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TRUDEAU GETS THROUGH TO TRUMP ON URANIUM WITH RETALIATION THREAT: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned President Trump on Thursday that placing a ban on uranium imports from Canada would likely be met by trade retaliation.
Trudeau told reporters that he tried to sway Trump against strict quotas on uranium imports from Canada in their meeting.
“Our industries depend on the flow of goods between our two countries,” Trudeau said at a late-afternoon press conference at the Canadian embassy. “For instance, Canada is a stable and reliable source of uranium for American civil nuclear reactors. So, at the end of the day, maintaining access is important for Canada and the U.S. alike.”
The prime minister said he expects to keep talking about the issue with Trump.
It was not clear, though, whether Trump gave Trudeau any assurances. Officials from Ottawa tell John that Trudeau made clear to the president that enacting quotas on their nuclear fuel exports would be unacceptable, and would harm the U.S.’ own energy sector.
“I think it would be fair to say that we made our point with him,” said a Canadian official. “From the last time they started approving tariffs on us, I think we proved our point, and it will remain the same.”
The official said he would hate to see the U.S. impose quotas, because it would be met by almost certain “retaliation” by Ottawa against U.S. products.
The official noted that Canada responded in kind when Trump imposed the first round of tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum exports. Trump later removed the tariffs in the lead-up to a trade deal with Canada and Mexico, known as USMCA.
The official imagined Trudeau would do the same if quotas were leveled against uranium imports, which could slow implementation of the trade deal.
Canada imposed a 25% counter tariff on U.S. agricultural products and other items after Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs were imposed. The official suggested similar steps could be taken in response to uranium quotas. Trump has been vulnerable on trade in his battles with China, where retaliatory tariffs have hurt U.S. farmers.
Trump had been expected to sit down with his Cabinet in a matter of days to make a decision on whether to place firm quotas on uranium from Canada and other countries in order to bolster the mining operations of two companies. The companies had petitioned for the administration to take action to preserve U.S. mining jobs as a matter of national security.
Trudeau makes an impression: U.S. utility lobbyists appeared relieved after the Trudeau meeting. They had been warning the administration not to impose uranium quotas, and had been raising their voices ahead of the meeting.
“We feel confident that [the] White House recognizes and understands our position and there will be ‘no action,’” said David Tamasi, who is leading the Ad-Hoc Utilities Group, representing U.S. nuclear power plant owners in opposing quotas.
Tamasi had feared in the run-up to the meeting that Trump could be considering a 25% cut in imports from Canada, which would harm utility firms. He argues that the mining companies petitioning for the action only support 150 jobs, compared to the 100,000 employed by the nuclear power sector.
Many of those utility jobs are in Pennsylvania, which is an important state in the upcoming election, he noted.
Other industry consultants said it would be impossible to make a sound national security argument against Canada, or other stable suppliers of uranium to the U.S. like Australia.
“We import most of our uranium from Australia and Canada,” one consultant said. “These countries are not national security threats unless one really overestimates the prowess of Crocodile Dundee and the Raptors.”
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers John Siciliano (@JohnDSiciliano) and Josh Siegel (@SiegelScribe). Email [email protected] for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
THE DEMOCRATIC GULF WIDENS AT FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur, a Democrat, announced Thursday that she will be stepping down from her post a month after her term expires in June, leaving Republicans at the agency in a firm majority.
The agency has become key to Trump’s ‘energy dominance’ agenda, and even though LaFleur has bemoaned the agency’s lack of reasoning on climate issues, she has voted alongside the GOP leadership to approve new natural gas export terminals and pipelines.
LaFleur is the longest-serving member of the five-member commission, and one of two Democrats.
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., informed LaFleur earlier in the year that he would not be recommending that she serve another term on the commission after her tenure runs out on June 30. LaFleur has the option to stay on the commission until the end of the year, or a replacement is nominated. But she decided to make August 30 her last day.
FERC has an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, with Senate leadership from both parties recommending members to the president. The only problem is, there doesn’t seem to be a replacement for LaFleur, and the commission is quickly losing members. When LaFleur leaves, there will be three members remaining. If the commission drop below three, it will have to shut down, and no new energy projects can be approved.
This fact did not escape the attention of Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which oversees FERC.
“FERC was designed as a five-member commission and I urge the Administration to move quickly to nominate individuals to fill the two open seats simultaneously in a bipartisan manner,” Manchin said in a statement.
CALIFORNIA’S TOP AIR POLLUTION OFFICIAL SAYS EPA’S ACCUSATIONS OVER FUEL EFFICIENCY TALKS ARE ‘UNTRUE:’ California’s top air pollution regulator Mary Nichols struck back Thursday at EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, who earlier in the day accused her of negotiating in bad faith over fuel efficiency standards that the Trump administration wants to roll back.
Nichols, the chair of the California Air Resources Board, called Wheeler’s accusations “shocking” and “untrue.”
Wheeler accused Nichols ahead of her House testimony of offering a weak counterproposal to the Trump administration’s plan for freezing Obama-era fuel efficiency standards, one that he did not view as a compromise.
