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Environmentalists ambivalent about Bloomberg campaign: You’ve heard this one before. Some environmentalists are skeptical about the prospects of a presidential campaign from another billionaire, Michael Bloomberg, who’s bankrolled efforts to curb climate change.
“Bloomberg’s substantial climate efforts may help legitimize his progressive bona fides with some, but it’s hard to see how Sanders or Warren supporters will suddenly decamp to a billionaire former Republican,” said Paul Bledsoe, a former Clinton White House climate adviser, now with the Progressive Policy Institute. “Does his climate activism make Bloomberg a bit more attractive to ambivalent Biden supporters? Frankly, I doubt it.”
Bloomberg vs. Steyer: Bledsoe and other advocates draw distinctions between Bloomberg and Tom Steyer, another billionaire climate philanthropist who received a lukewarm reception with a late-ish surprise presidential run, and has done little to distinguish himself since.
Bloomberg, for one, is richer. Regardless of what happens with his presidential run, he’s funding Sierra Club’s “Beyond Coal” project and their new “Beyond Carbon” campaign to close all the nation’s coal plants and start shutting down natural gas and oil. Bloomberg has focused his philanthropy on action and implementation, while Steyer works on movement-building and voting with NextGen America, his environmental advocacy nonprofit that boosted turnout for Democrats in key districts in the House last year and funded clean-energy ballot initiatives at the state level.
“Bloomberg has given far more money than Steyer to protecting the environment and other progressive causes, and importantly did so in a way to support the grassroots rather than creating his own self-supporting organization like Steyer did,” Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, told Josh.
The billionaire problem: But young progressives who have brought urgency to the issue of climate change and the Green New Deal are not overly enthusiastic about either billionaire. Bloomberg has said the Green New Deal, or something like it if proposed as formal legislation, “stands no chance” of passing the Senate.
“I’m not sure either of them bring anything unique to the table than the other candidates, and their billionaire status will bring skepticism about how seriously they will prioritize jobs and equity as part of climate,” a progressive climate change policy activist told Josh.
Benefits to Bloomberg: In a primary already awash with candidates promising bold climate plans, some activists welcome the addition of more attention to the issue, especially from a big name like Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor.
His Bloomberg Philanthropies has supported thousands of cities, states, businesses, and organizations — a coalition called We Are Still In — that have remained committed to helping the U.S. reach the goals set by the Obama administration the Paris Agreement.
“Mayor Bloomberg is deeply committed to tackling the climate crisis,” Joe Bonfiglio, president of Environmental Defense Fund Action, told Josh. “Every new voice helps bring the climate conversation to a new level.”
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CAN CLIMATE CHANGE GIVE BERNIE AN IOWA WIN? Bernie Sanders’s campaign thinks so, and they’re bringing progressive star power to the state to prove it.
New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brought thousands to rallies this weekend for the Vermont senator, including a big climate summit in Des Moines. The Green New Deal-touting Ocasio-Cortez formally endorsed Sanders last month.
Sanders’ campaign has said they think highlighting the senator’s ambitious climate policy plans is a winning strategy in the first caucus state. Sanders, during his remarks at the rally Saturday, outlined several elements of his plan — including a transition to 100% renewable energy in the electricity and transportation sectors by 2030, and a much more aggressive role for federal energy agencies in investing in, producing, and purchasing wind and solar power.
Sanders called his plan “the most comprehensive climate change plan ever brought forth by any presidential candidate, in fact by any candidate for federal office.”
That plan is also very expensive: Sanders said his critics are right. His $16 trillion plan is “a lot of money.”
But he and Ocasio-Cortez countered that paying for the damage caused by climate change would cost much more.
“Like we’re not paying for it now, like the Midwest wasn’t underwater this year, as though 3,000 Americans didn’t die in Puerto Rico because of Hurricane Maria, as though Hurricane Katrina didn’t happen, as though sea levels aren’t rising, as though California isn’t on fire,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “How do we pay for that? The way we pay for this is with a people-powered movement.”
‘WE CAN’T AFFORD TO IGNORE’ CLIMATE CHANGE, FED OFFICIALS SAY: The Federal Reserve is ready to talk more about the financial risks from climate change.
That was the message from a Friday climate change economics research conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The meeting was the first-ever such event for the Federal Reserve system, which values its independence and has been largely hesitant to wade into the politically polarizing issue.
