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The 2022 Climate, Environmental, and Energy Congressional Hearings Tracker catalogs hearings held by various U.S. House and Senate committees. The tracker covers a wide array of topics including the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, electric vehicle infrastructure, methane pollution, and agricultural resiliency. It details the specific dates and titles of hearings across committees such as the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

The report argues that while the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) significantly advances U.S. climate goals, it is insufficient on its own to meet the 2030 NDC. Using the Energy Policy Simulator (EPS), the authors propose a comprehensive set of additional federal, state, and local policies across the electricity, industry, transportation, and building sectors. The electricity sector is identified as the primary driver for 2030 reductions due to its ability to decarbonize faster than sectors limited by slow stock turnover. Proposed measures include a nationwide 80 percent clean electricity standard, stricter tailpipe emissions standards, and the electrification of industrial and building heating. The report estimates that this combined policy pathway would create 2.7 million additional jobs, grow GDP by $700 billion, and avoid 3,900 premature deaths by 2030.

The report examines Wellpath, a major provider of healthcare services to U.S. prisons and jails owned by H.I.G. Capital. It details systemic failures in patient intake, medication management, and staffing levels, citing investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and other watchdogs. The document also analyzes Wellpath's expansion into non-correctional psychiatric care for children and its use of political contributions to secure contracts with local sheriffs.

Between 2000 and 2021, the U.S. experienced 1,542 major weather-related power outages, with 83% of all reported major outages attributed to weather. The average annual number of these events increased by approximately 78% in the 2011-2021 decade compared to 2000-2010. Severe weather, winter weather, and tropical cyclones were the primary drivers, with the Southeast, Midwest, and Northeast regions most affected. To address these vulnerabilities, the document suggests solutions such as microgrids, smart grid technologies, grid hardening, and bidirectional charging for electric vehicles.

Climate Central's analysis of U.S. power outage data from 2000-2021 reveals a significant increase in large-scale disruptions, with 83% of major outages attributed to weather-related events. The report highlights that the frequency of major outages rose by 64% between 2011-2021 compared to 2000-2010, driven by severe weather, winter storms, hurricanes, extreme heat, and wildfires. It emphasizes the vulnerability of aging infrastructure and the compounding effects of climate change, which simultaneously increases electricity demand for cooling while reducing the capacity of power plants due to water shortages. The report identifies the Southeast as the region with the highest number of outages and notes specific recent surges in Texas, California, and Michigan.

The report examines the intersection of the U.S. nursing shortage and private equity's expansion into travel nursing. It argues that while the pandemic exacerbated staffing issues, structural problems and profit-seeking by hospitals created a vulnerability that travel nursing agencies and private equity firms have exploited. The document details how private equity firms use leveraged buyouts and dividend recapitalizations to extract value from staffing agencies, while agencies have seen profit margins grow from 15% in 2019 to 62% in 2022. It also covers legislative efforts to address price gouging and the push for mandated staffing ratios.

The report argues that traditional US public utilities commission (PUC) processes are too slow and restrictive to meet urgent decarbonization and equity mandates. It recommends four primary reforms: setting clear proceeding objectives, expanding stakeholder roles in solution development, reducing information asymmetry by unlocking utility data, and initiating new inclusive processes such as regulatory sandboxes and updated benefit-cost analysis frameworks.

The report finds that gas-fired power plants in MISO and SPP frequently operate at a loss, costing ratepayers an estimated $117 million in 2019. This uneconomic generation is most prevalent in steam turbines and gas turbines, often driven by practices like self-scheduling and self-commitment. The authors argue that these inefficiencies, combined with rising fuel costs and the growth of renewables, make gas-fired power an increasingly risky and expensive investment compared to clean energy portfolios.

The document outlines the technical framework for analyzing a transition to 100% renewable energy in U.S. Climate Alliance states. It describes the use of the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) and Distributed Generation Market Demand (dGen) models to simulate various policy scenarios, including a '100% RES scenario' and a 'Clean Electricity Standard scenario'. The methodology includes specific retirement schedules for coal plants in Michigan and Minnesota, as well as a collaboration with Greenlink Analytics to model socioeconomic impacts, including public health benefits, macroeconomic shifts in employment and GDP, and changes to household energy burdens.

The document argues that Michigan can meet all electricity needs with wind, solar, and batteries by 2035, leading to significant public health savings, job growth, and emissions reductions, provided the transition is managed equitably.

The report finds that USCA states can meet 100% of their electricity consumption with renewables by 2035, even with increased demand from electrification. This transition would significantly reduce air pollution, prevent 6,000 to 13,000 premature deaths, and lower average household energy burdens from 3.7% to 3.0% by 2040. While the transition creates substantial net jobs in renewable installation, the authors argue that proactive equity policies are necessary to ensure benefits reach marginalized communities and fossil fuel workers.

