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TRUMP SAYS FARMERS ‘WILL WIN’ FROM TARIFFS, AFTER THEY SAY THEY LOST AT EPA: President Trump tweeted support for farmers on Friday, saying “Farmers will WIN!”

The tweet follows the complaint by Iowa’s Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, that farmers are being hurt by Environmental Protection Agency policies set in motion under Trump’s watch.

Oil waivers: Reynolds is concerned that EPA’s granting of dozens waivers to oil companies will harm farmers even more they have suffered as agriculture commodity prices have plummeted.

Trump mentioned the low price in his Friday morning tweet, saying they were made worse by foreign tariffs, which he is looking to resolve through his own set of protections.

‘Downward trend’: “Farmers have been on a downward trend for 15 years,” Trump said. “The price of soybeans has fallen 50 percent since 5 years before the Election. A big reason is bad (terrible) Trade Deals with other countries. They put on massive Tariffs and Barriers. Canada charges 275 percent on Dairy.”

Demand falling: But demand for corn ethanol is being eroded at home, Reynolds told the EPA at an all-day public hearing on the Renewable Fuel Standard held in Michigan this week.  

‘Backdoor destruction’: “These small refinery waivers have created the backdoor destruction of 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol demand,” the governor said. “That means 500 million bushels of corn will be left in the bins, putting added pressure on already low commodity prices.”

Pruitt problems linger: The farmers and the ethanol industry are currently suing EPA over the waivers, after former agency head Scott Pruitt approved nearly 30 of the waivers before resigning over numerous scandals.

Killing the deal: Trump killed a deal last month that he tried to work out between the refiners and ethanol producers, after members of the Iowa delegation prodded him, saying they thought Pruitt would do more harm than good in implementing the deal.

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REPORT: TRUMP TO PROPOSE CLEAN CAR RULE ROLLBACK NEXT WEEK: The administration’s plan to weaken fuel-efficiency and emission rules for cars and light trucks will be formally rolled out next week.

The new Trump administration proposal will come from the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration, which jointly develop the rules, E&E News reported.

Trump favored a new review: Trump had ordered the agencies to reconsider an Obama-era review that said automakers were ready to move to more stringent car regulations, which the Auto Alliance, representing the auto industry, had urged Trump to rescind. The industry argued that Obama rushed the review without consulting them.

California: The regulations would also consider how to treat California, which is a special case under the clean-car rules. California has been allowed to use its own, more stringent rules in place of meeting federal standards. But the Trump administration has threatened to end the special treatment in favor of one national standard.

FEDERAL JUDGE DISMISSES NEW YORK CITY’S CLIMATE CHANGE LAWSUIT: A federal judge Thursday dismissed New York City’s lawsuit against major oil companies for their contribution to climate change, the latest in a string of suits filed by cities to be tossed aside.

Not in my court: “Global warming and solutions thereto must be addressed by the two other branches of government,” U.S. District Court Judge John Keenan ruled in dismissing the city’s climate lawsuit, saying the matter should not be handled by the courts.

He added that Congress has already delegated to the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, so it’s not the job of the courts.

Backstory: In January, New York City sued Exxon Mobil, Chevron Corp., BP, Shell, and ConocoPhillips to help pay for the costs of climate change, trying to hold them responsible for any damage to the city caused by global warming.

Just last week, U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup dismissed similar lawsuits filed by the cities of San Francisco and Oakland, stating in an order: “No plaintiff has ever succeeded in bringing a nuisance claim based on global warming.”

The arguments: The cities have argued that big oil companies have promoted fossil fuels despite knowing that climate change could harm coastal cities. Because they have created a public nuisance in the form of increasing global temperatures, the argument goes, they should have to pay for seawalls and other infrastructure to protect against the rising sea levels that might result.

Oil companies say that climate change policy is a non-justiciable political question that courts cannot set without trampling the prerogatives of the other branches of government. They also argue that courts cannot rule on broad and speculative issues such as the impact of business decisions on climate change.

BALTIMORE LAUNCHES LATEST CLIMATE CHANGE LAWSUIT: The day after New York City’s climate change lawsuit was thrown out of court, Baltimore was readying its own public nuisance lawsuit against energy firms.