Why the Fed speaking up is important: It’s a sign the dollar consequences of climate change — and of trying to bring about a low-carbon economy — are starting to transcend political boundaries.
“Climate risks are projected to have profound effects on the U.S. economy and financial system,” Lael Brainard, a member of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, told the San Francisco gathering. “To fulfill our core responsibilities, it will be important for the Federal Reserve to study the implications of climate change for the economy and the financial system and to adapt our work accordingly.”
Brainard said the Fed is looking to increase its research work on climate-related risks, including participating in climate talks at the global Financial Stability Board. The Fed is also in talks to figure out how to participate in a global network of central banks focused on managing climate risks in the financial system, she said.
IRAN CLAIMS MAJOR OIL FIND: Iran has discovered an oil field with more than 50 billion barrels, a finding that could serve as a bulwark against U.S. sanctions that have crimped the country’s ability to export oil.
Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani announced the discovery Sunday, saying the field is located in the southern province of Khuzestan. If the finding is independently verified, it could boost Iran’s oil reserves by a third.
“I am telling the White House that in the days when you sanctioned the sale of Iranian oil, the country’s workers and engineers were able to discover 53 billion barrels of oil,” Rouhani said, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.
COASTAL LEADERS FLOOD CONGRESS TO BLOCK DRILLING OFFSHORE: Local leaders and businesses from 13 coastal states, including California, Florida, and Georgia, want to make sure drilling protections stay in the spending bill lawmakers are negotiating.
The House passed three amendments blocking the federal government from expanding drilling off the shores of the Atlantic, Pacific, and eastern Gulf of Mexico. The local leaders — including some Republican mayors from North Carolina and local Chamber of Commerce officials from several states — will urge lawmakers to keep those protections in the final fiscal year 2020 spending package for the Department of Interior.
GOT 99 PROBLEMS AND PURPA IS ONE: Democrats accused Republicans on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of undermining clean energy development by proposing major changes to the agency’s implementation of a law that requires utilities to buy power from small-scale renewable producers.
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone of New Jersey said FERC’s proposed changes to the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, or PURPA, represents a “wholesale rewrite” of the law.
“FERC’s proposals would effectively gut PURPA and completely reverse course on competitive market development,” Pallone and Bobby Rush of Illinois wrote in a letter Friday to FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee. “Equally concerning is that many of these proposals seem to have little to no record to support them.”
FERC’s two Republicans, Chatterjee and Bernard McNamee, pushed through proposes reforms to PURPA in September with the agency being short two commissioners. Democrat Richard Glick issued a partial dissent.
What the changes are all about: Utilities have complained about the law for years, saying it imposes high costs for them and their customers by requiring them to purchase energy from qualifying facilities at prices that exceed the market rate.
FERC’s revisions to PURPA — which still have to be finalized after public comment — are meant to limit the renewable projects that can benefit from mandatory purchase contracts, by reducing the threshold of sites that can qualify.
Democrats argue this change would make it extremely difficult for any facility to obtain financing.
They also question whether FERC has sufficient evidence to support its proposals, and whether its proposals are contrary to FERC’s statutory obligation to encourage sustainable energy development.
The Rundown
New York Times Interior chief’s lobbying past has challenged the agency’s ethics referees
Associated Press After push from Perry, backers got huge gas deal in Ukraine
Wall Street Journal ESG funds enjoy record inflows, still back big oil and gas
Associated Press Ford electric vehicle chief sees more products, sales growth
Los Angeles Times How the U.S. betrayed the Marshall Islands, kindling the next nuclear disaster
NPR Studying the ripple effects of shrinking Arctic sea ice
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 13
10 a.m. 406 Dirksen. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing entitled “Preserving and Expanding Clean, Reliable Nuclear Power: U.S. Commercial Nuclear Reactor Performance Trends and Safety Initiatives.”
10 a.m. 2318 Rayburn. The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology will hold a hearing entitled “Strengthening Transparency or Silencing Science? The Future of Science in EPA Rulemaking.”
2 p.m. 1324 Longworth. The House Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands holds an oversight hearing entitled “Roads to Ruin: Examining the Impacts of Removing National Forest Roadless Protections.”
THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 14
9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 1601 K Street, NW. K&L Gates, the Energy Storage Association, and the Edison Electric Institute host this year’s third annual Energy Storage Conference.
10 a.m. 366 Dirksen. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee holds a hearing to consider the nomination of Dan Brouillette to be Secretary of Energy.
