SIGN UP! If you’d like to continue receiving Washington Examiner’s Daily on Energy newsletter, SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://newsletters.washingtonexaminer.com/newsletter/daily-on-energy/

TRUMP’S THREAT TO USE EMERGENCY AUTHORITY TO BUILD WALL MIRRORS COAL PLAN: President Trump tweeted Monday morning that he “no doubt” has the authority to build a border wall without Congress, but wishes to move ahead with a legislative deal anyway.

What Trump is likely referring to are little-known, and limited, powers given to the president to act in the country’s interest in a national emergency. The suggestion resembles a similar plan that the White House floated last year to save financially-ailing coal-fired power plants.

That plan would make use of the Defense Production Act, and other Cold War-era laws and regulations, that give the president the authority to order specific actions — like keeping power plants open — in light of a national emergency.

But it appears the coal plan lost steam in the waning days of 2018, with many tracking the deliberations saying there were doubts within the White House that the president could successfully, and legally, pull off a national security argument to keep coal plants open.

Instead, the administration seems content to leave it up to federal regulators at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to engage in a more lengthy, deliberate, and legally-weighted process to determine whether some power plants should be given market-based subsidies in order to keep the grid secure and resilient.

But the White House pulling the plug on the coal plan begs the question: Does the White House really think Trump can use his presidential authority in order to build a border wall?  

His tweet would suggest that he may be walking the threat back a little in favor of a bipartisan, legislative deal.

“Congressman Adam Smith [D-Wash.], the new Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, just stated, ‘Yes, there is a provision in law that says a president can declare an emergency. It’s been done a number of times,’” Trump tweeted. “No doubt, but let’s get our deal done in Congress!”

Open to court rebuke, while costing too much: What Trump didn’t say is what Smith also said: “In this case, I think the president would be wide open to a court challenge saying, where is the emergency? You have to establish that in order to do this.”

Smith appeared on ABC News on Sunday, where he was asked whether the president has the authority to order the construction of a border law.

Smith also said that, beyond the court challenges, the border wall “would be a terrible use of Department of Defense dollars.”

No deal, yet: The administration announced no breakthrough in discussions over the weekend to gain a deal to end the government shutdown. The shutdown now enters week three.

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.  

WHILE TAKING TRUMP’S BARBS, HONDURAS HAS BEEN GOOD FOR HIS PRO-COAL AGENDA: U.S. coal exports surged last year in Honduras, which has been the target of barbs from the president related to immigration and border security.

Honduras showed a 242 percent year-to-date increase in U.S. coal in the third quarter, making it the largest increase in coal of any country in 2018, according to new federal Energy Information Administration data released last week detailing production and exports from the past three quarters of the year.

Trump had referred to a caravan of thousands of Hondurans seeking to migrate to the U.S. as an “invasion,” sending troops to the border in an effort to head them off.

Trump also said during a rally in November that Honduras does nothing for the U.S. and that he will be cutting foreign aid the U.S. sends there very soon.

At the same time, Trump has made exporting more coal a key part of his “energy dominance” agenda.

The number two country for increasing imports of U.S. coal for power plants was Pakistan. Other more traditional allies, like Canada, France, and Germany, cut their imports of coal last year, according to the Energy Department.

SUPREME COURT DECLINES EXXON’S BID TO AVOID MASSACHUSETTS CLIMATE COVER-UP PROBE: Supreme Court justices on Monday rejected Exxon Mobil Corp.’s appeal of a Massachusetts court decision that the company must hand over documents to the state’s attorney general related to an investigation of its plans to withhold climate change data from investors.

The high court’s decision is the latest setback to the company’s push against Democratic attorneys general investigating allegations that the oil company sought to undermine its own scientists’ research concluding that climate change would hurt its future business.

The court’s decision upholds Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s legal push for the company to hand over records that go as far back as the 1970s, which she hopes will reveal that the company sought to cover up the findings, which, if released, could have dissuaded investors.

Activists cheer: Climate change activists applauded the decision, saying it adds momentum for holding fossil fuel companies accountable for causing manmade climate change.

“This latest decision brings great momentum in the fight to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for causing the climate crisis,” said Thanu Yakupitiyage, spokesman for the anti-fossil fuel group 350.org.

“Executives at Exxon knew about climate change decades ago, but they chose to lie to the rest of us to line their oily pockets,” said Yakupitiyage. “Now, it’s those who have done the least to cause the problem who are paying the cost of this deception through our lives and livelihoods.”

PELOSI PLANS TO RESURRECT FAILED CAP-AND-TRADE BILL FROM A DECADE AGO: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that she plans to resurrect something similar to the failed cap-and-trade bill that the House passed nearly a decade ago but that the Senate couldn’t muster the votes to pass.

“We couldn’t pass in the Senate our climate bill, and we’ll be returning to that,” Pelosi said on Friday at as part of MSNBC’s “The Speaker” town hall broadcast.

Old ideas reborn: Pelosi is referring to the bill named after former Reps. Henry Waxman and Ed Markey, who is now a senator. The bill put in place a cap on carbon dioxide emissions, while offering emission credits to the power plant operators, which they would have to purchase in order to meet the cap. The price of the credit would adjust as an incentive to reduce emissions.

TRUMP APPLAUDS HIS OWN ‘TALENT’ FOR LOWERING GASOLINE PRICES: Trump took credit for low gasoline prices on Friday, saying he used his “talent” for negotiating and well-placed phone calls to OPEC nations to bring oil prices lower.

Tax Cut II? Trump explained that keeping gasoline prices lower is part of his administration’s efforts to reduce costs for Americans. Earlier last week, he called the lower fuel costs a second tax cut.

But some of his talks with Saudi Arabia ahead of re-imposing oil sanctions in November were based on faulty assumptions. Saudi Arabia did inject more oil into the market ahead of Trump’s sanctions, but only to find that the U.S. issued numerous waivers to countries to allow them to continue purchasing Iranian oil.

OPEC cuts: Now, OPEC is poised to cut production because the price of oil has fallen too low due to an oil glut, which could also harm U.S. oil drillers if the oil price goes too low. The average price of oil hovered around $45 per barrel this week.

On Monday, oil prices rallied on Wall Street as the most recent analysis showed OPEC production cuts were beginning to have an effect.  

RUNDOWN

New York Times As fires ravaged California, utilities lobbied lawmakers for protection

Bloomberg A rift between Germany and Brazil stalls work on carbon market

Axios Former GOP lawmaker Carlos Curbelo joins Columbia University think tank to promote climate change action

CNN Treasured UNESCO sites at risk from climate change