To:
Jackson, Ryan[jackson.ryan@epa.gov]
From: Morning Transportation
Sent: Wed 6/21/2017 2:04:58 PM
Subject: POLITICO'S Morning Transportation, presented by Delta Air Lines: Here comes the FAA
reauth -- What to look out for -- NASCAR execs want to slam brakes on ATC overhaul
By Tanya Snyder and Lauren Gardner | 06/21/2017 10:01 AM EDT
With help from Brianna Gurciullo, Stephanie Beasley and Alex Guillen
ALL ROADS LEAD HERE: The House and Senate seem to be converging on pulling the curtain back on their FAA reauthorization bills this week. The House could drop its bill as soon as today, with the Senate expected to follow suit, and both chambers are eyeing a markup possibly before the month is out. GOP members of the House Transportation Committee huddled Tuesday night to discuss the bill in advance of its introduction.
What's the rush? The summer floor schedule in both chambers is already beginning to pile up, between continued gyrations over health care, a desire to overhaul the tax code, a potentially difficult vote on raising the debt ceiling, and oh yeah, almost all of fiscal 2018 appropriations left to handle. Also don't forget that Republicans in Congress are desperately looking for a legislative win, and at least some of them think the FAA reauthorization - especially if it includes a dramatic reorganization of the air traffic control system - could be it.
Sharing the skies? Rep. Sam Graves, one of two GOP "no" votes on the bill in 2016, has been working with House Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) for months to come to a compromise that would satisfy general aviation pilots like himself, and by Tuesday night said he had gotten there, our Brianna Gurciullo scooped for Pros. The bill would exempt general aviation from user fees, Graves said - a major coup for a constituency that's long agitated against an air traffic control spinoff. Graves also said GA interests would get two seats on the new nonprofit corporation's governing board. But it's an open question whether it'll be enough to win the support of the alphabet soup groups that represent those interests.
Where the roads diverge: Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) told us Tuesday that their FAA bill won't contain a package to significantly overhaul air traffic control. "We don't have the votes to pass that in our committee at the moment," Thune said. "So we will see what the House is able to do and then we'll proceed accordingly."
On our radar: We'll be watching to see the extent to which the changes Graves was able to extract will be enough to satisfy general aviation interests concerned about the extent to which the governing board could disadvantage them compared to airlines, and whether the protections against user fees are strong enough for them. It also remains to be seen how big a fight appropriators and taxwriters are willing to put up to retain their turf. (Watch the House Ways and Means Committee - will they fast-walk a markup, or just consent to having a tax title bolted on at the House Rules Committee?)
IT'S WEDNESDAY: Thanks for tuning in to POLITICO'S Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports. Lauren and Tanya are sharing MT
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duties, so please send us tips, feedback and lyrics: tsnyder@politico.com or @TSnyderDC and lgardner@politico.com or @GardnerJLM.
"I wish I was a headlight, on a North bou:>d 11.h n / I'd shine my light through cool Colorado rain," h/t John Edwards, Norfolk Southern Corporation
Want to keep up with MT's song picks? We only need three more followers to hit 100 on our Spotify playlist - get listening!
WHAT WORKS -LIVE IN MIAMI BEAf H - Join POLITICO in Miami Beach for a series of one-on-one interviews with mayors from across the country to hear how they are fostering innovation, promoting sustainable cities and implementing change in their regions. Friday, June 23rd - Doors at 8:30am - Eden Roc - Pompeii Room (4525 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, FL) RSVP: here.
FAA'S GREATEST HITS: There are plenty of issues lawmakers and outside groups want to see addressed in an FAA bill, and it's that time of year when we start to see bills introduced or letters fired off to members on issues that are either on the cutting room floor or safely tucked into hundreds of pages of legislative text. Here are a few we're looking for:
- Drone registration for hobbyists: A federal appeals court threw out FAA's interim final rule requiring this last month, on the grounds that Congress specifically forbade such a regulation in the 2012 authorization for the agency. The only way to reinstate it is for lawmakers to act, and there's plenty of interest in that from industry.
- Vapes on a plane: MT will never forget the 2016 FAA markup when Rep. Duncan Hunter (RCalif.) puffed on his vaporizer on the dais while pushing back against Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton's amendment to ban e-cigarette usage on planes (which was approved before DOT acted on its own prohibit it among passengers and crewmembers). The D.C. Democrat just unveiled a bill to enshrine the ban into law.
- Uncapping the passenger facility charge: The House isn't expected to go there, but Democrats are likely to push this issue at markup.
