You are invited to attend a virtual public comment
meeting
hosted by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) as part of the
National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed
Program and Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement.
Please note that registration to provide an oral comment is strongly
recommended as those who register will receive preference. Oral public
comments will be limited to two-minutes.
We look forward to hearing your comments on the Proposed Program and
Draft Programmatic EIS.
Additional meeting and public comment information can be found
here.
To sign up for the mailing list and receive future news and updates, go
to the BOEM
website.
Frontline communities in Appalachia – and across the country – are being
used as bargaining chips in a Manchin/Schumer side deal aimed at ramping
up fossil fuel projects. This is unacceptable. But let it be known, the
resistance is organized and ready to bring the fight to DC!
Join frontline leaders in a rally on Sept
8th
outside the Capitol to demand that U.S. Senators and Representatives
stop Manchin’s dirty deal. If you are an Appalachian impacted by the
climate crisis or a member of a frontline community impacted by fossil
fuels please indicate your interest to attend meetings with Congress in
the RSVP
form.
If passed, this would gut bedrock environmental protections, threaten
tribal authority, endanger public health, fast-track fossil fuel
projects, cut public input and push approval for Manchin’s pet project,
the Mountain Valley Pipeline. We can’t allow communities to be
sacrificed to more oil and gas drilling, pipelines, petrochemical
buildout and climate disasters! Join us on Sept
8th
by making our voices clear: ‘We are not your sacrifice zones! #StopMVP
and Manchin’s dirty deal!’
note: ASL and Spanish translation will be
made available, the location will be ADA
accessible
buses are available from Durham, NC, Christiansburg, VA, Morgantown,
WV, and New York City. More info
here.
On Thursday, September 8, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. PT, at the Morro Bay
Community Center, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources will
hold a field
hearing
in Morro Bay, Calif., titled, “Power in the Pacific: Unlocking Offshore
Wind Energy for the American West.”
Presiding: The Honorable Alan Lowenthal, Chair
Following dedicated efforts of the Biden administration and the Bureau
of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to promote offshore wind leasing off
the Atlantic coast, the administration is now taking significant steps
to launch the next generation of wind energy in the Pacific. With
BOEM expected to announce the first offshore
wind lease sale in the Pacific soon, the hearing will give stakeholders
an opportunity to provide input on the lease sale and discuss emerging
opportunities and challenges for the growing industry. This first lease
sale will set the tone for future offshore wind development in the
Pacific, making stakeholder input particularly salient.
Witnesses:
Panel I
Doug Boren, Pacific Regional Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, U.S. Department of the Interior
Ronald Tickle, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Real
Property, U.S. Department of Defense
Panel II
Kourtney Vaccaro, Lead Commissioner for Offshore Wind, California
Energy Commission
Dawn Ortiz-Legg, Supervisor, San Luis Obispo County
Violet Sage, Chairwoman, Northern Chumash Tribal Council
Debbie Arnold, Supervisor, San Luis Obispo County
Panel III
Matthew Arms, Director of Environmental Planning, Port of Long Beach
Josh Boswell, Vice President, Policy and Economic Development,
REACH Central Coast
Jeremiah O’Brien, Vice President, Morro Bay Commercial Fisherman’s
Organization
Minority Witness TBD
Panel IV
Adam Stern, Executive Director, Offshore Wind California
Mark Simonin, Business Manager, IBEW Local
639
Eddie Ahn, Executive Director, Brightline Defense
Minority Witness TBD
Following the hearing, Chair Lowenthal will be joined by Rep. Salud
Carbajal (D-Calif.) and others for a tour of the Vistra Energy Corp
battery project site, colloquially known as the “Stacks.” During the
tour, the members will learn about shore-side energy infrastructure
related to the future offshore wind development. The tour is not open to
press.
Morro Bay Community Center
1001 Kennedy Way
Morro Bay, CA 93442
The Democratic National Committee will be holding its Summer Meeting on
September 8-10 in Maryland. At the Summer Meeting, we will be
discussing, among other things: the 2024 Call to Convention, the 2024
Delegate Selection Rules and amendments to the Charter & Bylaws, as well
as proposed nominations for DNC members to
fill current vacancies. You can find the draft Call to Convention
(marked from 2020) and the 2024 Delegate Selection rules (marked from
2020) as well as proposed amendments to the Charter and Bylaws.
