OVERNIGHT ENERGY: White House warns of climate’s impact on public health

HEALTHY EARTH, HEALTHY PEOPLE: Obama administration officials said Tuesday that climate change is a public health risk and it is taking steps to help protect against it.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy were among the speakers at a White House summit on Tuesday, warning that the natural phenomena caused by climate change — hotter summers, wildfires, extreme weather events — will have a significant impact on public health as well. 

“Climate change is not just the biggest environmental challenge of our time, it is the biggest public health challenge of our time,” McCarthy said.

{mosads}The White House announced a slate of measures to mitigate climate change effects on public health, including collaborations between government agencies that oversee environment and health policy. 

“Addressing climate change is not just a health issue but it is a moral issue and each of us has a responsibility to do what we can, as much as we can, for as long as we can,” Murthy said.

Read more here.

HOUSE DELAYS VOTES ON EPA FUNDING BILL: The House has cancelled its scheduled votes this Friday so members can attend funeral services for the victims of last week’s shooting in Charleston, S.C.

The schedule change means lawmakers won’t vote on a bill cutting funding for the EPA until after they return from their July 4th recess. The House will still debate amendments to the bill but put off votes until the week of July 6. 

Republicans have proposed cutting the EPA’s budget by 9 percent next year and blocking several rules the agency has proposed or finalized. 

Read more here.

ON TAP WEDNESDAY I: The House is likely to vote Wednesday on the Ratepayer Protection Act. Sponsored by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), the bill would delay the EPA’s carbon rule for power plants, and allow state governors to opt out of compliance for any of a number of reasons.

ON TAP WEDNESDAY II: A House Natural Resources Committee subpanel will hold a hearing on Bureau of Land Management renewable energy bond oversight.  Read more about the bond issue here.

Rest of Wednesday’s agenda …

The House Science Committee’s energy subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Clean Power Plan. Howard Gruenspecht, the deputy administrator of the Energy Information Administration, will testify.

Whitfield and some of his colleagues will hold a press conference earlier in the day Wednesday on the Ratepayer Protection Act and the House vote.

The Department of Energy will wrap up its conference on bioenergy technology Wednesday. The day’s speakers will include EPA Transportation Director Christopher Grundler and Robert Simon of the Energy Department’s science and technology office. 

AROUND THE WEB: 

A council in England is considering a bid from an energy company to launch the UK’s first large-scale hydraulic fracturing operation, the BBC reports.

The New Guinea flatworm, considered one of the worst invasive species by conservationists, has been found in North America for the first time, the Huffington Post reports.

China says it’s putting the finishing touches on a climate change plan worth $6.6 trillion, Reuters reports.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out Tuesday’s stories …

-GAO report: Feds losing track of renewable energy bonds
-Green groups: Obama’s Arctic drilling plan violates ‘walrus rules‘
-White House makes public health pitch for climate change action
-Oil and gas industry fuels up advocacy arm for 2016
-House cancels Friday votes for Charleston funeral services
-Report calls climate change ‘medical emergency‘
-White House launches climate change health initiative 

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