• Hill Heat
  • Posts
  • The Week in Climate Hearings: Feeding the Beast

The Week in Climate Hearings: Feeding the Beast

DHS do-or-die time, fueling AI, and starving the planet

Author

Brad Johnson
April 27, 2026

Congress is cramming this week. Russ Vought has told Congress that he’s willing to illegally and unconstitutionally fund the Department of Homeland Security—including the Federal Emergency Management Agency—through the end of the month. A month ago, House Republicans blocked the bipartisan Senate agreement to fund all of DHS except for CBP and ICE, so now they’re scrambling forward with a partisan reconciliation package that would fund CBP and ICE for three more years.

Feeding AI’s Big Brutal Boxes

On Wednesday, April 29, House committees hold several hearings aimed at facilitating the unchecked growth of hyperscaler data centers.

At 10 am, the Natural Resources energy and mineral resources subcommittee holds a hearing on domestic copper mining, with NRDC’s Dr. Michele Bustamante testifying against mining executives and lobbyists.

At 10:15 am, the Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee holds a hearing on AI and the grid, with clean-energy expert Whitney Muse testifying against utility lobbyists and executives. Seven different bills to facilitate the rapid growth of energy-sucking data centers either through grid construction or requiring the construction of off-grid methane power plants are on the table.

At 2 pm, the House Natural Resources water, wildlife and fisheries subcommittee hears testimony on legislation on adding capacity to midwest water systems and weakening endangered species protections for water projects. One plan would divert Missouri River waters to the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System, which serves the South Dakota-Iowa-Minnesota tri-state region. Much of the water diversion is a desperate effort to save industrial agriculture as industrial climate change dries up the region, but another driver is thirsty data centers. Over 1,000 MW of data center capacity is planned across the region, including the 500 MW Gemini data center in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Dakota Mainstem project

The Dakota Mainstem proposal to divert 200 million gallons per day from the Missouri River for the Tri-State region.

FY27 Budget Testimony

Climate denier and billionaire Jared Isaacman testifies in support of cutting NASA climate science by 50 percent and eliminating NASA STEM outreach.

Lee Zeldin

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin testifies before House appropriators, April 27, 2026.

On Monday at 4 pm and Tuesday at 10 am, climate denier Lee Zeldin testifies in support of remaking the EPA fast-tracking fossil-fuel, mining, and other industrial projects. The budget guts EPA science research, grant programs, and civil and criminal enforcement. Zeldin plans to roll back or eliminate greenhouse gas regulations and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, New Source Performance Standards actions for air pollutants in the power plant, oil, and natural gas sectors, and three major on-road vehicle regulations.

Climate denier Neil Jacobs testifies in support of eliminating the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, eliminating the Sea Grant office and its outreach and extension programs, and cutting the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service by 20 percent.

Climate denier Doug Burgum testifies in support of cutting Interior’s budget by 13 percent, including killing Interior’s offshore and onshore wind energy programs, cutting the National Park Service by $1 billion, slashing funding for Wildlife and Aquatic Habitat Management, the National Wildlife Refuge System, cutting the Bureaus of Indian Affairs and Indian Education by one third, eliminating the Historic Preservation Fund, and eliminating basic science and ecosystems research from the U.S. Geological Survey budget.

The Interior budget proposes a $10 billion fund under the direct control of Donald Trump for construction projects in Washington, D.C.—the Presidential Capital Stewardship Program. The city’s entire capital improvement budget for FY2027 is $2.8 billion.

Forest Service chief Tom Schultz, an ally of the timber industry, testifies in support of cutting USFS’s budget by 75 percent, by moving wildland firefighting to Interior, eliminating the State, Private, & Tribal Forestry budget, eliminating the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, while quadrupling the Forest Products federal timber sale program, among other activities.

FY27 Budget Markups

Even as Cabinet testimony continues, House appropriators are moving forward on an accelerated markup schedule:

Hill Heat’s U.S. Climate Politics Almanac is made available to the public thanks to our paid subscribers. Join their ranks today and grow the movement:

Reply

or to participate.