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06/14/2022 at 10:00AM

The Committee on Rules will meet on Monday, June 13, 2022 at 2:00 PM EDT in H-313, The Capitol on the following measures:

• H.R. 2543—Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act [Financial Services Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Economic Justice Act]
• H.R. 2773—Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2021
• H.R. 7606—Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act of 2022 [Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act]

H.R. 7606 includes language to waive Clean Air Act restrictions on ethanol blending and new support for ethanol and biodiesel.

H.R. 2773, which will fund multi-stakeholder efforts to conserve and monitor at-risk species, known in states as Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN), is supported by The Wildlife Society.

06/13/2022 at 02:00PM

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a briefing on policies and practices to address wildfires. Billions of dollars are spent fighting wildfires every year, and the cascading economic, health, and societal impacts of wildfires are enormous. Compounding these challenges, wildfires also release greenhouse gases and harmful aerosols into the atmosphere. Over the last century, battling wildfires after they have started has been the main approach to address this threat. Yet, with record-setting fire seasons happening almost every year, more proactive and preventative steps are needed.

Panelists will discuss policies and practices that would allow the United States to reduce the overall risk of wildfires, including how innovations in community-centered wildfire protection can improve resilience for humans and ecosystems.

Speakers

• Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.)
• Carly Phillips, Western States Climate Team Fellow, Union of Concerned Scientists
• Kimiko Barrett, Wildfire Research & Policy Lead, Headwaters Economics
• Margo Robbins, Executive Director, Cultural Fire Management Council
• Steve Bowen, Managing Director and Head of Catastrophe Insight, Aon

A live webcast will be streamed at 01:00 PM EDT.

RSVP

06/13/2022 at 01:00PM

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Witnesses:

• Dr. Gopinath “Gopi” Munisamy, Distinguished Professor, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Georgia
• Karla Thompson, Vice President, JET Farms Georgia and Integrity Farms
• Sheryl Meshke, Co-President and CEO, Associated Milk Producers Inc., New Ulm, MN
• Neal Fisher, Administrator, North Dakota Wheat Commission, Mandan, ND

06/09/2022 at 11:00AM

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Witnesses:

• Linda Reinstein, President/CEO & Co-Founder, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization
• Danny Whu M.D., Chief Medical Officer, International Association of Fire Fighters
• David Lee Boone, General Manager, Copiah Water Association
• Robert J. Simmon, Vice President for Chemical Products & Technology Division, American Chemistry Council

06/09/2022 at 10:00AM

The purpose of the hearing is to examine the President’s budget request for the U.S. Forest Service for Fiscal Year 2023.

Witness:

• Randy Moore, Chief, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

The FY 2023 President’s Budget for the USDA Forest Service discretionary appropriations totals $9 billion, including $2.21 billion for the wildfire suppression cap adjustment (in the Wildfire Suppression Operations Reserve Fund). In addition to discretionary appropriations, the request includes $743 million in mandatory funding for Permanent and Trust funds. To address the wildfire crisis we are facing, the FY 2023 request focuses on risk-based wildland fire management; compensation for wildland firefighters; tackling the climate crisis; improving infrastructure, providing economic relief and supporting jobs; and advancing racial equity. To improve the conditions we are seeing on the ground, it will take use of the best available science; hard work shoulder to shoulder with partners; use of all the tools in our toolbox; and a robust workforce.

Climate change is causing historic droughts in the West and placing water supplies and other natural resources at risk. Carbon sequestration is vital for combating climate change. Forests take up vast quantities of carbon in trees and soils—in fact, forests are America’s largest terrestrial carbon sink. Our forests, plus harvested wood products and urban forests, offset almost 15 percent of the Nation’s total carbon dioxide emissions and almost 12 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. The National Forest System alone stores almost 14 billion metric tons of carbon, or about a quarter of the Nation’s carbon storage in forests. Each year, the National Forest System adds about 31 million metric tons of carbon of net gain.

Many ecosystems nationwide are degrading and losing habitat for our native plants and wildlife. Climate change is altering environmental conditions nationwide. Drought has contributed to outbreaks of insects and disease that have killed tens of millions of acres of forest across the West. Changing environmental conditions have lengthened fire seasons into fire years and worsened wildfires across the West. At the same time our forests are becoming more overgrown and unhealthy. Expanding development into the wildland urban interface puts more homes into fire-prone landscapes. One American home in three is now in the wildland/urban interface, increasing wildfire risk to these communities, because 80-90 percent of all wildfires are human-caused.

06/09/2022 at 10:00AM

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• Amos Hochstein, Presidential Coordinator, U.S. Department of State

Make no mistake, though, we have been working in lockstep with Europe to respond through decisive actions. Our close cooperation started in the fall of 2021, when we began working to divert LNG cargoes to Europe. We continued these efforts through the winter to help Europe avoid winter blackouts and shortages. And the United States continues to play its part in supporting European energy security. In the first four months of 2022, EU and UK imports of LNG from the United States have more than tripled when compared with 2021. U.S. companies on average shipped 7.3 billion cubic feet of LNG per day to the region and accounted for 49 percent of the region’s total LNG imports. The United States is now the largest supplier of natural gas to Europe.

06/09/2022 at 10:00AM

On Thursday, June 9, 2022, at 9:30 A.M. ET, in 1324 Longworth HOB and via Cisco Webex, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources will hold a hybrid legislative hearing and will consider the following legislation:

• H.R. 2073 (Rep. John Yarmuth), Appalachian Communities Health Emergency Act or the ACHE Act
• H.R. 2505 (Rep. Matt Cartwright), Coal Cleanup Taxpayer Protection Act
• H.R. 4799 (Rep. Matt Cartwright), Coal Royalty Fairness and Communities Investment Act of 2021
• H.R. 7283 (Rep. Matt Cartwright), Safeguarding Treatment for the Restoration of Ecosystems from Abandoned Mines Act or the STREAM Act
• H.R. __ (Rep. Conor Lamb), Modern Mine Reclamation Legislation RENEW Act

06/09/2022 at 09:30AM

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Witnesses:

• Dr. Joseph Janzen, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Robert Craven, Extension Economist and Associate Director, Center for Farm Financial Management, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
• Dr. Ronald L. Rainey, Assistant Vice President and Professor / Director, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture / Southern Risk Management Education Center, University of Arkansas
• Dr. Joe Outlaw, Professor and Extension Economist and Co-Director, Agricultural and Food Policy Center, Texas A&M University

06/09/2022 at 09:00AM

The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis will hold a hybrid hearing titled “Turning the Tide for Ocean Climate Action: Unleashing the Climate Benefits of Our Blue Planet” on Thursday, June 9, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. ET. The hearing will take place in Room 210 Cannon House Office Building and via Zoom video conferencing.

This hearing will examine the role the ocean plays in the climate crisis and the need to develop and invest in ocean-based climate solutions, both at home and abroad, to build resilient ecosystems and communities.

Witnesses:

• Dr. Richard W. Spinrad, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Since June 2021, Dr. Spinrad has been responsible for the strategic direction and oversight of NOAA, including its mission to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, ocean, and coasts, as well as helping conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources. He previously served as NOAA’s Chief Scientist under President Obama and led NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and National Ocean Service.
• Monica Medina, Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State. Medina and her team provide leadership to conserve and protect the global environment and ocean. Prior to this role, Assistant Secretary Medina was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service; a former Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere; General Counsel of NOAA; and a Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense.

06/09/2022 at 09:00AM