This week, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will be holding hearings on two topics of central importance to our environment and to environmental policy.
Tuesday at 10:00 am the committee will meet “to explore the international aspects of global climate change.” Curiously, none of the scheduled witnesses at the hearing are primarily known for their scientific work. Don’t expect a hearing on the science of global climate change; expect instead a discussion on what policy goals are and are not “realistic.” The primary scheduled witness, Michael Levi of the Council on Foreign Relations, has been making the rounds declaring that seeking agreement on a firm emissions target is unrealistic, and that “President Obama will make his job on Capitol Hill much more difficult if he agrees to a target at Copenhagen.”
Thursday at 10:00 AM the committee will convene “to receive testimony on environmental stewardship policies related to offshore energy production.” This hearing should prove interesting, considering that three witnesses focusing on the monetary resource side of the issue of offshore drilling will be (almost) balanced out by officials from Oceana and Skytruth, two organizations raising a critical voice regarding the environmental impact of offshore oil drilling. Recently, Skytruth has caught the world’s attention for tracking the extent of the massive Timor Sea Oil Spill.
Catch both hearings live by following the hearing links I’ve provided, then looking for the “live webcasts” link on lower-left corner of each destination web page.
More signs (as if we need them) of impending doom:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/climate_09_jellyfish_menace