The Week in Climate Hearings: Fascism v. The Planet

Tune in at 3 pm today for Fascism v. The Planet, a live conversation with Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Bill McKibben, and Naomi Klein. Bill is joining Ayana this season as a cohost of her podcast, What If We Get It Right? Naomi’s latest book, End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World, was co-written with Astra Taylor.

For folks in D.C. — climate hawks are hosting a house party for Michigan 7th candidate Will Lawrence, cofounder of the Sunrise Movement, tonight at 6 pm! Get your ticket or make a contribution.

The death toll is nearing 1000 and thousands more remain missing after the fossil-fueled glacial collapse in the Himalayas; 900 people are trapped in hydropower tunnels in Nepal, while China is hiding the scale of the devastation in Tibet.

Closer to home, deadly fossil-fueled floods stormed through the Grand Canyon this weekend, razing Phantom Ranch and killing at least one person, with 15 more still missing. Fossil-fueled storms killed at least two people in San Antonio and knocked out power for tens of thousands of homes.

Members of Congress are back in town, though it’s expected it won’t be for long. The House of Representatives needs to get through a continuing resolution to keep the government funded; the open rumor is that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La., no relation) will speed that vote through and then let everyone go back to the campaign trail, potentially all the way through the election. The Senate isn’t back in session until September 14th.

This week, Republicans will be fighting for gas stoves and mining, while attacking whales and socialism. In one hearing, Republicans will back Trump’s boosterism of data centers, while in another, they will try to echo local concerns about data-center water demand.

Monday, August 31

At 4 pm, the Rules Committee meets to prepare floor votes on several bills, including H.R. 1501, the Protecting Domestic Mining Act, to fast-track mining projects; H.R. 9436, to prevent protections for the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale from fishing nets and lines from going into effect; and election-year stunts opposing Israel boycotts and socialism.

Tuesday, September 1

At 10:15 am, the Energy and Commerce’s Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee holds a markup of several bills, including two establishing industry-friendly rules for sustainability claims for consumer products:

•  H.R. 6832, the Packaging and Claims Knowledge (PACK) Act of 2025, would pre-empt state-level packaging rules on recyclable, compostable, and reusable claims and put the Federal Trade Commission in charge of managing the use of the recycling logo on products. The bill is backed by industry lobbyists; the Democratic counterpart is H.R. 10048, the Truth in Labeling Act, introduced by Rep. Luis Correa (D-Calif.), is supported by environmental groups.

• The subcommittee will also mark up a companion bill, H.R. 7502, the Recycled Materials Attribution Act, which would prohibit a person from making a misleading recycled content claim in advertising, marketing, selling, or offering for sale a product to a consumer.

Wednesday, September 2

There are a passel of hearings at 10 am on Wednesday.

An Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee holds a hearing on state and local bans of fracked-gas stoves—which are poisoning our children—and on efforts to push for home electrification. The Republican witnesses are New York construction industry lobbyist Michael Fazio, former GOP staffer, FERC lawyer, and polluter lobbyist Patrick McCormick, and MAGA anti-climate legal activist James Conde with Boyden Gray.

The Science Committee’s energy subcommittee interviews witnesses on advanced nuclear reactors, including Oak Ridge’s Dr. Joe Hoagland, North Carolina State nuclear engineer Dr. Steven Shannon, and several nuclear startup CEOs.

A Small Business subcommittee looks at the rising electricity demand and workforce needs driven by the data-center boom and Trump’s slashing of environmental protections. The witnesses are Texas state Rep. Cody Harris (R), the chair of the Texas House Committee on Natural Resources, MAGA climate denier Ted Ellis of the America First Policy Institute, and Center for American Progress climate policy Trevor Higgins.

The Natural Resources federal lands subcommittee invites testimony on nine
federal lands and national parks bills, including an effort to weaken wilderness protections on 100,000 acres of Montana forests (H.R. 6788), a bill to prevent Elon Musk’s SpaceX from renaming Boca Chica Beach, Texas, to Cyber Beach (H.R. 9779), and efforts to memorialize Thomas Paine (H.R. 9600) and build a presidential library for Teddy Roosevelt (S. 675).

Thursday, September 3

At 9 am, the Energy and Commerce environment subcommittee looks at drinking water infrastructure and data centers, including a draft bill to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to limit the pass-through of data center costs, with witnesses not yet announced.