Tuesday, June 19 | 10 AM: House Science and Technology Committee: Energy and Environment Subcommittee
Hearing on Research, Education and Training Programs to Facilitate Adoption of Solar Energy Technologies
2318 Rayburn
Witnesses
- Mr. Herb Hayden
- Mr. Rhone Resch
- Prof. Joseph Sarubbi
- Ms. Jane M. Weissman
- Dr. Dan Arvizu
10 AM: Senate Finance Committee
Executive Session to consider an original bill entitled, the Energy Advancement and Investment Act of 2007
215 Dirksen
CQ:
A straightforward idea underlies the tax package that the Senate Finance Committee will consider Tuesday: Spur investment in renewable energy and force the oil and gas industry to pay the costs.
The details, however, are still evolving.
As of late Monday, committee staff were drafting an updated version of the $13.7 billion chairman’s mark that Max Baucus, D-Mont., announced last week.
The tax bill, likely to be incorporated into the broader energy legislation (HR 6) now on the Senate floor, pumps more money into wind energy, cellulosic alcohol, geothermal power and other emerging energy sources that produce less pollution than traditional sources. It would create a new incentive for consumers to buy plug-in hybrid cars and extend tax breaks for energy-efficient homes and businesses.
The oil and gas industries, meanwhile, would lose access to a tax break for domestic production. That change would bring in $9.4 billion between now and 2017, covering most of the cost of the tax breaks, at least those in the original chairman’s mark.
2 PM: House Energy Independence and Global Warming Committee
Global Warming Solutions in Cities
2247 Rayburn
House Select Energy Independence and Global Warming Committee Chairman Markey, D-Mass. will hold a hearing on the ways that large, mid-size and smaller cities have started to reduce heat-trapping emissions and their support for limits on global warming pollution.
- Tom Potter mayor, City of Portland, Ore.
- Richard M. Daley - mayor, City of Chicago, Ill.
- Pegeen Hanrahan - mayor, City of Gainesville, Fla.
- Manny Diaz - mayor, City of Miami, Fla.
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Wednesday, June 20 | 9:30 AM: New Scientist Magazine, Stanford University, and Resources for the Future
When Costs Are Considered, How Much Do Americans Really Want to Limit Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
First Amendment Room, National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, 13th Floor
New, detailed survey reveals American public opinion toward various policy options to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Recent opinion polls show the majority of the American public believes that global warming is a serious environmental threat and that steps need to be taken to limit its effects. But there are various ways to limit greenhouse gas emissions, including government-imposed standards, carbon taxes, and cap-and-trade schemes. Which of these policies are most likely to command public support? How does acceptance of various policies vary with their cost, in terms of electricity and vehicle fuel prices? This new survey from New Scientist magazine, Stanford University, and Resources for the Future provides some answers.
- Jeremy Webb, Editor, New Scientist
- Peter Aldhous, San Francisco Bureau Chief, New Scientist
- Jon Krosnick, Frederic O. Glover Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences, Stanford University, and University Fellow, Resources for the Future
- Ray Kopp, Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future
Please RSVP to Scott Hase by sending your contact details in an email to events@rff.org
Media contact at New Scientist: claire.bowles@rbi.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)207 611 1210
10 AM: House Ways and Means Committee
Markup of the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007
1100 Longworth
10 AM: House Energy and Commerce Committee: Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee
Energy Legislation Markup
2123 Rayburn
The Subcommittee will consider the following Committee prints related to energy legislation:
- Committee Print to promote energy efficiency;
- Committee Print to facilitate the transition to a smart grid;
- Committee Print re: Department of Energy EPAct Loan Guarantees;
- Committee Print to promote renewable fuel infrastructure;
- Committee Print to promote advanced battery and plug-in hybrid technologies; and
- Committee Print to enhance Energy Information Administration (EIA) data collection.
11 AM: House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
Markup of H.R. 2701, the Transportation Energy Security and Climate Change Mitigation Act of 2007
2167 Rayburn
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Thursday, June 21 | 10 AM: House Science and Technology Committee: Energy and Environment Subcommittee
Markup -- H.R. 1933: Department of Energy Carbon Capture and Storage Research, Development and Demonstration Act of 2007 and H.R. 2763: the Biofuels Research and Development Enhancement Act
2318 Rayburn
Biofuels bill, CCS bill.
10 AM: Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
Hearing on To continue hearings to examine the case for the California waiver, including an update from the Environmental Protection Agency
406 Dirksen
Postponed.
