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TRUMP SITS DOWN WITH TED CRUZ TO DISCUSS ETHANOL: President Trump begins his Tuesday energy policy session with a discussion about the fate of the nation’s ethanol mandate.

A lot of the energy news coming out of the White House this week has a lot to do with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard, especially in the last 24 hours.

On Tuesday, Trump is meeting the GOP senators, led by Texas Sen. Cruz, to discuss the RFS, the White House confirmed. Tuesday’s meeting will focus on the refiners’ problems with the ethanol mandate.

• Will he listen to Cruz?: Refinery and other lobbyists tell John that they don’t expect Trump to budge on Cruz’s demands to push EPA to place an administrative limit on the price of renewable identification number credits, or RINs.

Cruz argues that the price of RINs has acted as a federal tax on refiners, forcing the largest refinery on the East Coast, Philadelphia Energy Solutions, to file for bankruptcy protections last month due to the tens of millions of dollars it spent on RINs last year.

• The arguments for no action: The lobbyists argue that Trump promised the ethanol camp he would support the RFS, and even ordered EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt late last year to roll back a proposal to look at winding down the program. Pruitt later sent a letter to Senate ethanol proponents that he would be working with them to increase the amount of ethanol in the gasoline supply, vowing not to propose any cuts to the program outside what Congress had originally intended.

Nevertheless, Trump did meet with EPA head Scott Pruitt and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Monday.

• Stay tuned: The White House told John to expect a read out from the meetings later on Tuesday.

MIDNIGHT CALL FOR OBAMA CLIMATE RULE REPEAL: A lot took place on the Trump energy front while Washington slept, with the midnight deadline passing for commenting on repealing and replacing Obama-era climate rules.

• Firm limits on EPA authority: Two large swaths of the utility industry stated in their comments to EPA that they wanted to make sure the administration defines the agency’s limits when it comes to enforcing rules on greenhouse gas emissions.

Both the American Public Power Association and the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, both representing consumer-owned utility firms, want the Obama-era Clean Power Plan repealed based on a clear interpretation of the law, and for EPA to replace it with a new rule that places firm limitations on the agency’s powers over power plant emissions and costs.

The utility groups were among the hundreds of groups and 28 states that sued the Obama EPA over the Clean Power Plan for going beyond what they argued were the firm limits for regulating emissions under the Clean Air Act.

• Limits on cost: “Any replacement rule must comport with the limited authority over existing sources … , and it should be consistent with the existing regulations requiring that EPA issue guidelines to the states that reflect application of the best system of emission reduction (considering the cost of such reduction) that has been adequately demonstrated,” according to the NRECA comments.

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.

PRUITT PRESSED TO ENSURE NO MORE COAL PLANTS CLOSE: “It is vitally important to preserve the fleet of existing coal-fired power plants,” said the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, representing coal power plants, in comments filed Monday night on Trump’s Clean Power Plan replacement proposal.

The group thinks the best way to ensure the longevity of coal is to make sure the Obama climate plan is repealed.

“Even if the [plan] were determined to be lawful (which it is not), it would establish bad environmental policy that would have substantial adverse energy and economic impacts,” the group added.

Surprisingly, the group does support EPA replacing the rule with something that comports with the Clean Air act, “because it will help EPA to gather additional information for the development of emission guidelines to replace the [Clean Power Plan] in a manner which comports with the [law], and which will not exacerbate the alarming amount of coal-fired electric generating capacity that is retiring.”

SOLAR LEADER PROMISES TO GO ON ‘OFFENSE’ AFTER TRUMP TARIFF DECISION: The leader of the solar industry’s main trade group is ready to play “offense” in 2018, after the renewable power source suffered from real and near setbacks in the early stages of the Trump administration.

Abigail Ross Hopper, the president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, is eager to continue solar’s progress, as the sun-powered energy generator is growing faster than any other power source, even as the Trump administration has shown a preference for traditional fossil fuels.

• Come to life: Thanks to the continuing drop in costs, America’s solar industry has gone from barely alive a decade ago to nearly 50 gigawatts of total installed capacity, enough to power nearly 10 million homes, according to the association.

• ‘Go get it’: “Personally, we have been on the defense for the past year, and we are done,” Hopper told the Washington Examiner in a recent interview in her Washington office. “We are going on the offense. We are going to be aggressive, we are going to be outspoken, we are going to be clear about what we want. And then, we are going to go get it.”

• Slew of setbacks: The setbacks and near-setbacks have been well-told. In January, President Trump imposed a 30 percent tariff on imported solar panels as part of his trade agenda to target cheap products made by China and other Asian countries.

The broader U.S. solar industry, other than panel manufacturers, opposed the tariffs, arguing the penalties could harm the industry’s recent progress by increasing costs and forcing them to raise prices for consumers.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry tried, and failed, to prod the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to subsidize struggling coal and nuclear plants, a payout that would have harmed competitors such as natural gas, solar, and wind.

• Solar in Trump’s universe: Reflecting on solar’s place in the Trump era, Hopper insisted solar can outpace its competitors in the energy markets, regardless of policies imposed outside her control.