ROAD RACERS SAY SLOW DOWN ON ATC PLAN: You can't get much closer to the Trump-voter prototype than a NASCAR fan, and some of NASCAR's top executives are coming out against his plan to separate the air traffic control system from the FAA. A dozen motorsports executives, representing the top NASCAR teams, wrote to Shuster and Thune Tuesday to express their "strong opposition to privatizing our air traffic control system." They said they're regular business aviation users and are worried about their access to airports under a new governance structure. "In the motor sports industry, this access is critical to our business model and any attempts to increase fees on general aviation users or restrict access to aviation facilities would have a severe impact on our industry," they wrote.
FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO. YOUR TIME IS UP: The Senate Commerce Committee might have to race the clock when they review David Pekoske's nomination to head TSA this morning.
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Senate Democrats are revolting against GOP efforts to force an Obamacare repeal bill onto the floor without committee reviews by invoking the Senate's obscure "two-hour rule" barring any committee hearings outside of the first two hours that the chamber is in session, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Tuesday. That could include Pekoske's nomination hearing, slated to start at 10 am.
Committee approval probable, floor time questionable: Pekoske, a former vice commandant for the Coast Guard, met with Thune last week to discuss key issues that the committee chairman is planning to raise at the hearing, including ways to better use TSA PreCheck to protect travelers, increase surface and maritime transportation security, and boost workforce morale, Steph reports. Ranking member Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said he expects Pekoske will easily win committee approval; his chances for being confirmed on the floor within the next week are less certain.
Predecessors weigh in: Former TSA administrator Peter Neffenger warned of the challenges Pekoske could face, if confirmed. Neffenger tpkfPOLITICO that in addition to dealing with a sagging workforce morale, Pekoske will also need to be prepared to head up global efforts to improve aviation security, including ongoing high-level talks with officials from other countries hoping to avoid the introduction of an electronics ban. The next administrator will also need to expedite the adoption of new screening technologies, according to Neffenger, as well as develop a more comprehensive cybersecurity plan, said James Norton, a former deputy assistant secretary at DHS.
YEAS AND NAYS: The House passed four transportation security bills by voice vote Tuesday night, Steph reports : H.R. 2132 calling for TSA to spend more time responding to complaints from travelers frequently targeted for additional screening; H.R. 2283, which would require DHS to establish an employee engagement steering committee to help boost workforce morale; H.R. 2190, which would streamline the department's property investments portfolio; and the REPORT Act (H.R. 625). Two other bills originally scheduled for a vote Tuesday were pushed to today: H.R. 1282, which would establish a review board to oversee the department's acquisition process, and H.R. 2131, which would change DHS's process for reporting employee misconduct. A broader DHS authorization bill is expected to hit the floor later this month.
WHERE'S TRUMP? He's in Iowa today, talking about agricultural technology as part of White House "technology week." Don't be surprised if the topic of drones comes up, but it's just the appetizer: Trump will be talking at greater length about drones when the White House convenes tech innovators for a Thursday event that will be partially dedicated to an exploration of drone technology.
** A message from Delta Air Lines: Delta is committed to raising the standard of air travel. This commitment includes a continued investment in all 80,000 of their employees globally. Learn more at delta.com/dca **
PENCE PUMPS INFRASTRUCTURE: Speaking to the National Association of Manufacturers' annual summit, Vice President Mike Pence talked up the Trump administration's successes at deregulation and re-committed to an infrastructure initiative. "I'll make you a
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promise - before we're done in seven and a half years, President Donald Trump is going to rebuild the infrastructure of the United States of America. This is a president who knows that roads mean jobs, and the right infrastructure supports growth in America." He went on to say Trump was "committed to making historic investments in our national infrastructure," but didn't mention the specifics the administration has so far been consistent on: $1 trillion, leveraged with $200 billion of direct public investment, with a bill coming from Congress in the third quarter (which, by the way, begins in 10 days.)
RYAN DEMURS: House Speaker Paul Ryan, speaking after Pence at the NAM meeting, talked up tax repatriation, which some infrastructure proponents would like to use to fund infrastructure, but Ryan didn't say where he imagined the profits would go. He didn't breathe a word about infrastructure - which, remember, Congress will supposedly take up sometime in the next three and a half months - until NAM President Jay Timmons said, "I'll put another plug in for infrastructure investment, but we can talk about that another time." Ryan added, "That's on the list too."
