WASHINGTON, DC - The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power, chaired by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), will hold a hearing Wednesday, Sept. 18, on “The Obama Administration’s Climate Change Policies and Activities." On August 6, 2013, Chairman Whitfield sent requests to 13 federal agencies to testify at the hearing, and sent a follow up letter September 4 reiterating his request. Although agencies were given over six weeks notice, the only confirmed attendees are Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy.
“What does it say about an administration that is largely unwilling to testify on its top policy initiative? More than $77 billion was spent between 2008 and 2013 across the government on climate activities, and yet the ‘most transparent administration in history’ can only find two people to testify from these agencies that employ tens of thousands of employees and receive significant funding for climate change related activities," said Whitfield. “Advancing its climate agenda is one of the highest priorities of the administration. President Obama featured it in his inaugural address in January and his State of the Union speech in February, and released his climate change plan in June. It is appropriate for Congress to conduct oversight of the plan, as well as of the administration’s current climate activities for which billions of dollars are being spent annually. We look forward to a thoughtful exchange with Secretary Moniz and Administrator McCarthy, but EPA and DOE represent just two of the federal agencies engaged in carrying out the administration’s overall climate change agenda."
