BOARD00146 ‎(2)‎

• Board Meeting Date: 3/12/2007
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Chairwoman: Grace F. Napolitano (ClX)
Ranking RepubUcan Member:Cathy rtIcMorris Rodgers (W A) i
Democrats: Jim Costa (CA), George Miller (CA), Mark Udall (CO), Joe Baca (CA), ~nd Hilda
L. Solis (CA). Ii.
Republicans:Ken Calvert (CA), Dean Heller (NV), and Doug Lamborn (CO). :

Chairman Rahall and Ranking Member Young 1m serve as ex officio members of each subcohunittee.
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Pelosi Names Daniel P. Beard New Chief AdJunistrative Officer: Speaker Nancy Pelosi anrtounced
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Jan 31 that she will appoint Daniel P. Beard as the new Chief Administrative Officer. Beard, who
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recently served as a senior advisor for the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., has mor~ than three
decades of experience in policy affairs and man~gement issues. His government service includes
positions with the House of Representatives, Se~ate, White House, Interior Department, and tHe Library
of Congress. He also served as the Commissio~er of the Bureau of Reclamation. His work in ithe
environmental community includes his role as the former Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice
President for Public Policy at the National AudJbon Society and Staff Director of the House ~atural
Resources Committee. I

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Federal Spending Packages EstabUshed: On Feb 3, spending packages for both federal EnergylWater
and for Interior/Environment appropriations were set. :

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The Fiscal Year 2007 Energy & Water spending package keeps overall funding for energy and
waterprograms relatively flat. The Energy-Water section would provide $30.3 billion in discretionary
funding, $230 million below the fiscal 2006 en~cted level (PL 109-103). :
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Funding for water projects carried out by the.Ai.my Corps of Engineers and the Interior Department's
Bureau of Reclamation would remain flat when I compared with fiscal 2006 levels. Democrats ~ay the .
funds earmarked by individual members for projects in their home districts would be eliminated.
The Interior Department and environmental programs would get $165 million more in discreti'onary funds
than they did in fiscal 2006 (PL 109-54). The d~scretionary total for the bill would be $26.3 billion-
more than either chamber planned to provide last year. Funding for the bill has been declining: for a
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number of years. I

46 Nations Back Body to Protect Planet: In early February, forty-five nations answered France's call
for a new environmental body to slow inevitabl~ global warming and protect the planet, perhaps with
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policing powers to punish violators. The U.S., China and India did not attend. .
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The charge, led by French President Jacques Cijirac, came a day after the release a scientific report in
Paris that said global warming is "very likely" c'aused by mankind and that climate change will continue
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for centuries even if heat-trapping gases are re~uced. It was the strongest language ever used by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, whose last report was issued in 2001. The document, a
collaboration of hundreds of scientists and gov~rnment officials, was approved by 113 nations, including
the United States.
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Despite the report's dire outlook, most scientist~ say the worst disasters -- huge sea level rises land the
most catastrophic storms and droughts -- may "e avoided if strong action is taken soon. !
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Many countries have failed to meet targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions laid out in the 1997
Kyoto Protocol. The United States has never ratified the pact. And on Feb. 2, the Bush administration
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reiterated its rejection of imposed cuts on gree~ouse gases.

United Nationals Intergovernmental Panel o~ Climate Change Report: On February 5th, the United
Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate qhange released its report, "Climate Change 2Q07: The
Physical Science Basis." This report for policy ,makers summarizes a significant amount of information

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