- San Antonio Express-News:Oil, gas industry to see slow recovery this year, analysts say
POLITICO Morning Energy for 6/25/2015
By ERIC WOLFF, with help from Elana Schor, Nick Juliano, and Darren Goode
GOP CAN’T LOSE THOSE CLIMATE TALKS BLUES: With the world seemingly headed to a landmark climate agreement in Paris later this year, Republicans find themselves with few options for keeping the U.S. out of it. Obama will avoid signing any deal that requires him to bring a treaty to the Senate, instead opting for promises he can deliver with executive authority. Without a treaty to shoot down, Republicans would be left only with the options of trying to defund the president’s climate agenda — a path they’re already pursuing with enthusiasm — or passing legislation that forbids the U.S. from implementing an agreement. Democrats have largely lined up behind the president on his climate change agenda and are unlikely to provide the necessary votes to override a veto on any GOP legislation. Even Sen. Jim Inhofe, one of the most vocal climate deniers in Congress, said Republicans “probably couldn’t” stop a climate agreement. Pro’s Andrew Restuccia has the analysis: http://politico.pro/1BCwzKj
But the blues can draw a crowd. Republicans are hoping that a climate agreement will fire up their base as they move into next year’s election.
PHMSA WISHES IT COULD STOP CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’: The Santa Barbara pipeline that burst and spilled 100,000 gallons of California crude onto a Santa Barbara beach in May failed an inspection last year so badly PHMSA could bring an enforcement action. The putative pipeline watchdog hopes to begin that action in two months.
Pros already know all about PHMSA’s culture of inaction from Elana Schor and Andrew Restuccia’s April investigation, in which they revealed that PHMSA rules allow companies to write their own safety plans. That plan covers their operations right up to the point there’s a problem. The rules also allow companies to write their own response plans. Schor and Restuccia obtained a copy of Plains’ response plan as provided by PHMSA to four Democratic members of Congress. In the plan, Plains promised they could shut off a pipe 15 minutes after detecting a problem. Officials are still trying to pin down the exact sequence of pump shutdowns and restarts, but the company may have pumped oil through the broken pipe for 37 minutes. Schor and Restuccia provide the rundown: http://politico.pro/1QR5Hxh
FREEDOMWORKS KEY-VOTES RFS AMENDMENT: The House won’t take any votes on its Interior-EPA appropriations bill until next month, but a conservative group already is urging Republicans to back an amendment to defund the Renewable Fuel Standard. FreedomWorks sent the key vote letter (http://bit.ly/1BBLeFF) Wednesday, highlighting Georgia Republican Barry Loudermilk’s amendment, which the group says would defund EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standards program. But some observers worry the bill could have unintended consequences by leaving in place the statutorily mandated biofuel volumes, which can be enforced through citizen lawsuits, rather than the lower levels EPA floated in its recently proposed RFS rule.
A senior House GOP aide said there isn’t any whipping of amendments but noted a vote on Loudermilk’s would be close. GOP leaders are standing by the open amendment process and wouldn’t ask him not to offer it, the aide said. That’s despite the amendment splitting the party, with farm-state Republicans siding with most Democrats in likely objecting to defunding a program that spurs both corn ethanol and more advanced biofuels.
But the oil industry appears to be largely distancing itself from the amendment. “His amendment would actually make the RFS situation worse than it currently is,” one oil industry executive said. “The amendment is ill-advised and does not enjoy industry support.”
EPA RFS ROADSHOW: The EPA is heading out to Kansas City, Kan. to gather opinions from interested parties on its renewable fuel standard. Agency officials will get an earful from Bob Greco, downstream group director for the American Petroleum Institute, who definitely thinks the EPA should hold down the amount of ethanol it requires. “Gasoline demand increases projected in 2007 did not materialize, and Congress granted EPA the authority to balance its aspirational goals with reality.” But they will also get some real talk from Chip Bowling, president of the National Corn Growers Association whose prepared remarks state that corn famers need a government mandate for ethanol to prop up corn prices: “We simply cannot afford — and will not tolerate — efforts to cut the demand for corn, and that’s exactly what your proposal will do.”
If you want to listen in, Dial 877-396-8104 at 9:45 a.m. with the participant code: 9834687#.
WAITING FOR SCOTUS: On Monday the high court blithely ignored ME, who was all dressed up for a ruling on EPA’s mercury rule but ended up with nowhere to go. ME will be waiting by the phone (or refreshing the web page) at 10 a.m. today in the hopes that the justices let us know whether the EPA should or should not have considered cost in promulgating its mercury rule. The judicial term ends on June 30, so the court doesn’t necessarily need to release the opinion on Thursday, but ME would like the justices to know that he looks especially dapper in cufflinks, and they wouldn’t want to miss out by delaying.
