Davis Calls Hearing on Climate Change
Committee to Examine State of Climate Change Science, Review Administration s Policy, Explore Policy Options

July 18, 2006

What: Government Reform Committee Hearing,
Climate Change: Understanding the Degree of the Problem

When: THURSDAY, July 20, 2006, 9:30 A.M.
(Hearing follows a Committee business meeting)

Where: ROOM 2154, RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING

Background: The Greenhouse Effect. Global Warming. Climate Change.

Americans have become familiar with these terms over the years, as concern has grown that human activities particularly the burning of fossil fuels, which release carbon dioxide (CO2) are leading to a warming of the Earth's climate.

The effects of a permanent warming trend to the global climate are not precisely known. Some scientists believe a warmer climate could potentially have far-reaching effects (including some positive effects) on agriculture and forestry, managed and unmanaged ecosystems, including natural habitats, human health, and water resources. Others warn that climate change could have catastrophic results, including the deluging of coastal areas, species loss, and increased disease and poverty.

In the absence of hard, empirical data, the public discussion of climate change has devolved into half-truths, polemics, and partisanship.

To cut through the confusion and bias, Chairman Tom Davis has called Thursday's hearing so that the public and Congress can better understand the current state of climate change science, the Bush Administration's policies, and the various policy approaches available to lawmakers.

The discussion will include Administration officials on hand to discuss the President's policy toward climate change as well as the technical capabilities within the federal government to monitor climate change. Expert scientists will discussion of climate change in terms of what is known and what is not known, including recent scientific developments and other contributions to climate change research. The final panel will present larger, more global concerns regarding climate change, including, among others, general policy options and actions that corporations are voluntarily taking that relate to climate change.


Witnesses:

Panel I

Jim Connaughton, Chairman, Council on Environmental Quality

Dr. Thomas Karl, Director, National Climatic Data Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Panel II

Dr. John R. Christy, Professor and Director, Earth System Science Center, NSSTC University of Alabama in Huntsville

Dr. Judith Curry, Chair, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. James Hansen, Chief, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Dr. Roger A. Pielke, Jr., Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, University of Colorado at Boulder

Panel III

Marshall Herskovitz, Producer / Director / Writer, Television & Film

Theodore Roosevelt IV, Chairman, Strategies for the Global Environment / Pew Center on Global Climate Change

Andy Rubens, Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Sustainability, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.