Throughout this week and in conjunction with Earth Day, Congress is conducting a series of hearings meant to move legislation aimed at curbing global warming, Politico reports. The House Energy and Commerce Committee and its Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment will tag team hearings over four days Over 54 witnesses. will be heard The House Science and Technology Committee is holding its own hearing on greenhouse gas emissions, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will deal with global climate change agreements.

All this activity indicates Congress might actually be getting serious about taking action on climate change. And last Friday’s Environmental Protection Agency announcement that greenhouse gases endanger health and human welfare only adds momentum behind congressional efforts to take action.

OpenSecrets.org has pulled together a helpful listing of resources to help us “follow the political influence” of the corporations and industries most interested in what legislation comes out of the process. Here's their list:

* Overviews of federal campaign contributions by the energy sector over time. This breaks down into contributions from electric utilities, the mining industry and oil and gas companies. Automakers and the agriculture sector, among others, will also likely want to offer input as energy-related legislation moves forward. And, of course, we can't forget the environmentalists and alternative energy producers, who now appear to have a more prominent seat at the table. * These industries also try to peddle influence by lobbying the federal government. Take a look at how much the energy sector, electric utilities, the mining industry and oil and gas companies spent on lobbying in 2008. For automakers, go here; for the agriculture sector, go here; and for environmental groups, go here. * How much have individual members of Congress received from these industries? OpenSecrets.org can show you: energy sector, electric utilities, mining industry, oil and gas companies, automakers, agriculture, environmentalists and alternative energy producers. Play around with the dropdowns and slider menu to change the timeframe or see totals to specific members of the House and Senate. * Check out which industries gave the most to members of the various 110th energy-related committees (111th coming soon) by going here and selecting any of the following: House Energy and Commerce Committee; House Select Energy Independence and Global Warming Committee; House Science Committee; Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee; Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; and Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. * House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Subcommittee on Energy and Environment Chair Ed Markey (D-Mass.) penned the cap-and-trade global warming bill before their committee this week. Take a look at their individual profiles to see where these two are getting their money, here for Waxman and here for Markey. * For a look at how the various industries tried to influence energy-related legislation in the past, take a peek at Capital Eye's 2008 Power Struggle series and 2007 Power Play series.

Sunlight's Ellen Miller posted previously on President-Elect Barack Obama's use of Internet video - or lack of imaginative use. Recently, Obama posted a video to YouTube (among other video sharing sites) addressing climate change and energy policy. This is what it looks like:

In response to Obama's address, Rep. Ed Markey, the chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, posted his own video:

Now this isn't the most thrilling discussion, although it may be the first time a lawmaker has responded to a President-Elect through a video sharing service. Instead it's more of a laudatory salutation for joining those few politicians using Internet technologies. Despite the lack of substance in Rep. Markey's video, the potential is evident for lawmakers who want to respond, or correspond, with a YouTube posting President.

A few things to note on President-Elect Obama's videos: (1) Comments are disabled. I'm not the biggest fan of YouTube commenters, but if you are going to use the Internet the first order of business is to enable discussion. (2) Video responses are disabled. I can kind of understand disabling YouTube comments (really not a big fan of YouTube commenters), but not video responses. That is where I would imagine Rep. Markey's video would go, and where any other lawmaker, Washington power player, or citizen could post their views in video format. That takes a bit more effort than posting a six-word comment and would provide for the two-way dialogue that the Internet enables.

I'm going to have to echo Ellen's previous post, "I don’t see how one-way messages provide any more transparency for the work of the White House or government than the current old style radio addresses."