Hill Heat

Hearing page

Witnesses

PANEL 1

• Xochitl Torres Small, Under Secretary for Rural Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Dr. Karama Neal, Administrator, USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service
• Chris McClean, Acting Administrator, USDA Rural Utilities Service

PANEL 2

• Andy Olsen, Senior Policy Advocate, Environmental Law & Policy Center
• Bill Cherrier, Executive Vice President and CEO, Central Iowa Power Cooperative, on behalf of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
• Dr. Patrick Gruber, CEO, Gevo, Inc, Englewood, CO
• Jay McKenna, CEO, Nacero, Houston, TX

04/05/2022 at 10:00AM

Rising gasoline and diesel pump prices, and wide disparity in pricing across the nation, have exposed the lack of transparency about how prices are set in the petroleum markets despite their profound impact on the U.S. economy and household budgets. This hearing will examine steps Congress can take to protect consumers from excessive gas prices, including increasing transparency and ensuring the Federal Trade Commission has the tools and authority necessary to monitor wholesale markets and investigate suspicious trading practices.

Witnesses

• Robert McCullough, Principal, McCullough Research

Republican witness:

• Kathleen Sgamma, President, Western Energy Alliance

04/05/2022 at 10:00AM

Hearing page

Witnesses

• Ras J. Baraka, Mayor, City of Newark, NJ
• Joshua Schimmel, Board member, National Association of Clean Water Agencies
• Susan Bodine, Partner, Earth and Water Law, LLC
• Mark Pepper, Executive Director, Wyoming Association of Rural Water Systems

04/05/2022 at 10:00AM

On Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. ET, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, will hold a hearing to examine the benefits, opportunities, and challenges of electrifying the Postal Service fleet through the acquisition of the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV).

Opening Statement

• Carolyn Maloney

Witnesses

• Tammy L. Whitcomb, Inspector General, United States Postal Service
• Victoria K. Stephen, Executive Director, Next Generation Delivery Vehicle, United States Postal Service
• Jill M. Naamane, Acting Director, Physical Infrastructure Team, Government Accountability Office
• Joe Britton, Executive Director, Zero Emission Transportation Association

Republican witness

• Kenny Stein, Director, Policy, Institute for Energy Research

“It is critical for our environment and our future that the Postal Service rapidly transition to an electric fleet,” said Chairwoman Maloney. “The federal government should be leading the way, not falling behind private companies that are already moving ahead to save money and curb climate change by electrifying their fleets. I look forward to this critical hearing to examine how the Postal Service can acquire and deploy electric vehicles and the additional steps Congress can take to support the Postal Service’s transition to the fleet of the future.”

In February 2021, the Postal Service awarded Oshkosh Corporation a contract to build its NGDV, which requires Oshkosh to build up to 165,000 internal combustion engine or battery electric vehicles for the Postal Service over ten years. The Postal Service later announced it would purchase only 5,000 electric vehicles in its initial order.

On March 14, 2022, the Oversight Committee requested that the Postal Service Inspector General examine whether the Postal Service had met its environmental obligations in connection with this acquisition.

Ten days later, on March 24, 2022, the Postal Service announced its initial purchase order with Oshkosh for 50,000 NGDVs, of which at least 10,000 will be electric—twice the number of electric vehicles the Postal Service previously planned to purchase in its initial order.

The hearing will examine the significant domestic environmental and public health benefits, as well as valuable cost savings, of transitioning the Postal Service fleet to electric vehicles. Major private sector fleets are increasingly becoming electric because electric vehicles are more cost-effective in the long run due to lower maintenance and fuel costs.

04/05/2022 at 10:00AM

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), signed by President Biden on Nov. 15, 2021, provides $28.1 billion to the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to restore critical habitats, address drought, assist with wildland fire management, support communities, and help them prepare for extreme weather events. The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) received approximately $5.5 billion.

This hearing will examine DOI’s and USFS’ implementation of BIL funding for wildfire management, with a particular focus on policies and investments that address climate change, support ecosystem restoration and reforestation, facilitate collaboration towards fire-adapted landscapes, and confront wildfire and public lands workforce needs.

