House Appropriations Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Climate Change
House Appropriations Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Climate Change
Last week, the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development held a hearing on the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) role in addressing climate change. Subcommittee Chair Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) opened the hearing stating that the United States must pursue continued, robust investment in DOE programs that seek to create new tools that can reverse the impact of climate change. Ranking Member Mike Simpson (R-ID) agreed with Chairwoman Kaptur that the Federal government can play a role in investing in research and development to promote further innovation in the clean energy sector, but warned his colleagues of the ill-effects of over regulation. Ranking Member Simpson cautioned that too much government intervention would likely harm the U.S. economy and enable large emissions producers like China to flourish.
Among the witness was Former Secretary of Energy under the Obama Administration, Ernest Moniz, who sought to garner support for a 10-year, $10.7 billion plan to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which includes $2 billion in cost-share demonstration projects. Secretary Moniz is the founder and executive director of the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI), a non-profit organization dedication to addressing the imperatives of climate change by driving innovation in energy technology, policy, and business models. His testimony at the hearing focused on an EFI proposal that would engage 12 Federal agencies in a while-of-government approach to invest in research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) to bring new pathways for technological carbon dioxide removal (CDR) to commercial readiness. Under the proposed plan, $325 million would be invested in the first year, reaching $10.7 billion over ten years. The plan comes as a response to ambitious goal set by House Democrats to achieve net-zero carbon emissions is by midcentury. Secretary Moniz and others have testified that this is not a realistic goal unless the U.S. is to invest in and develop negative-carbon technologies that can remove large amounts of existing carbon from the atmosphere.
Other hearing witness include the Honorable Vi Lyles, Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina; Rich Powell,
Executive Director of ClearPath; and Bob Keefe, Executive Director of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2).
To listen to the full testimony from the hearing, please visit: https://appropriations.house.gov/events/hearings/the-department-of-energy-s-role-in-addressing-climate-change.
Among the witness was Former Secretary of Energy under the Obama Administration, Ernest Moniz, who sought to garner support for a 10-year, $10.7 billion plan to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which includes $2 billion in cost-share demonstration projects. Secretary Moniz is the founder and executive director of the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI), a non-profit organization dedication to addressing the imperatives of climate change by driving innovation in energy technology, policy, and business models. His testimony at the hearing focused on an EFI proposal that would engage 12 Federal agencies in a while-of-government approach to invest in research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) to bring new pathways for technological carbon dioxide removal (CDR) to commercial readiness. Under the proposed plan, $325 million would be invested in the first year, reaching $10.7 billion over ten years. The plan comes as a response to ambitious goal set by House Democrats to achieve net-zero carbon emissions is by midcentury. Secretary Moniz and others have testified that this is not a realistic goal unless the U.S. is to invest in and develop negative-carbon technologies that can remove large amounts of existing carbon from the atmosphere.
Other hearing witness include the Honorable Vi Lyles, Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina; Rich Powell,
Executive Director of ClearPath; and Bob Keefe, Executive Director of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2).
To listen to the full testimony from the hearing, please visit: https://appropriations.house.gov/events/hearings/the-department-of-energy-s-role-in-addressing-climate-change.
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