**For earlier part of the hearing, click here**

Secretary of the Department of Energy, Stephen Chu (a hero of energy efficiency dorks like me).

11:27 ‘Today I want to focus on the Energy Opportunity’ Hurray for CAP memes making it in the hearings!

11:28 China has made the choice. they are spending billions in clean energy, transmission,… my feed froze!!

11:30 ‘Obama announces billion dollar investments in smart grid technology! Hurray for rational people in the White House!’

Secretary of Department of Transportation, Ray LaHood

11:32 Acknowledging role of transit for climate reductions. Great to see that, but doesn’t really fall under climate bill purview…

11:33 Talking about smart growth. Can you believe it?! Only 2 years ago the Department of Transportation was working to subsidize suburbia!

Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar

11:37 ‘First energy independence, Second jobs, third healthy planet and safety of our children.’ Really? Your priorities are a little off.

11:39 ‘My department is the Carbon capture department’ (and the carbon extraction one!)

11:40 ‘We drill  a lot of oil in our public lands, but at the Department we are mostly excited about the new energy frontiers’ ‘ We are fast-tracking deployment of clean energy, both sun, off-shore, on-shore’

11:42 ‘Our public lands can sequester carbon just as what will happen with investments in Indonesia and Brazil in CEJAPA’

— Editorial comment: these witnesses are not as fun as senators… + they don’t talk about young people!—

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Lisa Jackson

11:44  ’Our president has taken significant steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions already’ This should be recognized more often!

11:47 ‘Climate bills in house and senate will transform our economy from one that is fossil intensive and inefficient to a cleaner, more efficient one. Second, it would do so at little to no cost to consumers. Third, it would help reduce CO2 emissions to levels close to what science demands’

11: 49 ‘The American people have waited decades while america became increasingly more dependent on oil while other nations invested in cleaner alternatives. Americans are tired of the opposition by the same interest groups that spread the same disinformation’ You said it Lisa Jackson!

Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Jon Wellinghoff

11:50 ‘Price of emissions isn’t reflected in what consumers pay’ Environmental Econ 101. Glad we are moving past Microecon 101 at FERC.

11:53 ‘FERC is using it’s authority to streamline clean energy projects and implement energy efficiency’

Question and Answer Period

Boxer ‘How will this bill help mitigate carbon emissions and what happens if we fail?

Salazar ‘It would be disastrous. If Americans could sit in my chair, they would see what is already happening to our public lands, glaciers, and wildlife’

Boxer ‘Jackson, many people think the trading program is brand new. Some of my colleagues call it a tax, but they never used to when it was in the Clean Air Act for SOx. How successful was this trading program with SOx and will one for CO2 have the same impact?’

Jackson ‘The predictions at the time were that it would cost a lot of money and be ineffective. EPA has proudly proven that wrong.’

Jackson ‘The trade program provided the market signal that spurred innovation’

Boxer ‘Chu, CAP study shows that investments in clean energy economy will cause significant increase in jobs in Pennsylvania. Sen. Specter is worried about jobs. How important is a price signal to attract the kind of venture capital that we need to make this transition’

Chu ‘Stable price signal is essential to provide long-term stability to investments. As for jobs, we need to talk about jobs that will be sustaining many years from now. These jobs we are talking about will, unless we fail to lead. In that case, China and India will’

Inhofe ‘We have forgotten about the outrage [manufactured by Fox News] that we saw during the winter recess. Follow the money, corporations in support of climate action will make too much money’

Inhofe quotes Jim Hansen. Way to go mad scientist. Uses typical climate denier smoke and mirrors by proposing Carbon Tax.

Inhofe talking about his throughly debunked list of scientists in opposition to climate. Too bad none of those are climate scientists, and most are on the payroll of polluters.

Inhofe ‘We use this example of acid rain, but then the technology was available.’

Salazar ‘Vilsack (Secretary of Agriculture)  told me to say to America, that rural America has much to gain by passing this bill’

Klobuchar ‘Chu, can you talk about the signal that this could provide to investors? On and off signals we’ve had so far have been problematic, this could provide stability’

Chu ‘On again off again is disastrous. Denmark and German won on wind and solar because they had long term policy view’

Chu ‘Yesterday we selected recipients of federal funds, less than 1% out of all applicants **feed froze again! **. We are seeing some brilliant ideas, but we need a stable price signal to make these become reality’

Klobuchar ‘Can you talk about time frame of nuclear?’

Chu ‘We are working hard to get more nuclear plants back online. We have 2 or 3 in the pipeline, but that won’t make a big difference. Different to say about time frame, depends on Nuclear Regulatory Commission’

Voinovich - questions Jackson’s analysis of climate bills. He wants a full analysis that would take 4-5 weeks even though it’s virtually the same bill that the house passed. Sounds like delayer tactics?

