Hill Heat

Summary of Subject Matter

Witnesses

Panel 1

• Jeffrey Byard, Associate Administrator, Office of Response and recovery, Federal Emergency Management Agency
• Chris Currie, Director, Homeland Security and Justice, Government Accountability Office
• Dennis Alvord, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce

Panel 2

• Mike Sprayberry, Director, Emergency Management, Department of Public Safety, State of North Carolina
• Fernando Gil-Enseñat, Secretary, Department of Housing, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
• Rhonda Wiley, Emergency Management/911 Director/Floodplain Administrator, Atchison County, State of Missouri
• Reese May, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, The Saint Bernard Project

The Committee on Natural Resources will hold a legislative hearing on the following bill:

Discussion Draft H.R. _ (Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva), “To amend the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act or ‘PROMESA,’ and for other purposes.”

The purpose of the hearing is to examine international efforts to increase energy efficiency and opportunities to advance energy efficiency in the United States.

Witnesses

• Daniel Bresette, Executive Director, Environmental and Energy Study Institute
• Jennifer Layke, Global Director for Energy, World Resources Institute
• Dr. Brian Motherway, Head of Energy Efficiency, International Energy Agency
• W. Scott Tew, Executive Director, Center for Energy Efficiency & Sustainability, Ingersoll Rand

The hearing will focus on developing and implementing domestic technologies to reduce industrial emissions.

Witnesses:

• Brad Crabtree, Vice President, Carbon Management, Great Plains Institute (@GreatPlainsInst) and Director of the Carbon Capture Coalition (@CCSTechFacts). The CCC is a national coalition of over 70 organizations that support the adoption and deployment of carbon capture technologies. Crabtree also coordinates a 15-state work group convened in 2015 by Governor Steve Bullock (D-MT) and former Governor Matt Mead (R-WY) to foster commercial deployment of carbon capture and CO2 pipeline infrastructure.
• David Gardiner, Principal, President, David Gardiner and Associates (@dgardinera) and former Executive Director of the White House Climate Change Task Force under the Clinton Administration. Gardiner facilitates the Combined Heat and Power Alliance and the Renewable Thermal Collaborative, which focus on innovative strategies to reduce industrial sector emissions. Gardiner has over 35 years of experience analyzing and influencing domestic and global clean energy solutions in the public and private sector. Prior to founding DGA, Gardiner served as Assistant Administrator for Policy at the Environmental Protection Agency and Legislative Director for the Sierra Club in Washington, D.C.
• Cate Hight, Principal, Industry and Heavy Transport, Rocky Mountain Institute (@RockyMtnInst) and former manager of the Global Methane Initiative program at the Environmental Protection Agency. The RMI is a nonpartisan nonprofit that works with businesses, communities and institutions to make cost-effective shifts from fossil fuels to efficiency and renewables.
• Jeremy Gregory, Ph.D. (@jeremyrgregory), Executive Director, MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (@CSHub_MIT). Dr. Gregory is an engineer who studies the economic and environmental implications of materials, their recycling and recovery systems. The CSHub at MIT was established with grants from the Portland Cement Association with the goal of accelerating breakthroughs in concrete science and the swift transition of research advancements to industry practices.

Witnesses:

• Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Geography, Director, Atmospheric Sciences Program, Department of Geography, University of Georgia, 2013 President, American Meteorological Society
• Dr. James Done, Project Scientist III and Willis Research Fellow, Capacity Center for Climate & Weather Extremes, Mesoscale & Microscale Meteorology Lab, National Center for Atmospheric Research
• Dr. Adam Sobel, Professor, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Columbia University, Director and Chief Scientist, Initiative on Extreme Weather and Climate, Columbia University
• Dr. Berrien Moore, Director, National Weather Center, University of Oklahoma
• Dr. Ann Bostrom, Weyerhaeuser Endowed Professor in Environmental Policy, University of Washington

This hearing will examine federal and stakeholder perspectives on the fishery disaster process and how those disasters impact local communities. The hearing will also examine recent and pending disaster declarations and how the process for both declaration and relief could be improved.

Witnesses:

• Brigadier General (Retired) Joe Spraggins, Executive Director, Mississippi Department of Marine Resources
• Rachel Baker, Deputy Commissioner, Alaska Department of Fish and Game
• Chris Oliver, Assistant Administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
• Robert Spottswood, Chairman, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
• Ron Warren, Director of Fish Policy, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

Youth leaders from around the world have called for a climate strike and global week of action from September 20th-27th. They have been taking the lead so far, but now they are calling on all of us to take action. In Washington, DC we will be answering the call and building on the momentum of the youth climate strikes in a major way:

On September 23rd, we are going to shut down DC.

We will block key infrastructure to stop business-as-usual, bringing the whole city to a gridlocked standstill. Parents, workers, college students, and everyone who is concerned about the climate crisis will skip work and school and put off their other responsibilities to take action on the climate crisis.

We won’t tolerate delay and inaction any longer. We are ready to take the fight for climate justice to the next level. Sign the pledge and join us.

Sign the Climate Strike DC Pledge of Resistance here.

___

In August of 2018, Greta Thunberg began striking from school every Friday, choosing instead to sit in front of the Swedish parliament in protest. Within months, the movement had gone global, with hundreds of thousands of students across the globe refusing to go to school on Fridays. Now, we must all follow the example set by the brave youth and do everything in our power to preserve a habitable planet.

There’s no time left for business-as-usual. The climate crisis is here. People around the world are experiencing superstorms, floods, droughts, and wildfires at unprecedented rates. Millions of people are seeing their lives and livelihoods transformed by environmental changes and hundreds of thousands have been pushed from their homes, forced to make long and dangerous journeys across borders in search of safety and security.

If we do not build up the political power to force the government to take substantive action on climate within the next 18 months, it could very well be too late for us to stop the worst effects of climate breakdown. We must rise up in this moment, take bold action, shut down the nation’s capital, and make it impossible for our leaders to continue to ignore us.

To achieve something as monumental as shutting down DC, we are going to need everyone to step up. We need everyone’s creativity, everyone’s energy, everyone’s insights, and everyone’s ideas. Every single person has skills and experience to contribute to the strike.

We do not take this action lightly. We know that this shutdown will cause massive disruption to people who bear no responsibility for the climate catastrophe we are facing. But we will also cause massive disruption for politicians, huge corporations, and the lobbyists who control our government. We need to fundamentally change the power structure of the United States if we want to stop the climate crisis. Shutting down DC is a huge step in the right direction.

This is the mass uprising that everyone with climate anxiety has been waiting for. This is an uprising for life itself, fighting back against the forces of destruction. This is your chance to take action to save the people, plants, and animals you love. Let’s rise to the challenge and shut down DC!

The Interfaith Climate Strike Procession starts from Luther Place Memorial Church and moving west on K street (more details to come). We will gather at 9:30 am with an official send off at 10:00am.