Hill Heat

Panel 1

• Lamar McKay, Chairman and President, BP America
• Steven L. Newman, President and CEO, Transocean Ltd.
• Tim Probert, President, Global Business Lines, and Chief Health, Safety and Environmental Officer, Halliburton

Panel 2

• Dr. Steve Bortone, Executive Director, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council
• Garret Graves, Director, Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities, State of Louisiana
• Keith Overton CHA, Chairman of the Board, Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association and Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, TradeWinds Island Resorts
• Dr. Eric May, Distinguished Research Scientist, Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center, Department of Natural Sciences University of Maryland Eastern Shore
• Meg Caldwell JD, Director, Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy Program; Executive Director, Center for Ocean Solutions, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University
• Lieutenant General Thomas G. McInerney United States Air Force (Ret.)

Review current issues related to offshore oil and gas development including the Department of the Interior’s recent five year planning announcements and the accident in the Gulf of Mexico involving the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon.

Rescheduled from May 6.

Witnesses

Panel 1

• Dr. F.E. Beck, Associate Professor, Texas A&M University
• Bud Danenberger, Former Chief, Offshore Regulatory Program, Minerals Management Service

Panel 2

• Lamar McKay, President and Chairman, BP America, Inc.
• Steven Newman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Transocean Limited
• Tim Probert, President, Global Business Lines; Chief Health, Safety and Environmental Officer, Halliburton

Panel 1

• Nancy Stoner, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Water, United States Environmental Protection Agency

• Jim Jones, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, United States Environmental Protection Agency

Panel 2

• Dr. Roger Payne, Founder and President, Ocean Alliance
• Dr. Carys Mitchelmore, Associate Professor, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
• Sam Waterston, Board of Directors, Oceana
• Dr. John T. Everett, President, Ocean Associates, Inc.

A public hearing for the joint investigation will be held May 11-12, 2010 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (CDT) at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 2829 Williams Blvd., Kenner, La.

The purpose of this joint investigation is to develop conclusions and recommendations as they relate to the Deepwater Horizon MODU explosion and loss of life on April 20, 2010. The facts collected at this hearing, along with the lead investigators’ conclusions and recommendations will be forwarded to Coast Guard Headquarters and MMS for approval. Once approved, the final investigative report will be made available to the public and the media. No analysis or conclusions will be presented during the hearing.

Witnesses

• Kevin Robb – Coast Guard Eighth District Search and Rescue Specialist
• Alwin Landry – Master M/V DAMON B. BANKSTON
• Anthony Gervaso – Engineer M/V DAMON B. BANKSTON
• Paul Erickson – Chief Mate M/V DAMON B. BANKSTON
• Frank Patton – MMS Permitting
• Eric Neal – MMS Inspector
• Bob Neal – MMS Inspector

Streaming on http://live.cnn.com

H.R. 2864 (Rep. Don Young (R-AK)): Amends the Hydrographic Services Improvement Act of 1998 to authorize appropriations to the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for FY2011-FY2012: (1) to acquire hydrographic data, provide hydrographic services, and conduct coastal change analyses necessary to ensure safe navigation, and to improve the management of coastal change in the Arctic; and (2) to acquire hydrographic data and provide hydrographic services in the Arctic necessary to delineate the U.S. extended continental shelf.

Also H.R.3805, the “Electronic Duck Stamp Extension Act of 2009”; and H.R.4973, “National Wildlife Refuge Volunteer Improvement Act of 2010.”

Even after months of personal attacks against climate scientists stemming from a manufactured scandal over stolen emails, the underlying science behind the need to stem the tide of heat-trapping emissions remains solid. To explain what we know about climate change, and why and how we know it, Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will host top-level American climate scientists at a congressional hearing this Thursday, May 6, 2010.

The scientists will address the claims of deniers head-on. Thursday’s panel features a member of the investigative panel convened by the University of East Anglia and led by Lord Ron Oxburgh to review the stolen emails from that school’s Climactic Research Unit. The “Oxburgh Inquiry” exonerated the scientists who were attacked following the emails, saying they “saw no evidence of any deliberate scientific malpractice in any of the work.”

The hearing also includes three scientists involved in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, which have also been attacked by climate science deniers.

Witnesses

• Dr. Lisa Graumlich, Director, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, and member of the “Oxburgh Inquiry” panel
• Dr. Chris Field, Director, Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution of Washington, and co-chair of “Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability” portion of new IPCC report due in 2014
• Dr. James McCarthy, Professor of Biological Oceanography, Harvard University, past President and Chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, co-chair of “Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability” portion of IPCC report published in 2001
• Dr. James Hurrell, Senior Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research, contributor to IPCC reports
• Christopher Monckton, Chief Policy Adviser, Science and Public Policy Institute

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a briefing to examine the potential effects of pending energy and climate legislation on the transportation sector and U.S. dependence on oil. Policies that create a sustained, stable, and predictable price on carbon for transportation fuels have the potential to promote fuel-efficient vehicles, low-carbon fuels, and more energy-efficient transportation decisions by businesses and consumers. However, how such a price is determined, how it is applied, and how generated revenues are used can greatly influence the benefits and costs of such a policy. This briefing will focus on the economic and environmental implications of alternative ways to reduce oil use and greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector and how key stakeholders are likely to respond. Speakers for this event include:

• Dr. David Montgomery, Vice-President, Charles River Associates
• Dr. Chad Stone, Chief Economist, Center for Budget and Policy Priorities
• Dr. Adele Morris, Policy Director for Energy and Climate Economics, Brookings Institution
• Dr. David Austin, Senior Economist, Congressional Budget Office
• Jack Basso, Director of Program Finance and Management, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
• James Corless, Director, Transportation for America
• Patrick O’Connor, Legislative Counsel, NAFA Fleet Management Association

Fuel use in the transportation sector is widely regarded to be less sensitive to changes in price, relative to electricity and other sectors of the economy, due in part to limited availability of transportation options and substitutes for petroleum fuels. Recent swings in fuel prices, corresponding demand responses, and other research suggest, however, that modest price signals - especially sustained price signals - can spur investments in clean transportation and create significant benefits for the transportation sector. Options to create a carbon price through a fee on transportation fuels can be designed to be as effective and predictable as other policy options based on tradable allowances. Any revenues generated through such policies can be returned to consumers and businesses, reinvested in transportation infrastructure and advanced vehicle and fuel technology, or directed to a combination of public uses.

This briefing is free and open to the public. No RSVP required. For more information, please contact Jan Mueller at [email protected] or (202) 662-1883.