Witnesses

• Jeff Rupert, Director, Office of Wildland Fire, U.S. Department of the Interior
• Jaelith Hall-Rivera, Deputy Chief, State and Private Forestry, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Brian Ferebee, Chief Executive of Intergovernmental Relations, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

04/05/2022 at 10:00AM

Hearing page

• H.R. 6845, the “Commercial Remote Sensing Amendment Act of 2022”
• H.R. 3952, the “NOAA Chief Scientist Act”
• H.R. 7077, the “Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act”
• H.R. 3588, the “Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act”
• H.R. 6933, the “Cost-Share Accountability Act of 2022”

04/05/2022 at 10:00AM

In addition to a panel of university leaders, the DC Climate Convergence at Howard University’s Cramton Auditorium will feature Keynote speakers Kari Fulton, Frontline Policy Coordinator for the Climate Justice Alliance, and the co-founder of Third Act and 350.org Bill McKibben.

Kari Fulton is an award-winning Environmental and Climate Justice organizer, advocate, educator, and writer. Her work has been featured in various media including Black Entertainment Television (BET), Teen Vogue, Essence Magazine, and Chinese Global Television Network (CGTN). Fulton serves as the Frontline Policy Coordinator with Climate Justice Alliance, a leading voice for a just transition to a regenerative economy. She is a proud alumna of Howard University (B.A. Communications and Culture) and Georgetown University (Master of Policy Management)

Bill McKibben is a contributing writer to The New Yorker, and a founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 to work on climate and racial justice. He founded the first global grassroots climate campaign, 350.org, and serves as the Schumann Distinguished Professor in Residence at Middlebury College in Vermont. In 2014 he was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the ‘alternative Nobel,’ in the Swedish Parliament. He’s also won the Gandhi Peace Award, and honorary degrees from 19 colleges and universities. He has written over a dozen books about the environment, including his first, The End of Nature, published in 1989, and the forthcoming The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at his Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened.

In addition to the keynote speakers, a representative from each university will give a 5 minute talk regarding climate focused initiatives on their campus.

University Speakers:

• Dr. Simon Nicholson, Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Environment, Community, and Equity, American University
• Dr. Brooks Zitzmann, LCSW and Assistant Professor, The Catholic University of America
• Dan Guilbeault, Director of Sustainability for Campus and Community, Georgetown University
• Dr. Susan Anenberg, Associate Professor of Environmental, Occupational and Global Health, Director of the Climate Health Institute, The George Washington University
• Dr. Shizuka Hsieh, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Program Chair, Trinity Washington University
• Dr. Rubin Patterson, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Howard University
• Dr. Kamran Zendehdel, Acting Director of the Center for Sustainable Development and Resilience, University of the District of Columbia

Registration for Georgetown University community

American University students: contact [email protected] for tickets

04/01/2022 at 03:00PM

This hearing will review the climate benefits of the investments made in ecosystem restoration and conservation through the Great American Outdoors Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It will also examine opportunities for further investment to create healthy and resilient habitats and communities.

Witnesses

• Collin O’Mara, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Wildlife Federation (NWF). O’Mara leads the country’s largest wildlife conservation organization, with 52 state and territorial affiliates and nearly six million hunters, anglers, birders, gardeners, hikers, paddlers, and wildlife enthusiasts. Prior to NWF, O’Mara led the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control as Cabinet Secretary from 2009 through 2014.
• Dr. Sherry L. Larkin, Professor and Director of the Florida Sea Grant College Program, University of Florida. A natural resource and environmental economist, Dr. Larkin leads work to conserve coastal and marine resources and enhance economic opportunities across Florida. She has served as an elected member of the executive committee for the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, as well as the president of the North American Association of Fisheries Economics.
• Dr. Cristina Eisenberg, Graduate Faculty at the Forest Ecosystems & Society Department in the College of Forestry, Oregon State University. Dr. Eisenberg works to integrate traditional ecological knowledge into environmental restoration practices in Western North America. She is a Smithsonian Research Associate and served as the Chief Scientist at Earthwatch Institute, where she oversaw a global research program focusing on ecological restoration, social justice for Indigenous peoples, and sustainable production of natural resources.