FUEL GUZZLER OR SIPPER? THIS MIGHT HELP YOU DECIDE: A new report from the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation says EPA's 2025 auto emissions standards provide benefits totaling more than three times the cost and can be recouped in as few as three years, even with low fuel prices. Based on ICCT's March report that said compliance costs for the standards could be as much as 40 percent below EPA's 2012 projections, the group concludes new cars' fuel savings would go as high as $2,600 over a vehicle's lifetime, while trucks could save up to $4,000, all significantly higher than the estimates costs. ICCT also projected those savings would double if the standards continue to improve by 5 percent per year through 2030. EPA is currently re-reviewing whether the 2022-2025 standards are still feasible following industry pressure to lessen the targets.
DEMS WANT TO EXPORT GARRETT FROM EX-IM BOARD: House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said in a statement Tuesday that Trump's nomination of former New Jersey Rep. Scott Garrett to be president of the Export-Import Bank was part of Trump's pattern of nominating people to agencies they want to eliminate. Garrett was part of an effort in 2015 to permanently shut down the Ex-Im Bank. "I urge the Senate, which strongly supported reauthorization of the Bank, to defeat the Garrett nomination and send a message of support for American export-driven jobs," Hoyer said. Trump also nominated former Alabama Rep. Spencer Bachus, another Ex-Im Bank skeptic, to serve on the board.
UNEXPECTED LANDING: Several California Democrats risked missing House votes in Washington Tuesday night when their American Airlines flight from Los Angeles was forced to make an emergency landing in Kansas City Tuesday afternoon. Reps. Linda Sanchez, Tony Cardenas, Alan Lowenthal and Nanette Diaz Barragan were among the lawmakers on the flight. The unexpected layover was due to a medical emergency that did not involve any of the members, reports Heather Caygle.
DEPARTURE LOUNGE: Niki Christoff is joining Salesforce next month as a senior vice president of strategy and government relations in Washington. She currently heads Uber's D.C. policy shop and is an alum of both Google and Sen. John McCain's office (h/t POLITICO
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Playbook). THE AUTOBAHN: - "Ford's plan to import cars veers from Mexico to China." The Wall Street Journal. - "Tesla's autopilot software head quits in less than six months." Reuters. - "Climate change may take a toll on air travel." The New York Times. - "Corker open to North Korea travel ban." POLITICO. - "At least 10 injured by turbulence on United flight to Houston." Reuters. - "Capital Bikeshare headed toward corporate sponsorship." Washington Business Journal. - "Cuomo seeks 'majority control' of MTA." POLITICO New York. - "Uber to offer in-app tipping." POLITICO New York. - "Senate GOP plans July debt ceiling vote." POLITICO. - "As travel industry awaits slowdown, travelers pack bags - for now." The New York Times. THE COUNTDOWN: DOT appropriations run out in 102 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 102 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 1,198 days. * * A message from Delta Air Lines: Delta believes that doing right by employees is essential to creating an exceptional customer experience. That's why Delta has an industry-leading employee wide profit-sharing program and has increased employee pay by 40% since 2008. Because happier employees lead to happier customers. Learn more at delta.com/dca ** To view online'. http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-transportation/2017/06/21/here-comes-the-faa-reauth220962 To change your alert settings, please go to https://secure.politico.com/settings/settings
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To:
Jackson, Ryan[jackson.ryan@epa.gov]
From: Morning Energy
Sent: Wed 6/21/2017 2:04:57 PM
Subject: POLITICO'S Morning Energy: Zinke to get grilled over personnel moves -- White House plans
upcoming Energy Week -- Groups huddle over what's next in Dakota Access case
By Anthony Adragna | 06/21/2017 10:00 AM EDT
With help from Alex Guillen, Ben Lefebvre, Annie Snider and Darius Dixon
BUDGET DEFENSE, PART 2: Look for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to get interrogated by Senate Democrats today on an Appropriations subpanel about his plans to reorganize senior career officials within his agency. "I'm very worried about the idea that you're moving people who have real serious expertise in an area to an area that they may not know anything about," Sen. Tom Udall, top Democrat overseeing Interior spending, told ME. "It looks like an attempt to make the agency so it doesn't work very well or [so] that the powers that be exercise their will more easily on the agency." Zinke plans to shift as many as 50 senior career staff to new roles and suggested in an agency memo that 1,000 positions at BLM could be eliminated by the end of the year.
More of what's on Udall's mind was in two letters he sent Monday. One, authored with Senate Energy Ranking Member Maria Cantwell , argued Zinke had not properly followed administrative law in suspending key parts of a BLM rule aimed at curbing methane waste from oil and gas operations on public lands. "Nowhere in the Federal Register notice last week did the Department make a finding that industry groups and States are likely to win their lawsuits, suffer irreparable harm if deadlines are not postponed, find the balance of equities tipped in their favor, and that suspending the deadlines is in the public interest," they wrote. "The suspension of parts of the Methane Waste and Prevention Rule seems particularly brazen given that on May 10 the Senate rejected a Congressional Review Act resolution to repeal the rule."
