Hill Heat

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to learn about national renewable electricity portfolio standards such as those that have been introduced in the Senate and are likely to be introduced in the House as part of the climate change legislative package Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) has called for this Fall. A Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) is a market-based mechanism that requires utilities to gradually increase the portion of electricity produced from renewable resources such as wind, biomass, geothermal, solar energy, incremental hydropower and marine energy. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have RPSs, covering 40 percent of the nation’s electrical load. A national RPS has passed the Senate in the last three Congresses, although it is not included in the recent Senate energy bill.

H.R. 2850, Green Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2007 and H.R. 2337, Energy Policy Reform and Revitalization Act of 2007

On Monday, July 9th at 2:30 p.m. in SD-342, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold the second day of hearings on Excessive Speculation In The Natural Gas Market. (The first hearing was held Monday, June 25th, at which the Subcommittee released a Staff Report on the Subcommittee investigation and received testimony from natural gas users, academics, and a former natural gas trader at Amaranth. A witness list for the June 25th hearing is available at the June 25th hearing website.) The Subcommittee July 9th hearing will continue to examine the reasons for the extreme price levels and volatility in the natural gas futures markets in 2006 and how excessive speculation by a single hedge fund, Amaranth LLC, dominated the natural gas market and distorted natural gas futures prices. The hearing also will examine the extent to which excessive speculative trading on unregulated energy exchanges contributed to the price distortions, and the need for statutory and regulatory changes to prevent manipulation and excessive speculation from detrimentally affecting energy prices.

The House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Water and Power, led by Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA), will hold an oversight field hearing on “Extinction is Not a Sustainable Water Policy: The Bay-Delta Crisis and the Implications for California Water Management.” Witnesses: TBA

:: Witness Statements :: Dr. Michael H. Freilich Dr. Richard A. Anthes Dr. Eric J. Barron Dr. Timothy W. Foresman