“I would state categorically we proposed areas in which we would be willing to compromise with the administration and we never were told precisely what was wrong with any of those proposals,” Nichols said. “We were simply told they were inadequate and that we somehow failed to do our job by not bringing a proposal that the administration found to be acceptable.”
What the feud is about: The escalating tensions between EPA and California come as automakers and lawmakers of both parties are pressing the two sides to return to the negotiating table. California, with more than a dozen other states, is poised to sue the administration in order to enforce stricter auto pollution rules to limit carbon emissions from transportation, the highest-emitting economic sector.
The Trump administration has proposed revoking a Clean Air Act waiver that California has, and more than a dozen other states follow, allowing it to set vehicle emission standards tougher than federal rules.
The administration is expected to finalize its rule in the coming months.
Calls for reconciliation: “We need to get in a room,” Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., pleaded to the Trump administration and California. “It could be ‘he said, she said’ but we aren’t going to know that until we get focused. I hope we do that sooner rather than later.”
Nichols sounded ready to continue talks to avoid a lawsuit and drawn out uncertainty for the auto industry, while Trump administration officials were less committal.
“We have always been prepared to go back to the negotiating table in good faith,” Nichols said. “We still are.”
FIRST CLIMATE SOLUTIONS CAUCUS MEETING MARRED BY POOR ATTENDANCE: The bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus celebrated its relaunch Thursday, but only four members showed up at its first meeting.
“I don’t think we got as much attendance as we hoped to,” Rep. Francis Rooney of Florida, the Republican co-chair of the group, told Josh after the meeting. “We have to try to rev up some more enthusiasm.” Rooney said members were tied up with obligations related to voted on government spending bills.
How the membership breaks down: Earlier Thursday, Rooney and the caucus’ Democratic co-chair, Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida, announced a roster of 62 members who will belong to the group this Congress, 21 of them Republican. The caucus is returning all of its Republicans who did not lose re-election in November, plus two new GOP members: Reps. Rob Woodall, R-Ga., and David Schweikert, R-Ariz. Woodall and Schweikert are the first Republican members from those states.
“We have a diverse group of Democrats and Republicans covering many different parts of the country,” Deutch said in a statement. “This caucus reflects our shared belief that to achieve meaningful action on climate change, we must work together, and I look forward to it.”
But at its peak before the election — in which Republicans in swing districts suffered major losses — the caucus had 90 members, split evenly between the two parties.
Delayed action on caucus rules: In the meeting Thursday, the group was expected to discuss adopting ground rules for the caucus that would impose minimum environmental voting standards on members, to address concerns from detractors who say the group provides political cover for vulnerable Republicans.
Rooney said the lack of attendance prevented that discussion from occurring.
“It’s be nice if we could get a commitment to at least seriously consider a pro-environmental bill from each member of the caucus,” Rooney said. “I wanted to see what their appetite is [for doing that]. We are going to have to wait and try to regroup.”
ROONEY OPPOSES EPA’S WEAKER COAL PLANT EMISSIONS RULE: Rooney told Josh Thursday he opposes the Trump EPA’s ACE rule, finalized this week.
“I would rather not incentivize more coal or prolong the burning of coal when we have an abundance of natural gas,” Rooney said.
Rooney, who is pushing for Congress to pass a carbon tax bill, is the first congressional Republican to speak out against the EPA’s weakening of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan.
OREGON GOVERNOR SENDS POLICE FOR GOP LAWMAKERS AFTER THEY FLEE CAP-AND-TRADE VOTE: Republican lawmakers in Oregon fled the Salem courthouse Thursday following days of debate over an economy-wide cap-and-trade bill.
By fleeing, the minority Republicans effectively blocked the Democratic legislators from being able to pass the bill by denying them a quorum. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown dispatched the state police to bring them back and force them to vote, but several Republicans had left the state by Thursday evening. The state police do not have jurisdiction beyond state lines.
The bill outlines an aggressive plan that includes an incrementally lowering cap on emissions. The goal of the bill is to lower carbon emissions by 80% from where they were in 1990 by 2050.
As part of the bill, utility, industrial, and transportation sectors would have to further purchase emission allowances to account for their elevated levels of output. One of Oregon’s largest industries, logging, has been a particularly vocal opponent of the legislation.
Oregon would be the second state to have an economy-wide cap-and-trade bill, after California.
Nine northeastern states participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade program covering only the power sector.
The Rundown
Reuters Exxon’s $53 billion Iraq deal hit by contract snags, Iran tensions
New York Times With more storms and rising seas, which US cities should be saved first?
Bloomberg Clean energy becomes dominant power source in UK
Associated Press EU leaders fail to agree on 2050 climate goal
Calendar
FRIDAY | June 21
Noon, 618 H Street NW. The National Capital Area Chapter of the U.S. Association for Energy Economics holds a discussion on “The Energy Workforce in Transition,” focusing on the opportunities and challenges facing workers in the energy extraction, generation and consuming industries.
TUESDAY | June 25
10 a.m., 366 Dirksen. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
Holds hearing on implementation of the Land and Water Conservation Fund program.
Noon, U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. Carbon Utilization Research Council, the Global CCS Institute, and the Carbon Capture Coalition hold another in a series of Carbon Lunches.
