Ed Markey

Pelosi may keep House Global Warming Committee going

Ed Markey. In the wake of news that Henry Waxman will take over the House Energy and Commerce Committee, there’s been some speculation that Speaker Nancy Pelosi would scrap the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, which she created this past session to throw a spotlight on climate change. (The committee is […]

Markey on House Dems’ energy bill

The House just passed the Comprehensive American Energy Security & Consumer Protection Act [PDF] (more on that in a moment). In the meantime, here’s video of Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming Chair Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on the floor earlier with one of the more passionate speeches of the day:

Rep. Ed Markey talks about the Dems’ strategy for energy legislation in the House

Yesterday, I talked to Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the House Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming, about what to expect from the Democrats on energy legislation when Congress goes back into session next month. We also discussed the Dems’ plans for climate and energy legislation next year.

House approves two measures to address energy prices, third fails

The House of Representatives took up a triumvirate of environment and energy-related bills today, passing two that would increase funding for mass transit and curb oil market speculation. A third, more controversial measure would have forced oil companies to drill on the land they already own. The votes highlighted the split between Democrats and Republicans […]

White House refuses to open email about regulating greenhouse gases

The White House has refused to accept the Environmental Protection Agency’s conclusion that greenhouse gases are pollutants that must be controlled, and has told EPA officials that the email they sent containing the document of their findings would not be opened, reports The New York Times. Apparently the email in question has been hanging in […]

Thoughts on the 20th anniversary of James Hansen’s historic Congressional testimony

In Greek mythology, Cassandra was given the gift of prophecy -- of seeing the future. But she was also cursed to have no one believe her. For far too many years, Dr. James Hansen has been a modern-day Cassandra. Gifted with a scientific training that allowed him to see the forces at work that are warming the planet, for too many years he was also not believed by many who chose to ignore or deny the scientific reality of global warming.

Today, it is my pleasure to welcome Dr. James Hansen back to Capitol Hill on this 23rd of June 2008. It was twenty years ago today in 1988 that Dr. Hansen first came to Congress to deliver his message about global warming. He stated: "The greenhouse effect has been detected, and it is changing our climate now."

Dr. Hansen, who currently serves as the director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and a professor of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department at Columbia University, is a pioneer in modeling research and showed rising greenhouse gas levels would cause "temperature changes sufficiently large to have major impacts on people and other parts of the biosphere."

Dr. Hansen has been more than just a leader within the global warming research community. He has served as a spokesperson communicating the global warming science to the public. Dr. Hansen has stood up to pressure to change the tone of his scientific research for political reasons in order to ensure that the pubic receives the most accurate information possible about climate change.

Over the past twenty years, the body of evidence Dr. Hansen and his colleagues began has only continued to grow. It recently resulted in the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report showing how rising concentrations of man made pollutants are changing the climate of our planet. The debate is over. Global warming is here. Dr. Hansen was right.

Republicans try to stoke Dem discord on climate legislation in the House

Amidst the chaos in the Senate over climate legislation, Rep. Ed Markey introduced his climate legislation in the House on Thursday. House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio), hoping to take advantage of apparent disarray within the Democratic Party, has dared Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to push Markey’s bill to the floor. He wrote a letter […]

Rep. Ed Markey unveils ambitious new climate legislation

Rep. Ed Markey, chair of the Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming, unveiled new climate legislation on Wednesday morning, which he says will take “the innovative actions needed to ensure a greener, healthier, and more prosperous future.” The plan, which Markey will introduce formally next Tuesday, calls for an 85 percent reduction in […]

Select Committee and White House reach deal on release of documents

It seems the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming has reached some sort of agreement with the White House to obtain documents from the Environmental Protection Agency on their internal workings. The decision preempted the committee’s plan to hold a vote today finding EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson in contempt. The Select Committee […]