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EUROPE TRYING TO PATCH UP ‘DIFFICULT MOMENT’ ON ENERGY WITH TRUMP: The vice president of the European Commission’s Energy Union will be trying to mend strained energy relations with the White House on Monday.

Difficult moment: “Currently, we go through a rather difficult moment, but I think as good friend and good ally we must talk to each other,” Maros Sefcovic said ahead of a meeting with Energy Secretary Rick Perry Monday afternoon on the European Union’s energy security projects.

Main reason: “That’s the main reason I am here, and I’m sure we will be discussing out bilateral relationship from all angles,” Sefovic said at the Atlantic Council think tank. His visit corresponds with the World Gas Association’s huge natural gas conference in Washington this week, with more than 12,000 participants from dozens of countries.

Perry meeting: The meeting at Energy Department headquarters will focus on the Three Seas Initiative, which would unite 12 European Union countries in Central and Eastern Europe by creating a North-South infrastructure hub for telecommunications, energy, and transportation.

Proponents of the project say it would relieve Russia’s hold on Europe on natural gas supplies.

Nord Stream opposition: At the same time, the Trump administration is pushing back against the North Stream 2 pipeline from Russia via Germany. Trump wants Germany to drop the pipeline as condition of a new trade deal.

“I think Nord Stream 2 is clearly on the agenda,” Sefovich said. “I have never seen a commercial project that is so heavily debated and discussed at highest political levels in Europe over the last three years.”

Political project: He said Germany acknowledges it has a political component, and talks are underway to ensure the pipeline cannot not be used to manipulate supply, especially for Ukraine.

Private sector: Perry’s meeting will focus on how businesses can help develop the Three Seas project.

Sefovic said the goal of the Energy Union is to make sure there is no “dominant supplier who can push a smaller country into the corner and force the country to sign up to something that is not in accordance with E.U. law.”

Welcome to Daily on Energy, compiled 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.

PERRY TO CONTINUE PUSH ON COAL AND NUCLEAR BAILOUT: Perry told reporters Monday that he doesn’t care if he is “a punching bag” for opponents of President Trump’s desire to have him save money-losing coal and nuclear power plants.

“Having said that, I have a real responsibility to make sure the power is there,” Perry said at Energy Department headquarters, responding to opposition from the natural gas industry.

“If there is or has ever been a better salesperson for natural gas I would love to meet them. We promote it on a regular basis,” he said. “I have sung its praises for a long time. Regardless if I am a punching bag, I will continue to promote gas around the world.”

The Energy Department has refuted claims that its pursuit of market subsidies for coal and nuclear plants is in opposition to natural gas, which is replacing much of the coal power in the U.S. Natural gas is the most economically competitive source of power in the U.S., which is making it difficult for nuclear and coal plants to compete and forcing them to close.

TRUMP’S ‘AMERICA FIRST’ TRADE POLICY DISRUPTING HIS OIL AND GAS AGENDA: President Trump’s “America First” initiative is going to war with his “energy dominance agenda, as his protectionist policies and expected intervention in competitive markets are putting up barriers to the oil and natural gas industry.

More than dominance: It’s a perilous time in U.S. policy as the natural gas industry convenes in Washington this week for the World Gas Conference, the first time the U.S. is hosting the triennial event since the Reagan administration.

“You can rightly ask how an administration focused on energy dominance can be pursuing policies that interfere with energy dominance, and the answer is energy dominance is not the only goal of the administration,” Kevin Book, managing director for research at ClearView Energy, told Josh.

Unwarranted complaints? Many of Trump’s policies under his “energy dominance” agenda are helping the oil and gas industry. His administration is pursuing an aggressive deregulatory agenda, beginning the long process of rolling back environmental regulations and not imposing new rules. It is easing permitting for energy infrastructure projects, such as natural gas pipelines, to transport the shale revolution to the rest of the country. It is pushing for more liquefied natural gas terminals to export around the world.

Real barriers: But the Trump administration is imposing barriers on its effort to dominate world markets with U.S.-produced natural gas and crude oil.

Tariffs on imported steel are raising costs for pipeline producers that can’t obtain the unique grade of steel they need domestically.

Trump’s $50 billion tariffs on a variety of Chinese imports was met with a counterattack on U.S. energy from Beijing. China has said it will slap penalties on U.S. crude oil, though it will spare liquefied natural gas, because Beijing needs the cleaner-burning fuel source to weed itself off coal and reduce smog.

The Trump administration is also spooking natural gas businesses, and most everyone else in the energy industry, by promising to bail out coal and nuclear power plants as the legacy power sources struggle to compete with cheaper natural gas and renewables.

GOP WILL BACK CARBON TAX IF TIED TO INNOVATION, TECH GROUP PREDICTS: The Republican climate policy of choice may be a revenue-neutral carbon tax, says a new study by a prominent technology think tank.

What the GOP would support: The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation issued the report Monday, describing why Republicans and conservatives would get behind a tax on carbon dioxide emissions, because it’s more efficient than federal regulations, places less stress on businesses and the economy, and makes the U.S. a technological leader while increasing jobs.

GOP support for clean energy: Republicans are also supporting cleaner forms of energy, which would make them in favor of a carbon tax, the report says.

Eighty-four percent of registered voters, including 72 percent of Republicans and 68 percent of conservative Republicans, “support action to accelerate the development and use of clean energy,” according to the report.

What does revenue-neutral mean? The revenue-neutral tax would mean the fees collected from carbon dioxide emitters, like power plant owners and refineries, would go directly to fund technological innovation, as opposed to going to the Treasury.