Resolution 15, introduced by DNC Chair Jaime
Harrison, praises the Inflation Reduction Act.
Resolution 16, introduced by Nebraska chair Jane Kleeb, Nevada chair
Judith Whitmer, California delegates RL Miller, David Atkins, Michael
Kapp, and Sean Dugar, Maryland’s Larry Cohen, and Nadia Ahmad and Thomas
Kennedy of Florida, praises the Inflation Reduction Act and opposes the
pipeline permitting and fast-tracking bill supported by Sen. Joe Manchin
and drafted by the American Petroleum Institute.
Willliam J. Renick, Nominee to be Member of the Board of Directors,
Tennessee Valley Authority
Adam Wade White, Nominee to be Member of the Board of Directors,
Tennessee Valley Authority
Joe H. Ritch, Nominee to be Member of the Board of Directors,
Tennessee Valley Authority
Bill
Renick
is serving as the chair of the Commission on the Future of Northeast
Mississippi. Until last summer, the 68-year-old Renick served as
director of the workforce division for the Northeast Mississippi-based
Three Rivers Planning and Development District. Renick was elected to
the Ashland Board of Aldermen at age 18 and later served as mayor. He
also served on the Benton County Board of Supervisors and in the state
Senate. Renick was chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Eddie Briggs in the 1990s
and later as chief of staff for Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. Renick also was a
hospital administrator.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., recommended Kentucky’s Lyon County
Judge-Executive Adam Wade
White.
In 2013, White helped rally support for the Freedom to Fish Act, which
was renewed in 2018 and signed by both Presidents Barack Obama and
Donald Trump. This came about as a response to learning about the
proposed closing of fishing below 10 dams on the Cumberland River, which
White knew would devastate the local economy. In 2018, White began what
many refer to as the “War on Carp,” when he focused his efforts on
removing Asian Carp that were having a negative impact on Kentucky Lake
and Lake Barkley, both natural resources and tourist draws.
Previously nominated by former President Barack Obama, Huntsville lawyer
Joe
Ritch
served on the TVA board from 2013 to 2017,
including a four-year tenure as board chair. He was the first Alabamian
to serve as TVA board chair.
Use of federal procurement to advance national clean energy goals and
accelerate innovation has had limited success in the past. The Biden
administration seeks to break this pattern with an ambitious “buy clean”
program. For its effort to succeed, the plan must be well-aligned with
agency missions, funded adequately, and fix perverse budget and
procurement rules.
Join
ITIF
for an expert panel discussion about a new
report
by ITIF board member and former
DOD and GSA
sustainability leader Dorothy Robyn.
Vote on the nomination of Douglas J. McKalip, of the District of
Columbia, to be Chief Agricultural Negotiator, Office of the United
States Trade Representative.
S.1475,
Livestock Regulatory Protection Act of 2021, to prohibit the
Environmental Protection Agency from issuing permits under the Clean
Air Act for any carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, water vapor, or
methane emissions resulting from biological processes associated with
livestock production (Thune)
S.2421,
Smoke Planning and Research Act of 2021 requires the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to research and mitigate the impacts of smoke
emissions from wildland fires (Merkley)
S.2661,
Smoke-Ready Communities Act of 2021 establishes a grant program for
supporting local communities in detecting, preparing for,
communicating about, or mitigating the environmental and public health
impacts of wildfire smoke (Merkley)
S.2736,
RPM Act of 2021 authorizes the modification
of a vehicle’s air emission controls for vehicles that are not legal
for operation on a street or highway and are used solely for
competition, and prohibits the EPA from
creating or authorizing a database of vehicle registration information
that is required to be consulted at the point of manufacture, sale,
installation, or use of parts or components (Burr)
Witnesses:
Panel 1
John Thune, United States Senator, South Dakota
Panel 2
Dr. Cassandra Moseley, Vice Provost for Academic Operations and
Strategy; Research Professor, Institute for a Sustainable Environment;
Senior Policy Advisor, Ecosystem Workforce Program, The University of
Oregon
John Walke, Director, Clean Air Project, Climate and Clean Energy
Program, National Resources Defense Council
Antron Brown, Company Owner, Professional Driver, AB Motorsports
Incorporated, National Hot Rod Association
Scott VanderWal, Vice President, American Farm Bureau Federation
The Mountain Valley Pipeline is dangerous to people and the environment,
and will lock in reliance on fossil fuels for decades to come.