Republican witness:

• Nick Loris, Vice President of Public Policy, C3 Solutions. Loris studies and writes about a wide range of energy and climate policies, including natural resource extraction, energy subsidies, nuclear energy, renewable power, and energy efficiency. He also studies ways in which markets will improve the environment, reduce emissions, and better adapt to a changing climate.

04/01/2022 at 09:30AM

The 2022 MIT Energy Conference will return in-person at the Boston Marriott Cambridge after a 2-year hiatus, and we’re also planning on a hybrid format to allow other attendees to tune in virtually from around the globe!

Tickets

The 2022 conference will also expand its scope to include broader issues in the fight against climate change, both within and outside the energy sector. Please check out the agenda page for more details on our exciting lineup of events. You can find more details on speakers and startups presenting at the Tech Showcase as well.

April 1, 2022 – Day 2, Friday

9:05am – 9:25am: Keynote address by Dr. Maria Zuber: Vice President for Research at MIT

No Time to Lose: The Imperative of Decarbonizing the Global Economy

Maria Zuber is Vice President for Research and the E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics at MIT, where she is responsible for research administration and policy. She oversees MIT Lincoln Laboratory and more than a dozen interdisciplinary research laboratories and centers, including the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, the MIT Energy and Environmental Solutions Initiatives, the Plasma Science and Fusion Center, the Research Laboratory of Electronics, the Materials Research Laboratory, MIT.nano, and Haystack Observatory. She also oversees MIT’s Climate Action Plan for the Decade.

9:30am – 9:45am: Keynote address (virtual) by Gina McCarthy: National Climate Advisor at the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy

Federal Climate Change Policy

Gina McCarthy is the first National Climate Advisor—the president’s chief advisor on domestic climate policy—and leads the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy focused on mobilizing a whole-of-government approach to tackling the climate crisis, creating good-paying, union jobs, and securing environmental justice. Previously, she served as 13th Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and then as President and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). One of the nation’s most trusted and accomplished voices on climate issues, she has been at the forefront of environmental and public health progress in a variety of leading roles for over three decades.

9:50am – 10:30am: PLENARY PANEL: Renewable Energy – Heart Pumping the Energy Transition

Renewable energy is the heart of society’s transition into environmentally friendly energy sources and economies. As of now, the renewable energy sector receives billions of dollars and engages some of the most brilliant minds to solve complex socio-technical challenges. This foundational transition is not dealing with on-demand consumption, but rather human long-term survival on a livable planet for generations to come.

The renewable energy technologies that are powering the transition have improved exponentially since its inception – notably in wind and solar energy (for example, solar cells’ efficiency has more than doubled in 40 years, with the price per Watt decreasing approximately 100 times). Such improvements have allowed renewable energy technologies to increase their competitiveness and deployment all over the world, exhibiting two-digit growth in the last decade. Alas, they still have room for improvement to reach their fullest contribution towards the energy transition.For that to happen, we need multidisciplinary collaboration across the worlds of research, business, government, policy, and finance. Looking forward, key questions arise: what technology improvements will sustain our foundational transition in the years to come? Moreover, how will cross-collaboration accelerate innovation and deployment?

Featured Panelists:

• Moderator: Leonardo Beltrán – Distinguished Energy Fellow, Columbia University
• Joaquín Castillo – USA Country Manager – Acciona Energia
• Cheryl Lafleur – Board Chair, ISO New England
• Sam Massey – Executive Director, Renewable Energy, Next Era
• Mary Werner – Solar Energy Tech Lab Program Manager, NREL

10:45am – 11:25am: PLENARY PANEL: Global Climate Action: Strategy to 1.5C

COP26, held in the UK last year, drew attention for being the first climate change agreement to mention coal use restrictions, as well as the fact that more than 90% of the world’s GDP is now covered by net-zero commitments including India’s declaration of going to net-zero in 2070. However, the world still needs to raise its ambition to reach the 1.5-degree target set in the Paris Agreement. In this panel, climate change experts will talk about strategies to help the world reach this target. In particular, the panel will discuss how the international community can work together, including policies on ESG investment and climate-related financial disclosure given the huge amount of financial resources that will be needed to achieve the 1.5C goal. We will also discuss how we could provide assistance to developing countries and how to develop and disseminate clean technologies that are needed to decarbonize the energy system.