“I do think solar will continue to grow and be a larger and larger portion of that portfolio,” Hopper said. “It is inevitable that clean technologies, however one defines them, will make up our energy portfolio in the future, and it’s a question of how quickly we get there. Part of my job is to ensure we get there more quickly.”

Read the full interview here.

TRUMP SLAMMED BY INDUSTRY FOR EMBRACING SOLAR TARIFF ‘MYTH’: Trump said Monday that his decision to impose tariffs on solar panel imports is bringing back solar manufacturing to the nation, which the solar industry called out as misleading and untrue.

• The number 32: Trump made the comments to a group of governors he addressed at the White House on Monday. He said that 32 solar panel plants that had either been closed or placed on life support are now coming back due to the tariff protections.

• The living dead: “Of the 32, 30 were closed and two were on life-to-life resuscitation. They were dead,” Trump said. “Now, they are talking about opening up many of them, reopening plants that had been closed for a long time.” He also said five new factories were in the works.

• Speaking of going on the offense: But much of the U.S. solar industry had opposed the implementation of the tariffs. In the wake of Trump’s comments on Monday, the industry’s lead trade group said it is just as resolute as ever that tariffs are the wrong direction for the nation.

• Trump’s ‘bad’ decision: “Let there be no doubt that the tariff decision was bad for American jobs and our economy,” said Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association.

• Battling a myth: “As for the 30 companies referenced, that is a myth that Suniva has been using the press to spread,” Hopper said.

NUCLEAR POWER OPPONENTS OPEN NEW BATTLE FRONT IN THE SUPREME COURT: Anti-nuclear power activists took their fight to the Supreme Court Monday night with a rare petition attacking federal nuclear regulators for excluding a power plant’s transmission line from an environmental review.

• No room for the environment: The group Beyond Nuclear asked that the high court take up its cases against the Fermi 3 reactor outside of the Detroit, claiming that the 200-mile long transmission line that would connect the reactor’s power supply to the grid would harm local wildlife areas.

• ‘First time’ in court: The petition marks the “first time” that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s regulatory agenda governing new power plant construction is being challenged in the high court, said Kevin Kamp, representing Beyond Nuclear in a statement.

• Opposing the feds: The group is opposing the commission’s limited work authorization regulation, which allowed a new reactors being constructed in the country, there are only a handful, “to begin in a great big hurry,” said Kamp. The rapid construction approval had been used to build plants underway in the Southeast a decade ago. The group argues that the federal commission’s rule violates the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires environmental reviews be conducted before construction commences. In this case, the group is protesting the transmission line, not the reactor, for crossing vulnerable habitat areas in Michigan.

APPLYING THE BRAKES TO NEW NUCLEAR: “We are striving to prevent such high-speed bulldozing, in violation of NEPA, at Fermi 3,”  Kamp said.

• Number three reactor: Fermi 3 would be a the third reactor at the current Fermi 2 power plant site operated by utility firm Detroit Edison, or DTE.

• Still on the drawing board: The utility said it applied for the reactor license to give it the option of including more nuclear power plants in its future grid planning. NRC approved the license to build the plant in 2015, even though the company had no plans to begin construction.

The group’s case could present another hurdle for the utility company to actually build the new power plant addition, if the high court takes up the petition, which it may not.

• Trump’s infrastructure vision: The high court petition could also presage where President Trump’s infrastructure plan is destined. Trump wants to expedite environmental reviews, which could cut corners and provide room for groups to sue and tie up new development efforts in the court. Depending on where the courts rule, it could send a harmful precedent for trying expedite infrastructure projects even after Trump is president.

RICK PERRY TO LEAD NUCLEAR ENERGY TALKS WITH SAUDI ARABIA IN LONDON: Perry plans to travel to London on Friday to discuss a potential nuclear energy agreement with oil-rich Saudi Arabia, according to multiple reports.

• Art of the deal? The Trump administration is considering allowing the Saudis to enrich and reprocess uranium as part of what’s known as a nuclear cooperation agreement, or a “123 agreement.”

In exchange, the U.S. would permit Westinghouse, a bankrupt nuclear reactor business, and other American companies to build nuclear reactors in Saudi Arabia, Bloomberg reported.

• Nuclear ambitions: Saudi Arabia plans to construct 16 nuclear power reactors over the next 20 to 25 years at a cost of more than $80 billion, according to the World Nuclear Association, and the Trump administration wants the U.S. to have a piece of that opportunity.

Perry is slated to meet with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy and Industry Khalid Bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih.

• Congress ‘in the dark’: Congress would have the chance to approve any potential agreement for it to go into effect

Some in Congress say the Trump administration has not been transparent with lawmakers about the Saudi nuclear talks.

