The Week Ahead (Oct. 26-30 )

v On Wednesday, Oct. 28, the full committee will examine the role of natural gas in mitigating climate change. Witnesses will include Richard Newell, administrator, Energy Information Administration; Edward Stones, director of energy risk, The Dow Chemical Co., Midland, MI; Lamar McKay, chairman, BP America, Houston; David Wilks President, Energy Supply, Xcel Energy, Minneapolis; Dennis McConaghy, senior vice president of business development, TransCanada Pipelines, Calgary, Alberta; and Jack Fusco, chief executive, Calpine Corp., Houston. (Dirksen 366 at 10:00 a.m.)

v On Wednesday, Oct. 28, the Subcommittee on National Parks will examine the current and expected impacts of climate change on units of the National Park System. Witnesses will include Jonathan Jarvis, director, National Park Service; Reed Noss, Ph.D., professor of conservation biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando; Iliff McMahan Jr., county mayor, Cocke County Government, Newport, Tenn.; and Steve Williams, Ph.D., president, Wildlife Management Institute, Gardners, Pa. (Dirksen 366 at 2:00 p.m.)

v On Thursday, Oct. 29, the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests will receive testimony on S. 555, to provide for the exchange of land in the Arapaho-Roosevelt national forests in Colorado; S. 607, to amend the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986; S. 721, to expand the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in Washington and to designate the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River and Pratt River as wild and scenic; S. 1122, to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of the Interior to enter into cooperative agreements with state foresters authorizing state foresters to provide certain forest, rangeland and watershed restoration and protection services; S. 1328/H.R. 689, to interchange the administrative jurisdiction of certain Federal lands between the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management; S. 1442, to amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 to expand the authorization of the secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce and Interior to provide service-learning opportunities on public lands, establish a grant program for Indian Youth Service Corps, help restore the Nation's natural, cultural, historic, archaeological, recreational and scenic resources, train a new generation of public land managers and enthusiasts and promote the value of public service; and H.R. 129, to authorize the conveyance of certain National Forest System lands in the Los Padres National Forest in California. Witnesses will include Bob Stanton, deputy assistant secretary, Office of Policy, Management and Budget, Department of the Interior; Joel Holtrop, deputy chief, National Forest System, Forest Service; Rusty Gregory, chairman and chief executive, Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort, Mammoth Lakes, Calif.; Ryan Bidwell, executive director, Colorado Wild, Durango, Colo.; Bill Crapser, state forester, Wyoming State Forestry Division, Cheyenne; and Cassandra Moseley, Ph.D., director of the ecosystem workforce program institute for a sustainable environment, University of Oregon, Eugene. (Dirksen 366 at 2:30 p.m.)

Bonus (hot off the wires) …

Within the hour, in a speech on clean energy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, we were pleased to hear President Obama cite the hard work of the Senate Energy Committee in producing bipartisan clean energy legislation earlier this year. We were even more pleased when the President singled out our boss, Chairman Bingaman, for his leadership in helping get this done. Excerpt from MIT speech on clean energy: “The Pentagon has declared our dependence on fossil fuels a security threat. Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are traveling the country as part of Operation Free, campaigning to end our dependence on oil, and I know we have a few of you here. The young people of this country – folks I’ve met across America – understand that this is the challenge of their generation. Leaders in the business community are standing with leaders in the environmental community to protect the economy and the planet we leave for our children. The House of Representatives has already passed legislation, due in a large part to the efforts of Massachusetts’ own Ed Markey. And we are now seeing prominent Republicans like Senator Lindsey Graham joining forces with long-time leaders on this issue, like your outstanding Senator, John Kerry, to swiftly pass a bill through the Senate as well. In fact, the Energy Committee, thanks to the work of its chair, Senator Jeff Bingaman, has already passed key provisions of comprehensive legislation.”

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