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TRUMP FURIOUS OVER BLOW TO KEYSTONE, IGNORES TEMPORARY VICTORY ON KIDS’ CLIMATE LAWSUIT: President Trump got some good and bad news on the climate and energy front on Thursday night.

First, the ‘bad’ news: The Keystone XL pipeline was halted by a federal judge in Montana.

“It was a political decision made by the judge. I think it’s a disgrace,” Trump said Friday morning before leaving for Paris.  

The decision: Montana District Court Judge Brian Morris on Thursday night slammed Trump’s decision to approve the pipeline by saying the rejection of former President Barack Obama’s decision to halt Keystone XL was unwarranted.

Morris directed the administration to go back to the drawing board and redo its environmental impact review, which could take months. One of Trump’s first orders soon after being sworn in was to expedite approval of the controversial pipeline project, which would help connect Canadian oil production to U.S. refineries.

Now the ‘good’ news for Trump: But the good news, for now, came from the Ninth Circuit of Appeals Court, which put on hold a climate lawsuit brought by 21 children against the government, which the administration has desperately tried to block four times — including at the Supreme Court.

Trump changing the courts: In chiding Judge Morris for his decision on Keystone XL, Trump noted his efforts to put judges in place at the Ninth Circuit, implying that changing the court’s makeup would give him more favorable decisions.   

“[W]e’re slowly putting judges in the 9th Circuit,” Trump said on Friday.

Not a permanent victory: Last night’s Ninth Circuit decision in the climate lawsuit, Juliana v. United States, was not a permanent victory for Trump. The appeals court — which has slowed many a Trump policy in the last two years — has to still consider Trump’s petition for a writ of mandamus against the kids’ suit. And it only placed a temporary halt on the trial date to hear the lawsuit, not on the lawsuit itself.

“Given the urgency of climate change, we hope the Ninth Circuit will recognize the importance to these young Americans of having a prompt trial date,” said Philip Gregory of Gregory Law Group, co-counsel for the 21 youth plaintiffs in the case.

“We are pleased this stay is only temporary,” Gregory added.

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MEANWHILE… PROGRESS ON TRUMP’S ENERGY DOMINANCE AGENDA: Poland’s state-run oil company signed a 24-year contract on Thursday to buy liquefied natural gas from the U.S.-based company Cheniere, a transaction hailed as a victory for Trump’s energy dominance agenda meant to move Europe from dependence on Russian energy.

“This LNG deal with Poland is a major step forward for our ally’s effort to become less reliant on Russian natural gas, which Vladimir Putin has used to bully and intimidate the Polish people,” said Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, where Cheniere is based. The company is the largest LNG exporter in the country.

Cheniere signed the deal with Polish Oil and Gas Company with Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Polish President Andrzej Duda present, according to a tweet by the company with photos of Perry and Duda presiding over the signing, saying it was “honored” to announce the deal in their presence.

Trump’s energy dominance agenda hinges on increasing natural gas exports to make the U.S. a bigger player in the global energy market, while diversifying supplies away from hostile regimes.

UTILITY GROUP CEO SEES DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE LEGISLATION: One of the utility industry’s top lobbyists, former Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson of Utah, sees the thin majority the Democrats secured on Tuesday as an opportunity to force centrists of both parties to get energy infrastructure bills passed.

He believes a smaller majority in the House will help in passing a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and a farm bill, which stalled in Congress ahead of the midterm elections.

“With this smaller majority that the Democrats have in the House, there’s certainly a scenario where the moderate voices in that caucus can have a pretty important role if they can find some common ground with other folks on the other side of the aisle, as well,” Matheson told the Washington Examiner.

Leaning into the new Congress: “We are going to lean into this opportunity,” he added. “That’s the way we look at it.”

Matheson is the CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, representing 900 utilities in nearly every state, and a major proponent of Trump’s push to roll back the former administration’s climate rules for utilities.

With the Trump administration’s regulatory rollback set to proceed regardless of what Congress does, Matheson will focus his advocacy in the next Congress on getting things built in rural areas that support the utilities’ development of a smarter grid system.

Read John’s full story here.

GOVERNOR CUOMO GOES BIG ON OFFSHORE WIND AFTER SECURING THIRD-TERM ELECTION VICTORY: New York on Thursday launched the first phase in its bid to secure 2,400 megawatts of offshore wind energy to meet the governor’s mandate of deriving 50 percent of the Empire State’s power from renewables by 2030 while combating climate change.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, told John that the bid marks the start of the biggest renewable energy undertaking that New York has ever taken.

