- The Washington Examiner: States seek to develop stricter oil, gas rules to manage earthquakes
- The Washington Post: A fleet of ‘robocabs’ could dramatically slash vehicle emissions, study suggests
POLITICO Morning Energy for 7/7/2015
By ERIC WOLFF, with help from Andrew Restuccia, Elana Schor, Darius Dixon, and Sara Stefanini
A HALF BILLION TO BRING SOLAR TO RENTERS: President Obama has an answer for critics of solar programs who say incentives only help middle-to-upper income homeowners. The administration will today unveil a hodgepodge of programs aimed at bringing solar power to low- and moderate-income homeowners and renters. Your host has the story: “The new series of executive actions includes modifying existing financing programs as well as $520 million in commitments from states, housing authorities, and private companies intended to increase solar penetration.” The federal government will not lay out new money for the programs, aside from the cost of developing some policy guides. http://politico.pro/1J22fX5
Also, jobs: The administration will also announce partnerships that provide job training to low-income workers looking to enter the solar industry. The job partnerships attracted the attention of Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, who is pleased to see training for low-income workers in places like his Baltimore district.
Diversity, too: The Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group, promised to make solar the most diverse industry in the energy sector.
NRDC TAKES MILLION-DOLLAR SHOT AT KIRK: The hits keep on coming for Republican Sen. Mark Kirk. Just one day removed from the announcement of a print campaign from the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council plans today to unveil a million-dollar advertising buy in the Chicagoland area spotlighting Kirk’s vote against the EPA’s landmark power-plant emissions rules. The new TV spot is the latest strike in environmentalists’ battle to turn Kirk’s Appropriations Committee opposition to striking a GOP rider that would stop the EPA regulations — the electorally vulnerable Republican would have been the tie-breaking vote — into a campaign-trail liability during his race against Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth.
TSCA gets air time too: The Environmental Defense Action Fund will today announce a six-figure TV and print ad campaign set to run in five states to thank six Democratic senators for working to pass changes to the Toxic Substances Control Act. The ads will express approval of Cory Booker of New Jersey, Chris Coons and Tom Carper of Delaware, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, and Tom Udall of New Mexico.
GOP PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDERS SHOULD GO BIG ON ‘GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES’: The term “climate change” is too toxic to Republican primary voters, but candidates for president can still get ahead of the curve by discussing “global environmental issues,” according to a former aide to President George W. Bush. Pro’s Darren Goode writes: “Tell a Republican voter that 97 percent of scientists agree that humans are heating up the planet and you may as well claim that North Korea has a democratically elected government, according to a GOP strategist … The key is to not get dragged into debates about climate science and to focus their message locally.” http://politico.pro/1NK8fqX
SLOWING CLIMATE CHANGE TO COST $1 TRILLION A YEAR: Governments, development banks and the private sector should set a goal of investing $1 trillion per year in clean energy by 2030, according to a new report that outlines recommendations that collectively could help achieve nearly all of the emissions reductions necessary to keep the global rise in temperature below 2 degrees Celsius in the next 15 years. The report — which was written by a coalition of officials from the government, finance and business sectors called the Global Commission on the Economy and the Climate — also recommends ratcheting up energy efficiency standards, cutting emissions from aviation and shipping, and improving public transportation and waste management. Read the report here: http://bit.ly/1uEGUxX
ENERGY INVESTORS FEEL GASSY, WONDER IF MAYBE THEY OVER DID IT: As much as $283 billion in natural gas investments worldwide could turn out to be unnecessary by 2025 in a low-demand scenario, the London-based Carbon Tracker Initiative concluded in a report that appeared across the pond today. http://bit.ly/1H73kLN
HAPPY TUESDAY, YOU’RE ALMOST 2/5 THROUGH THE WEEK: I’m your host Eric Wolff, and I saw that the Dalai Lama celebrated his birthday in Anaheim yesterday, but I misread it as the Dalai Llama — and wouldn’t that be a trip? Send tips, quips, and comments to ewolff@politico.com, and follow us on Twitter @ericwolff, @Morning_Energy, and @PoliticoPro.