The Union of Concerned Scientists used the HOMER Grid model to analyze microgrid configurations for Parker Village, a planned eight-acre development in Highland Park, Michigan. The analysis focused on a grid-separated (islanded) system powered by solar photovoltaic panels and battery storage to maximize community independence. Findings indicate that while a grid-separated microgrid is feasible, it requires significant solar and battery capacity and necessitates fossil fuel backup (natural gas or diesel) to meet winter peak demand. Alternatively, a grid-connected backup option reduces initial investment costs and battery requirements but maintains a dependency on the utility for approximately 2% of annual power demand. The study emphasizes that increasing building energy efficiency could reduce the necessary scale of energy resources and minimize reliance on fossil fuel backups.

The document describes the use of HOMER Grid software to analyze solar and battery storage configurations for the Parker Village neighborhood in Highland Park, Michigan. It outlines financial assumptions, building stock electricity demand based on full electrification and heat pump use, and technology costs for solar PV, Tesla Powerpack storage, and backup generators. The analysis results in several recommended system configurations combining 1.1 MW of solar PV with varying levels of storage and backup options (diesel, natural gas, or grid connection) to ensure resilience and reliability.

The report finds that most of the 88+ GW of proposed US gas power plants are economically uncompetitive compared to Clean Energy Portfolios (CEPs), which combine wind, solar, storage, energy efficiency, and demand flexibility. At least 70 GW of proposed gas capacity could be avoided using CEPs, potentially saving $22 billion and reducing CO2 emissions by 873 million metric tons over 20 years. The analysis highlights six key headwinds—including declining renewable costs, rising gas prices, and public health impacts—that increase the risk of project cancellations or stranded assets. Specifically, in a central analysis case, 40% of proposed combined cycle (CC) plants would cost more to operate than a new CEP would cost to build within 10 years, a figure that could rise to 80-90% under certain economic scenarios. The report also notes that CEPs create more jobs and avoid significant health costs, particularly in low-income communities and communities of color.

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) testifies that manufactured housing, which comprises 6.3% of the U.S. housing stock, is increasingly owned by private equity firms and institutional investors. These owners leverage the limited mobility of residents—who often cannot move or sell their homes without significant loss—to increase rents and fees. PESP highlights YES! Communities as a primary example of aggressive eviction practices, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The document calls for rent regulations, 'good cause' eviction laws, and paths toward resident or public ownership to preserve affordability and safety.

To meet its 2030 climate target of reducing net emissions by 50-52% from 2005 levels, the United States must increase its land carbon sink's annual removal by 13% over 2019 levels, reaching at least 913 Mt CO2e. The World Resources Institute identifies three primary pathways to achieve this: reforestation and restocking, agroforestry, and wildfire risk mitigation. Together, these pathways would require a total federal investment of $126.6 billion over 20 years, supporting approximately 199,000 jobs annually and generating $226.8 billion in value added to local economies. The document advocates for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal and the Build Back Better Act to maintain robust funding for these initiatives to catalyze a just, low-carbon economy.

The report analyzes how Highland Park, Michigan, can transition to 100 percent locally generated clean energy to achieve energy sovereignty. It identifies a total average annual electricity demand of approximately 86,200 MWh and proposes a mix of rooftop solar, community solar, energy efficiency, distributed solar, and a community water and energy resource center (CWERC) to meet this need. The analysis highlights that current utility restrictions and state policies create long payback periods for solar investments, but a proposed policy scenario—including full retail-rate net metering and state tax credits—could increase rooftop solar's contribution from 13 percent to nearly 30 percent of the city's energy needs. The document concludes with recommendations for Michigan policymakers to eliminate distributed generation caps and for Highland Park leaders to enact solar ordinances and establish local financing mechanisms.

The document outlines the use of HOMER Grid software to optimize energy systems in Highland Park, MI, assuming investments made in 2023. It details building stock estimates, electricity rate tariffs from DTE Energy, and the impact of policy incentives like net metering and SRECs on payback periods for residential and commercial solar installations.

As of August 2021, fewer than 1% of U.S. school buses are electric, with adoption heavily concentrated in California and suburban areas. While 33 states have committed to electric buses, the report emphasizes that targeted public funding is essential to ensure these benefits reach vulnerable communities and rural areas, which currently lag in deployment despite the health risks posed by diesel emissions to students.

Phosmet is a U.S. registered pesticide used in 40 states, primarily on orchards and grapes, and is currently under registration review. It is associated with serious health effects, including cancer, neurodevelopmental harm, and reproductive toxicity, with exposure occurring via food, drinking water, and occupational contact. The pesticide is applied to a significant percentage of several common crops, including peaches (55%) and nectarines (50%).