Category Archives: Congress: Legislation and Oversight

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

Posted in Congress: Legislation and Oversight, U.S. Global Change Research Program | 3 Comments

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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“Federal Disaster Assistance Budgeting: Are We Weather ready?”

The federal government, unlike the private insurance industry, is constrained by federal statutes in its capacity to incorporate climate change preparedness strategies into disaster relief and funding decisions. To date, U.S. domestic disaster relief spending for fiscal year 2011 exceeds … Continue reading

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Annals of the Republican war on EPA regulation of coal, cont'd...

At a July 26 House Oversight subcommittee hearing, power industry representatives battled EPA and public health interests on the necessity for new pollution controls on coal-burning power plants.  The hearing echoed one on mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia held by … Continue reading

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House blocks another attempt to re-establish the Office of Technology Assessment

Climate Science Watch joined 11 other scientific, environmental, transparency, public health, and public interest groups in supporting an amendment to the legislative branch appropriations bill that would have provided $2.5 million to re-establish the congressional Office of Technology Assessment.  The amendment, … Continue reading

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Dangerously Unprepared: Congressional Budget Cuts are Leaving Americans Vulnerable to Climate Extremes

In 2011, the U.S. has been hammered by climate extremes, with economic damages by mid-June approaching a record $32 billion. Yet determined Congressional opponents of federal climate change efforts are doggedly impeding Federal activities to inform and engage the public … Continue reading

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EPA review of mountaintop removal permits is not a job-killing 'permitorium': pushing back at a House Oversight hearing

EPA’s statutorily prescribed, affirmative duty under the Clean Water Act to protect the natural environment and the public health of citizens played second fiddle to the concerns of coal mining representatives at a July 14 House Oversight subcommittee hearing. "Mountaintop removal should be … Continue reading

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