OIL AND GAS LOBBY TRIES TO CHANGE ‘ONE-SIDED’ DEBATE ON OFFSHORE DRILLING: The American Petroleum Institute is trying to shift the “one-sided” debate on offshore drilling, as many state and local leaders push back on the Trump administration’s plan to expand the practice into nearly all federal waters.

“Since 2010, in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon spill, the discussion about offshore drilling has been one-sided,” Jim Webb, a former Democratic senator from Virginia and presidential candidate in 2015-16, told Josh. “Offshore drilling has been a missing piece to have a full energy security policy in our country.”

Economic matter: Webb is one of the leaders of a new initiative created by the American Petroleum Institute, the largest U.S. oil and gas lobbying group, that seeks to create state and local support for offshore drilling.

Josh recently spoke to the co-chairmen of the “Explore Offshore” coalition, Webb and Jim Nicholson, a former Republican National Committee chairman and secretary of veterans affairs.

The group aims to battle with governors and lawmakers of coastal states who oppose  Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s plan to expand offshore drilling, by drafting the help of community leaders who support the potential economic benefits of new drilling.

Grassroots effort: Other local officials trying to boost public support for offshore drilling as part of the API initiative include former Fayetteville, N.C., mayor Nat Robertson, a Republican, and South Carolina African American Chamber of Commerce Chairman Stephen Gilchrist.

Also participating are former Puerto Rico state senator Miriam Ramirez, former Florida Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, and Georgia State Petroleum Council Director Hunter Hopkins. The group plans to hold community meetings and boost public outreach in coastal states.

Untold story: “Governors don’t have a veto over offshore drilling,” Nicholson told Josh. “This is a national policy matter. “We have to develop a comfort level that was damaged as result of the spill of 2010. The drilling technology has advanced tremendously. That story has to be told and understood and persuasive in order to readjust public opinion. That’s a big goal of this initiative.”

LOBBYISTS WHO RENTED ROOM TO PRUITT SOUGHT POSITION FOR FAMILY FRIEND: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt considered hiring an individual connected to the lobbyists that rented him a a Capitol Hill bedroom at a reduced rate, according to emails obtained by a top environmental group.

The revelations are the latest in a series of escalating scandals for the embattled agency head who is facing 13 federal investigations into his spending habits and other practices.

Favor for a favor: In an email to Pruitt’s chief of staff, Ryan Jackson, in April 2017, J. Stephen Hart, chairman of the lobbying firm Williams & Jensen, attached the resume of a family friend. Hart said he “has talked to Scott about this kid who is important to us,” according to emails obtained by the Sierra Club and provided to the New York Times.

Hart and his wife, Vicki, rented out a room in their Capitol Hill house to Pruitt for $50 a night for several months last year. “He told Vicki to talk to you about how to handle this,” Hart wrote. Jackson responded, “On it,” according according the emails.

In May, Hart followed up with Jackson and asked if he wanted to meet the family friend, who would soon be in Washington. The friend was not hired.

Free advice: Hart also provided Jackson with recommendations for people to sit on the EPA Science Advisory Board and emailed Jacskon about objections from his client, Coca-Cola, to regulations over certain chemicals.

EPA officials have maintained that the Hart family did not have business before the EPA at the time of the rental arrangement and say it was done in a manner that adhered to federal ethics requirements.

An EPA spokesman also said the email exchanges “did not impact any agency policy outcomes.”

PRUITT BEING PROBED ON ALLEGATIONS OF EMPLOYEE RETALIATION: The U.S. Office of Special Counsel is investigating allegations that Pruitt retaliated against EPA employees who questioned his spending and management, according to a report Sunday night.

The Office of Special Counsel is an independent investigative and prosecutorial agency that protects federal employees from facing reprisals from whistleblowing. The office is interviewing some of at least six current and former EPA officials who were fired or reassigned to new jobs for questioning Pruitt’s need for 24/7 security and other spending decisions, Politico reported.

ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP DOUBTS EPA CLAIM THAT PRUITT NEVER USES EMAIL: The Sierra Club on Friday accused the EPA of concealing Pruitt’s work-related emails after the agency, in response to a public records request, said he has sent only one email to anyone outside EPA from his official email address.

The environmental group said it’s unlikely that Pruitt would have sent so few emails during the 10-month period covered by its request to non-EPA officials, considering his frequent meetings with industry officials.

Secret service: The group also doubts the EPA’s sincerity in producing only one email because of other secretive measures the agency has taken under Pruitt, such as refusing to reveal his public schedule to reporters ahead of time and his use of a $43,000 soundproof booth in his office to conduct sensitive conversations.

In September, the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the EPA for failing to respond to Freedom of Information requests for external communications.

Facing facts: EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said “Administrator Pruitt works mostly in person through conversations,” which explains the lack of email correspondence.

PERRY TOUTS U.S.’S TOP SPOT FOR FASTEST COMPUTER IN THE WORLD: Perry is touting the nation for having the fastest supercomputer in the world.

New rankings: The agency’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is once again officially home to the fastest supercomputer in the world, called Summit, according to a semiannual ranking of the world’s fastest computing systems released in Germany on Monday.

U.S. strength: “Summit’s ranking as the world’s fastest supercomputer demonstrates the strength of American leadership in scientific innovation and technology development,” Perry said. “Summit will empower scientists to address a wide range of new challenges, accelerate discovery, spur innovation, and above all, benefit the American people.”

RUNDOWN

New York Times In a high-stakes environmental whodunit, all signs point to China

Bloomberg Future of Big Oil increasingly shaped by global gas

Wall Street Journal OPEC’s increased output helps U.S. shale companies

Quartz Why solar is suddenly so sexy for Indian companies

New York Times A leading climate agency may lose its climate focus

Bloomberg Italy wants to put a million electric cars on the road. Price: $10 billion