The other letter from Udall, as well as New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich and Reps. Ben Ray Lujan and Michelle Lujan Grisham , urged Zinke not to alter any New Mexican national monuments designated under the Antiquities Act. "Rescinding or shrinking to New Mexico's national monuments will cause irrevocable harm to our treasured places, would jeopardize the objects and special values that are protected through the Antiquities Act, and impact positive economic growth in local communities," they wrote. ME expects Udall to raise these issues directly at the hearing today, which kicks off at 9:30 a.m. in Dirksen 124.
PERRY'S HILL APPEARANCE IN QUESTION? Energy Secretary Rick Perry is supposed to make his second Capitol Hill appearance in two days - this time before a Senate Appropriations subpanel - to defend his agency's budget request at 2:30 p.m. today, but that will depend on whether Democrats continue to block committees from meeting after the Senate has been in session for two hours like they did Tuesday. Assuming the hearing takes place, look for top Senate energy spending guru Lamar Alexander to defend the need for robust energy research funding: "Governing is about setting priorities, and the federal debt is not the result of Congress overspending on science and energy research each year," Alexander will say.
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ICYMI, Perry told House Appropriators he wasn't trying "to stir something up," but did precisely that when he suggested a former bomb testing site in Nevada might be a site for a temporary waste facility. As Pro's Darius Dixon reports, that comment drew a swift rebuke from Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval as an "ill-conceived, irresponsible, and likely illegal" idea. Even energy spending cardinal Rep. Mike Simpson told reporters following the hearing it was the first time he'd heard the suggestion.
Perry told the subcommittee there was a "moral and national security obligation" to build nuclear waste storage facilities and said the U.S. could "no longer kick the can down the road." He added DOE would resurrect the office that ran the Yucca Mountain program before being dismantled under the Obama administration. And he said the agency did not plan to close any of its 17 national labs, though he didn't directly address concerns about potential staffing cuts.
WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY! I'm your host Anthony Adragna and let me start with a quick PSA: Send your tips, gossip and leads to Eric Wolff (ewolff@politico.com) and Ben Lefebvre (blefebvre@politico.com ) beginning Thursday while I'm off trading nuptials. I'll be back at the helm by mid-week, next week. In the meantime, FERC's John Peschke was first to identify Fred Thompson as the minority counsel on the Senate Watergate Committee turned senator. For today: Who was chair of the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate process? As always, find me at aadragna@politico.com, or follow us on Twitter @AnthonyAdragna, @Morning Energy, and @POLITICOPro.
Y IIAl AORkb - I fA I. IA MIAMI [`EACH - Join POLITICO in Miami Beach for a series of one-on-one interviews with mayors from across the country to hear how they are fostering innovation, promoting sustainable cities and implementing change in their regions. Friday, June 23rd - Doors at 8:30am - Eden Roc - Pompeii Room (4525 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, FL) RSVP: here.
NUCLEAR BILL CLEARS HOUSE: Legislation aimed at rewriting a tax credit for nuclear power projects cleared the House by voice vote Tuesday night, Pro's Darius Dixon reports. The bipartisan bill (H.R. 1551), from Reps. Tom Rice and Earl Blumenauer , would open the credits up to projects that power up after 2020 and may offer a lifeline to four new reactors in South Carolina and Georgia. Senate aides have said the measure is unlikely to move as standalone legislation but more likely as part of comprehensive tax reform.
ATTRACTIONS YET TO COME: The White House plans to designate next week as Energy Week, administration and industry sources tell ME. The Trump administration has been promoting its vision of American "energy dominance," calling for more oil and gas drilling on federal lands and waters and greater exports of natural gas to countries like China. The White House pulled together an "infrastructure week" earlier this month as well as this week's "technology week," which included roundtables between industry representatives and high-level administration officials.
The White House hasn't officially announced Energy Week, and its plans are still at an early stage. Three energy industry sources said the White House is trying to coordinate a meeting of energy CEOs next week, but said the exact scheduling still seemed up in the air. The timing
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would also coincide with the expected Monday release of the Energy Department's review of policies hurting baseload power on the electric grid.
STATUS CHECK: Litigants in the Dakota Access pipeline lawsuit are back in court today for the first time since last a federal judge last week ruled the government's environmental review of the project was inadequate. They'll hold a status check today at 2:30 p.m. about next steps in the case, including whether the the pipeline should be shut off as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers addresses those deficiencies in the environmental review. Protesters will rally outside the court at 2 p.m. in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe's efforts to fight the project.
