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TRUMP TARIFFS ALARM ENERGY INDUSTRY: President Trump’s announcement Thursday that he would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports is not receiving a warm reception from the oil and natural gas industry, which raised concerns that his proposal would raise costs and stifle economic growth.

“The actions taken today are inconsistent with the administration’s goal of continuing the energy renaissance and building world-class infrastructure,” Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, said after Trump said he would impose 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum.

• Stifling energy exports: “We are concerned that the administration’s plan to impose tariffs on steel could have the unintended effect of endangering much-needed U.S. LNG export projects,” said Charlie Riedl, executive director of the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas. Energy exports are key part of Trump energy dominance agenda.

“The administration had taken meaningful steps to improve the current permit review process for natural gas infrastructure and it would be unfortunate if their steel tariffs created new and different barriers to projects,” Riedl said.

ENERGY CONSUMERS RAISE QUESTIONS OVER LEGALITY OF TRUMP’S ENERGY AGENDA: A group representing some of the largest consumers of energy in the country is questioning the legality of Trump’s energy dominance agenda, which it argues is exporting natural gas to the detriment of the nation’s economy and security.

The Industrial Energy Consumers of America, which includes chemical giants Dow and DuPont, sent a letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Thursday asking the Trump administration to stop approvals of any new natural gas export licenses.

• Cause for alarm: The reason, the group pointed out in the letter, is based on the Energy Information Administration’s latest annual energy outlook that shows natural gas demand in the lower 48 states will consume 69 percent of all known U.S. recoverable resources. But the administration is on track to export that much in just a few decades.

“The U.S. is consuming and exporting natural gas at a faster rate that we are finding new natural gas resources,” the letter stated.

• Grateful but wary: “IECA and its member companies are highly supportive and grateful to the Trump administration for the support of the manufacturing sector,” the letter read. “However, on this issue, we see a great policy inconsistency that is probably driven by the view that our natural gas resources are large.”

• Huge reserves, but …: Natural gas reserves are vast, the group concedes, “but not relative to the size of our domestic consumption.”

It pointed out that the Department of Energy’s export approvals, which are expected to equal 70 percent of all U.S. natural gas demand over the next three decades, cannot be sustained, and “cannot possibly be in the ‘public interest’ under the Natural Gas Act, which raises the question of the legality of further LNG export approvals.”

The Energy Department is supposed to do public interest assessments before approving LNG export licenses. The group is not sure if the studies that are being done are thorough enough as the administration ramps up energy exports in line with Trump’s energy dominance agenda.

“Excessive LNG exports pose a real threat to domestic manufacturing, manufacturing jobs, and the economy long-term,” the letter warns. “We urge a measured approach and metrics to determine public interest which will guide informed short and long-term decision making, and the establishment of prudent consumer safeguards.”

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FIRST NATURAL GAS EXPORTS ON EAST COAST READY FOR SHIPPING: The first natural exports on the East Coast were commissioned to be shipped Friday from the Cove Point facility owned by Virginia-base utility Dominion.

“Today marks an important day, not just for Cove Point, but for the U.S. LNG industry,” said Center for LNG executive director Charlie Riedl. “Cove Point’s first commissioning cargo represents a growing industry.”

Riedle pointed out that Cove Point is the second U.S. LNG export facility in the country, but the first on the East Coast, “and one of many to come.”

• Geopolitics: “The projects provide thousands of jobs at home and environmental and geopolitical benefits abroad,” he noted.

“The vast natural gas resources in the U.S. enable LNG exports to bring significant benefits to communities right here at home. As more LNG exports come online, those benefits will increase exponentially, in terms of job creation, investment and supply contracts across the whole natural gas supply chain.”

TRUMP’S ETHANOL DISCUSSIONS A WORK IN PROGRESS: The goal of this week’s series of talks on the ethanol mandate at the White House was about keeping the two sides talking, not to resolve the debate.

