The Week Ahead (Dec. 10-14)

On Tuesday, Dec. 11, the Subcommittee on Energy of the Committee on Energy & Natural Resources will come together with the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Homeland Security in a rare joint hearing to examine the role of market speculation in recent record crude oil prices. Witnesses include Guy Caruso, administrator, Energy Information Administration; Fadel Gheit, managing director, Oppenheimer & Co.; Edward Krapels, director, Financial Energy Market Services, Energy Security Analysis, Inc.; and Philip Verleger, president, PK Verleger LLC. (Hart 216 at 10:00 a.m.)
On Tuesday, Dec. 11, the full committee will to receive testimony on S. 2156 (SECURE Water Act), a bill to authorize and facilitate the improvement of water management by the Bureau of Reclamation and to require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Energy to increase the acquisition and analysis of water-related data to assess the long-term availability of water resources for irrigation, hydroelectric power, municipal and environmental uses. Witnesses include Robert Johnson, commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation; Robert Hirsch, associate director for water, U.S. Geological Survey; John D’Antonio, representing Western States Water Council; Patrick O’Toole, Family Farm Alliance; Jon Lambeck, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; Brian Richter, The Nature Conservancy; and David Wunsch, representing National Groundwater Association. (Dirksen 366 at 2:30 p.m.)
On Thursday, Dec. 13, the full committee will receive testimony on Reform of the Mining Law of 1872. Witnesses include Henri Bisson, deputy director, Bureau of Land Management; Michael Dombeck, representing Trout Unlimited; William Cobb, National Mining Association; Susan Parker, City of Crested Butte, Colo.; Randy Wanamaker, BBC Human Resources Development Corp., Juneau, Alaska; Deborah Gibbs Tschudy, deputy associate director, Minerals Management Service; James Cress, Holme Roberts & Owen LLP; and Steve Ellis, Taxpayers for Common Sense. (Dirksen 366 at 9:30 a.m.)
On Thursday, Dec. 13, the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests will receive testimony regarding forest restoration and hazardous fuels reduction efforts in Oregon and Washington. Witnesses include Mark Rey, undersecretary, Department of Agriculture; representatives from the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service; K. Norman Johnson, university distinguished professor, Department of Forest Resources, Oregon State University; Phil Aune, Nine Mile Falls, Wash.; Russ Vaagen, vice-president, Vaagen Brothers Lumber Co., Colville, Wash.; Boyd Britton, county commissioner, Grant County, Ore.; Matt Donnegan, co-president, Forest Capital Partners, LLC.; and Russ Hoeflich, vice-president, The Nature Conservancy. (Dirksen 366 at 2:30 p.m.)

Weekly Bonus …

Starting Monday, representatives of more than 180 nations meet in Indonesia to chart a strategy in the ongoing battle against global warming. In recognition of that 12-day conference in Bali, we note that the highly specialized vocabulary of climate policy moved more into the mainstream this year when many of the terms associated with global warming were added to the Oxford English Dictionary. The latest edition includes phrases such as “carbon footprint,” “green audit,” “emissions trading” and “carbon neutral.” As people become more and more concerned about a warming planet, the use of green terminology is becoming much more widespread.

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