To:
Jackson, Ryan[jackson.ryan@epa.gov]
From: Morning Energy
Sent: Fri 5/26/2017 2:07:38 PM
Subject: POLITICO'S Morning Energy, presented by POET: White House expects earful on climate in
Sicily -- EPA shelves compliance deadlines for effluent limits rule -- More ask Zinke not to alter
monument designations
By Anthony Adragna | 05/26/2017 10:04 AM EDT
CIAO PRESIDENTE! LET'S TALK CLIMATE: Expect President Donald Trump to get an earful about climate change and the 2015 Paris agreement from the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom as the G-7 kicks off in Sicily. National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn told reporters to expect a discussion of climate issues during a session on "global issues" sometime this afternoon. "He's interested to hear what the G7 leaders have to say about climate," Cohn said. "It will be a fairly robust discussion on that." He added Trump's heard "arguments that are persuasive on both sides" about climate change, and noted the president's concern the existing emissions reduction pledge is too ambitious and would be "highly crippling to the U.S. economic growth."
Eyebrow-raising comment from Cohn on U.S. energy mix: "Coal doesn't even make that much sense anymore as a feedstock. Natural gas, which we have become an abundant producer [of], which we're going to become a major exporter of, is such a cleaner fuel. If you think about how solar and how much wind power we've created in the United States, we can be a manufacturing powerhouse and still be environmentally friendly."
Climate has already popped up repeatedly on Trump's European swing: Cohn said Trump had been pushed on climate change and the Paris pact at every bilateral meeting with world leaders during his time in Europe. Newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters he had an "extremely direct and very frank" conversation with Trump about not making a hasty decision on Paris. "I reminded him of the importance these agreements have for us," Macron said, according to Reuters . "My wish in any case is that there should be no hasty decision on this subject by the United States because it is our collective responsibility to retain the global nature of this pledge, which was a first."
European Council President Donald Tusk said there were unresolved questions about the U.S. position on climate change following his meeting with the president. And that comes on the heels of Pope Francis gifting Trump a copy of his climate change-related encyclical and Vatican officials urging the U.S. to stick with the Paris deal.
Commitment sought: As Trump touched down in Sicily Thursday night, European leaders still hadn't gotten a clear sense of where he stood on the Paris deal, and diplomats from other nations said their top priority was keeping Trump in the pact, POLITICO'S Tara Palmeri reports. The U.S. indecision is a departure from standard practice at international summits where policy commitments are typically agreed to in advance.
Bottom line: Trump is expected to make a final decision about Paris once he returns from the trip.
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TGIF MY FRIENDS! I'm your host Anthony Adragna, and the Southern Environmental Law Center's Navis Bermudez was first to identify Alexander Stephens as the only Confederate vice president. For today: The late 1960s expulsion of which House member was followed by a Supreme Court ruling allowing them to regain their seat? Send your tips, energy gossip and comments to aadragna@politico.com, or follow us on Twitter @AnthonyAdragna, @Morning Energy, and @POLITICOPro.
PROGRAMMING NOTE - Due to the Memorial Day holiday, Morning Energy will not publish on Monday, May 29. Our next Morning Energy will publish on Tuesday, May 30. Please continue to follow Pro Energy issues here.
GIANFORTE WINS IN MONTANA: One day after allegedly assaulting a reporter, Montana voters sent Republican Greg Gianforte to Congress to fill the seat once held by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. The race went for Gianforte, a former technology executive who lost a gubernatorial bid in 2016, over Democrat Rob Quist, a folk singer and first-time candidate. The race for Montana's sole congressional seat had narrowed even before the "bodyslam" of The Guardian's Ben Jacobs, even though Trump won the Big Sky State by more than 20 points last fall. POLITICO'S Scott Bland has more on the race here.