That’s what industry observers are telling John in the aftermath of Thursday meetings between the ethanol and oil camps at the White House. Trump is at least keeping the ethanol industry and refiners talking about what the best fix for the problem is, even if a solution didn’t materialize, say sources tracking the discussions.

• ‘No decisions:’ Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, representing the ethanol side of the debate, said even though his camp believes allowing higher blends of ethanol into the market is the best answer to solve the RFS puzzle, “no decisions were made” by the president or policymakers at the meeting.

• Second meeting in a week: The meeting was the second time Trump met this week with the goal of trying to work out a compromise between the renewable fuel industry and oil refiners on how to resolve concerns over the Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard.

• Oil camp: Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., represented the refiners at the meeting, with a number of CEOs from Valero, PBF, and Monroe Energy. Biofuel and ethanol producer CEOs were also represented alongside the president and the Republican senators.

• What Cruz is pushing: Cruz is floating a proposal to relieve refiners from having to buy expensive ethanol credits, or RINs, to meet the renewable fuel blending requirements under the RFS. The proposal would cap the price of RINs at 10 cents, which continued to be a nonstarter for Grassley and ethanol CEOs without more study.

EPA RULE GIVES STATES MORE POWER TO MANAGE TOXIC COAL ASH: The EPA proposed a new rule Thursday that will give states and utilities more leeway in how they dispose and manage toxic coal ash waste.

• Spills prompt rule: Coal ash is the waste left over from burning coal for electricity production. The waste is typically stored in large containment ponds. But after some large coal ash spills, the Obama administration in 2015 wrote regulations to better contain the waste.

Utility operators produce more than 110 million tons of coal ash annually, according to the EPA.

• Money saver: Pruitt said Thursday his proposed revision of the rule would save companies between $31 million and $100 million per year. It would allow states to come up with their own plans for how to respond to coal ash spills.

EPA will be accepting public comment on the proposal for 45 days after publication in the Federal Register and plans to hold a public hearing.

EPA STARTS DISMANTLING OBAMA METHANE RULES ON NEW FRACKING WELLS:

The EPA also announced two piecemeal actions Thursday to reduce costs and regulatory “burdens” imposed on the oil and natural gas industry by the Obama administration’s methane emission rules.

The EPA said the two actions would reduce “significant and immediate compliance concerns” for the industry, while reducing “burdens” on state environmental agencies and saving millions of dollars in compliance costs.

• First steps: Bill Wehrum, the EPA’s recently appointed air pollution chief, described the actions as the first steps in addressing the broader methane regulations imposed by the Obama administration on new wells.

• Big questions in the future: He anticipates that the agency will take future actions to dismantle the methane regulations, including addressing the question of whether emissions from oil wells should be regulated.

EPA MISSES CUTTING A CLIMATE CHANGE REFERENCE ON ITS WEBSITE: Is it a mistake? We’re not sure. In researching the EPA’s oil and gas emission rules, John found that the Trump EPA website states that the reason for the regulations is to “combat climate change.”

• Here’s how it currently reads: “EPA’s Clean Air Act regulations for the oil and natural gas industry help combat climate change and reduce air pollution that harms public health.”

CLIMATE CHANGE GETS SOME AIR TIME AT ISRAELI POLICY CONFERENCE: The U.S.-Israeli lobby AIPAC ramps up its policy conference Sunday, with Israel’s national Volcani laboratory showcasing its work to face down climate change at the event.

• Israeli lab featured: The Volcani Institute, the Israel-based lab’s agricultural innovation arm, is to be “prominently featured” this year at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference being held Sunday through Tuesday in Washington, the lab announced Thursday.

The AIPAC conference is a high-profile annual event. Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to address the event with other administration officials.  

The lab says it accounts for almost 75 percent of the agricultural research in Israel.

• Climate change is a ‘global challenge:’ Volcani’s scientists research solutions to improve food safety, food security, “advance climate change adaptation and ensure environmental sustainability,” the lab says.