Featured Panelists:

• Moderator: Amy Harder – Executive Editor, Cipher
• Bhargavi Chevva – Investment & Company Building, Breakthrough Energy
• Amy Jaffe – Managing Director at Climate Policy Lab, The Fletcher School at Tufts University
• Dr. Jean Rogers – Senior Managing Director and Global Head of ESG, Blackstone

11:30am – 12:10pm: PLENARY PANEL: Looking Beyond Li-ion

Electrochemical storage, primarily batteries, currently lead the storage market for portable batteries in our devices and vehicles. Li-ion Batteries or LIBs are the current front runners for most of the electrochemical market space because of their high energy densities. However, the $/kWh figure of LIBs already makes them unfavorable for certain applications such as longer-duration grid storage. Is there an underexplored world of cell chemistries that could dethrone LIBs in the upcoming decade? What are the R&D, policy, and financial priorities that can help scale the commercial deployment of emerging storage technologies?

Featured Panelists:

• Moderator: Dr. Scott Litzelman – Program Director, ARPA-E
• Dr. Yang Shao-Horn – Professor, DMSE, MIT
• Scott Burger – Senior Manager, Analytics, Form Energy
• Thomas (TJ) Winter – VP of Strategic Technologies, Fluence

12:10pm – 1:40pm: LUNCH

1:45pm – 2:25pm BREAKAWAY PANEL: Carbon Capture and Utilization: The Path to Expanding Abatement

Decarbonization of emissions from existing mobile and point-source emitters presents a key challenge in achieving our goal of net-zero. Carbon abatement via capture and utilization technologies offers a promising, yet currently underapplied solution to this challenge. Expanding the use of carbon capture technologies relies, in part, on advancements in alternative capture technologies and further development of downstream carbon utilization solutions. In this panel, we look to explore the ongoing efforts to expand abatement through carbon capture and utilization as well as key technology and policy breakthroughs that could help accelerate this expansion.

Featured Panelists:

• Moderator: Clint Wood – Partner, McKinsey & Company
• Scott Frazier – CEO, Carbon America
• Emily Grubert – Deputy Assistant Secretary of Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, DOE
• Sean Simpson – Founder, Chief Scientific Officer, LanzaTech

Yogesh Surendranath – Professor, Electrochemical catalysis for CO2 conversion, MIT

1:45pm – 2:25pm: BREAKAWAY PANEL II: Climate Adaptation in Small Island Developing Nations

Small Island Developing Nations (SIDS) are some of the most vulnerable communities to climate change. Some of the challenges facing SIDS include rising sea levels, loss of habitat, and increased occurrence of extreme climate events. These challenges highlight the immediacy of climate change, the urgency of climate change mitigation efforts, and the absolute need for climate change adaptation. The aim of this panel is to highlight issues facing SIDS resulting from climate change and ongoing adaptation efforts occurring in SIDS. The panel hopes to discuss adaptation efforts through political, financial, and human lenses.

Featured Panelists:

• Moderator: Sabrina Shankman – Reporter, The Boston Globe
• David Gumbs – Director, RMI Islands Energy Program
• Thilmeeza Hussain – Ambassador / Permanent Representative, UN, Republic of Maldives

2:30pm – 3:10pm: BREAKAWAY PANEL I: Decarbonizing Heavy Industry

Industries like cement and steel manufacturing are among the most emission-intensive. In 2019, approximately 9% of global fossil fuel and industry emissions were related to iron, steel, and cement production. Innovations and a sustainability-focused mindset are required to address and reduce the impact that these industries are having on the environment. In this panel, speakers driving this change in the industry will present their approaches from the start-up, corporate, and policy perspectives.

