Hill Heat

The Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will hold a hearing on what role natural gas can play in a climate-friendly energy future. Natural gas plays a critical role in numerous sectors of our economy from home heating to chemical production to electricity generation to transportation fuel. With 3.4 percent of global natural gas reserves, the United States has the fifth largest reserves in the world.

Since a low in 1986, domestic consumption of natural gas has generally increased and its uses have broadened. Natural gas has especially become popular as a cleaner alternative to coal in the electrical utility sector and gasoline and diesel in the transportation sector. As Congress considers energy policies that will increase our energy independence and help solve global warming, understanding the role of natural gas in our economy and how it might contribute to energy policies is critical.

Witnesses

• Aubrey McClendon, CEO, Chesapeake Energy
• Clay Harris, CEO, Suez LNG North America
• David Manning, Executive VP, National Grid
• Rich Wells, Vice President Energy, The Dow Chemical Company
• John German, Manager Environmental and Energy Analysis, American Honda

07/30/2008 at 01:00PM

Speakers

• Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
• Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)
• Congresswoman Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI), Chair, Congressional Black Caucus [tentative]
• Congressman Edward Markey (D-MA), Chair, Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming
• Congresswoman Hilda Solis (D-CA)
• Nia Robinson, Director, Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative

African Americans will endure worse consequences as a result of global warming than any other ethnic group, while climate policies that reduce these harms will be beneficial to all ethnicities and income groups in the U.S.

These findings, from a new report by the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative and Redefining Progress, will be discussed at Thursday’s briefing. The findings are the result of in-depth analysis of the effects of rising temperatures, greater pollution levels, and host of other harms from global warming. Please join us as we discuss the effects of global warming on African Americans and the climate polices that best address these inequalities.

07/24/2008 at 03:00PM

Witnesses

• Kathy Fredriksen, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Policy and International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy
• Didier Houssin, Director of the Office of Oil Markets and Emergency Preparedness, International Energy Agency
• Dr. David Victor, Director of the Program of Energy and Sustainable Development, Stanford University
• John Shages, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Petroleum Reserves, U.S. Department of Energy

07/24/2008 at 10:00AM

E&E News:

A new U.S. EPA proposal that would govern the underground injection of carbon dioxide by power plants and other industrial pollution sources will be the subject of a House Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee hearing Thursday.

EPA’s proposed rule is aimed at protecting drinking water sources during and after the geologic sequestration process. In carbon capture and sequestration, CO2 is captured from fossil-fuel power plants, industrial facilities or other sources and then compressed. At the sequestration site, CO2 is injected into deep subsurface rock formations via one or more wells.

Legislators have said they look forward to discussing EPA’s proposed amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act, which would create a new category of injection well under the agency’s existing Underground Injection Control Program and establish new permitting requirements for CO2 injection.

The requirements address well location, construction, testing, monitoring and closure. The goal is to prevent CO2 from migrating into underground water supplies. If the gas infiltrates drinking water, it could push other substances that occur underground naturally, like salt, into the drinking water source.

Talk at the hearing will focus on the proposal and potential environmental effects of carbon sequestration.

This will be the first subcommittee hearing under new Chairman Gene Green (D-Texas), who took over for former Rep. Al Wynn (D-Md.).

“A cap-and-trade program to address climate change could lead to the underground injection of carbon dioxide on a massive scale,” Green said last week. “Congress has to make sure the EPA’s carbon sequestration rules protect our sources of drinking water from contamination.”

Ranking member John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) also said he is interested in hearing more about the environmental impacts of carbon sequestration, as well as whether the process is economically viable. “Action should not be taken until we have gathered all the facts and have a complete sense of the issue and its consequences,” Shadegg said.

Stakeholders say Congress also will need to address liability issues surrounding carbon sequestration. Presently, it is unclear who has long-term responsibility for leaks and migration. It also will be important for Congress to address issues of ownership over land where carbon sequestration takes place.

07/24/2008 at 10:00AM

Witnesses

• John Paul Woodley Jr., Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works)
• Brigadier General Michael J. Walsh, Commanding General, U.S. Army Engineer Division, Mississippi Valley

07/23/2008 at 10:00AM

The past three presidents, including President George W. Bush, have successfully used the SPR to reduce oil prices during times of crisis.

Witnesses

• C. Kyle Simpson, Policy Director, Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber, Schreck
• Dr. Joe Romm, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
• James May, President and CEO, Air Transport Association of America (invited)

07/23/2008 at 09:15AM

Witnesses

• Jason Burnett, Former Associate Deputy Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Dr. Kevin E. Trenberth, Head of the Climate Analysis Section, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Climate and Global Dynamics Division
• Dr. Roy Spencer, Principal Research Scientist, Earth System Science Center, University of Alabama in Huntsville

07/22/2008 at 10:00AM

Panel 1

• T. Boone Pickens , Founder and Principal , BP Capital, L.P.

Panel 2

• Gal Luft, Ph.D. , Executive Director , Institute for the Analysis of Global Security
• Geoffrey Anderson , President and Chief Executive Officer , Smart Growth America
• Habib Dagher, Ph.D. , Director , Advanced Structures and Composites Laboratory, University of Maine

07/22/2008 at 09:30AM

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony regarding the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory of all species within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Specifically, the hearing will address: (1) How much has been learned up to this point and at what cost? (2) What is left to be done and what is the estimated time and cost to complete the inventory? (3) How has the data been used and are there other ways to use it? (4) What changes, if any, should be made in the program and (5) Should the program be expanded to include other National Parks?

07/21/2008 at 09:30AM

07/15/2008 at 10:00AM