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Upcoming Congressional Briefing on Aquaculture
The Risks of Commercial Net-Pen
Aquaculture on the Great Lakes
Wednesday, September 27,
10:00 AM- 11:30 AM
421 Cannon House Office Building
Representatives from conservation organizations will hold a Congressional briefing on Wednesday, September 27th from 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM in Cannon 421.
The briefing will provide Congressional staff, and interested members of the media and public, the opportunity to hear directly from conservation experts about the adverse impacts of commercial net-pen aquaculture to the Great Lakes. The briefing will include an overview of the impacts, first-hand accounts of current activities in US and Canadian waters, as well as an interactive discussion of legislative and administrative actions at the state and federal level in protecting the Great Lakes and in-land waters from commercial net-pen aquaculture.
The list of speakers includes:
- Marc Smith, Regional Conservation Director, National Wildlife Federation
- Dan Eichinger, Executive Director, Michigan United Conservation Clubs
- Taylor Ridderbusch, Great Lakes Organizer, Trout Unlimited
- Dennis Eade, Executive Director, Michigan Steelhead and Salmon Fisherman's Association
- Tom Baird, Anglers of the Au Sable
Presentations will be followed by a Q + A session with the panel.
For more information, please contact Marc Smith, National Wildlife Federation, 734-255-5413,
msmith@nwf.org.
You can view the full invitation to the briefing
here.
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Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Baseload Power
At a recent House Energy and Commerce hearing, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Chairman Neil Chatterjee spoke about baseload power. Chairman Chatterjee, who has
previously indicated that coal and nuclear plants should be compensated for the unique importance of the baseload power that they provide, appears to have moderated his stance on the issue somewhat.
In the hearing, Chatterjee
pointed out that FERC is "fuel neutral" in terms of the electric grid and did not promise to give direct aid to coal and nuclear plants. However, he stressed that grid reliability is an important issue and one that the Commission would monitor going forward.
If the Commission did conclude that coal and nuclear were necessary for grid reliability, it would have
the power to compensate those plants to ensure their continued economic viability. Although Chatterjee would no longer be chairman if another one of President Trump's nominees to the Commission, Kevin McIntyre, is confirmed, Chatterjee would continue to serve and his views may be indicative of how, if at all, the Commission would act.
As states in the Mississippi River Basin and around the country continue to increase their reliance on renewable energy, FERC's actions will continue to be closely scrutinized to determine if it will provide economic support to non-renewable energy sources.
For more information, please contact
Joe Vukovich, Senior Policy Analyst for the Upper Mississippi River Basin Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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This Week on Capitol Hill
The House will be in recess all of this week. The Senate is expected to vote on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) today. Tax reform will move into the spotlight as Congressional Republicans are expected to release an outline of tax reform provisions in the next two weeks.
Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation
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