That came after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg denied a bid from the plaintiffs to add Trump as a defendant in the case, Pro's Ben Lefebvre reports. He did allow the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux to add 13 new plaintiffs to their case but ordered them to remove Trump from the complaint.
STATES, GREENS FIGHT METHANE STAY: Thirteen states, along with D.C. and Chicago, have gotten involved to try and reinstate a methane rule for new oil and gas wells. EPA's stay "concretely and negatively affects" the states' interest in controlling methane leaks, protecting public health and combating climate change, they argued in a Thursday filing. Several of the states, including New Mexico and Pennsylvania, noted they are home to many of the wells affected, while others complained that the stay hurts their air quality and climate change efforts. Eleven other states have already gotten involved to defend EPA's stay - and not to be left out, North Dakota and Texas indicated they plan to join that side in a "friend of the court" brief. That comes as environmental groups argued in a court filing Tuesday EPA has no right to favor oil and gas companies over the people who live near their wells and asked a federal court to reinstate the rule, Pro's Alex Guillen reports.
MERGER MULLED: Zinke still might recombine the agency that oversees offshore oil and gas leasing with the offshore safety and environmental watchdog less than a decade after former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar split them in 2010, Pro's Esther Whieldon and Ben Lefebvre report . "We're considering that," Zinke told POLITICO of the potential merger after speaking at a Chamber of Commerce event in Washington. "But the core of the reorganization is how to get the different bureaus to work together in a joint environment." He said to expect "the first blush" of his major plans to reorganize the agency within the next two months.
EPA 'COMPLETELY WIPES' SCIENCE ADVISORY PANEL: Only 11 of 49 subcommittee members on EPA's Board of Scientific Counselors will remain by September after the agency suspended its meetings for the rest of the year, Pro's Annie Snider and Eric Wolff report. The cancellations, announced in a Monday by Acting Administrator for the Office of Research and Development Robert Kavlock in an email to BOSC members, come as the agency considers whether to replace most of the members of the board. "It completely wipes out BOSC," committee Chair Deborah Swackhamer told POLITICO.
The agency has said it wants to hear more input from people who understand how regulations affect the economy and says it has encouraged those with expiring terms to reapply. "We are
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taking an inclusive approach to filling future BOSC appointments and welcome all applicants from all relevant scientific and technical fields," EPA spokeswoman Amy Graham said Tuesday.
I'M ALREADY DEAD! Federal scientists are predicting this summer's Gulf of Mexico dead zone is going to be a whopper - sucking the oxygen from a New Jersey-sized swath of the waterway. At 8,185 square miles, the life-smothering dead zone would be the third largest on record since monitoring began 32 years ago. Researchers attribute the extra-big zone to higherthan average amounts of nutrients washing off farm fields and suburban lawns in the massive watershed. The USGS estimates that the equivalent of 2,800 train cars of fertilizer flowed down the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers and into the Gulf in May, alone.
HE'S BAAAAACK: Former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz plans to make a few headlines today by kicking off the creation of the Energy Futures Initiative at the National Press Club. The group purports to be a nonpartisan think tank focused on decarbonizing the economy and create jobs, according to information on the NPC website. "Moniz plans to use EFI to mobilize stakeholders in government, industry, labor and NGOs in creating a clean energy future." The event starts at 10 a.m.
Moniz seems to like groups with "initiative" in the title. Earlier this month, he officially became CEO and co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
TAKING STOCK OF OIL RISKS: A report out today from Carbon Tracker and Principles for Responsible Investment says that five of the world's six largest listed oil companies may misallocate up to 30 percent of their potential spending on projects that aren't needed in a world dedicated to limiting its temperature increases to two degrees Celsius. "Investors in oil and gas companies have been in the dark about their exposure to climate risk, but they will now be able to confront companies with precise information and ask hard questions about how they intend to deal with potentially stranded assets," Nathan Fabian with PRI said in a statement.
REPORT OFFERS ROSY VIEW ON AUTO STANDARDS: A new report from the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation says EPA's 2025 auto emissions standards provide benefits totaling more than three times the cost and can be recouped in as few as three years, even with low fuel prices. Based on ICCT's March report that said compliance costs for the standards could be as much as 40 percent below EPA's 2012 projections, the group concludes new cars' fuel savings would go as high as $2,600 over a vehicle's lifetime, while trucks could save up to $4,000, all significantly higher than the estimates costs.
