guarantees, Department of Energy

Real progress on climate change issues requires new, manageable policy. It’s time to get to work. The Climate Policy Puzzle: Putting the Pieces Together is 2008’s must attend conference for those looking for straight talk on U.S. policy developments.

Join A&WMA, Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. (R-UT), and ranking representatives from the environmental community in Arlington, VA April 2-3, 2008 for a climate change event that breaks new ground.

Get down to business on positions, perspectives and predictions with issue-leaders from:

• Natural Resources Defense Council (USCAP)
• 3M Corp.
• Duke University
• Environmental Defense Fund (USCAP)
• Hogan & Hartson
• U.S Environmental Protection Agency
• Clean Air Institute Asia
• UK Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• The U.S. Department of Energy
• The Electric Power Research Institute
• The United Mine Workers of America
• U.S. DOE’s National Energy Technology Lab
• The American Petroleum Institute
• The World Resources Institute (USCAP)
• The Center for Clean Air Policy
• Analysis Group, Inc.
• Edison Electric Institute
• DTE Energy
• Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment
• ES&P LLC
• Environmental Council of the States
• National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA)
• Utah Department of Environmental Quality
• RTP Environmental Associates, Inc.
• Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District
• Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
• Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
• Arizona Public Service
• The LEVON Group
• The Energy and Resources Institute, North America (TERI NA)
• Pew Center for Global Climate Change (USCAP)

Marriott Crystal City Gateway
1700 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, VA 22202
Phone: 703-920-3230
Fax: 703-271-5212

To register, download the registration form and return it with your payment to:

Registrar, Air & Waste Management Association
420 Fort Duquesne Blvd., 3rd Floor
Pittsburgh, PA 15222-1435 USA
Fax: 412-232-3450
Phone: 412-232-3444

Important Note! The advance registration deadline was extended from March 10 to March 17.

Refund Policy:

If written notice of cancellation is received on or before March 19, 2008, payment will be refunded, less a $75 cancellation fee. (Cancellation fees apply regardless of payment method). Substitutions may be made at any time; payment for any difference is due at the time of substitution. This refund policy applies to all occurrences, including weather-related events and other natural disasters. In the unlikely occurrence of event cancellation, the Association is not liable for any expenses incurred by the registrant other than the full refund of registration fee(s) paid.

Continuing Education Credit Opportunities:

Conference attendees may be eligible for continuing education credit. For more information, please contact Autumn Secrest, Programs Coordinator, at 412-232-3444 ext. 6031, or [email protected].

Conference Committee:

Conference Co-chairs:

• William J. Palermo, PE, Principal, RTP Environmental Associates, Inc.
• John S. Seitz, Partner, ES&P, LLC

Organizing Committee Members:

• A. Gwen Eklund, Director, Power, TRC
• Peter F. Hess, PE, DEE, QEP
• Miriam Lev-On, Executive Director, The LEVON Group, LLC
• C. V. Mathai, Ph.D., QEP, Manager for Environmental Policy, Arizona Public Service
• Jim Pfeiffer, Environmental Advisor, Air Quality, BP Exploration (Alaska), Inc.
• Jayne M. Somers, Program Manager, U.S. EPA Climate Change Division
• Richard W. Sprott, Executive Director, Utah Department of Environmental Quality
• C. Flint Webb, Project Manager, SAIC

The German Advisory Council on Global Change (BGU) is hosting a Congressional briefing on Climate Change as a Security Risk that will examine how climate change may overstretch many societies’ adaptive capacities, resulting in destabilization and violence and jeopardizing national and international security. It will also discuss how climate change efforts could unite the international community if it recognizes global warming as a threat to humankind and adopts a dynamic and globally coordinated climate policy. The briefing will be held on Tuesday, April 1, from 3:00-4:30 p.m. in Room 2255 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC. For more information contact Mario-Ingo Soos at [email protected].

On Tuesday, April 1, 2008, Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) will bring top-level executives from the five largest oil companies to discuss the current state of oil and gas prices, oil company profits, and the need for clean, renewable fuels to ease demand for oil and cut global warming pollution.

ExxonMobil reported record profits of $40.6 billion in 2007, and the other top four oil companies like BP and Shell made billions more. These same companies are fighting to keep $18 billion in tax breaks that Congress is attempting to shift towards renewable energy incentives for wind, solar, biomass and other climate-friendly sources. The House recently passed the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008, but President Bush and the top oil companies are fighting to defeat the measure in the Senate.

Witnesses

• Mr. J. Stephen Simon, Senior Vice President, Exxon Mobil Corp.
• Mr. John Hofmeister, President, Shell Oil Company
• Mr. Robert A. Malone, Chairman and President, BP America, Inc.
• Mr. Peter Robertson, Vice Chairman, Chevron
• Mr. John Lowe, Executive Vice President, ConocoPhillips