Daily on Energy: Manchin votes for Trump FERC pick despite grievance with White House

It also approved FERC general counsel and former Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom lawyer James Danly as a Republican commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by a narrower 12-8 vote, with Joe Manchin, the ranking member, the only Democrat voting in support.

These are relatively uncontroversial nominees, set for confirmation: Brouillette and Danly experienced smooth confirmation hearings earlier this month, successfully navigating questions on their support for clean energy in an administration known for favoring fossil fuels.

In other business Tuesday, the energy committee also approved Katharine MacGregor to be deputy secretary of the Interior Department, the second-in-command position to Secretary David Bernhardt.

“All three did remarkably well at their hearings and will excel in their new roles and deserve bipartisan support,” said Republican Committee Chairman Lisa Murkowski.

Manchin’s telling dilemma: Manchin’s support for Danly perhaps best showcases the ability of committees to work together on nominations.

Manchin approved him despite being deeply disappointed in the White House’s decision to not pair Danly’s nomination with a Democrat. Senate Democrats have recommended uncontroversial clean-energy lawyer Allison Clements to replace Cheryl LaFleur at FERC, but the White House has refused to nominate her, eager for a 3-1 Republican advantage on the commission.

“It would be an absolute asset for FERC to have a working committee of five members and have the point of view of someone who is so intelligent and could bring so much to the table,” Manchin said, calling the White House’s decision “wrong.” He said the administration has “villainized” Clements.

But, Manchin added: “I am not going to withhold my vote for James Danly because of that. I would be no better than them [the Trump administration] if I did this.”

Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers Josh Siegel (@SiegelScribe) and Abby Smith (@AbbySmithDC). Email [email protected] or [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’S GOODBYE TOUR: Perry’s goodbye tour picks up Tuesday, when he will deliver a speech to members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the “past, present and future of energy” in the U.S.

Perry will also participate in a conversation with Marty Durbin, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute, which shares the Trump administration’s contention that technological innovation is the key to reducing emissions.

Later in the afternoon, Perry plans to address Energy Department employees in a farewell speech that will be livestreamed here. His last day is Dec. 1.

What’s left on his agenda: Perry celebrated the completion of the Polish-U.S. nuclear industry forum on Monday, hosted in Warsaw.

“I’m encouraged to see Poland embracing emissions-free nuclear energy and its contribution to energy security by making it part of Poland’s plans for a diversified energy mix to meet their growing energy needs,” Perry said.

DEMOCRATS RELEASE CLEAN ENERGY TAX CREDIT WISH LIST: House Ways and Means Committee Democrats released a clean energy tax incentives package Tuesday that extends expiring tax credits for wind and solar, and adds subsidies for energy storage.

Chairman Richard Neal of Massachusetts and his counterpart Mike Thompson of California released a discussion draft of the bill, called the Growing Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now (GREEN) Act, serving as a wish-list for Democratic priorities as Congress negotiates an end-of-the-year tax bill that would need bipartisan support to become law.

“This bill will build on existing tax incentives that promote renewable energy and increase efficiency and create new models for technology and activity to reduce our carbon footprint,” Thompson said.

The proposal extends the 30% solar investment tax credit for five years. The credit is currently scheduled to start phasing down at the end of this year. It expands the investment tax credit to include standalone energy storage, and extends the wind production tax credit for five years.

It also expands the $7,500-per-vehicle tax credit for electric vehicles.

The credit, first introduced in 2009, is capped at 200,000 vehicles sold per automaker, a threshold that Tesla and GM have already met. The proposal would instead apply a new transition period for vehicle sales of a manufacturer between 200,000 and 600,000 EVs, under which the credit is reduced by $500.

WHICH STATES’ RIGHTS MATTER MORE? Is it red states’ right to produce and export fossil fuel energy? Or blue states’ right to protect their communities from climate and water pollution?

That battle was on full display Tuesday as the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee discussed how and whether to change the process by which states can deny permits for infrastructure projects if they threaten the state’s water quality. Republican lawmakers and industry complain Democratic-led states have used section 401 of the Clean Water Act to block fossil fuel energy projects, including a major coal export facility in Washington and a liquified natural gas export terminal in Oregon.

The Environmental Protection Agency, at Trump’s direction, has proposed limiting states’ role under section 401. Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the committee’s chairman, has offered legislation to accomplish a similar task, which he says will ensure “states cannot unfairly block energy projects.”

Governors from Wyoming and Oklahoma, testifying at Tuesday’s hearing, offered strong support for the EPA’s actions and Barrasso’s bill.

What’s better for tackling climate change? Mark Gordon, Wyoming’s governor, suggested section 401 changes to allow U.S. energy exports to move forward would actually cut carbon emissions.

“We do it better. We have the strongest environmental laws in the world,” Gordon told senators, adding “coal is going to be burned overseas regardless.”

Democratic senators, though, called the EPA’s proposal and Barrasso’s bill an assault on states’ rights, restricting their ability to protect streams, wetlands, and other water bodies that could be damaged by construction of pipelines and other energy projects.

PIPELINE FIGHT: Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee aren’t happy their Democratic colleagues walked away from the negotiating table on a major pipeline safety bill.

The committee will vote today on House Democrats’ bill to reauthorize the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Republican Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan in a Tuesday markup criticized the bill as a “Christmas tree of riders” that doesn’t have a chance of passing the Senate or winning approval from the White House.

