- National Journal: At the Super Bowl of Energy, the Big Game Is on the Sidelines
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- Biofuels Digest: 37 US Senators call on EPA to stand tough on Renewable Fuel Standard
- Wall Street Journal: Opinion: U.S. should allow crude exports to sustain economic benefits from shale
POLITICO Morning Energy for 4/27/2015
By DARIUS DIXON, with help from Alex Guillén
ENERGY AND WATER (HALF) WEEK: The House doesn’t gavel back into session until tomorrow but the chamber is poised to take its $35.4 billion fiscal 2016 energy and water spending bill to the floor this week. So rest up now. The House Rules Committee intends to take up both the energy and water measure as well as the 2016 military construction and veterans affairs spending bill at 5 p.m. tomorrow. And as you appropriations wonks know, the tradition for these bills is to do some sort of open rule, which lifts the floodgates for lawmakers to submit all sorts of amendments — and leads to some late-night votes. If both spending bills make it to the floor this week, as expected, that pretty much fills the schedule for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Still, House leadership is also hoping they can get to the 2016 budget resolution conference report and Rep. Bill Shuster’s bill to have the draft Waters of the U.S. rule pulled, H.R. 1732.
An inspiration for getting things in order: The House is not in session next week (The Senate, however, will be around).
For the record, while ME could certainly find other ways to spend an evening, amendment debate on appropriations bills can get pretty interesting: Pros will recall one of the more interesting debates dating back to 2013, when Rep. Marsha Blackburn gave an impassioned defense of ceiling fans — and why lawmakers should defund the Energy Department’s work to boost their efficiency. “It is a sad state of affairs when even our ceiling fans aren’t safe from this administration,” she said at the time: http://politico.pro/16r3QbM
CLIMATE CHANGE IS ON THE MENU, MR. PRIME MINISTER: The Obamas are hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife for an official visit this week in Washington. The two leaders will meet tomorrow, commemorate the nearly 70 years since the end of World War II, and discuss several issues, including climate change, the Trans Pacific Partnership, and Iran’s nuclear activities. “Just a word on climate…As he always does, we would expect President Obama to raise this important global issue, which is very high on his agenda, with Prime Minister Abe,” Caroline Atkinson, White House deputy national security advisor for international economics, said on a call previewing Abe’s visit, according to a transcript. “We work and have worked very closely with Japan in climate negotiations … So this visit will provide an opportunity for the two leaders to further their cooperation, and to help build momentum towards a successful and ambitious climate agreement in Paris in December.”
HAPPY MONDAY! I’m Darius Dixon, your morning host, and as far as I know, no one has said that my reign at Morning Energy would bring about the End of Days. But alas, the day is young. Send your energy news, tips and commentary to ddixon@politico.com, and follow us on Twitter @dariusss, @Morning_Energy and @POLITICOPro.
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CLIMATE RULES? BUCKET! President Barack Obama made a few plugs for climate change and EPA’s greenhouse gas rules during his White House Correspondents’ Dinner standup routine on Saturday. “After the midterm elections, my advisors asked me, “Mr. President, do you have a bucket list?” And I said, “Well, I have something that rhymes with bucket list,’” Obama told the crowd. “Take executive action on immigration? Bucket. New climate regulations? Bucket. It’s the right thing to do.”
After dinging former Vice President Dick Cheney, ex-Rep. Michele Bachmann, as well as CNN and MSNBC, Obama peppered jokes onto most of the GOP presidential field. But the president seemed to take special interest in Sen. Ted Cruz’s position on climate change and the Texas Republican’s comments last month comparing himself to one of the greatest astronomers of all time: “Ted Cruz said that denying the existence of climate change made him like Galileo. Now that’s not really an apt comparison,” Obama said. “Galileo believed the Earth revolves around the sun. Ted Cruz believes the Earth revolves around Ted Cruz. And just as an aside, I want to point out, when a guy who has his face on a ‘Hope’ poster calls you self-centered, you know you’ve got a problem.”
But Obama saved his longest riff on climate change (about 17 minutes in) for his tag team performance with “Luther, the anger translator,” aka Keegan-Michael Key from Comedy Central’s “Key and Peele,” where Obama gets riled up about “elected officials throwing snowballs in the Senate.” What did Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Jim Inhofe prove again by tossing a snowball in the Senate?
Obama’s full routine (video): http://politi.co/1z3mtAJ
Before I get a dozen emails questioning whether 2014 was really the warmest year on record because NASA is only 38 percent sure (NOAA is 48 percent sure, by the way), it seems worth clearing one thing up about that number. The 38 percent figure isn’t relative to every year in the record. While NASA asserts that 2014 has a 38 percent chance of being the warmest on record, that’s mainly compared to 2010, which has a 23 percent chance of being the “winner,” 2005 (17 percent) and 1998 (4 percent). Factcheck.org explained this in more detail: http://bit.ly/1GwhcSl
SWEET CHILD O’ MONIZ: Pro Energy’s Darren Goode was in Houston for CERAWeek and walked away with one distinct impression of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz: He’s the “good cop” of Obama administration for the energy industry. Darren: “Moniz is a genuinely popular figure with some of the president’s harshest critics in Congress and industry. In the button-down world of oil, gas and power CEOs, he’s a celebrity whose status has only gained luster thanks to his crucial role in the U.S. nuclear talks with Iran. ‘More than one person has referred to Ernie as a rock star,” said Daniel Yergin, a Pulitzer-winning oil historian who serves as ringleader of the annual CERAWeek conference. ‘He’s not only an energy secretary with a Ph.D. in theoretical physics. He’s also an energy secretary with a lot of charisma.’” Hess Corp. CEO John Hess: “He’s one of the most knowledgeable, capable energy secretaries we’ve ever had.” Darren Goode has more for Pros: http://politico.pro/1b4YB4y
EPA FOES HOPE McCARTHY COMMENTS WILL WRECK CARBON RULE: Memo to Gina McCarthy: Ix-nay on the onfidence-cay. Foes of EPA’s carbon rule for power plants are seizing on the EPA chief’s latest comments vowing to issue a final rule this summer as proof that EPA has made up its mind about the regulation’s legal foundation — an issue that clearly riled at least two of the judges who heard arguments in this case earlier this month. In a letter to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday afternoon, attorneys general from the states challenging the proposed rule pointed out that in the week since oral arguments, McCarthy has made further public statements “that confirm EPA has already determined conclusively that it has authority to issue a rule under Section 111(d).” They specifically cite a tweet in which she says she is “committed to reducing carbon pollution,” as well as an interview with the Huffington Post in which she said, “We are quite certain that these obligations will be required.”