The International Energy Agency has concluded that there must be no new
oil, gas or coal development if the world is to reach net zero by 2050.
On September 6th at 7 pm (ET), Climate Action Now will host a free
action
party
with four extraordinary activists battling the Mountain Valley Pipeline
(MVP) and Senator Manchin’s side deal to accelerate new fossil fuel
infrastructure.
Our featured guests will brief us on what’s at stake and guide us
through concrete actions we can take to help stop the
MVP and side deal during the party with the
free Climate Action Now app.
Why September 6th? The timing is critical. First, activists will
assemble at Congressional offices on Sept. 8 in Washington D.D. to lobby
against the MVP and we want them to walk into
offices that have already heard from a LOT of
people opposing the project. Also, rumor has it that the “Manchin
side-deal” will be voted on by the end of September as part of the
budget package. So, we need to quickly ramp up our efforts to stop it.
About Our Featured Guests
Crystal Cavalier-Keck is the co-founder of Seven Directions of Service
with her husband. She is a citizen of the Occaneechi Band of the
Saponi Nation in Burlington, NC and Chair of the Environmental Justice
Committee for the NAACP.
Russell Chisholm serves as Mountain Valley Watch Coordinator for the
Protect Our Water, Heritage Rights (POWHR) coalition in the campaign
to stop Mountain Valley Pipeline and dangerous fossil fuel expansion
through Virginia and West Virginia. The Mountain Valley Watch project
documents and reports potential violations of environmental law from
pipeline construction.
Jessica Sims is the Appalachian Voices Virginia Field Coordinator.
Born and raised in Central Virginia. Jessica is has worked extensively
with Chesapeake Climate Action Network and the Sierra Club Virginia
Chapter on their pipeline campaigns.
Jonathan Sokolow is an attorney and activist in Reston, Virginia who
served as a Staff Attorney with the Legal Aid Society of the City of
New York, General Counsel to the Vermont State Employees Union. and
Senior Assistant General Counsel to the United Mine Workers of America
Health and Retirement Funds.
About Our Co-Hosts
Justin J. Pearson is a leader of Memphis Community Against Pollution
and co-founder of Memphis Community Against the Pipeline (MCAP) which
is a Black-led environmental justice organization that successfully
defeated a multi-billion dollar company’s crude oil pipeline project.
Tim Guinee, President of Climate Action Now, has been a veteran in
numerous climate campaigns around the country, most notably as the
Legislative Coordinator for the New York Climate Reality Chapters
Coalition. Former Vice President Al Gore awarded Tim the Alfredo
Sirkis Memorial Green Ring Award for this work on the climate crisis.
On Thursday, August 25, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. ET, Rep. Ro Khanna, Chairman
of the Subcommittee on Environment, and Subcommittee Vice Chair Rep.
Rashida Tlaib will hold a field
hearing
in Detroit, Michigan to examine the gaps in current laws and regulations
that leave frontline communities vulnerable to pollution, and the policy
changes necessary to safeguard public health and the environment. The
hearing will focus on the reality of living in “sacrifice zones”—areas
where Americans feel their lives are being sacrificed for the profits of
corporate polluters.
Countless Americans live in environmental justice communities where
current air and water pollution permitting schemes fail to protect
residents from the cumulative health and environmental impacts of
concentrated industrial pollution. These sacrifice zones are
disproportionately found in low-income communities and communities of
color.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) permitting processes under
the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts currently fail to consider these
cumulative impacts on health and the environment. Advocates and
legislators alike have called for mandatory consideration of cumulative
impacts in all permitting and for EPA
standards that would require the rejection of applications that would
cause harm to communities.
In addition, when those permits are violated, enforcement can be slow
and lack transparency and public input. Legislators must strengthen the
tools available to regulators in order to more meaningfully hold
polluters accountable to their permits and better deter future
violations.
This hearing will be an opportunity for Members to examine reforms that
are necessary to protect frontline communities from pollution and
prevent corporate polluters from incorporating permit violation
penalties into their bottom lines as the cost of doing business.
