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COAL GIANT SHAKES UP INDUSTRY GROUPS OVER CLIMATE CHANGE: BHP Billiton, one of the world’s largest coal mining companies, said Tuesday morning that it is considering ending its membership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the World Coal Association and the Minerals Council of Australia because of differences of opinion on climate change. The company says it accepts the UN climate change panel’s finding that climate change is happening and is being caused by humans.
The company issued the final results of a review it began in September to examine its membership in a number of trade associations based on climate change policies.
What are the actions?: The company said it will begin preliminary discussions to leave the World Coal Council, while communicating to the Chamber and the minerals council that they will remain in the groups while formally communicating their large difference of opinion on climate change.
Accepting climate science: “BHP accepts the [United Nations] Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) assessment of climate change science, which has found that warming of the climate is unequivocal, the human influence is clear and physical impacts are unavoidable,” according to the company’s Tuesday review.
Economic growth and addressing climate: “BHP believes that sustainable development requires both continued economic growth and an effective response to climate change,” it added.
Strategic issue: “As a result, responding to climate change is a priority board governance and strategic issue for BHP.”
Calling out ‘material differences’: “While we won’t always agree with our industry associations, we will continue to call out material differences where they exist and we will take action where necessary, as we have done today,” said Geoff Healy, the company’s chief external affairs officer.
DECISION FOLLOWS TRUMP’S STRATEGIC VISION TO TAKE THE LEAD AGAINST CLIMATE POLICIES: “Climate policies will continue to shape the global energy system,” reads the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy while adding that American “leadership is indispensable to countering an anti-growth energy agenda that is detrimental to U.S. economic and energy security interests.”
“The elimination of climate change from the nation’s list of security threats is one of the most important of the many actions the president has taken to strengthen the United States,” said Jay Lehr, the group’s science director.
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ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS RAISE LAST-MINUTE ALARMS OVER TAX BILL: Ahead of Tuesday’s vote in the House on the final tax overhaul, a coalition of environmental groups is making sure lawmakers know the harm it would cause if passed.
“The Congress is voting on handing over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling. And this bill keeps massive subsidies for fossil fuel production in place,” said the Environment America, a coalition of environmental and conservation groups.
“After months of global warming-fueled extreme weather and wildfires, and decades of air and water pollution from burning coal, oil and gas, it has never been more important to shift our country — wholesale and quickly — toward renewable energy,” the group added.
The bill opens up the refuge, “one of the last truly wild places on earth, to irreversible damage from oil and gas drilling,” according to the group.
Threatens wildlife: “The refuge supports caribou, polar bears, black and grizzly bears, Arctic foxes, moose, musk oxen and more than 200 species of migratory birds. Opening this rugged wilderness to oil and gas drilling would not only blight a pristine landscape, it would threaten these creatures and the ecosystem with spills and pollution.”
The coalition also pointed out that the bill provides incentives for fossil fuel companies to produce coal, oil and natural gas.
EPA’S CLEAN POWER PLAN ACTION SHOWS AGENCY IS ‘SERIOUS’ ABOUT A REPLACEMENT: The Environmental Protection Agency took its first step of replacing the Obama-era Clean Power Plan on Monday, initiating a public comment process on new regulations for carbon pollution.
The move was expected, coming after the EPA earlier this year began the process of repealing the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan.
Why it matters: But it’s also significant, says Jeff Holmstead, a former deputy administrator of the EPA in the George W. Bush administration, who notes that critics doubted the Trump administration would be serious about issuing its own rule.
‘Serious, substantive’ approach: “Today’s notice certainly suggests that the Trump folks are serious about coming up with a rule to replace the CPP,” Holmstead told the Washington Examiner. “It’s a very substantive document, and it makes clear that they have spent some time thinking about the key issues that would be involved with a replacement rule. The Trump folks at EPA have decided that they want to focus on regulatory reforms that will be durable.”
Legal considerations: Holmstead said the EPA under Administrator Scott Pruitt likely will issue a replacement meant to hold up to legal scrutiny. The Obama Clean Power Plan was stayed by the Supreme Court, and Pruitt said it took too expansive a view of the Clean Air Act.
“By doing a substantive, meaningful replacement rule, they can provide long-term certainty for the industry and also make it clear what EPA can and cannot do under the Clean Air Act,” Holmstead said. “This will make it much harder for a future administration to misuse the act, as the Obama administration tried to do with the CPP.”
Endangerment finding safe: Pruitt’s action also shows the EPA is not planning to challenge the 2009 agency rule known as the endangerment finding, which binds the EPA to regulate emissions of carbon and other greenhouse gases. Critics have suggested Pruitt would seek to have the rule re-evaluated as a mechanism to not issue a regulation to replace the Clean Power Plan.
“If the Trump folks tried to reverse the endangerment finding, this wouldn’t be durable,” Holmstead said. “It probably wouldn’t stand up in court, and it would be easy for a future administration to put the endangerment finding back in place again.”