Voinovich -  attacking the Clean Air Act surviving the senate climate bill. Jackson replies saying that it still has value. Voinovich doesn’t care and thinks the Clean Air Act.

Voinovich - attacking the increased target. This guy doesn’t understand the legislation he is attacking.

Voinovich ‘Chu, caps are unrealistic given existing technology. Are we going to have enough money for clean coal technology by 2020?’ so called “Clean Coal” isn’t even close to the cheapest or only way to achieve these reductions. Leave your Peabody speaking hat at home, please!

Chu ‘Conservation, I believe, is the lowest cost and fastest technology’ You believe? It just is, stand up for efficiency Chu!

Jackson speaking of equity. Don’t you know that these people think that equity = communism!

*** Took a little break, and missed Senator Specter. Oh well, he probably talked about how much he loves coal and getting re-elected ***

Sanders ‘The state of Vermont has been leading the country in energy efficiency. I understand you are announcing today major funding in smart grid. My understanding is in previous studies a home can reduce its energy use by 15% with smart grid. Can you explain this? ‘

Chu ‘Smart grids let owners know exactly how much energy they are using and how much that is costing’

Senators keep on interrupting Chu because he is too long-winded and doesn’t speak in sound bites. Pretty funny or pretty sad?

Sanders showing chart showing how much carbon free energy costs. Hell yeah! Conservation and renewables are much cheaper than nukes and carbon capture and sequestration.

Chu ‘First we work on efficiency. It is actually a money-maker’

Sanders is fricken hilarious. He is so on point!

Sanders ‘Why is the U.S. so far behind Europe in public transit’

LaHood ‘Lack of investments!! If Eisenhower had passed High Speed Overhaul instead of Highway Bill, we would be right there with other developed nations. Obama is changing that vision!’

Sanders ‘I come from a rural state where people can’t get to work with public transit. What are we going to do about that’

LaHood ‘We will work to connect rural areas with more populated areas to provide these alternatives. People have a right to live in rural areas’

Sanders ‘We need special investments in rural areas’

Udall “Wellinghoff, is Renewable Portfolio Standard feasible?”

Wellinghoff ‘Yes, and it is essential that we have a national standard.’

Udall ‘Estimates for natural gas show that we have enough for hundreds of year. Does the Dept of Energy believe that we are entering a time of abundant natural gas and are you considering it as an important low-carbon fuel?’

Chu ‘Absolutely yes’ YES?! Really? Let’s build a whole new infrastructure for Natural Gas so we can keep on releasing CO2 for another 100 years!

Udall ‘Is the cost of solar and wind going down?’

Chu ‘Yes solar modules and wind are getting much cheaper, it’s remarkable. What we have to do is balance the whole system cost.’

Udall ‘What’s the benefit of rail? Is it a big priority?

Wellinghoff ‘Getting people out of cars and making it easier for people to travel medium distances. This is a huge priority for President Obama and Vice President Biden’ credit where credit is due.

Lautenberg ‘Jackson and Chu, do you agree that we can’t achieve a 20% emission reduction by the year 2020?’

Chu ‘It is achievable, but you have to look at every sector. It also includes offsets for reforestation, conservation, wind -that is achieving cost parity with old power. Technologies like nuclear and coal carbon sequestration are more long term’

Jackson ‘The clock is ticking. Every time we don’t have a price on carbon we are loosing time towards that goal’

Lautenberg ‘Glad to hear we can do it. For longer targets I probably won’t be here’

Boxer ‘The cost of doing nothing is always important to keep in mind. It’s Huge! and it’s not in any of the economic models!’

Merkeley ‘McKinsey study shows we can reduce 17% of reductions with conservation alone at no cost. Should this bill go further in energy efficiency’

Chu ‘YES! The McKinsey study shows that you can reduce energy consumption by 23%. If you only count those investments, they would make money.’

Chu ‘Energy efficiency, you can’t just say make it happen. you have to be very proactive because of market failures’

Chu ‘Home retrofits need to become a bloc party to bring the price down!’ Best quote… EVER!

Merkeley ‘Talk about electric cars or plug-in hybrids’

LaHood ‘I drove the Volt and it’s the car of the future’

Whitehouse ‘Every single one of our Republican colleagues have left, despite having all of you extremely knowledgeable people in the room’

Very strong words from Whitehouse ‘Corporate lobbyists have won, our children’s lungs have lost’ ‘My state is downwind and I am personally FED UP with it!’

Cardin ‘Thanks for the emphasis on transportation in your mark’

The End! Thoughts and background on the climate hearing to come soon!