FREE-MARKET GROUP URGES FERC TO DEFEND GRID FROM COAL INDUSTRY, ENERGY DEPARTMENT: The free-market think tank R Street Institute is looking to defend the federally overseen electricity markets from coal and nuclear power plant owners looking for incentives to continue operating in a market dominated by low-cost natural gas.

• Letter campaign: R Street described the effort in a lengthy letter sent Wednesday to Kevin McIntyre, the Republican chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the nation’s top grid watchdog. The group is urging McIntyre to be vigilant in defending the grid against interests looking to resurrect any move akin to Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s plan to provide market incentives for coal and nuclear power plants.

FERC unanimously rejected the Perry plan in January, while starting an effort to better rate the resilience of the grid in the wake of the deep freeze this winter when coal became the backbone of the grid.

• Perry ‘misframed’ the conversation: “Initial attempts by the Energy Department misframed resilience, and we applaud the commission’s effort to redirect the discussion in a productive direction,” reads the letter, obtained by the Washington Examiner.

• No ‘winners and losers:’ “Resilience as framed by the Energy Department certainly served as a conduit for rent-seeking from the coal and nuclear industries, however, other technology providers and resource owners may use it to argue their technology is better and should be favored in the rules,” said Devin Hartman, R Street’s electricity policy manager, who drafted the letter. “Thus, we need to make sure the resilience initiative doesn’t pick winners and losers.”

• Energy Department report: The letter comes one day after the Energy Department issued a report that said this year’s “bomb cyclone,” which left much of the East Coast in a deep freeze, was proof of coal’s role in keeping the grid from crashing when weather events strained the system. The report said the continued closure of coal plants poses a threat to the grid, because of their role as the largest power provider during the extreme weather event.

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PENCE IS TALKING ABOUT AN ETHANOL ‘WIN-WIN,’ BUT REPUBLICANS AREN’T PLEASED: Vice President Mike Pence, on the road in North Dakota, is discussing ideas on how to fix the Renewable Fuel Standard’s ethanol mandate, according to the top lobbyist in the nation for corn farmers.

“Got to visit with VP Pence today,” tweeted Kevin Skunes, the president of the National Corn Growers Association. “We talked Renewable Fuel Standard!”

• A ‘win-win:’ “He said we are looking for a ‘win-win’ solution,” Skunes continued. “I asked him if we could meet to talk about what that solution looks like! He said let’s talk!”

It’s interesting that Pence is framing the solution the White House is looking for as a “win-win.” That is language taken from Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who wants Trump to waive the requirement for refiners to buy expensive ethanol credits to comply with the ethanol mandate. The ethanol industry and its supporters on Capitol Hill loathe the idea, because it would crush demand.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters last week that the Cruz plan is probably not going anywhere. He said lawmakers are urging the White House to back off and let them handle the ethanol overhaul.

Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce environmental subcommittee, appears to be one of those voices.

• ‘Counterproductive’ White House: “Congressman Shimkus believes administrative changes to the RFS at this point would be counterproductive to any legislative effort being discussed to reform the program,” Jordan Haverly, spokesman and policy adviser to Shimkus, told John.

• Bills in the works: Shimkus is helping to craft legislation to overhaul the RFS, which is seen as a companion to a bill being drafted in the Senate by Republican Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas.

IS PERRY REALLY LEAVING THE ENERGY DEPARTMENT? The Washington rumor mill won’t let go of the idea that Perry will leave his post and move across the National Mall to become head of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

• Skulkin out, who’s in? “I keep hearing the rumors, too,” one conservative energy lobbyist told John. One thing’s for certain: Current VA chief David “Shulkin is definitely gone,” said the source, who is keeping a close ear on President Trump’s frequent Cabinet changes.

Shulkin “knows he is done,” an ally told the Washington Post. Trump has told various advisers that he plans to fire Shulkin, although he hasn’t said anything publicly.

• ‘Terrible job’: But it would be a “terrible job” for Perry. The former governor of Texas “could be confirmed elsewhere, but I doubt he is equipped to run anything else, with the possible exception of [the Department of Homeland Security]. Maybe Education.”

• The chattering class: Other lobbyists and people with close ties to the White House tell John the move is not in the cards.

Perry likes being head of the Energy Department, the sources say. Running the VA? Well, that’s work.

