Sen. Begich to Participate Thursday in Nomination Hearings of Important Obama Administration Scientists

On Thursday the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a nomination hearing for Dr. Jane Lubchenco, one of the most prestigious climate scientists active today. President Obama has nominated her to head the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Alaska Senator Mark Begich is on the committee and will participate in the nomination hearing.

This morning, I spoke to Julie Hrdlick, administrative assistant for the Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard Subcommittee about the nomination schedule and coverage.

The Lubchenco nomination hearing is scheduled for sometime after 10:00 a.m. on Thursday. The full committee has an executive session scheduled for 10:00 a.m. that day. They will probably settle the final subcommittee assignments for the 111th congress during the executive session.

Also scheduled for the Thursday nomination event is Dr. John Holdren, nominated to be Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President.

Here's the current listing for the nominations hearing, at the subcommittee's web page:

Nominations Hearing
Full Committee

Thursday, February 12, 2009
10:00 AM
SR - 253

During this hearing, Committee Members will here testimony from Dr. Jane Lubchenco, nominated to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere at the U.S. Department of Commerce - also known as the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – and Dr. John Holdren, nominated to be Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President.

Note: This hearing will begin following the completion of the Committee's 10:00 a.m. Executive Session.

For more information on Dr. Lubchenco, you can find a lot of links at my Oxdown Gazette post on her from back in December, when her nomination was announced by President Obama.

Dr. John Holdren, like Lubchenco, is one of the most articulate scientists active today in the role of communicating the utter seriousness of climate change, and the necessity of being prepared to act soon in many ways. Both Holdren and Lubchenco are markedly different from their predecessors in these posts during the Bush administration.

Here's a link to Dr. Holdren talking about climate change last summer. The video has a powerpoint demo that feeds alongside it, and it is an excellent add-on. That's from somebody who hates watching or giving powerpoint stuff.

According to Ms. Hrdlick from the Oceans, Fisheries Atmosphere & Coast Guard Subcommittee, there is a possibility the Lubchenco-Holdren hearing will be on C-SPAN 2, C-SPAN 3 or the Senate webcast sites. The web presence of the event won't be posted until early Thursday morning.

I hope to live blog the hearing at Oxdown Gazette, unless somebody else from firedoglake has that in mind.