NUCLEAR’S POSITIVE SUPPLY CHAIN REACTION — REPORT: The nuclear energy industry supports nearly a half-million jobs, and retail electricity rates would be 6 percent higher without it, according to a report from the consultancy firm Brattle Group out today. Brattle prepared the study for Nuclear Matters, an organization backed by the nuclear industry and focused on advocating on behalf of the nation’s fleet of existing power reactors. The report argues that without nuclear power, the electricity they produce would mostly be replaced by natural gas and some coal without a significant boost in the use of renewable energy. Still, higher electricity prices may suppress demand and induce efficiency and conservation. The states with the highest net economic benefits from the nuclear industry? Texas, New York and Illinois. The report: http://bit.ly/1JQnJJo
GREECE GREECE GREECE: The country’s energy sector is certainly not immune from the uncertainty left in the wake of Sunday’s referendum. Greece imports nearly all of its oil and gas, and its fuel import bill amounts to roughly $20 billion. But, after all state-owned companies were made to put their cash reserves into the central bank in April, there is concern that gas company DEPA may run out of money to pay for those imports, most of which come from Russia’s Gazprom. “Nobody knows at this moment, nobody can give you the answer now,” a source at DEPA told our POLITICO colleagues in Brussels on Monday, advising that they call back next week. At least Greece’s gas demand is pretty low at the moment. Still, an inability to pay would cause problems, said Niki Tzavela, an MEP from Greece until 2014. “It would be a nightmare for the economy and households. The economy would be paralyzed and our everyday lives would be massively affected.”
And its neighbors: To understand Greece’s energy sector, you’ve got to understand the structural challenges affecting the region more broadly. Energy markets in Europe’s Southeast are generally “held back by state ownership, monopolistic structure and lack of competition,” according to Christian Egenhofer, head of the energy and climate program at the Brussels-based Center for European Policy Studies, adding “especially in SEE and the Western Balkans, there is a lack of transparency.” The Commission is trying to address this through regional cooperation, and — mark your calendars — on July 10 in Croatia’s Dubrovnik, it is bringing together the markets from southeastern and central Europe.
NEW CHAPTER IN EDF-BACKED METHANE STUDY: The latest edition of a massive series of studies examining methane emissions from oil and gas production, backed by the Environmental Defense Fund in partnership with industry and academia, was published today in the journal Environmental Science & Technology: http://bit.ly/1J2dTB1. This one is a doozy, encompassing 11 papers from a dozen research teams that examined emissions in Texas’ fracking-rich Barnett Shale region, and found that methane leaks in the area are up to 50 percent higher than estimates based on the EPA greenhouse gas inventory.
WESTERNERS WANT TAX BALANCE FOR ENERGY EXTRACTION: 83 percent of voters in Montana, Colorado, and New Mexico think that companies developing federal lands for energy extraction should pay the same tax rate whether they use private or state-owned lands, according to a poll conducted by Public Policy Polling for the Western Values Project. The group will release more details in a press call set for 2 p.m.
MCCARTHY WILL SEE YOU NOW … ALL OF YOU: EPA chief Gina McCarthy will discuss the public health and the economy as related to the Clean Power Plan and other rules today in an open-to-the-public event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. McCarthy will take questions from the audience, so come ready with something clever.
If you go … St. Regis Hotel, 16th and K streets NW 9:30 a.m.
KOCHS SPEND IN EUROPE: An obscure entry on the EU’s voluntary transparency register shows that up to €750,000 ($827,000) may have been spent by Koch Industries, the largest private energy company in the U.S., on trying to influence EU policy, especially environmental policy. The Koch’s lobbying in Europe, spotted by the blog DeSmog UK, has focused on “all initiatives on the areas of environmental protection, trade and internal market,” documents show. Jason Anderson of WWF said that while the Koch brothers were “obviously the biggest problem case on climate change in the U.S.,” any climate science-denying pitches would receive short shrift in Brussels. “Their interest in trade is slightly more worrying though given the concern that private companies would be able to exert more influence there,” he said. The Guardian’s Arthur Neslen has the story: http://bit.ly/1fguKci.
DEGREASING SANTA BARBARA: Plains All American Pipeline has been making progress cleaning up oil from a 100,000 gallon spill in May. All the oil has been removed from the water for several weeks now, but the company, along with state and federal officials, has been cleaning soil from other affected areas. Last week workers completed removing oily soil from the nearby bluffs, and testing is under way to see if oil is completely gone from other spots.
QUICK HITS
— Sunniest Continent Lures Tesla as Solar Battery Race Accelerates. Bloomberg: http://bloom.bg/1HcoU4T
— Japan is building solar energy plants on abandoned golf courses — and the idea is spreading. Quartz: http://bit.ly/1IEg5Dc
— Monsey energy co. paying $1.25M to cover fraud: officials. The Journal News: http://lohud.us/1NNkaEV
— Embarrassed officials try to explain surge in water use. L.A. Times: http://lat.ms/1Ti5DV5
— Tesla and Toyota are fighting over the best way to power an electric car. Business Insider: http://read.bi/1S4Gb2R
Tags: climate, energy, fuel, gas, oil