“This action is a watershed moment in New York’s renewable energy development efforts as we work to establish a secure, reliable and cost-effective clean energy future,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

NYSERDA is handling the bidding and solicitation process to meet the goal. The first call for proposals seeks proposals from utilities and other companies to build out 800 megawatts of new offshore wind farms. The state will host an offshore wind suppliers forum next week to connect New York businesses with wind energy manufacturers.

BIODIESEL IN TRUMP’S TRADE CROSSHAIRS: The Commerce Department has raised alarm bells for U.S. soy and biodiesel producers by granting a request from the Argentinian government that could reverse a previous finding by the Trump administration that the country had engaged in illegal dumping practices.  

“The Commerce Department has no basis for initiating this unprecedented review,” said Donnell Rehagen, National Biodiesel Board CEO, the lead trade group for the soy-based renewable diesel fuel industry. “Commerce has established procedures for conducting reviews with extensive fact-finding for the very purpose of revisiting antidumping and countervailing duty rates but has never used ‘changed circumstances’ reviews for these purposes.”

Commerce opened the review on Nov. 5 after Argentina requested that it take a renewed look at its biodiesel dumping practices in a “changed circumstances” petition.

“Commerce’s initiation of these reviews just months after finding that Argentina has engaged in unfair trade practices creates a great deal of uncertainty for our industry at a time when the positive results of the original cases are just beginning to be realized,” Rehagen continued in a statement issued late Thursday.

He explained that the U.S. biofuel industry had picked up production in the months after the Trump administration determined Argentina had been flooding the U.S. with cheap biodiesel.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s annual biodiesel mandate requires that the fuel be blended in the nation’s diesel fuel supplies. Trump has said he supports the EPA mandate.

INTERIOR DEPARTMENT DISMISSES REPORT OF ZINKE’S EYES FOR FOX NEWS: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke reportedly wants to work at Fox News as a contributor once he leaves the Trump administration — which could be as soon as year’s end.

Zinke inquired with Fox News about the prospect of a contract after telling associates he is likely to step down from his post at the top of the Interior Department soon, Politico reported Thursday.

Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift, however, told the Washington Examiner Thursday that the report was ludicrous.

“Belongs in The Onion. Laughably false,” Swift said in a statement, referring to the satirical website.

Fox News also denied Zinke inquired about a job there. “No one at FOX News has spoken to Zinke about a contributor role,” the network said.

Zinke is under investigation: Zinke is facing a Justice Department investigation into whether he used his Interior office for personal gain, following a referral from the Interior Department’s own internal watchdog.

The exact scope of the DOJ investigation is unclear. However Zinke has come under scrutiny for a real estate deal between Halliburton Chairman David Lesar and a Montana foundation he used to run before his wife took over.

Trump is reviewing the allegations, and said he will soon reveal more about Zinke’s status. On Friday, Trump told reporters he has no immediate plans to fire Zinke.

ADAM SMITH PLEDGES TO PUSH GREEN ENERGY AS HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE CHAIR: Rep. Adam Smith, a champion of increased Pentagon oversight who’s wary of increased spending on nuclear weapons, announced on Thursday his desire to be the next chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Smith is a champion of green energy and a foe of creating a new military branch focused on space. The priorities Smith outlined to the Democratic caucus Thursday include cutting waste at the Pentagon, increasing oversight of military operations and civilian casualties overseas, protecting environmental laws, and advancing green energy.

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES LEAVE THOUSANDS WITHOUT POWER: Wildfires in California Friday forced thousands of evacuations and power outages.

One blaze in Northern California, called the Camp Fire, knocked out power for more than 23,000 homes and business, according to the utility PG&E.

Another blaze in Southern California, known as the Hill Fire, spanned between 8,000 and 10,000 acres and prompted the closure of parts of the U.S. Route 101 highway, the Wall Street Journal reported.

A third fire, the Woolsey Fire, has forced around 75,000 homes to evacuate.

There’s a likely climate connection: A report earlier this year found that California’s record stretch of wildfires the past few years will get worse because of climate change, making conditions drier, and fire seasons longer.

If greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, the number of large wildfires across California will likely increase by 50 percent by the end of the century, while the amount of land that burns will grow 77 percent, according to California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment.

In California, 14 of the 20 largest wildfires on record have occurred over the past 15 years, coinciding with some of the warmest years documented in the U.S.

RUNDOWN

Wall Street Journal Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s anchor, ponders a future without the cartel

Bloomberg Climate groups cringe at Virginia tax cut for oft-flooded homes

Reuters After defeat in West, U.S. carbon tax push looks East

CNN Can this carbon capture technology save us from climate change?