This was one issue that clearly irked the judges during oral arguments on April 16, when they otherwise seemed hesitant to get involved in a rulemaking before a final rule is issued. Judge Thomas Griffith said that McCarthy’s past statements “do not help the government’s argument at all” and questioned whether EPA’s call for comments is a “sham,” while Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson said EPA appears to have a “closed mind.” McCarthy’s statements aren’t really anything out of the ordinary — this is Obama’s marquee climate rule, and agency heads routinely speak about forthcoming regulations as if they are inevitable. And administration attorneys assured the judges that interpreting McCarthy’s comments as a fixed legal rationale is “overreading.” But the AGs are hoping her “unprecedented and audacious behavior” will perturb the judges enough for them to torpedo the rule before it even gets off the ground. Their letter: http://politico.pro/1aZbIUX
FERC WAIT AT SCOTUS GOES ON: Dashing the hopes of legions of FERC-watchers, the Supreme Court did not say this morning whether it will hear the agency’s appeal of a lower court decision striking down the commission’s 2011 demand response rule. The justices had been scheduled to discuss the case at their conference last Friday, but they did not include the appeal on their list of orders this morning. That means the case will probably be discussed again at this Friday’s conference, with a decision being announced as early as May 4.
THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS:
— The Senate: The Energy and Natural Resources Committee is holding a hearing tomorrow on the Quadrennial Energy Review, and then on Thursday will look at nearly two dozen pieces of energy efficiency bills while a subcommittee reviews BLM’s fracking rule in the afternoon. Lawmakers on the Environment and Public Works Committee are slated to markup S. 697, a bipartisan Toxic Substances Control Act reform bill led by Sens. David Vitter and Tom Udall tomorrow. The EPW markup will also consider a bill that would require EPA to base its regulations on publicly available scientific data — a companion bill to House-passed Secret Science Reform Act. On Wednesday, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy is slated to testify before an Appropriations subcommittee.
— The House: Besides the energy and water spending bill this week, the Energy and Commerce Committee will start marking up The Ratepayer Protection Act tomorrow, legislation meant to slow compliance with EPA’s carbon rule for power plants. On Thursday, the committee will hold a hearing to discuss a draft bill related to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and potential legislation about energy efficiency while the Oversight and Government Reform Committee reviews mismanagement at the EPA. The Natural Resources Committee also plans to have a markup Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday and Friday, Science Committee subpanels will discuss EPA’s ozone standards, and battery storage technology for renewable energy, respectively.
MOVING, SHAKING: The Alliance to Save Energy’s board of directors has elected Jane Palmieri to serve as its Industry Co-Chair. Palmieri is the business president of Dow Building and Construction at The Dow Chemical Co. She’s replacing Jorge Carrasco at ASE, who is retiring from his position as the CEO and general manager of Seattle City Light, and therefore resigning his seat on the Alliance Board. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is the honorary chair of the efficiency-promoting group.
CONFLICTING INFORMATION: Many of us have seen the press releases and reports from industry and conservatives on Capitol Hill arguing that the EPA’s proposal to tighten the ozone air quality standard would be “the most expensive regulation ever.” In November, EPA proposed lowering the current 75 parts per billion standard to between 65 ppb and 70 ppb. So, when a reader flagged an editorial by Ross Eisenberg, the VP for energy and resources policy at the National Association of Manufacturers, for ME over the weekend, it did seem odd to find the comment that the pursuit of a new ozone standard “by the Administrator’s own admission, may not even be necessary given the fact that existing efforts to reduce air pollutants are on track to put almost all of our nation (all but nine counties) at or below 70 parts per billion by 2025.” NAM has estimated that revising the ozone standard down from 75 ppb to 65 ppb would lower the nation’s GDP by $140 billion starting in 2017. But Eisenberg’s comment would seem to suggest that the EPA’s upper limit wouldn’t actually change much in the world of ozone regulation. EPA is expected to issue a final rule by October. Eisenberg’s Inside Sources editorial: http://bit.ly/1DAEKlN
QUICK HITS
— Price Check: Why SolarCity’s university solar projects cost Oregon taxpayers $12 million. The Oregonian: http://bit.ly/1Km9ziC
— New Mexico leaders push for high-level nuclear waste. The Santa Fe New Mexican: http://bit.ly/1GyzeGz
— PETA Wants Live Earth Concerts To Be Vegan-Only, But Organizers Say It’s Out Of Their Control. Bustle: http://bit.ly/1di7MAh
— Western drought steals clean energy along with fresh water at power plants. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1A3LW8m
— Chesapeake Energy will pay to settle Michigan lease probe. The Associated Press: http://bit.ly/1IdjHLp
Tags: climate, energy, fuel, gas, oil