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DETAILS ON METHANE FEE FIGHT: Democrats’ attempt to include a fee on methane emissions is on thin ice, and it’s not just because of opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin, who is being widely portrayed as the single barrier to climate policies that aim to restrain fossil fuels.
Manchin hasn’t been vocal about the methane fee, and repeatedly stresses the need for oil and gas companies to do better in stopping leaks of the potent greenhouse gas.
House Democrats from oil and gas-rich Texas have been more direct in their opposition and have taken the lead in pushing Manchin to oppose it, sources following the negotiations told Josh. Remember, Democrats can afford to lose only three votes if Republicans vote en masse against their climate and social welfare reconciliation bill, so the margins are nearly as small as in the split Senate.
Three Texas Democrats, Reps. Henry Cuellar, Vicente Gonzalez, and Filemon Vela, wrote a letter last month to the West Virginia senator and fellow centrist Kyrsten Sinema warning the “massive” methane fee as proposed in the House’s Build Back Better Act would make oil and gas production more expensive. That would then “regress onto customers,” hurting low-income consumers the most, while diverting money operators need to comply with forthcoming EPA regulations on methane, the Democrats wrote.
Exclusive…a new lobbying push by industry: The Energy Workforce & Technology Council, a Texas-based group representing oil and gas field services workers that advised on the letter from House Democrats, is lobbying against the methane fee on Capitol Hill today and tomorrow, Josh is exclusively reporting here.
Leslie Beyer, the group’s CEO, told Josh in a phone call last night that it has meetings scheduled with Cuellar and another Texas Democrat, Rep. Lizzie Fletcher.
Fletcher voted for the methane fee when it was successfully marked up by the House Energy and Commerce Committee last month, but she indicated that her final support for the reconciliation package could hinge upon further changes.
Cuellar and Fletcher did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Beyer said the Council is also meeting with a number of Republican senators, including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John Barrasso of Wyoming, and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, along with Biden administration officials from the Interior, Energy, Commerce, and State Departments.
The methane fee is just one item on the agenda, as the group more broadly intends to educate policymakers on their priorities and how the workers they represent have moved into other segments of the energy industry, such as developing carbon capture projects.
State of play on methane fee: Proponents of the policy say that it remains on the table in negotiations, and the Washington Post reported that Democrats are floating a compromise to holdouts that would “involve providing $700 million in funding that would be rebated to oil and gas producers to help them comply with the fee.”
“It’s a very important part of our emission reduction commitment,” Rep. Jared Huffman of California told Josh, adding that opponents are “essentially saying methane is not a problem,” which he called “climate denial.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island told Josh that the methane fee is a “fair and essential part of meeting our targets ahead of Glasgow.”
But industry opponents say any compromise providing subsidies to companies likely won’t win them over.
“We would have to see any language before we could take a position,” Beyer said. “It certainly would depend on how it was structured. I would be suspicious of any such proposal.”
We’ll see how their lobbying influences skeptical Democrats.
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US ‘ON TRACK’ TO MEET BIDEN PARIS PLEDGE, REP. CURTIS TELLS ‘PLUGGED IN’: Rep. John Curtis of Utah, chairman of the Conservative Climate Caucus, says it would be “really good” for the U.S. to cut its emissions in half by 2030, as President Joe Biden is pledging to do.
Curtis spoke to Josh and co-host Neil Chatterjee for a new episode of our “Plugged In” podcast out this afternoon, in which he shared details on why he is joining a delegation of House Republicans visiting the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland and what he hopes to achieve there.
But Curtis argued the U.S. is already keeping pace with meeting the Biden target largely through private sector actions, and he said policymakers don’t need to restrain fossil fuel use to get there.
“We are on track to do that,” Curtis said. “I would be stunned if we don’t do that. There is hardly an American business that is not committed to do that.”
He also said U.S. goals “mean nothing” without international emission reductions.
“One of the things we’ve got to admit and come to terms with is the science is very, very clear the U.S. could get to zero and that means nothing,” Curtis added.
Curtis’ stance is a step farther than GOP position: Republicans have generally been opposed to the U.S. setting a specific target to cut emissions, as they argue the U.S. should extract a stronger commitment from China, the world’s largest emitter, before making its own pledge.
His claim that business-as-usual will get the U.S. to Biden’s target is at odds with research from the Rhodium Group last week finding that, with no new policies, the U.S. is on track to reduce emissions only 17- 25% below 2005 levels in 2030. That report found if everything breaks right, the U.S. can fulfill Biden’s 2030 emissions pledge by relying on new and expanded clean energy tax credits along with regulations by federal agencies and increased action by leading states and companies.
Asked what the U.S. could do to accelerate progress, Curtis mentioned preventing struggling nuclear plants from closing, investing in new small reactors, and funding nascent technologies like hydrogen and direct air capture.
Not ruling out a carbon price: Also of note, Curtis told Josh and Neil that he is “exploring” carbon pricing policies, but is not ready to support any. His Utah colleague, GOP Sen. Mitt Romney, has taken a similar but more aggressive position.