Featured Panelists:

• Moderator: Jeremy Gregory – Executive Director, MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium
• Tadeu Carneiro – Chairman & CEO of Boston Metal
• Josephine Cheung – Director of Research & Development at GCP Applied Technologies
• Leah Ellis – Co-Founder and CEO, Sublime Systems
• Jack Lewnard – Program Director, ARPA-E

2:30pm – 3:10pm: Fireside Chat – My Climate Journey (MCJ) Live Podcast Recording

Join us for this special live recording of the My Climate Journey podcast – featuring a fireside chat between host Jason Jacobs and Dr. Johanna Wolfson. The podcast explores the problem of climate change and the best ways to address it by talking to experts from a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives. The goal is not to convert anyone to a specific worldview, but to enable each listener to have a more informed worldview on the best ways to address the problem of climate change.

• Guest: Dr. Johanna Wolfson
• Podcast host: Jason Jacobs

Johanna is a co-founder and General Partner at Azolla Ventures, and co-founder of Prime Impact Fund. Johanna’s career has focused on accelerating climate technologies from lab to market, spanning university and industry applied research, government, and venture investing. Prior to investing, Johanna was Technology-to-Market Director for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), where she deployed more than $50MM per year into innovative energy projects and companies and also advised DOE, congressional staff, and national labs on effective lab-to-market strategies. Previously, Johanna led start-up engagement at the applied R&D lab Fraunhofer, where she both sourced innovative technologies for Fortune 500 clients and designed demonstration projects for emerging start-ups to ready their products for market entry. Johanna has a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from MIT, where she conducted research on solid-state physics and photonics.

Jason is a longtime entrepreneur, most recently as founder/CEO of Runkeeper, one of the largest mobile fitness apps and communities, which was acquired by ASICS. He is now creator of the My Climate Journey (MCJ) platform, which consists of a podcast, vibrant member community, and fund, focused on helping address the problem of climate change through content, community, and capital.

3:40pm – 5:40pm: Climate & Energy Prize (CEP) @ MIT $100K Pitch Competition Finals

Previously known as the Clean Energy Prize MIT competition, CEP is now the Climate & Energy Prize MIT competition to be inclusive of all climate change-related problems and to move the world closer to net-zero carbon emissions. CEP not only supports student-led entrepreneurs financially but also offers educational resources such as mentorship and startup boot camps to help them realize their vision.

CEP is the largest and longest-running competition for student-led climate startups in the world with over 550 applicants, over 200 mentored teams, and over $2.8 million in awarded cash prizes. Over 220 CEP @ MIT companies have successfully launched from the competition and raised over $1.1 billion in follow-on funding.

04/01/2022 at 09:00AM

On Thursday, March 31, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. ET, the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States (SCIP) will host a virtual, fully remote legislative hearing on the following tribal-related legislation:

• H.R. 4715 (Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-OK), To authorize appropriations to the Secretary of the Interior to make payments to certain members of the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma in accordance with the recommendation of the United States Court of Federal Claims. Quapaw Tribal Landowner Settlement Act of 2021.
• H.R. 5715 (Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-AZ), To reauthorize the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Trust Fund, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 6707 (Rep. Jared Golden, D-ME), To amend the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 to advance equality for Wabanaki nations, and for other purposes. Advancing Equality for Wabanaki Nations Act.

The Udall Foundation awards scholarships, fellowships, and internships for study in fields related to the environment and to American Indians and Alaska Natives in fields related to health care and tribal public policy; provides funding to the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy and to the Native Nations Institute to conduct environmental policy research, research on American Indian and Alaska Native health care issues and tribal public policy issues, and training; and provides assessment, mediation, training, and other related services through the John S. McCain III National Center for Environmental Conflict Resolution (National Center or NCECR).

03/31/2022 at 01:00PM