BANKS STILL DIG FOSSIL FUELS: The Rainforest Action Network, BankTrack, Sierra Club and Oil Change International and a host of other organizations are out with a report today finding major banks poured $87 billion into fossil fuels projects in 2016. That's better than recent years, but still incompatible with limiting temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the groups argue.
MORE PUSH ZINKE AGAINST ARCTIC DRILLING: Seventeen green groups, including the Alaska Wilderness League, Earthjustice and Wilderness Society, wrote Zinke Monday urging him to reverse course on potentially opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil
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and gas drilling. "The Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge is no place for oil and gas activities, which are prohibited by law," they wrote. "The Coastal Plain should be permanently protected as Wilderness."
RAISE UM' UP: The Department of Interior could do more with more, the GAO says. Raising royalty rates on energy production on federal lands would likely bring more money into federal coffers without cutting much into demand for lease sales, according to GAO's new report. Raising royalties to 18.75 percent from the current 12.5 percent would result in a "negligible" loss in lease demand over 10 years while increasing net federal revenue by $200 million over thesame period.
GRIJALVA PUSHES FOR NOAA BUDGET HEARING: House Natural Resources Ranking Member Raul Grijalva sent Chairman Rob Bishop a letter Tuesday requesting Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross testify on the Trump administration's budget request for NOAA. Commerce overall was hit with a 16 percent budget cut, including multiple NOAA programs, as part of the president's budget request.
FLYING IN: The Nature Conservancy expects to hold approximately 250 congressional meetings today as part of its annual advocacy day. They'll be pushing for strong funding for conservation and science programs, as well as support for a "clean, more reliable and low-carbon energy future."
More than 200 members of the National Propane Gas Association are hitting the Hill today to press members on infrastructure, tax reform and delaying the implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's new crane rule (h/t POLITICO Influence).
MOVER, SHAKER: Michael LaRosa starts on July 10 as comms director for Democrats on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources under ranking member Sen. Maria Cantwell. He has spent the last six plus years as a producer for MSNBC's "Hardball" with Chris Matthews, (h/t POLITICO Playbook).
Alex Mistri has joined Hess as vice president for government and external affairs; he was previously a managing director for the Glover Park Group.
QUICK HITS
- Inside the Environmental Protection Agency: Paranoia and Stifled Work. Pacific Standard.
- Fisticuffs Over the Route to a Clean-Energy Future. New York Times.
- Oil Bears Are Back as Prices Fall and Driller Shares Take a Hit. Bloomberg.
- Too Hot to Fly? Climate Change May Take a Toll on Air Travel. New York. Times.
- Australia warned it has radically underestimated climate change security threat. The Guardian.
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- Qatar can weather boycott, foreign investors won't leave: Qatar Petroleum CEO. Reuters.
THAT'S ALL FOR ME! To view online'. http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-energy/2017/06/21/zinke4o-get-grilled-oveFpersonnel-moves-220959 To change your alert settings, please go to https://secure.politico.com/settings/settings
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To:
Jackson, Ryan[jackson.ryan@epa.gov]
From: Morning Score
Sent: Wed 6/21/2017 2:04:54 PM
Subject: POLITICO'S Morning Score: HANDEL WINS GEORGIA -- Norman holds on in South Carolina
near-surprise -- Democrats strike out on special elections -- DSCC raises $5.1 million in May
By Kevin Robillard | 06/21/2017 10:00 AM EDT
The following newsletter is an abridged version of Campaign Pro's Morning Score. For an earlier morning read on exponentially more races - andfor a more comprehensive aggregation ofthe day's most important campaign news - sign up for Campaign Pro today. (htp)://wwvwp)olitF(^
THE MAIN EVENT - "Handel wins Georgia special election," by Campaign Pro's Elena
Schneider: "Republican Karen Handel has won Georgia's special election, holding off the most well-funded House candidate in history and deflating Democrats who yearned for a special election rebuke to President Donald Trump. Handel, who previously served as Georgia's secretary of state, had 52 percent of the vote to Democrat Jon Ossoff s 48 percent when the Associated Press called the race late Tuesday night after a six-month campaign in which Republicans hammered Ossoff as an ill fit for a traditionally conservative district. With her win, Handel protected Republicans' 24-seat House majority and their hold on the 6th District in Atlanta's northern suburbs, a longtime GOP seat that looked to be slipping from the party when Trump only carried it by 2 points in November. Democrats, spying an opening, poured millions of dollars into the special election when former Rep. Tom Price resigned to join Trump's cabinet as the secretary of Health and Human Services. Ossoff, a former congressional aide and documentary filmmaker, captured the anti-Trump fervor coursing through the Democratic Party and raised over $23 million for his campaign. But Trump is not the only unpopular politician in the country, and Republicans once again used House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi as a bogeyman in a major House race, linking Ossoff to her in TV ads, in door-to-door conversations with voters and even in the televised debates between Ossoff and Handel." Full story.