Happy Thursday! I’m Eric Wolff, and I, for one, am enjoying National Outdoors Month, National LGBT Month, National African American Music Appreciation Month, and National Oceans Month, or, as I prefer to think of it, the June of RuPaul in a Boat. Send your tips, quips, and comments to ewolff@politico.com, or follow us on Twitter @ericwolff, @Morning_Energy, and @POLITICOPro.
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THE GAS GRID GOT THIS: The EPA’s proposed carbon rule for power plants — and really, most of its anti-pollution rules for power — leans pretty hard on natural gas to provide lower-carbon emitting electricity. Skeptics worry that pipeline capacity won’t keep up, but the gas pipeline industry has said all along it won’t have any problems meeting demand based on its current, rapid capacity to build pipe fast. The Advanced Energy Economy Institute backs that claim whole-heartedly in a paper out this morning. Thanks to the explosion of fracked gas and the absence — for now — of the ability to export large volumes of gas by ship, gas suppliers have been building miles of pipe to supply new domestic customers. Pipeline already in the, err,…development pipeline will provide much of the capacity the EPA expects. In addition, new demand in the Southeast and Midwest can be supplied by nearby gas formations, and even energy efficiency measures will curb demand for power in the gas-constrained Northeast. http://bit.ly/1Jkdgbt
** A Message from Nuclear Matters: Providing more than 60% of America’s carbon-free electricity, existing, state-of-the-art nuclear energy plants play a vital role in achieving our clean-energy and carbon-reduction goals. The industry also supports more than 100,000 jobs nationally and provides critical tax revenue locally for roads, schools and other public priorities. Learn more at NuclearMatters.com. **
THE DIVERGENT DOZEN: Eight Democrats and four Republicans crossed the aisle Wednesday when the House passed Rep. Ed Whitfield’s Ratepayer Protection Act in an effort to hamstring the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. The group broke ranks mostly in response to pressure from within their districts. Republicans who voted against the bill were Carlos Curbelo (Fla.), Robert Dold (Ill.), Chris Gibson (N.Y.) and Frank LoBiondo (N.J.). The Democrats who supported the bill were Brad Ashford (N.C.), Sanford Bishop (Ga.), Andre Carson (Ind.), Henry Cuellar (Texas), Ann Kirkpatrick (Ariz.), Colin Peterson (Minn.), Terri Sewell (Ala.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.).
BEGICH HITS FELLOW DEMS ON SHELL: Former Alaska Sen. Mark Begich was “frustrated” to see 72 House Democrats push the president this week to scrap Shell’s Arctic drilling bid. “Now that they’ve bashed Keystone into the ground, they want to refocus” on stopping development in the Arctic, said Begich, who carved out a pro-fossil-fuel, pro-climate-action niche during his term in office. “It’s frustrating to see their commentary,” he added, when few if any of the liberal critics of Shell have visited Alaska in person.
WEATHERIZATION AIN’T JUST ABOUT THE MONEY: More than a few folks objected to the University of Chicago’s characterization of the federal Weatherization Assistance Program as a money pit. NRDC went up with a series of posts on Thursday arguing that the program brought numerous non-financial benefits, including improving the health of the people who live in the house. “These “non-energy benefits” are real and documented and are what Congress intended in its authorizing legislation.” http://on.nrdc.org/1NcUAIw
HIPSTER GOOGLE UPCYCLES A COAL PLANT: ME hears that even Google engineers often Google things to solve problems. But can they Google converting a coal plant into a data center? The search company has decided to build its 14th data center in TVA’s not-quite-dead-yet Widows Creek coal plant in Alabama. The TVA board ordered the plant closed due to environmental regulations almost certainly including the EPA’s mercury rule. TVA: http://bit.ly/1e4yeNO
ALBERTA, ALBERTA, WHERE YOU BEEN SO LONG? The home of high-carbon-emissions tar sands is looking to go green. Environment and Parks Minister Shannon Phillips will announce the province’s first policies toward shrinking its carbon footprint at a technical briefing on Thursday.
NEXTGEN CLIMATE PUTS POPE QUOTES IN AD BUY: Tom Steyer’s Next Gen Climate will put the Pope’s words demanding action on climate change into a cable television ad buy expected to air in New Hampshire, Iowa, and D.C.
QUICK HITS
— Green bonds, intended to finance climate mitigation investments, are stagnating. Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1GrJQSC
— North American and European power grids brace for severe solar storms. Reuters: http://reut.rs/1RxMN9J
— More than 70 New York electeds try to pressure Gov. Cuomo into not bailing out a coal plant. Ithaca Journal: http://ithacajr.nl/1IzSBKS
— House Republicans want to keep climate message out of new dietary guidelines. National Journal: http://bit.ly/1HiFj9b
Tags: energy, fuel, gas, oil