Category Archives: Congress: Legislation and Oversight

End Polluter Welfare Act would eliminate more than $110 billion in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry

S. 3080, the End Polluter Welfare Act (EPWA), sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) was introduced on May 10.  If enacted, the legislation would eliminate more than $110 billion in US taypayer subsidies to the … Continue reading

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Rally at US Capitol to end fossil fuel subsidies

Supporters of the newly introduced End Polluter Welfare Act rallied at the U.S. Capitol May 10 to hear Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Keith Ellison, along with 350.org climate activist and author Bill McKibben, Brent Blackwelder of Friends of the … Continue reading

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Senate hearing on “Impacts of Rising Sea Levels on Domestic Infrastructures”

Global warming contrarian Senators gave the April 19 hearing, held by the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, a wide berth, allowing an all-too-rare uninterrupted meaningful discussion between expert witnesses and elected officials.  Thanks to Senator Al Franken (D-Minnesota), the hearing … Continue reading

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Sherwood Rowland Senate testimony on IPCC, science censorship, and the need for climate action

Dr. F. Sherwood Rowland (1927-2012) testifying at a hearing on "Climate Change Research and Scientific Integrity," held by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, February 7, 2007. Text of Dr. Rowland's testimony below.

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Sherry Rowland and the ozone denialists

In 1995, shortly before F. Sherwood Rowland (1927-March 10, 2012) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for collaborative work two decades earlier on the fundamental chemistry of stratospheric ozone depletion, a House Science subcommittee held a hearing, chaired by Rep. … Continue reading

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Sen. Franken's colloquy with Sen. Whitehouse on climate change

On December 14 Sen. Al Franken (D-Minnesota) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) took to the Senate floor and the C-Span airwaves to talk about climate change, the scientific evidence for anthropogenic global warming, the problem of the global warming … Continue reading

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Democratic Congress members call for investigation of conflicts of interest in tar sands pipeline permitting

The appearance of impropriety in the State Department’s handling of the Keystone XL pipeline permitting process is so serious that members of Obama’s own party are calling for an investigation by the Department’s Inspector General. The Obama administration has created … Continue reading

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R.I.P. Howard Wolpe

In the 1980s, U.S. Rep. Howard Wolpe (D-Michigan) led the enactment of sanctions against the apartheid South African regime, including overriding President Reagan’s veto of sanctions legislation. On the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, he investigated mismangement and wrongdoing … Continue reading

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House Science Committee Republicans aim to slash climate and sustainable energy programs

In a letter to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chair Ralph Hall (R-Texas) and 10 of his Republican colleagues have called for budget cuts, and in some cases program terminations, that directly … Continue reading

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In support of the Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2011

Climate Science Watch joined nine other good government organizations in an October 12 letter to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in support of H.R. 3124, the Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2011. On October 13 the Committee … Continue reading

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