Hill Heat

03/04/2009 at 09:30AM

Witness

• Lennard Fisk, professor of space science, University of Michigan

Fisk directed NAS’s Space Studies Board, the committee that released a report on Earth observations, from 2003-2008.

Fisk also served as NASA’s associate administrator for space science and applications from 1987 to 1993.

03/03/2009 at 02:00PM

Witnesses

Panel 1

• Gail Kimbell, Chief, Forest Service, Department of Agriculture
• Thomas R. Armstrong, Senior Advisor for Global Change Program, U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior
• Anthony Brunello, Deputy Secretary for Climate Change and Energy, California Natural Resources Agency
• Billy Frank, Chairman, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

Panel 2

• Mark E. Harmon, Ph.D., Richardson Chair and Professor in Forest Service, Oregon State University
• Dominick A. DellaSala, Ph.D., Chief Scientist and Executive Director of Programs, National Center for Conservation Science & Policy
• Jack Williams, Ph. D., Senior Scientist, Trout Unlimited
• Eugene Spiering, Vice President for Exploration, Quaterra Corporation

Panel 3

• Rick Ridgeway, Freedom to Roam
• Lynn Jungwirth, Executive Director, Watershed Research and Training Center
• Forrest McCarthy, Public Lands Director, Winter Wildlands Alliance

E&E News:

President Obama’s 2010 budget blueprint says climate change poses a threat to the United States’ fish and wildlife as natural habitats are modified more rapidly than plants and animals can adjust. Scientific analyses are needed to understand the breadth of these changes, it adds.

“Federal land management agencies, states and tribes all need to update land management and species recovery plans to reflect the impacts of climate change on wildlife,” the plan says. “They also need to monitor how wildlife is adapting and accelerate projects, such as protecting migration corridors, to help wildlife adjust.”

The hearing likely also will focus on forests, which store large amounts of carbon, and fighting wildfires. Obama’s proposed budget would pump $50 million extra in the Forest Service budget as part of Obama’s “commitment to protecting and restoring our national forests as a cornerstone of a healthy, sustainable environment.”

The budget also proposes funding for climate change efforts on public lands. It includes increases of more than $130 million to assess and respond to climate change’s effects on wildlife, of which $40 million is shared with states for wildlife adaptation.

It also boosts by $10 million North American Wetlands Conservation Act activities to acquire, restore or protect wetlands used by migratory waterfowl and other birds. The administration plans to fully fund the act at $75 million by 2012.

03/03/2009 at 02:00PM

Witness

• Ralph Cicerone, president, National Academy of Sciences

03/03/2009 at 10:00AM

Witnesses

Panel 1

• Mark F. Rockefeller, Chairman, Board of Directors, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
• Peter Kareiva, Ph.D., Chief Scientist, The Nature Conservancy
• Barton H. Thompson, Jr., Perry L. McCarty Director, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University
• John Baughman, Member, Sporting Conservation Council

Panel 2

• Shirley A. Pomponi, Ph.D., Executive Director, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University
• William Jackson, Ph.D., Deputy Director General, IUCN-USA Multilateral Office
• Franklin W. Nutter, President, Reinsurance Association of America
• Brian Rothschild, Ph.D., Montgomery Charter Professor of Marine Science, School for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts

03/03/2009 at 10:00AM

The purpose of this oversight hearing is to examine the progress on smart grid initiatives authorized in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and funded in the stimulus bill, and to learn of opportunities and impediments to timely installation of smart grid technologies.

Witnesses

Panel 1

• Suedeen Kelly, Commissioner, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• Patricia Hoffman, Department of Energy
• Dr. Patrick Gallagher, National Institute of Standards and Technology

Panel 2

• Frederick Butler, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners
• Katherine Hamilton, GridWise Alliance
• Edward Lu, Google Inc.
• Evan Gaddis, National Electrical Manufacturers Association

03/03/2009 at 10:00AM

Witnesses

• Robin Nazzaro, GAO director for natural resources and the environment
• Mary Kendall, Interior deputy inspector general

From E&E News:

“This is a pre-budget hearing to get an assessment from [watchdog agencies] on the functioning of the department,” said George Behan, chief of staff to Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Norm Dicks (D-Wash.).

Robin Nazzaro, director for natural resources and the environment for the Government Accountability Office, said committee members did not give her any specifics on which issues to address when she testifies. “The focus is just oversight of the Department of Interior so we will talk about a number of areas that we feel are major management challenges for the department based on the work that we’ve done over the last few years,” she said Friday. . . Interior Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall will testify about the many issues of concern to the IG’s office. Kendall is filling in for Inspector General Earl Devaney as he takes a leave to chair a federal watchdog panel overseeing the economic stimulus law.

03/03/2009 at 09:30AM

From February 27-March 2, more than 11,000 student climate leaders descended on Washington, DC to take part in the Power Shift Climate Action Conference and Capitol Hill day of action. Congressman Ed Markey (D-Mass), Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, held a special Congressional briefing with student leaders on Monday, March 2, 2009, at 1:30 PM, in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building.

The Congressional briefing, entitled “Youth Climate: Green Jobs, Clean Futures,” featured testimony from campus leaders and youth activists whose lives have been impacted by global warming and are meeting the climate challenge by building a clean energy future. Witnesses included a young cancer survivor who is now fighting to curb pollution in her local community, the son of an oil worker who is working to bring green jobs to New Mexico, a United Nations Climate Change youth delegate, a student entrepreneur who started a clean energy fund, and the head of the Energy Action Coalition.

03/02/2009 at 01:30PM

Other Hearings in the Series:

• Oversight hearing entitled: “Offshore Drilling: Environmental and Commercial Perspectives” scheduled on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 10:00 a.m., in Room 1324 Longworth House Office Building.
• Oversight hearing entitled: “Offshore Drilling: State Perspectives” scheduled on Wednesday, February 24, 2009 at 10:00 a.m., in Room 1324 Longworth House Office Building.

02/25/2009 at 10:00AM

Other Hearings in the Series:

• Oversight hearing entitled: “Offshore Drilling: Environmental and Commercial Perspectives” scheduled on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 10:00 a.m., in Room 1324 Longworth House Office Building.
• Oversight hearing entitled: “Offshore Drilling: Industrial Perspectives” scheduled on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 10:00 a.m., in Room 1324 Longworth House Office Building.

02/24/2009 at 10:00AM