Upton offered a pared-down amendment that he hoped would help bring his Democratic colleagues back to the table, but the amendment failed 23-30.

Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, a New Jersey Democrat, argued Upton’s amendment was “essentially a restatement of the status quo.” Democrats have enough votes to move their bill out of committee.

More energy bills in the marathon markup: Lawmakers are slated to vote on several other energy and environment-related bills in the 18-bill markup. Two of those — a ban on asbestos and legislation to help deal with nuclear waste — are bipartisan and should sail through committee.

But Republicans are also raising concerns about Democratic legislation to limit per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, chemicals. Democrats have added portions of 11 other PFAS-related bills to the measure, which Republicans say all but ensures the bill doesn’t have a chance of becoming law.

IT’S HOT, AND ICE IS MELTING: Arctic sea ice shrank to a record low last month, which also happened to be the second hottest October in the globe’s recorded history.

Arctic sea ice coverage was the smallest ever recorded for October at 32.2% below the 1981–2010 average, data released Monday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed.

January through October was the second hottest year-to-date in 140 years, with a temperature 1.69 degrees F (0.94 of a degree C) above the 20th-century average. This was slightly cooler than the record-warm year of 2016.

The 10 warmest Octobers have occurred since 2003, with the five warmest Octobers occurring since 2015.

FUEL SECURITY VS. CLEAN ENERGY IN NEW ENGLAND: Democratic senators representing New England states are urging the region’s grid operator to not undermine state-level clean energy goals with its ongoing “fuel-security” initiative designed to enhance the grid’s reliability.

Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, among others, wrote a letter Monday to ISO New England warning that the grid operator “appears to be pursuing a patchwork of market reforms aimed at preserving the status quo” of fossil fuels, at the expense of clean energy.

“ISO-NE has a responsibility to facilitate [the] clean energy transition and help achieve the region’s climate goals in a cost-effective manner that ensures reliability and just and reasonable rates for consumers,” the senators wrote.

The senators express concern about recent market rule changes implemented by ISO New England like Competitive Auctions with Sponsored Policy Resources (CASPR), which they say force state-sponsored renewable energy to wait for incumbent fossil fuel generators to retire before entering the capacity market, and the Inventoried Energy Program, which rewards power plants with on-site fuel supplies, such as oil, coal, or LNG.

CALIFORNIA USES ITS PURCHASING POWER IN FUEL ECONOMY FIGHT: Starting Jan. 1, you might start to see fewer and fewer California state-owned Chevrolets, Jeeps, or Priuses.

The state’s Department of General Services quietly announced late Friday it is developing a policy that would bar state agencies from purchasing vehicles from companies like General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, and Toyota that have sided with the Trump administration in the fight over fuel economy standards.

Instead, the agencies would only be able to buy from automakers that recognize California’s ability to set its own, more stringent greenhouse gas limits for passenger cars “and which have committed to continuing stringent emissions reduction goals for their fleets,” the department said.

The announcement was coupled with another clean vehicles policy: California state agencies are no longer able to purchase sedans powered by internal combustion engines, with a few exceptions.

CAN TESLA’S STRATEGY BE A WINNER AGAIN? Mullen Technologies, a newcomer startup, is hoping it will — with a few tweaks.

The southern California-based company debuted an all-electric sports car earlier in the year, and it brought the car to the Department of Energy and Capitol Hill to urge policymakers to give them the policy support they need to get off the ground.

Mullen Technologies says their sleek, high-performance sapphire blue two-seater is their “show-stopper” car to spark attention. They’ll then enter the market with a more all-consumer car — an all-electric crossover SUV, which they’re partnering with a top-tier European carmaker on.

Electric vehicle market analysts, however, say trying to follow in Tesla’s footsteps could be a risky strategy. A newcomer might have more success targeting new spaces in the vehicle market or partnering with a large technology company like Amazon, they say.

Read more in Abby’s story in this week’s Washington Examiner magazine.

The Rundown

azcentral.com Navajo Generating Station — the largest coal plant in the West — has shut down

Bloomberg Exxon says NY used fraud claims to score political points

New York Times Amazon deforestation in Brazil rose sharply on Bolsonaro’s watch

Washington Post Scientists are weighing radical steps to save coral

Associated Press Land affected by Keystone pipeline leak bigger than thought

Calendar

TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 19

2 p.m. 2154 Rayburn. House Oversight and Reform Committee holds a hearing entitled “Toxic, Forever Chemicals: A Call for Immediate Federal Action on PFAS.”

WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 20

9:35 a.m. 406 Dirksen. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee holds a business meeting to consider the nomination of Sean O’Donnell to be the Inspector General of the EPA.

10 a.m. 2123 Rayburn. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change will hold a hearing entitled “Building a 100 Percent Clean Economy: The Challenges Facing Frontline Communities.”

10 a.m. 2362-B Rayburn. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development holds a hearing on the Energy Department’s role in addressing climate change. Former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will testify.

1:30 p.m. 1334 Longworth: House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis holds a hearing on “Creating a Climate Resilient America: Reducing Risks and Costs.”

2 p.m. 2118 Rayburn. House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities holds a hearing entitled “Climate Change in the Era of Strategic Competition.”