12 PM: U.S. – Russia Experts Forum
Russia, the European Union, and China: The State of the Energy Security Debate
Senate Conference Room, Residence Inn Capitol Hotel, 333 E Street, SW
Panel Discussion Featuring:
- Maria Belova, Senior Expert, Energy Department, Institute for Energy and Finance, Moscow
- Vitaly Merkushev, Director, Eurasian Political Studies Network, Moscow
- moderator Richard Weit, Senior Fellow and Director, Program Management, Hudson Institute
Lunch will be provided at the event.
Please RSVP to Teodor Stan (tstan@irex.org or 202628-8188 x183) no later than noon on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 to confirm your participation.
1:30 PM: Senate Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Caucus
HYDROGEN and POLICY: Challenges and Opportunities
Mansfield Room, S-207, U.S. Capitol
A briefing sponsored by the Senate Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Caucus, in cooperation with the National Hydrogen Association and the American Chemical Society's Science and the Congress Project. Strong and far-reaching hydrogen and fuel cell provisions were included in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which span everything from basic science to early market transition. In concert with substantial federal and state programs over the years, many large and small companies, universities, research institutions and national laboratories have worked to solve critical research and development challenges. There is a large, vibrant and growing hydrogen community in the U.S. and worldwide.
This briefing will explore the purposes of the EPAct 05 hydrogen provisions, a hydrogen economy's premier carbon benefits, the broad efforts of several key companies that are partnering with the U.S Department of Energy in comprehensive RD&D efforts, a package of tax incentives and the opportunities for the 110th Congress. We expect a vigorous discussion.
- Hydrogen Highlights: EPAct 05 and Beyond - Jerome Hinkle, National Hydrogen Association
- Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure: Today's Status and Tomorrow's Needs - Richard Goodstein, Air Products and Chemicals
- Addressing Energy Security and Climate Change: Transforming the Transportation Sector - Keith Cole, General Motors
- Motive Power for Light and Heavy Vehicles - Judith Bayer, UTC Power
- Building New Markets for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells - Ethan Brown, Ballard Power Systems
There will be additional displays of hydrogen and fuel cell applications from the Department of Defense. For further information, please contact Jerome Hinkle of the National Hydrogen Association (261-1307). Please RSVP by June 19th to science_congress@acs.org or (202) 872-8725 (excepting Hill staff, the Capitol requires an advance attendee list). Please provide name, affiliation, phone number, and e-mail address. After the briefing, several manufacturers will have hydrogen vehicles available at Peace Circle for demonstration.
2:30 PM: Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee: Science, Technology, and Innovation Subcommittee
Hearing on Energy efficiency technologies and programs
253 Russell |
Friday, June 22 | 12 PM: American Meteorological Society's Environmental Science Seminar Series
The Science of Global Warming: How do We Know We're Not Wrong?
G-50 Dirksen
Dr. Naomi Oreskes, Professor of History and Science Studies at the University of California, San Diego, CA
How can the public be assured that the scientific consensus on global warming and its causation is not wrong, given previous concerns regarding global cooling and theories such as continental drift? Are there tests of such scientific assertions and theories that can serve to reassure our confidence in their correctness?
Scientists have been studying the potential effect of greenhouse gases on Earth's climate for more than half a century. As early as the mid-1960s, they warned political leaders that significant adverse consequences could ensue, and in 1979 a committee of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences chaired by MIT meteorologist Jule Charney predicted that the effects of anthropogenic warming would be discernible by the end of the 20th century.
These predictions have come true. There is broad consensus among active climate researchers that global warming is indeed discernible, and its primary causes are discernible, too: human activities including deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.
Yet some individuals (although mostly not scientists) challenge the scientific evidence. One type of challenge is to suggest that because scientists were mistaken in the past for example, about the absolute nature of time and space, or the stability of continents or in their support for eugenics programs there is no reason to accept what they have to say now.
Many of the individuals who have challenged climate science are clearly not objective: some have documented links to the fossil fuel industry; others have a history of acting as career skeptics having previously challenged scientific evidence related to acid rain, ozone depletion, and environmental tobacco smoke. Nevertheless, it is a fair question: how do we know we're not wrong?
Historians and philosophers of science have amply documented the fallibility of past science, and it therefore behooves us to take seriously the possibility that our present science may turn out to be incomplete or even incorrect. Yet, history and philosophy of science also provide guidance for evaluating climate science and judging its quality. When we apply the lessons of history, we find that climate science passes a diversity of tests.
History and philosophy also suggest how we can proceed with informed public policy even while acknowledging scientific fallibility.
Dr. Oreskes’ current research deals with the science of climate change. Her 2004 essay in Science entitled The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change , led to Op-Ed pieces in the Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, and Los Angeles Times, and has been widely cited in such publication as The New Yorker, USA Today, the Royal Society s publication, A guide to facts and fictions about climate change., and in the Academy-award winning film, An Inconvenient Truth. In December 2006, she testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on the history of climate science.
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