“I still have real serious questions I am exploring with earnestness,” Curtis said. “It’s not like I am just trying to disprove it. I want to better understand it and see how we implement it. It’s a piece of a much larger puzzle. I would love to see further conversation about it.”
Be sure to check out the full interview wherever you get podcasts.
MANCHIN SHEDS LIGHT ON PRIORITIES WITHOUT CEPP: Manchin confirmed this morning that Democrats’ clean electricity performance program won’t make it into the party’s climate and social policy bill.
“That provision is not in the bill,” he said of CEPP, in remarks at the Economic Club in D.C.
Manchin said he prefers tax incentives to accelerate the transition to zero-carbon energy sources, which are now expected to be the core piece of the bill.
He said CEPP would have come down too hard on natural gas.
“By just saying we will do away with coal, gas will be next,” Manchin said.
Manchin added that tax credits should be distributed first to benefit areas that have “lost the jobs,” suggesting he prioritizes subsidies for technologies that can be used in fossil-fuel dependent areas, such as carbon capture and aid for helping companies build or retool industrial manufacturing facilities to make clean energy technologies.
MIND THE WIDE EMISSIONS GAP: More aggressive emissions reduction commitments recently made by the U.S. and other countries still fall far short of what is needed to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement, the United Nations warns in a report this morning.
Updated commitments from rich countries only result in an additional 7.5% reduction in annual emissions by 2030, compared to the previous round of pledges in 2015. The current updated pledges would leave the world on track for a global temperature rise of at least 2.7 degrees this century.
Annual emissions reductions of 30% are needed to stay on a path of 2 degrees of warming, the U.N. said. Meeting the more aggressive 1.5 degrees annual target would require cutting emissions 55% annually.
The report puts more pressure on other big polluters, such as China — by far the world’s leading emitter, India, Russia, Brazil, and Australia, that have yet to announce or submit more aggressive emissions pledges for 2030.
AUSTRALIA COMMITS TO 2050 NET-ZERO TARGET: Australia has pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by midcentury without major new legislation restricting fossil fuels, a commitment that brings the country into alignment with its rich peers ahead of the Glasgow climate summit but that was met with environmentalist skepticism.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country would lean on investments in renewable and other clean energy technologies to meet its target and not introduce taxes or other mandates to cut emissions, which other countries have maintained is necessary to meet Paris Agreement aims of keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.
Morrison also indicated the country seeks to maintain its status as a leading coal exporter, writing in an opinion column that he wants Australia’s mining industry “to stay open, remain competitive, and adapt so they remain viable for as long as global demand allows.”
Australia’s pledge also does not include an updated emissions target for 2030.
GAS DEMAND AND PRICES TO BE UP THROUGH WINTER: INDUSTRY GROUP: The American Gas Association is predicting an average increase to customer bills of 18% this winter.
AGA’s estimate is based on the results of a survey it conducted with its natural gas utility members, which established a 4% increase in gas demand with cooler weather.
The boost in price will be driven by the overall increase in commodity prices for natural gas, Juan Alvaredo, AGA’s director for energy analysis, said in a call with reporters this morning.
Gas futures prices have fallen slightly in recent weeks from about $6.5/MMbtu to about $5, per numbers from the Energy Information Administration, but they still remain well above where they stood during the last three Octobers.
Still, AGA said it anticipates producers will bring additional supply to the market going forward.
NETHERLANDS’ LARGEST PENSION TO DIVEST FROM FOSSILS: Dutch pension fund ABP announced that it plans to sell all assets in fossil fuel companies.
The pension will divest €15 billion ($17.4 billion), or 3% of its total assets, within 1.5 years.
ABP Chair Corien Wortmann-Koolwe said the pension sees “insufficient opportunity for us as a shareholder to push for the necessary, significant acceleration of the energy transition at these companies.”
NEARLY HALF WILLING TO PAY CARBON FEE: POLL: A new poll found that nearly 50% of Americans would accept higher energy costs in the form of a carbon fee to support climate change mitigation efforts.
The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, which was commissioned by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, also found that support for a carbon fee dropped off when surveyors increased the prospective fee, but about a third of respondents said they support such a fee even if it meant paying $100 more for energy.
The Rundown
New York Times How Russia is cashing in on climate change
Washington Post In advance of climate summit, tension among Biden aides on China policy
Reuters Xi’s not there? COP26 hopes dim on Chinese leader’s likely absence
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | OCT. 27
10 a.m. 406 Dirksen. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a business meeting and hearing to consider several EPA and SCRC nominees.
1 p.m. The House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources will host a remote oversight hearing focused on the federal coal program.
THURSDAY | OCT. 28
9 a.m. The House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing to “Examine the Role of the Fossil Fuel Industry in Spreading Climate Disinformation and Heating the Planet.” The CEOs of ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP America, and Shell will testify, along with the presidents of the American Petroleum Institute and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
10:30 a.m. 210 Cannon. The House Select Climate Committee will hold a hearing titled, “International Climate Challenges and Opportunities.”