- "Lessons from the 2017 elections," by POLITICO'S Gabriel Debenedetti: "Reeling after their loss in Atlanta's suburbs, Democrats are nevertheless claiming moral victory and reminding themselves to remain confident in their consistent over-performances in the House races compared to 2016 results - and in the strong candidates produced by the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial primaries. With 2018's midterm elections looming, here are POLITICO'S seven takeaways from the first five months - and first five high-profile races - of the Trump era: If the House is in play, Democrats still need to prove it... Republican candidates need a personal Trump strategy ... The establishment isn't dead yet... Democrats still don't have a message ... Health care isn't a silver bullet - not yet at least... The Trump-era battleground: Suburbia ... The GOP base is still with Trump." Full story.
- "Congressional Leadership Fund heralds victory in Georgia," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "The Congressional Leadership Fund, the Paul Ryan-backed outfit that spent more
on Georgia's special election than any super PAC in the history of House elections, pointed to House Minority Leader's Nancy Pelosi's unpopularity and their ground investments as key to Republican Karen Handel's victory. Both are key to the group's plans in 2018. The group has
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already planned to launch field operations in 30 competitive districts, with goals to knock on 10
million doors by Election Day. Pelosi's unpopularity, meanwhile, has long been a hallmark of
Republican House messaging and CLF aired repeated television ads linking Ossoff to the
unpopular Democratic leader." CLF executive director Corry Bliss, in a memo: "When asked,
over 60 percent of voters preferred a congressman who would work with Paul Ryan, while only
28 percent chose Nancy Pelosi. This became a focal point in our messaging, as well as other
outside groups and the Handel campaign itself. CLF never deviated from the goal of defining
Ossoff as a dishonest liberal."
,
- "NRCC Chairman bullish after special election victories - for now," by POLITICO'S Rachael Bade: "National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Steve Stivers took a brief victory lap in a Tuesday night interview with POLITICO after locking down the last of four House special elections for his party. ... 'I'd love to see where their momentum is at 0 and 4,'
Stivers said when asked what the race said about Democrats' prospects of taking the House in 2018. 'They poured $33 million into this seat and came away short. That just goes to show you that when you spend $33 million but you talk about issues that the American people don't believe, you can't win.' He later added: 'Obviously, we've got a lot of work to do,' to keep the House in the midterms, 'but I think we've proven ourselves pretty solidly at this point, by being outspent by $10 million, having them throw the kitchen sink at us, and we still win.'" Full story.
- FRIENDLY FIRE - Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, not a fan of Democratic leadership
in the House, tweets: "#Ossof Race better be a wake up call for Democrats - business as usual isn't working. Time to stop rehashing 2016 and talk about the future. We need a genuinely new message, a serious jobs plan that reaches all Americans, and a bigger tent not a smaller one. Focus on the future."
- MoveOn executive director Anna Galland: "In the closing weeks of the race, Ossoff and the DCCC missed an opportunity to make Republicans' attack on health care the key issue, and instead attempted to portray Ossoff as a centrist, focusing on cutting spending and coming out opposition to Medicare for All. This approach did not prove a recipe for electoral success. Democrats will not win back power merely by serving as an alternative to Trump and Republicans."
- HOLD THE CHAMPAGNE? - Former NRCC communications director Ken Spain issues a reminder: "Warning signs for both parties coming out of this race. Plenty of time to address
over the next 17 months. Political enviro likely to change," he writes. "We lost PA-12 special in spring 2010. Tough loss and media said GOP was dead. Went on to win 63 seats six months later. #ThingsChange."
CLOSER THAN EXPECTED - "Republican Norman wins South Carolina special
election," by Kevin Robillard: "Republican Ralph Norman has won South Carolina's special House election to replace 0MB Director Mick Mulvaney in Congress. Norman defeated Democrat Archie Parnell in a closer-than-expected race for South Carolina's 5th Distrct on Tuesday night. ... The district swung toward Democrats: Mulvaney defeated former Joe Biden aide Fran Person by 21 percentage points in November, and President Donald Trump won the district by 18 percentage points. Norman, a conservative hard-liner in the state legislature ... has
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said he would join the House Freedom Caucus if elected." Full story.
- The final margin: Norman 51%, with 44,889 votes. Parnell 48%, with 42,053 votes. Total turnout: 87,775. DCCC spent $275,000, while Congressional Leadership Fund spent $50,000 and the NRCC spent about $70,000.
