On the Hill in 2024: A Breakdown of Climate, Energy, and Environmental Congressional Hearings | Article

Congressional hearings are a key area of business on Capitol Hill. From receiving testimony from agency heads to gathering information that can guide future legislation, hearings are a venue for essential knowledge-sharing and debate. To keep up with these happenings, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) tracks hearings related to climate, energy, and environment topics year-round. In total, EESI identified 143 hearings on these subjects in 2024.

Check out EESI’s articles about these hearings over the course of 2024 here:

The House of Representatives held 90 of these hearings, while the Senate hosted 53. On the House side, the Committee on Natural Resources held the most related hearings at 24—just over 25% of the total hearings in that chamber. The Appropriations, Energy and Commerce, and Transportation and Infrastructure committees each hosted more than 10 relevant hearings. In total, 15 House committees held a hearing that focused on some aspect of climate, energy, or environmental issues.

With the majority in the House, Republicans led that chamber’s committee hearing agendas, which covered a wide range of topics, from preparing the Water Resources Development Act reauthorization to nuclear energy. The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology covered a particularly diverse set of topics, including hearings titled, “Winning in Weather: U.S. Competitiveness in Forecasting and Modeling,” “Bridging the Valley of Death: ARPA-E's Role in Developing Breakthrough Technologies,” and “Navigating the Blue Frontier: Evaluating the Potential of Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Approaches.”

EESI held a number of briefings on topics similar to those covered by the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Watch the briefings or review the summary notes to learn more about U.S. weather forecasting, investing in breakthrough energy technologies, and marine carbon dioxide removal.

The Democrat-led Senate held 53 hearings across 12 committees over the course of 2024. The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources led the most hearings at 13, while the Appropriations, Environment and Public Works, and Budget committees ran more than five hearings each.

The Senate Budget Committee had a particularly strong focus on climate change. Led by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the committee’s hearings covered the impact of climate change on ocean industries, the cost of climate change for national security, and the nexus of municipal bonds and climate risk. The year culminated with a hearing about insurance, which was accompanied by a staff report, Next to Fail: The Climate-Driven Insurance Crisis is Here – And Getting Worse.

The Environment and Public Works Committee held two hearings on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—a key public health challenge that EESI covered in a comprehensive issue brief in 2024. One hearing looked at the legal ramifications for clean up and other activities if PFAS were to be categorized as a hazardous substance. The other focused on the range of human health impacts of forever chemicals.

“The term “perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances” (PFAS) refers to a group of thousands of synthetic chemicals with specific heat-, grease-, and water-resistant characteristics...PFAS entered the homes of everyday Americans in the 1940s, and can be found in at least 200 different use categories and applications, including firefighting foam, food wrappers, cosmetics, clothing, cookware, and household products. Often referred to as “forever chemicals,” PFAS possess a chemical structure that makes them extremely difficult to break down.” The State of PFAS Forever Chemicals in America (2024)

While often using different framing or taking different approaches, both chambers covered issues related to U.S. manufacturing, disaster funding, and nuclear energy. Both the House and the Senate also covered infrastructure topics throughout the year, with House committees reviewing Department of Defense housing and other aging infrastructure, as well as strategies for improving pipelines, grid resilience, and rail. Meanwhile, the Senate primarily covered rural infrastructure and public transit. Committees across the Hill also took on cybersecurity, advanced computing, the growing demand for electricity (in part to power data centers), and critical minerals.

Author: Anna McGinn

Data collection led by Nicole Pouy