Friday is for suing: Baltimore officials announced Friday a lawsuit against top oil and gas companies for their role in global climate change. Mayor Catherine Pugh and city Solicitor Andre M. Davis made the announcement after more than a dozen similar lawsuits have been filed this year by governments around the country. But with California cities losing earlier this month, and New York City’s defeat on Thursday, the Charm City’s lawsuit in state court seems very unlikely to succeed..

INTERIOR USING PRIVATE COMPANY FOR FAST REVIEW OF ARCTIC REFUGE DRILLING: The Interior Department has contracted with a private company to do a faster environmental review of the impact of oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, according to a report Thursday.

Interior signed a $1.7 million contract on April 8 with Colorado-based Environmental Management and Planning Solutions, the Washington Post reported, citing an internal document obtained through a Freedom of Information request.

The document shows Interior is counting on issuing a lease sale notice next summer.

Fast lane: The contracted company would then have three months to complete a scoping report of the environmental impact cause by drilling in the refuge, which is best known as ANWR. Such reviews typically take two to three years. In addition, the company plans to rely on existing information about the refuge, the contact’s terms state, rather than conduct new surveys.

Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner Andrew T. Mack confirmed to the Post that Interior is planning for a “compressed” schedule.

History lesson: ANWR was created under President Dwight Eisenhower in 1960. In 1980, Congress provided additional protections to the 19 million-acre refuge but set aside a 1.5 million-acre section known as the “1002 area,” where billions of barrels of crude oil are believed to lie beneath the coastal plain, for study and future drilling if lawmakers approved it.

Tax plan: Republicans last year were successful in achieving their goal to allow energy exploration in the area as part of their tax overhaul legislation.

Under the tax law, the Interior Department must hold the first lease sale by 2021 and another by 2024, and offer at least 400,000 acres each time.

Republican lawmakers representing Alaska, and Interior officials, have said they hope to have a lease sale as soon as next year, ahead of the timeline outlined in the law allowing drilling in ANWR.

PENTAGON SIDES WITH HOUSE GOP ON SAGE-GROUSE IN DEFENSE BILL: The Department of Defense is backing a provision in a defense spending bill that would block the threatened chicken-sized sage-grouse bird from going on the endangered species list for a decade.

It ‘could help’: “The Administration, the Defense Department, and the Interior Department support the provision in question and believe that it could help the Department avoid any negative readiness impacts on military facilities should the species be listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act,” said Pete Giambastiani, principal deputy assistant to the secretary of defense for legislative affairs, in a statement Thursday.

Changing tune: Giambastiani put out the statement after a Pentagon correspondence leaked on Wednesday, showing that the Defense Department was in opposition to the rider in the National Defense Authorization Act.

Wednesday’s objection: The Defense Department explained to House members that it “objects to the House provision and urges its exclusion” from the major spending and defense policy legislation.

INTERIOR EXPECTS BOTH ‘CRAZY’ AND ‘GREAT’ RESPONSES TO NEW ENDANGERED SPECIES PLAN: The Interior Department rolled out three new proposed rules on Thursday to “tweak” how the federal government manages endangered species, which is expected to receive enormous pushback but also praise.

Good, the bad, the ‘crazy’: “Here’s my expectation for pretty much all three rules,” said Interior Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt on a call with reporters. “I think we’ll hear people say it’s great, we’ll have people say it’s crazy, and we’ll have everything in between.”

Here’s to ‘hoping’: Nevertheless, he is “hopeful” that people that have views “take the time to write” the agency “serious” and “thoughtful” responses to what is being proposed, Bernhardt said. He said he will read over them “laboriously,” and anticipates responses from the “entire spectrum of opinion.”

Respecting the process: Bernhardt hopes “to be more informed by it,” he said. “That’s the process.”

‘Very protective’: “The big picture of this rule is that, together, these rules will be very protective and enhance the conservation of the species,” said Bernhardt.

Raining on Interior’s parade: Democrats and conservation groups began criticizing the proposals soon after the call. “The public doesn’t demand this; this is part of the endless special favors the White House and Department of the Interior are willing to do for their industry friends. It’s reprehensible and it needs to be opposed and reversed,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee.

“The signal being sent by the Trump administration, here and everywhere, is clear: protecting America’s wildlife and wildlands is simply not on their agenda,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife.

INTERNAL WATCHDOG FAULTS EPA’S RESPONSE TO FLINT WATER CRISIS: The EPA must strengthen its oversight of state drinking water programs because of its lax response to the Flint water crisis, the agency’s internal watchdog said in a long-anticipated report Thursday.