GOP REPORT ACCUSES RUSSIANS OF DISRUPTING U.S. ENERGY POLICY THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA: Russian-sponsored operatives used social media to try to disrupt U.S. energy markets and influence domestic energy policy, House Republicans said in a report released Thursday.

Republican staff on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee obtained social media data and posts from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram that showed Russian agents used the platforms to try to suppress development of fossil fuels, stymie U.S. efforts to expand natural gas use, and encourage dissent about the science of climate change.

• Threatened by competition: The report said the Russians were motivated to curtail U.S. energy production, since the United States has become a dominant producer of oil and natural gas, rivaling Moscow and threatening its market share.

• What the numbers say: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram provided Republican committee staffers with data showing that 4,334 accounts on those platforms were linked to the Internet Research Agency, a Russian company established by the government to use social and traditional media platforms to advance Kremlin propaganda.

The report identifies 9,097 Russian social media posts regarding U.S. energy policy or events between 2015 and 2017.

ZINKE CANCELS NEW MEXICO OIL AND GAS LEASE SALE: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has canceled an oil and gas lease sale near Chaco Canyon in northern New Mexico until the agency can review the impact on cultural artifacts in the area.

Zinke told the Albuquerque Journal that “there have been some questions raised” so the Bureau of Land Management will postpone the planned March 8 sale of about 25 parcels on 4,434 acres.

Tribal groups and environmentalists have protested the sale, arguing drilling would disrupt sites they consider culturally significant.

COASTAL GOP SENATORS URGE EXPANDING DRILLING IN GULF OF MEXICO: A group of six Republican senators from coastal states urged Zinke on Thursday to fulfill his proposed plan to expand oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

• ‘Superpower’ status: “As an energy superpower, our nation is more energy secure and better shielded from foreign regimes that use energy as a tool against our national security priorities,” the senators wrote in a letter. “In order to continue this success, we should analyze all new areas including the Eastern Gulf of Mexico planning area, to make better, more informed decisions as the lease planning process continues.”

The senators on the letter are Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy of Louisiana, John Cornyn of Texas, Roger Wicker and Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Richard Shelby of Alabama.

• Industry target: The government currently has a moratorium on offshore drilling in the eastern Gulf until June 30, 2022, imposed partly because the Pentagon worries oil development would interfere with military testing and training in the area.

Opening up areas east toward the coast of Florida would offer companies strong prospects for oil and gas and easy connections to existing infrastructure.

BID FOR FIRST CARBON TAX DIES IN WASHINGTON LEGISLATURE: Washington state’s bid to become the first state to impose a direct tax on carbon dioxide emissions died Thursday, when Gov. Jay Inslee announced the legislature did not have the votes to pass the measure.

Inslee told the Associated Press his carbon tax proposal was a few votes shy of passing out of the Democrat-controlled state Senate.

• Failed, but a ‘sea change’: “I would consider this a sea change in the climate fight,” said Inslee, a Democrat. “It’s come a long way from where we’ve been. We’ve basically shown that carbon policy is within reach.”

Washington state’s proposal would have imposed a tax of $12 per ton of carbon emissions on the sale or use of fossil fuels such as gasoline or natural gas, with the rate increasing at $2 per year until it reaches $30.

• Carbon tax on states’ agenda: Other states are considering carbon taxes. Bills have been introduced in the legislatures of Utah, Maryland, New York, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine and the District of Columbia.

RUNDOWN

New York Times Oil was central in decision to shrink Bears Ears Monument, emails show

Washington Post Under pressure from Senate Democrats, EPA restores funding for the Bay Journal

Reuters How Shell hid a whale before placing Mexican oil bet

Wall Street Journal General Electric plans wind turbine nearly three times as tall as Statue of Liberty

Houston Chronicle Mexico’s reliance on Texas natural gas depends on NAFTA

Pacific Standard Here are the U.S. counties most and least resilient to climate change

Chron.com As CERAWeek kicks off, energy industry focuses on technology, innovation

Washington Post Ancient carbon is coming from Arctic soil