“Congress remains in the dark about what exactly is being considered, why we may be re-evaluating our nonproliferation objectives and standards, and how and when this information is being conveyed to Saudi Arabia and other countries around the world,” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said in a letter to Perry and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

US TO PASS RUSSIA AS TOP OIL PRODUCER BY 2019, IEA SAYS: The U.S. will pass Russia as the world’s top oil producer by 2019 at the latest, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday morning.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said at an event in Tokyo the United States would overtake Russia as the biggest crude oil producer “definitely next year”, if not this year.  

“U.S. shale growth is very strong, the pace is very strong … The United States will become the No.1 oil producer sometime very soon,” he told Reuters.

• Shale powers ‘explosive growth’: U.S. oil production hit 10 million barrels per day in November for the first time since 1970, highlighting the power of shale oil and natural gas boom.

The U.S. is expected to experience “explosive growth” in oil production in 2018 and will exceed Saudi Arabia’s output for the first time and rival Russia, the world’s top producer, the IEA reported last month.

PIPELINE DEVELOPER APPEALS REJECTION OF KEY PERMIT: A developer of a pipeline in Louisiana on Monday appealed a federal court ruling that halted construction of the project.

A subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners is contesting a decision by U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, who issued on Friday a preliminary injunction revoking a permit for the Bayou Bridge crude oil pipeline.

• Expanded pipeline network: The proposed project would extend a existing pipeline, which transports crude oil from Nederland, Texas, to Lake Charles, La.

The new portion would extend the pipeline to St. James, La., with the ability to transport up to 480,000 barrels per day of oil.

Opponents argue the expanded pipeline would harm the Atchafalaya Basin, a nearly 1 million acre wetland in southern Louisiana.

• Not their first rodeo: Energy Transfer Partners, which co-owns the project with refiner Phillips 66, is best known as the developer of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline. Environmental and Native American groups stalled the construction of that pipeline, but the Trump administration allowed it to begin shipping oil last year.

TOP DEMOCRAT SLAMS TRUMP INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN FOR NEGLECTING ENERGY: Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrat of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, slammed the Trump administration on Tuesday morning for proposing an infrastructre plan that “barely” mentions energy.

“Revitalizing and modernizing our nation’s crumbling infrastructure should be an area where Democrats and Republicans can find common ground,” Pallone said at a hearing focused on energy infrastructure. “Unfortunately, the plan President Trump unveiled two weeks ago barely mentions energy and, as a whole, represents another cynical bait and switch.”

• What’s in the plan: Trump recently unveiled his plan to spend $200 billion in federal money on infrastructure to spur more than a $1 trillion in total spending with the support of state and local goverments and private industry. The plan focused heavily on streamlining environmental reviews for infrastructure projects.

ATTORNEYS GENERAL GROUP SAYS IT HAS TAKEN 80 ACTIONS TO OPPOSE TRUMP ON ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS: A coalition that supports state attorneys general opposing the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental regulations says the top lawyers in mostly progressive states have taken at least 80 actions in the past year to challenge those moves.

The State Energy & Environment Impact Center published a report Tuesday documenting the actions of state attorneys general who have used a variety of tactics to challenge the Trump administration as it seeks to delay or repeal a number of Obama-era environmental regulations.

• ‘Outsized role’: “This report makes clear the outsized role state attorneys general are playing in advancing and defending progressive policies, regulations and values pertaining to environmental protection, the causes and impacts of a changing climate and the development of a clean energy economy,” said David J. Hayes, executive director of the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center.

“State attorneys general are upholding the rule of law and stopping unlawful actions dead in their tracks at the courthouse. Attorneys general have also been active in shaping outcomes in advance by speaking out about the harms potential actions would have on their constituents.”

• Support group: The coalition launched in August 2017 as a way to organize the actions of state attorneys general who are eager to counter the Trump administration’s aggressive environmental and energy agenda.

Attorneys general who have worked closely with the coalition include California’s Xavier Becerra, Massachusetts Maura Healey, Maryland’s Brian Frosh, and New York’s Eric Schneiderman, all Democrats.

• Court play: Attorneys general have been aggressive in the courts, suing the Trump administration for actions including delaying the Waters of the United States rule, eliminating a rule to limit methane emissions, missing a deadline to implement  standards for controlling smog-forming pollution, and suspending a requirement that states track on-road greenhouse gas emissions.

Some of those actions have been successful. The Trump administration has reversed course on plans to roll back environmental regulations at least 10 times in response to a court decision or lawsuit, according to Politico.

RUNDOWN

Washington Post Interior Department panel weighs lower royalty payments for offshore oil and gas drilling

New York Times Contractors are leaving Puerto Rico, where many still lack power

Bloomberg China’s drive to be the Detroit of electric cars

NPR Scientists predict penguins face major threats due to climate change

Wall Street Journal Truckers propose a gasoline tax increase to pay for infrastructure plan

Washington Post Hurricanes left behind mountains of trash in the Virgin Islands — and there’s nowhere to put it

The Guardian More than 100 cities now mostly powered by renewable energy, data shows

Bloomberg Oil-rich Nigeria fuel scarcity weighs on President Buhari’s popularity

Washington Post German court opens the way for bans of diesel vehicles, roiling a nation of car obsessives