COMPLIANCE DATES PUSHED FOR EPA RULE: EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt signed a proposed regulation Thursday suspending compliance dates for an Obama administration regulation limiting toxic discharges from coal-fired power plants, Pro's Annie Snider reports . The agency will accept public comment for 30 days on its plan to suspend compliance dates implementing two aspects of the rule, which limits waterborne pollutants like arsenic and lead. Those requirements would be indefinitely suspended "until EPA promulgates a final rule specifying compliance dates."
** A message from POET - one of the world's largest ethanol producers: With scientists and engineers, POET operates 30 biofuel facilities & America's first cellulosic biofuel plant. We produce a cleaner fuel for millions of drivers, every day. We're POET and we're driving innovation, from the ground up. Learn more here. **
MORE PRESSURE FOR ETHICS WAIVERS: Additional voices are pushing the Trump administration to release copies of ethics waivers it has granted so that lobbyists can serve in its ranks. House Natural Resources Ranking Member Raul Grijalva sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue requesting all copies of the waivers. "The current Administration's refusal to comply with this completely reasonable and standard request for information flies in the face of the President's repeated claims to support an open and transparent government," he wrote. That letter comes after Earthjustice filed FOIA requests with EPA, Energy and Interior for copies of all waivers already granted.
YOU DON'T GOT THE POWER! As the public comment period on what to do about Bears Ears National Monument closes, the top four congressional Democrats - Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Minority Whip Dick Durbin, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and
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Minority Whip Steny Hoyer - sent Zinke a letter urging him not to alter existing national monument designations. "It is unconscionable to think that this administration would sell out America's outdoor heritage to benefit corporate interests in the oil, gas and mining industries," they wrote.
But wait, there's more! 86 House Democrats, led by Raul Grijalva, sent Zinke a letter arguing he lacks the power to rescind or revise national monuments designated under the Antiquities Act. "Congress has not delegated authority to significantly diminish or abolish an existing national monument," they wrote. "The Constitutional authority to revoke or shrink a national monument lies with the Congress."
Meanwhile, politicians split on Maine designation: While comments on another two dozen previously designated monuments roll on, Sen. Angus King sent a letter Thursday urging Zinke "in the strongest possible terms" to let the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, designated by the Obama administration, remain in its current form. "I am absolutely convinced that the prompt conclusion of this review and reaffirmation of the Monument designation would be a positive step," King wrote. "This Monument is some of the first positive news for the Katahdin region in a long time; please don't let it be taken away." That comes as a map from Gov. Paul LePage's office shows what it says are shuttered recreational opportunities in the area since the monument's designation.
JETTING OFF: Zinke will travel to Norway, Greenland and Alaska on a congressional delegation led by Senate ENR Chairman Lisa Murkowski this weekend.
ONE MORE FROM GRIJALVA: The Arizona Democrat also asked Zinke in a letter for information about who asked the U.S. Geological Survey to remove references to the relationship between climate change and sea level rise from a press release. "The public needs reassurance that his Administration will not persecute scientists or suppress the findings of their work," he wrote.
Grijalva's office tells ME he has yet to receive any response to 11 different letters sent to Interior and related agencies dating to mid-February. ME remembers Republicans loudly decrying the slow response times to their inquiries of Obama-era officials, but they don't appear to be concerned now that roles have reversed. Interior did not respond to requests for comment.
NEARLY EVERGREEN AT THIS POINT: Senior House Republican leaders, rife with divisions in their ranks about government spending, are already plotting how to avoid a government shutdown this fall, POLITICO'S Rachael Bade and John Bresnahan report. Congress only has 43 legislative days left to pass appropriations bills before they hit the Sept. 30 deadline to keep the lights on, so Speaker Paul Ryan in a closed-door GOP conference meeting Thursday morning raised the possibility of clumping appropriations bills together in an omnibus to save time.
The takeaway from one GOP source: "This is gonna be a brutal battle. Defense hawks want $640 [billion], appropriators want $516 [billion] for non-defense, moderates don't want any changes to mandatory. And yet everyone says the budget still has to balance. Those numbers
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don't add up. And a budget that doesn't have serious deficit reduction isn't going to make it out of committee."