• Road trip: Perry himself told John in an interview this month that he likes where he is at and told Trump as much during a one-on-one lunch several weeks ago. That came across during a road trip he took to visit the energy agency’s fleet of national labs in California

Perry emphasized his role as the head of the Energy Department during a trip to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he was asked to sign his name to a supercomputer there.

• The best part: “One of the best parts of my job is visiting our National Labs,” Perry tweeted Tuesday.

That doesn’t sound like a man going anywhere. He did, however, make a point of meeting with veterans who work at the lab.

• Meet the vets: “Thanks again, @SecretaryPerry for meeting with veterans from our laboratory, @SandiaLabs, @SLAClab and @BerkeleyLab. Their experience is an invaluable asset to our success,” tweeted the Lawrence Livermore National Lab.

But does that mean anything? Probably not. Perry also told John that he has a special focus for veterans issues as energy secretary, pointing out that the Energy Department is comprised of about 40 percent veterans. The agency is even leading an initiative with the VA focused on veterans health issues.

• Does Twitter volume mean anything? Even if he was hiding the fact that he was leaving, why did he, his staff, and the labs themselves tweet so much of his visit?

John counted just shy of 20 tweets from the Berkeley Lab alone, including a couple of gifs and a video of him signing a supercomputer.

• In-and-Out secretary: Perry tweeted a handful of pictures of himself Tuesday, including one of him feasting at an In-and-Out Burger.

ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS LAUNCH CAMPAIGN TO OUST PRUITT: Environmental groups on Wednesday started a campaign to oust EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, citing what they say is his propensity for “spending lavishly on himself.”

The Sierra Club and National Resources Defense Council are among 10 groups aiming to unseat Pruitt, seeking to bring attention to recent revelations about his spending on first-class travel and personal security on foreign flights.

• ‘Boot Pruitt’: The Sierra Club plans to run “Boot Pruitt” ads on cable news networks, including “Fox & Friends” and “Morning Joe.”

An online petition for the campaign reads: “Administrator Pruitt is unfit to head the EPA or for any other job in government. He is under several investigations for unethical actions taken since taking office at the EPA. His dirty dealings come at the expense of our kids’ health and the environment. He is not protecting the health and safety of American people, which is his number one responsibility. He must resign.”

RUSSIA-SAUDI ‘PERMANENT’ OIL ALLIANCE WON’T SCARE U.S. SHALE: Russia and Saudi Arabia’s efforts to extend their deal to cut oil supply for another 10 to 20 years won’t scare off surging U.S. shale production, experts say.

But a long-term pact by the world’s top two crude oil producers would effectively formalize an alliance between them, strengthening Moscow’s position in the Middle East, where the U.S. has long been the dominant superpower.

• ‘Broader competitive front’: “This would no longer be an agreement, but rather a permanent relationship,” said Ellen Scholl, deputy director at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center. “From Russia’s perspective, I would assume this is a part of broader competitive front against the U.S. But if you look at where the U.S. is and projecting to go, it will continue to remain one of biggest suppliers into international markets, regardless of what the Saudis and Russians do.”

OPEC and Russia are working on a long-term deal to cut oil supply, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Tuesday morning.

• Shale on their mind: The potential deal is a sign that the 14-member OPEC is trying to adjust to a market increasingly influenced by U.S. shale.

Experts expect U.S. producers to continue to thrive even if its competitors keep limiting production.

• ‘Oil is coming’: “The U.S works a lot different than its competitors,” said Jacques Rousseau, a managing director at ClearView Energy who specializes in global crude oil, natural gas, and refined products. “There is no cartels, and collusion to work together to manipulate the oil price, and there are many companies involved, where everyone is trying to make money for shareholders. From a big-picture sense, this U.S. oil is coming onto the market.”

SOLAR JOBS DECLINE NATIONWIDE, BUT INCREASE IN 29 STATES: Jobs in the U.S. solar industry fell 3.8 percent last year, but solar employment increased in 29 states, according to a report released Wednesday morning.

• Road trip: The Solar Foundation report shows that employment rose in states with emerging solar markets, including Minnesota, Utah, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Georgia and others. Utah added the most jobs.

California remained the state with the leading number of solar jobs, with 86,414 in 2017, but solar employment fell 14 percent from the year before.

Nationwide, solar employment declined from 260,077 jobs in 2016 to 250,271 last year.

• Something to watch: In January, Trump imposed a 30 percent tariff on imported solar panels as part of his trade agenda to target cheap products made by China and other Asian countries.