- From the mouths of babes: "A win's a win but we need to win this by seven, eight points at least, not four or five," Norman told McClatchy's Katie Glueck last week.
Days until the 2017 election: 139
Days until the 2018 election: 503
Thanks for joining us.You can email tips to the Campaign Pro team at sbland@politico.com, eschneider@politico.com, krobillard@politico.com and dstrauss@politico.com.
You can also follow us on Twitter: @politicoscott, @ec schneider, @politicokevin and @danielstrauss4.
WOMEN RULE PODCAST: In the latest episode of Women Rule, actress Allison Williams joins POLITICO editor, Carrie Budoff Brown, to discuss the evolving role of women in entertainment and her "fascination" with the Trump era. The 29-year-old actress says she doesn't believe that Girls could have taken place under the current administration, and that the show needed to happen while President Obama was in the White House. "I think there was a luxury to existential peace and calm that allowed the girls to live the lives they did," Williams tells Brown. Listen and subscribe: iTunes | Soundcloud | Stitcher
MONEY CHASE - FIRST IN SCORE - DSCC raises $5.1 million in May: The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $5.1 million in May and has $16.9 million on hand, a committee aide said.
- Ryan challenger banks $100K: Paul Ryan - one of the GOP's top fundraisers - won't be hurting for money in 2018, but some Democrats are buzzing about his new challenger, Democrat Randy Bryce. He raised over $100,000 within 24 hours of launching his campaign, according to strategist Bill Hyers.
HEALTH CARE STATUS REPORT - "Fate of Obamacare repeal uncertain in Senate,"
by Burgess Everett and Jennifer Haberkorn: "Mitch McConnell's current whip count to repeal Obamacare is far short of 50 votes. There is still no bill, and even Republicans are moaning about the rush and lack of transparency. The GOP plan to jam through a bill over the next 10 days amounts to a rare political risk by McConnell with no guarantee of success. ... McConnell himself wouldn't guarantee passage on Tuesday, or even commit to a vote next week, though that is his plan. Some Republicans suspect the Senate majority leader has a master legislative stroke ahead, but it appears only the canny Kentucky Republican has any inkling of what will transpire next week."
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- ALL EYES ON HELLER: Heller "says he's willing to follow McConnell and risk his seat if the bill is favorable to his state. 'I will vote for this if it's good for the state of Nevada,' Heller said Tuesday. As to whether the emerging outline is good for the state, Heller couldn't yet say. Tm going to find out when I see the CBO,' he said. 'What will make me comfortable is a discussion with the governor.'" Full story.
RUH ROH - "Josh Mandel's $2 million ad campaign went against focus of marketing
plan," by the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Jackie Borchardt: "[T]reasurer's office marketing plans obtained through a public records request show big budget TV ads were not recommended as the best way to promote the STABLE Account program, which offers tax-advantaged investment accounts for disabled individuals, similar to 529 college savings accounts. ... Instead, the marketing plans lay out a grassroots strategy to target Ohioans who might be interested in the program by working with existing disability agencies and advocacy groups."
2018 WATCH - "Hammond planning bid to represent Nevada's 3rd Congressional
District," by the Nevada Independent's Megan Messerly: "The second-term state senator told The Nevada Independent Tuesday that he plans to run to represent Nevada's 3rd Congressional District represented by Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen. The freshman congresswoman is expected to challenge Republican Sen. Dean Heller for his U.S. Senate seat in 2018. Hammond, 50, has been exploring a bid for Congress since the beginning of the year, taking a brief break from the legislative session in March to visit Washington D.C." Full story.
- "Jim Renacci staffs his 2018 gubernatorial team with Ohio Trump campaign veterans,"
by the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Andrew J. Tobias: "Renacci's campaign team has hired a slew of operatives who worked last year on Donald Trump's coordinated campaign. They join Rob Scott, a Dayton-area attorney and former Tea Party leader who has seen his political stock rise since he signed on with the Trump campaign during last year's primary." The hires include four regional field directors. Full story.
FRONTIERS OF VOTING LAWS - "Landlords Are Now Required to Provide Voter Registration Info," by Seattle Met's Hayat Norimine: "In a 6-0 vote, Seattle council members on Monday approved legislation that would require landlords to provide information on voter registration and a registration form to new tenants. ... According to 2014 U.S. Census data, only
21 percent of renters who lived in their homes for less than a year voted." Full story.
CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Congrats to Karen Handel on a HUGE win in GA! Democrats lose again (0-4). Total disarray. The MAGA Mandate is stronger than ever. BIG LEAGUE." - President Donald Trump in a text message to supporters.
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