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COUNTING THE WAYS THE WORLD CAN STILL MEET PARIS GOALS: The Natural Resources Defense Council and NewClimate Institute released a report Wednesday outlining 24 actions the world can take to meet the overarching goals of the Paris Agreement.

The report was released to coincide with the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. It focuses on already-proven “realistic” emissions-reduction strategies, rather than “nascent” technological breakthroughs.

“The world has a window of opportunity to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement,” said Jake Schmidt, the managing director of the International Program at NRDC, in a call with reporters. “Political and business leaders need to step up and take stronger, broader and more collective action now in the fight against global climate change before it’s too late.”

What has to be done: The report found that actions such as accelerating deployment of renewable energy and electric vehicles, eliminating coal power, boosting energy efficiency, as well as deforestation, eating less meat and decarbonizing clothing production in the apparel industry, can help meet the Paris agreement’s overarching goal limiting global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

That is the temperature at which many scientists say the world would see irreversible effects of climate change.

The groups said these measures could even allow the world to “get closer” to staving off  a 1.5-degree rise in the global temperature, a more ambitious target favored by nations on the frontlines of climate change.

Under current policies, the report says, the world is on track to release 57.7 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Fully implementing the report’s two dozen actions could reduce emissions by 19 gigatonnes per year in 2030.

Measuring the world’s progress: Of the 24 policies outlined, the report says a few of them are on track to be reached, some must be scaled up, and others “need focus.” The first group includes faster deployment of renewable energy, capping coal consumption in China by 2025, accelerating the phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in cooling systems, and developing low-carbon energy in India.

The last group includes improving industrial energy efficiency, deploying near-zero emissions buildings, and shifting to less meat-intensive diets.

Read the full report here:

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TOP RUSSIAN OFFICIAL WARNS AGAINST OIL PRICE WAR WITH US: A top Russian financial official warned Wednesday that Moscow should not get into an oil price war with the U.S., and should fulfill its pledge to reduce output even if that means losing market share to American shale producers.

“For U.S. shale production to go down, you need oil prices at $40 per barrel and below. That is not healthy for the Russian economy,” Kirill Dmitriyev, head of the state-backed Russian Direct Investment Fund, said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in comments reported by Reuters. “We should not take competitive action to destroy U.S. shale production.”

Dmitriyev three years ago was a leading advocate for a production-cut pact with OPEC to help raise collapsing oil prices. While Russia gained billions in revenue from the corresponding higher prices, Dmitriyev said, U.S. shale producers not subject to the pact constraining output also benefited. The U.S. is now the world’s largest oil producer, ahead of Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Signs of non-compliance this time: Russia in December joined with OPEC an a new pact to cut oil production after prices fell again.

But as John reported this week, Russia appears to be increasing its oil exports in the last year, rather than losing out on market share to the U.S.

While we’re on Russia… Trump, meanwhile, for the second time in as many weeks Tuesday night cited U.S. oil exports displacing supply from Russia as proof he has been tough on Moscow.

Quoting political commentator Deroy Murdock, who was appearing on Fox News, Trump tweeted:

“We are now exporting oil, which is the first time in my lifetime – we are right now the largest producer of oil and gas. This is not good if you’re Vladimir Putin where your chief export is oil. W.H. Agent – Not good for Kremlin.”

ELIZABETH WARREN CALLS ON FEMA CHIEF TO RESIGN OVER HURRICANE MARIA RESPONSE: Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., criticized the Trump administration’s response to Hurricane Maria during a presidential campaign stop in Puerto Rico Tuesday.

She called for Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long to resign or be fired and criticized the government for the lag in disaster aid reaching the island.

“16 months later, the people of Puerto Rico have not received the help they deserve to build this island,” Warren said, referring to funding pledged by Congress to the territory’s recovery. “Puerto Rico has suffered enough. We will not let anyone sabotage your recovery, not even the president of the United States.”

Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, destroying its already-fragile electricity grid and testing its bankrupt state-run utility provider, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. It took almost a year after the hurricane for power to be restored to the whole grid.

Read more of the Washington Examiner’s coverage of Warren’s campaign stop in Puerto Rico.

HOUSE LAWMAKERS FORM BIPARTISAN TASK FORCE TO COMBAT DANGEROUS CHEMICALS: House lawmakers plan to announce a bipartisan task force Wednesday afternoon that is meant to pressure the federal government to regulate a class of chemicals that have contaminated water supplies across the U.S.

Reps. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., are leading the task force seeking to prioritize clean-up of sites tainted by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS,  and to push for more funding to do it.

Kildee and Fitzpatrick have called for the Environmental Protection Agency to set a national standard for the amount of PFAS allowed in drinking water, which the agency has not done.

Tallying the PFAS problem: Communities in Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, North Carolina and other states have found PFAS in their drinking water. Kildee represents Flint, Mich., the site of the 2014 water crisis in which corroded pipes caused by a change in fresh water sources tainted the city’s drinking water with lead.

Roughly 16 million people in 33 states and Puerto Rico have tap water contaminated by PFAS, according to research by Northeastern University and the Environmental Working Group.

PFAS have been linked with thyroid defects, problems in pregnancy, and certain cancers. The stain-resistant chemicals have been used since the 1940s in Teflon, nonstick pans, electronics, water-repellent clothes, food packaging and firefighting foam.

Who’s on the task force: Other lawmakers on the 10-member task force include Reps. Fred Upton, R-Mich., Ray Lujan, D-N.M., Jack Bergman, R-Mich., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and more.

The group is hosting a press conference at 2 p.m. on Capitol Hill.

MICHIGAN’S NEW DEMOCRATIC AG WITHDRAWS FROM SUITS VS. OBAMA EPA RULES: Michigan’s new Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, announced Tuesday she has filed motions to withdraw from four federal lawsuits against Obama administration environmental rules, including one challenging its trademark Clean Power Plan.

“Under my watch, Michigan will not be party to lawsuits that challenge reasonable regulations aimed at curbing climate change and protecting against exposure to mercury and other toxic substances,” Nessel said.

Nessel’s predecessor, Bill Schuette, a Republican, had joined lawsuits against the Environmental Protection Agency for the 2015 Clean Power Plan, the Obama administration’s rule requiring emissions reductions from existing power plants, which was never implemented because of a Supreme Court stay.

Schuette, along with other conservative attorneys general, argued the Obama administration based the Clean Power Plan on an expansive and illegal interpretation of the Clean Air Act.

Nessel also removed Michigan from multi-state lawsuits challenging Obama-era rules to curb emissions of mercury, arsenic and lead from coal plants; limit emissions from new power plants; and reduce methane emissions from oil and gas operations.

OFFSHORE WIND DEVELOPER, GREEN GROUPS REACH DEAL TO PROTECT WHALES: Developers of a planned project to build an offshore wind farm off Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts reached an agreement Wednesday with environmental groups to ensure the protection of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.

The Vineyard Wind, pitched as the nation’s first large-scale offshore wind project, aims to power more than 400,000 homes.

Under the agreement, Vineyard Wind developers agreed to institute protective measures to keep the endangered whales safe while installing and operating 84 wind turbines 14 miles from the shore. Developers plan to begin construction this year.

“Scaling up offshore wind in wildlife-friendly ways is essential to confronting the climate crisis,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, one of the environmental groups subject to the deal. “By ensuring that offshore wind power is responsibly built and operated, this model agreement is a win-win for conserving wildlife and creating well-paying jobs.”

RUNDOWN

Wall Street Journal What utilities can do to strengthen the grid

Washington Post ‘The Garden of Eden is no more’: David Attenborough issues climate-change warning at Davos

Bloomberg Why a PG&E bankruptcy could change climate calculus

Reuters BlackRock plans environmentally conscious money market fund