House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
and Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee Chair Jeff Duncan
(R-SC)
announced
a legislative
hearing
titled “Keeping the Lights On: Enhancing Reliability and Efficiency to
Power American Homes.”
Gene Rodrigues, Assistant Secretary for Electricity, Office of
Electricity, U.S. Department of Energy;
David Ortiz, Director, Office of Electric Reliability, Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission
Panel Two:
Kevin Messner, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer,
Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers
B. Robert “Bob” Paulling, President and CEO,
Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative, on behalf of the National Rural
Electric Cooperatives Association
Ben Lieberman, Senior Fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Andrew deLaski, Executive Director, Appliance Standards Awareness
Project
Legislation to be discussed:
H.R.
4167,
Protecting America’s Distribution Transformer Supply Chain Act (Rep.
Richard Hudson), to prohibit the Secretary of Energy from
strengthening energy conservation standards for distribution
transformers for 5 years
H.R.
___,
DOE Appliance and Equipment Standards Reform
and Consumer Protection Act (Rep. Debbie Lesko), to place increased
restrictions on new energy efficiency standards for appliances and
other products
H.R.
___,
GRID Act (Rep. Jeff Duncan), to to require
coordination between the FERC and any
Federal agency that promulgates a regulation that could have a
“significant negative impact” on the reliable operation of the bulk
power system, as determined either by FERC
or a state commission
Coinciding with this year’s 50th anniversary of the
ESA, the symposium is being organized by
Defenders of Wildlife and cosponsored by thirteen other organizations.
The symposium will
bring together members of Congress, administration officials, Tribal
leaders, academia, policy experts, and wildlife supporters from around
the country, to examine the importance and successes of the Endangered
Species Act and review critical issues facing imperiled species at an
important moment in the history of this essential wildlife law.
Invited speakers include
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.)
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.)
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.)
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams
NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet
Coit
Defenders of Wildlife President and CEO
Jamie Rappaport Clark
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler said Tuesday
that the agency has not yet released a final rule requiring disclosure
on climate risk partly because of public concern that companies would
need to report so-called Scope 3 carbon emissions across their supply
chains.
The SEC has received more than 16,000 public
comment letters about the climate risk disclosure rule that it
proposed in March 2022, with many asserting that Scope 3 reporting
will prove onerous for small businesses, Gensler said. “We got a lot
of comments around what’s called Scope 3 disclosures, and that’s what
we’re trying to move forward on,” he said in testimony to the Senate
Banking Committee.
Gensler declined to estimate when the SEC
will adopt a final regulation, while noting that rule revisions can
take from 12 to 24 months. “We try not to do things against the
clock,” he said, adding “it’s really when the staff is ready and the
[five-member agency] commission is ready.”
Referring to the proposed requirement that companies report carbon
emissions and climate risk, Gensler said, “many U.S. issuers are
already disclosing climate risk information and investors are making
investment decisions” based on the information. The
SEC, for the sake of investors, aims to
ensure the reports are consistent and comparable, he said.
“We have no climate agenda whatsoever,” he said. “We’re not climate
regulators.”
Gensler came under fire from the other side of the aisle, as Senator
Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., criticized him for not pushing through the
disclosure rule sooner.
“When you were nominated two and a half years ago, you said the giant
corporation should not be able to hide their climate risks from
investors,” Warren told Gensler. “Without a strong climate risk
disclosure rule, that is exactly what companies will continue to do.
Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee
The Committee on Banking will meet in open session, hybrid format to
conduct a
hearing
on “Perspectives on Challenges in the Property Insurance Market and the
Impact on Consumers.”
Witnesses:
Douglas Heller, Director of Insurance, Consumer Federation of America
Michelle Norris, Executive Vice President of External Affairs and
Strategic Partnerships, National Church Residences
Jerry Theodorou, Policy Director, Finance, Insurance and Trade, the R
Street Institute
Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee
The purpose of this
hearing
is to examine recent advances in artificial intelligence and the
Department of Energy’s role in ensuring U.S. competitiveness and
security in emerging technologies.
The Committee on Natural Resources will hold a field oversight
hearing
on “Conservation in a Crown Jewel: A Discussion About Wildfires and
Forest Health” on Friday, August 11, 2023, at 11:00 a.m.
PST at the Curry Village in Yosemite National
Park.
Brett Howard, Federal Coordinating Officer for Hurricane Ian, Federal
Emergency Management Agency
Thomas McCool, Federal Coordinating Officer for Hurricane Ian, Federal
Emergency Management Agency
Marion McFadden, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Community
Planning and Development, Department of Housing and Urban Development
Francisco Sánchez, Associate Administrator, Office of Disaster
Recovery & Resilience, Small Business Administration
Panel two
Kevin B. Anderson, Mayor, Fort Myers, Florida
Chauncey Goss, Chairman, South Florida Water Management District
Governing Board
Brian Hamman, Chairman and District 4 Commissioner, Lee County,
Florida
Lakes Regional Library, 15290 Bass Road, Fort Myers, Florida 33919
Hurricane Ian hit southwest Florida in September 2022, causing billions
of dollars in damage and claiming over 160 lives. While federal agencies
were quick to respond to Ian, the convoluted nature of the federal
disaster response regime complicated recovery efforts immediately after
the storm and since. While FEMA is technically
charged with coordinating federal efforts following a disaster, over 30
agencies are involved in emergency response efforts. These complex
interagency authorities, and the at times poor communication between
federal agencies and the public, leave many residents unaware of federal
benefits they may be entitled to following a hurricane. Southwest
Florida continues to rebuild from Ian’s devastating impact, and many
residents continue to struggle in their interactions with federal
disaster response agencies.
This hearing will examine the role federal agencies played in response
to Hurricane Ian, as well as southwest Florida’s efforts to rebuild from
the storm. Specifically, Members will be able to inquire about the
effectiveness of the federal response to Hurricane Ian, whether areas
for improvement exist in the federal disaster response regime, and the
nature and extent of Ian’s impact on communities in the region.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
Government Operations and the Federal Workforce Subcommittee
