The Week in Climate Hearings: Confirmations of Climate Denial

It’s Joe Biden’s last week as president, and president-elect Donald Trump and his allies are fomenting racist conspiracy theories and misinformation about the deadly, state-subsidized fossil-fueled wildfires that have ravaged Los Angeles and are still smoldering, with bone-dry conditions and further windstorm events to come. Altadena climate scientist Edgar McGregor, meanwhile, is saving his neighbors’ lives.

Perhaps recognizing which way the winds are blowing, this morning the U.S. Supreme Court denied Big Oil’s petition to kill the climate lawsuits from Honolulu, California, and other localities against their climate deception. Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from today’s decision because of his investments in oil stocks.

The Democratic National Committee officer elections on February 1st are approaching fast; the first official forum was held Saturday, a forum with progressive organizations is tonight, and the corporate-right Politico, which is heavily funded by the fossil-fuel industry, will moderate the only in-person candidate forum in Detroit on Thursday. Minnesota chair Ken Martin has continued to rack up the lion’s share of DNC member endorsements for chair. There is now only one candidate for National Finance Chair, as vice chair Chris Lowe, a clean-energy financier, has withdrawn his attempt to unseat the incumbent Chris Korge. Korge and Lowe plan to manage the major-donor-managing committee as co-chairs.

The Republican-run Senate is hoping to fast-track the confirmation of Trump’s Cabinet of climate deniers this week. The required background checks and financial disclosures of several nominees, including Gov. Doug Burgum (R-N.D.) for Interior and fracking executive Chris Wright for Energy, have not been completed.

The Sunrise Movement is planning a rally at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday morning to protest Wright and other climate-denier nominees.

Here’s the line-up:

Tuesday, January 14

• 9:30 am: The Senate Armed Services Committee considers the nomination of Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense. Hegseth, a Fox News host, is a climate denier, adulterer, and an alleged alcoholic sexual predator.

• 10 am: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee considers the nomination of Gov. Doug Burgum (R-N.D.) to be Secretary of the Interior. Nominated by Trump with the mandate to “drill baby drill,” Burgum wants more pipelines to increase oil and gas exports.

Wednesday, January 15

• 9 am: The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee considers the nomination of Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) to be Secretary of Homeland Security. The Department of Homeland Security includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Noem is a climate denier.

• 10 am: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee considers the nomination of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to be Secretary of State. Rubio’s statements on climate change change from advocating inaction to outright climate denial depending on political convenience.

• 10 am: The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee considers the nomination of Sean Duffy to be Secretary of Transportation. Duffy is an anti-gay Fox Business host and climate denier.

• 10 am: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee considers the nomination of Chris Wright to be Secretary of Energy. Wright is a fracking executive and ideological climate denier.

• 1 pm: Senate Homeland Security holds its second confirmation hearing, to consider the nomination of Russell Vought to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought is a co-author of Project 2025 who plans to use OMB to eliminate the National Climate Assessment produced by the interagency U.S. Global Change Program.

Also on Wednesday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee holds a hearing on the state of the nation’s transportation system at 10 am. Witnesses include Gov. Jeff Landry (R-La.) and Vanessa Fuentes, mayor pro-tem of Austin, Texas.

Thursday, January 16

• 10 am: The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee considers the nomination of former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) to be Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Zeldin is a climate-denier-for-hire; after leaving Congress he was was paid tens of thousands of dollars to write op-eds criticizing climate policies and responsible investment practices, even comparing ESG to the FTX fraud.