The report by EPA’s inspector general said management problems slowed the agency’s response to the Flint water crisis, in which corroded pipes caused by a change in fresh water sources more than four years ago tainted the city’s drinking water with lead.

Delayed response: “While Flint residents were being exposed to lead in drinking water, the federal response was delayed, in part, because the E.P.A. did not establish clear roles and responsibilities, risk-assessment procedures, effective communication and proactive oversight tools,” the report said.

Lead is a heavy metal that was used for decades in pipes and paint that is especially harmful to children, causing learning disabilities and slower growth.

State oversight: The report urged EPA to check annually with states to ensure they are complying with the federal Lead and Copper rule. It found that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality failed to implement two rules under the Lead and Copper Rule.

Rule says: The Lead and Copper Rule governs how much lead is acceptable in drinking water and what utilities must do if their water tests above the threshold. It requires public water systems to periodically test for lead and copper, limiting the amount of lead in drinking water to no more than 15 parts per billion.

The EPA is in the process of updating the rule for the first time in more than a decade

The EPA said it agrees with the inspector general’s recommendations, and will seek to follow them.

OIL PRODUCTION HITS NEW RECORD: U.S. crude oil production hit 11 million barrels per day for the first time in the nation’s history, according to new oil stats released by the Energy Department.

The record production would have made the U.S. the largest producer in the world, but analysts point out that Russian production crested simultaneously at just above 11 million barrels per day.

Onshore: The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts that U.S. oil production will average 10.8 million barrels per day in 2018 and rise to 11.8 million barrels per day in 2019. Most of that will come from shale oil wells.

Offshore: The EIA also forecasts big new production from offshore deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico in 2019.

EIA forecasts Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico production will grow by 154,000 barrels per day to average 1.9 million barrels per day, making this region the second-largest contributor to the Energy Department’s forecast growth from 2018 to 2019.”

Breaking new records: The growth could break a new record, as it is larger than the 60,000 barrel per day increase from 2017 to 2018.

“The forecast growth is driven by the ramping up of 2 new fields that started producing in 2017, the anticipation of 10 new fields starting up in 2018, and 6 additional new fields coming online in 2019,” the agency said.

The combined 18 new fields added from 2017 through 2019 are forecast to contribute 480,000 barrels per day of the total 1.9 million barrels per day of Gulf of Mexico production in 2019.

ANALYSIS: OIL PRICES COULD SURGE TO $200 PER BARREL: A new analysis shows that oil prices could rise to $200 per barrel, and even higher, in the next 12 to 18 months.

Dr. Philip K. Verleger, senior adviser to the global consulting firm the Brattle Group and and adviser to Congress on commodity prices, released a report from his independent firm PKVerleger LLC this week that predicts a 2020 economic collapse based on the oil commodity market and the lack of diesel fuel.

‘Impending recession’: “Catastrophically high oil prices will cause the impending recession,” said Verleger. “The world oil market will see prices at least double.”

From the $200 mark, the price of oils could even surge to a price of $400, he said.

What others say: Other analysts and oil market observers have noted that global oil reserves are thin, and anticipate oil prices surging past $100 per barrel after Iran sanctions kick in.

Clean-fuel collapse: But what Verleger is predicting is more specific than just blaming sanctions. He says the global demand for low-sulfur diesel, which the U.S. transitioned to about a decade ago, will increase global demand for more expensive, less-heavy forms of oil to make the cleaner-burning fuel. This will strain the supply for the lighter, more expensive crude oil.

Diesel dependence: And since most of the world relies on diesel fuel for commerce, it something that it cannot do without. As demand soars, and the market becomes tighter for lighter brands of oil, the price of oil will soar.

Refineries can’t produce it: “If nothing changes, the 2020 diesel and gasoil crisis will occur because as many as half of world refineries cannot produce fuel that meets the new regulation,” the analysis read. “The owners of these units will face harsh choices.”

RUNDOWN

Bloomberg China sits on the world’s biggest shale gas prize. Pumping it out is the hard part

Politico EPA staff worried about toxic chemical exposure — for Pruitt

CNN Interior Secretary Zinke kept some meetings off public calendar

Washington Post Climate change is beginning to disrupt the planet’s seasons: Study

Reuters Tesla’s battery maker suspends cobalt supplier amid sanctions concern