The Solar Energy Industries Association, the main trade group for the U.S. solar industry, has estimated that 88,000 U.S jobs could be lost from the tariffs.

SAUDIS ANNOUNCE PLAN TO BUILD WORLD’S LARGEST SOLAR FARM: Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night announced plans to build the world’s largest solar farm, in a partnership with Japanese investment giant SoftBank.

The $200 billion project, a series of solar panels throughout the kingdom, would produce 200 gigawatts of solar generation capacity by 2030, enough to power 150 million homes.

• ‘Huge step’: “It’s a huge step in human history. It’s bold, risky and we hope we succeed,” Salman said at a press briefing at New York’s Plaza Hotel.

SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son said he expects the project would create as many as 100,000 jobs and reduce power costs by $40 billion.

The partners did not say how the project would be funded.

• Alternative to oil: Saudi Arabia is pursuing an aggressive economic reform plan to diversify its economy away from crude oil.

Sustained low oil prices have forced the oil-rich kingdom to consider new sources of revenue, as its oil-fueled budget has been cut in half over the last three years.

Solar presents a prime opportunity because of the kingdom’s plentiful sunshine and vast open deserts.

CALIFORNIA READY TO SUE IF EPA WEAKENS VEHICLE EMISSIONS STANDARDS: California is preparing to sue the Trump administration if the if the EPA weakens fuel-efficiency rules for vehicles covering model years 2022–2025.

The EPA by April 1 is expected to say that the current rules, established by the Obama administration, are “inappropriate.” Those rules would require automakers to nearly double the average fuel economy of new cars and trucks to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

• Seeking a knockout: “We are going to do everything that can been done to defend these standards,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra told Reuters in an interview Tuesday. “So far, when we have been challenged on environmental standards we have had a good record in court. We haven’t lost a case. We are not yet at round one and we think we have some good knockout punches for the next rounds,” he said.

• California dreamin’: California, which can set its own fuel-efficiency standards, could move to formally separate its rules from the national program set in Washington if EPA weakens the federal standards.

That means that California and other states that follow its tougher rules would require carmakers operating in those states to follow the more stringent state regulations, even if the EPA weakens the national standard.

• Pruitt’s options: Pruitt has said he prefers to maintain “one national program” for vehicle-emissions rules and wants to avoid a legal battle with California. He can revoke California’s waiver to get it to follow whatever new rules he tries to establish, but that has never been done before.

“No waiver has ever been revoked, and it’s not clear exactly what the process would be to do that, which poses an entirely different challenge we haven’t seen before,” Dave Cooke, a senior vehicle analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told Josh.

• ‘Come to the table’: Gloria Bergquist, vice president of public affairs at the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said carmakers remain “optimistic” that California and the EPA can reach some sort of agreement to prevent a standoff. The alliance, which represents 12 of the largest car manufacturers, fears that if California and the EPA pursued different targets, automakers would face a patchwork of efficiency regulations.

“We still believe if California really wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the maximum possible level, it would come to the table and have discussions and look at what consumers are buying and what’s realistic,” Bergquist told Josh.

PRUITT TEAMS UP WITH ISRAELI COMPANY ON WATER SUPPLY: Pruitt announced Tuesday that his agency signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Israeli company Water-Gen to develop advanced mobile water generators that can take water vapor directly out of the air to provide drinking water. Outspoken lawyer Alan Dershowitz is a member of the company’s board.

• Puerto Rico is the reason: Pruitt said the goal of the project is to dramatically improve “access to potable water during shortages or contamination events,” such as those that occurred during last year’s hurricanes that cut off water supplies in Puerto Rico and Texas.

• EPA gets techy: Pruitt said he struck 54 similar agreements in fiscal 2017 under the Federal Technology Transfer Act, which allows the government to enter into agreements with the private sector to advance a technology to commercial scale.

RUNDOWN

Washington Post Partisan split on climate grows, even as U.S. fears are on the rise, poll finds

Houston Chronicle Attack on Patagonia latest in long-running campaign against oil critics

NPR Congress boosts ‘black lung’ treatment funding by millions

Associated Press Fishermen lawsuit against Atlantic marine monument moves ahead

Forbes French nuclear giant gambles big on energy storage

Bloomberg Never mind the mines. In Congo, there’s cobalt under the house

Washington Post Gas pipeline forges ahead as environmentalists call on Northam to slow process