THEY'RE GETTING FASTER AT THIS! Just two days after the announcement, Trump's White House formally sent the nomination of David Jonas to be DOE's general counsel to the Senate. The landing team member and an expert on nuclear nonproliferation has been a partner at the Virginia law firm Fluet, Huber and Hoang since 2016.
ICYMI: Three of the four protesters that interrupted Thursday's confirmation hearings for two FERC nominees and the No. 2 DOE post were sent to jail after being charged with misdemeanors, a spokeswoman for the Capitol Police tells ME. The other paid a fine and left. Pro's Esther Whieldon has a look at the rest of the hearing here.
MAIL CALL! SENATORS PUSH FOR DRINKING WATER FUNDING: A bipartisan group of more than two dozen senators, led by Sen. Ben Cardin, sent a letter to top Appropriators urging them to continue strong funding for grant programs to reduce lead in drinking water. "We can no longer delay needed upgrades to our infrastructure, strengthening drinking water protections and removing lead and other contaminants out of public water supplies," they wrote.
GROUPS FIGHT METHANE RULE RECONSIDERATION: A coalition of more than 60 conservation, public health, labor and faith groups are urging Pruitt not to suspend requirements for oil and gas companies to find and fix leaks from their facilities as he reconsiders those standards for new and modified wells. "EPA's methane standards are national protections that will ensure all communities benefit from these common sense best practices - and not just those located in states that have adopted such regulations," the groups, which include the Environmental Defense Fund, Clean Air Task Force and Earthworks, wrote in a letter.
BLANKENSHIP ASKS SUPREMES TO STEP IN: Former Massey Energy chief Don Blankenship asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to toss out his 2015 misdemeanor conviction of conspiracy to violate mine safety standards, Pro's Alex Guillen reports. He recently left prison after serving a year for that conviction, which stemmed from the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine disaster that killed 29 of his workers.
DIRECTOR OF NEBRASKA BOARD OVERSEEING KEYSTONE RESIGNS: Jeff Pursley, executive director of the Nebraska Public Service Commission, has resigned effective June 12. A commission spokeswoman tells ME the departure will have "no impact" on the commissioners' review of Keystone XL's proposed route currently before the panel.
OVERDRAWN: An employee within Interior's Office of the Chief Information Officer knowingly used her government-issued travel card to pay for hotels, airline tickets, rental cars and gasoline, according to an inspector general report out Thursday. The official, Tracy Hamm, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor credit card fraud and received a year of probation.
MOVER, SHAKER: David Leiter, the longtime ML Strategies president who served in the Clinton administration's DOE and as chief of staff to Sen. John Kerry, has formed Plurus Strategies. One of its first clients is Exxon Mobil.
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John Stapleton is leaving his position as communications director for Rep. David McKinley and begins a new role with the House Homeland Security Committee next week.
Natalie Mamerow, an adviser to the director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management at the Interior Department during the final year of the Obama administration, has joined the American Society of Civil Engineers as a senior manager of federal government relations, where she'll be lobbying for water, energy and environmental infrastructure. She previously worked as a legislative assistant for Rep. Ron Kind (h/t POLITICO Influence).
SPOTTED: Former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz coming out of The Bottom Line in Washington around 1 p.m. Thursday.
QUICK HITS
- New York U.S. Lawmakers Urge Feds To Expand Hudson River Cleanup. WAMC.
- Utility owner, ex-regulator, lobbyist indicted on bribery, fraud charges. Arizona Republic.
- Iran sees breakthrough in oil deals following Rouhani re-election. Reuters.
- Coal Mines Are Reimagined as a New Power Source. Wall Street Journal.
- Perry Says His Dad Helped Make Him a Cowboy and a Politician. AP.
- Climate Change Could Uncover An Abandoned Arctic Nuclear Base. Huffington Post.
THAT'S ALL FOR ME!
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