With 4-10 inches forecast, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) held a hearing on opportunities in the Arctic today despite the federal government being shut down due to snow in the District of Columbia. UW professor Cecilia Bitz testified before the Alaskan Senator, who is also Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, on the topic. Professor Bitz was invited to testify by Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
Category: Seen in DC
Snow Day!
SNOW DAY!
The federal government is closed today as DC deals with a storm that has impacted the east coast from Atlanta to Boston. Winter storm warnings were in effect for 17 states, and the District remains under a warning until noon today. The Washington, DC metro area is expected to enjoy a balmy 32 degree high and snow totals ranging from 4 to 10 inches. Most neighborhoods within the beltway experienced 4 to 6 inches.
The House and Senate are in recess this week for President’s Day, so no action is expected on the Hill. Normal business for federal agencies is expected to resume tomorrow as the District shovels out today.
Expect immigration and the Obama Executive Order to be a hot topic in the next few weeks. Last night, federal Texas judge Judge Andrew Hanen, a George W. Bush appointee, blocked the controversial Executive Order. Judge Hanen said there was sufficient merit to the case to suspend the actions while the case goes forward. The Administration is expected to appeal the ruling. Read more at the AP.
Getting to know the 114th Congress
Today, Tuesday, January 5th, kicks off the 114th year the United State’s federal government has met to legislate. Over the next two years, the Republican party will control both houses of Congress for the first time since President Obama took office in 2004.
This Congress will be the largest Republican majority since 1928 when the party won 270 seats. The House will have 246 seats (having gained 12 seats), which is 56% of the House. While significant, it is not the 60 votes needed to overcome cloture or override a Presidential veto. In the Senate, the GOP will control 54 seats (having gained 9 seats in the 2014 election), but again, short of the 2/3s needed to invoke a cloture vote or override a Presidential veto.
Some other facts:
- The median age in the House will be 57 years old with the youngest member Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21) at age 30 and the oldest member John Conyers (D-MI-13) at age 85. Conyers will also be the longest-serving member of either house of Congress, having been first elected in 1964.
- Forty-nine percent of the House, or 212 members, will have served less than a full six years, including 57 percent of Republican Representatives.
- The House also has a record number of women — 84 total — and there are 20 female Senators. In both chambers, women are very disproportionately Democratic and in the House they make up more than three times as much of the Democratic caucus (62 members) than the Republican caucus (22 members). That said, the 114th Congress is 4/5th white and 4/5th male.
The Office of Federal Relations is excited to work report the ups, downs, turmoil, stagnation, energy and ennui which is Congress, and how that affects the University of Washington and our federal priorities.
Dr. Franklin Orr Sworn in as Under Secretary for Science & Energy
Dr. Franklin (Lynn) M. Orr was sworn in as the Under Secretary for Science and Energy on December 17, 2014.
As the Under Secretary, Dr. Orr is the principal advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on clean energy technologies and science and energy research initiatives. Dr. Orr is the inaugural Under Secretary for the office, which was created by Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz to closely integrate DOE’s basic science, applied research, technology development, and deployment efforts. As Under Secretary, he oversees DOE’s offices of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fossil Energy, Indian Energy Policy and Programs, Nuclear Energy, and Science. In total, these programs steward the majority of DOE’s National Laboratories (13 of 17).
Prior to joining the Department of Energy, Dr. Orr was the Keleen and Carlton Beal Professor Emeritus in the Department of Energy Resources Engineering at Stanford University. He joined Stanford in 1985. He served as the founding director of the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford University from 2009 to 2013. He was the founding director of the Stanford Global Climate and Energy Project from 2002 to 2008, and he served as Dean of the School of Earth Sciences at Stanford from 1994 to 2002. He was head of the miscible flooding section at the New Mexico Petroleum Recovery Research Center, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology from 1978 to 1985, a research engineer at the Shell Development Company Bellaire Research Center from 1976 to 1978, and assistant to the director, Office of Federal Activities, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1970 to 1972. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and a B.S. from Stanford University, both in Chemical Engineering.
Dr. Orr is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute from 1987 to 2014, and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation from 1999 to 2008, for which he has also chaired the Science Advisory Panel for the Packard Fellowships in Science and Engineering from 1988 to 2014. He served as a member of the 2008/09 National Research Council Committee on America’s Energy Future.
Secretary Jewell Visits UW’s College of the Environment
- UW President Michael Young, Secretary Sally Jewell, Dean Lisa Graumlich
Yesterday, UW’s College of the Environment was horned to host Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell for a roundtable discussion on Climate Change and Ocean Acidification. The discussion included individuals from USGS, National Parks Service, and the UW’s College of the Environment.