2017 TO BE AMONG HOTTEST YEARS ON RECORD: This year is shaping up to be among the warmest ever, according to a new report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The average global temperature for January–November period was 0.84°C above the 20th-century average, the third highest global land and ocean temperature in that period since 1880.
That places 2017 slightly behind the two warmest years on record, 2016 and 2015.
ETHANOL INDUSTRY CELEBRATES 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF MANDATE’S EXPANSION: The ethanol industry is celebrating Dec. 19 as the 10-year anniversary of former President George W. Bush’s signing of the 2007 energy bill that expanded the Renewable Fuel Standard.
The 2007 energy law required the oil industry to blend 36 billion gallons of ethanol and other biofuels into the nation’s fuel supply by 2022.
The Renewable Fuels Association released a report Tuesday morning detailing the achievements of the RFS expansion from the 6 billion gallon mandate in the 2005 energy policy law to the 36 billion gallon target in the 2007 energy bill signed by Bush.
The report shows the positive effects of the RFS’ part-two expansion on crop yields, biofuel expansion, and job growth, not to mention reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
It also pointed out how oil industry fear-mongering over the RFS has floundered.
“Meanwhile, the doomsday outcomes threatened by RFS opponents have simply not materialized,” according to the group.
EPA APPOINTS REGION HEAD TO COVER THE SITE OF LEAD-CONTAMINATION CRISIS: Pruitt has appointed Cathy Stepp to become regional administrator for Region 5, the agency announced Tuesday.
Stepp will oversee EPA efforts in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin, according to the EPA.
The region includes Flint, Mich., the site of a lead-contamination water crisis that captured national attention during last year’s presidential election.
NADER FILES ‘PROTEST’ ON BEHALF OF PR FIRMS OVER EPA MEDIA CONTRACT: Ralph Nader’s consumer watchdog group Public Citizen filed a formal protest with the federal government on behalf of two public relations firms over the EPA’s hiring of a Republican opposition firm to track coverage of the agency.
“We are seeking a finding that the contract was impermissibly awarded on a no-bid basis, and a recommendation that the Dec. 7 contract be rescinded and an open bidding process undertaken,” states a letter by Public Citizen to the Government Accountability Office, the federal agency that serves as a federal watchdog against waste, fraud and abuse.
Public Citizen wrote on behalf of Fenton Communications and New Heights Communications to protest the EPA’s contract to Virginia-based Definers Corp., a conservative PR firm with a reputation for going after Republican critics.
“This grant was awarded on a no-solicitation basis, even though the services sought are industry standard and could be performed by dozens of firms and organizations, including Fenton Communications and New Heights Communications,” the letter said.
GROUPS CALL FOR PROBE INTO EPA’S CONSERVATIVE MEDIA CONTRACT: The Environmental Working Group and American Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog, also asked the EPA inspector general on Monday to start an immediate investigation into the agency’s award of a contract to Virginia-based Definers Public Affairs.
The contract, reported Friday and later confirmed that same day, was for $120,000 to track 24-hour media coverage.
Minority owned? The letter also says the company uses a designation typically used by a minority-owned business. The groups noted that neither of the firm’s founders appears to be from a minority group.
Pruitt supporters: The groups also point out that an advocacy group started by one of the PR firm’s owners had openly advocated for EPA head Scott Pruitt to be confirmed, which the letter to the inspector general’s office said raises serious questions about whether the firm was a previous acquaintance of the EPA administrator.
CARPER ASKS EPA INSPECTOR GENERAL TO PROBE PRUITT’S MOROCCO TRIP: Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, on Monday asked the EPA’s inspector general to investigate Pruitt’s recent trip to Morocco to promote natural gas.
More to see: The EPA inspector general already is investigating Pruitt for his use of private and military flights and his frequent travel as administrator to his home state of Oklahoma, where he served as attorney general. Carper wants the inspector general’s office to expand that probe to include Pruitt’s Morocco trip, which he says cost $40,000.
Trade purpose: The EPA says Pruitt traveled to Morocco to “update” environmental cooperation under the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement to include an option to import more natural gas from America.
EPA LOOKED FOR BUGS IN PRUITT’S OFFICE: The EPA hired a company early this year to sweep Pruitt’s office for covert surveillance devices eavesdropping on him.
The sweep did not uncover any surveillance devices.
Protective measures: Pruitt has faced scrutiny for other measures the agency has taken to ensure his personal security. He has a 24/7 security detail and used $25,000 in taxpayer dollars to build a secure phone booth in his office. The EPA’s inspector general is investigating whether Pruitt broke federal spending laws by authorizing that purchase.
EPA’s defense: The EPA has defended the actions as necessary because of threats Pruitt endures from people who oppose his deregulatory agenda.
GREEN GROUPS SLAM BANKS FOR INVESTING IN KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE: A coalition of environmental groups criticized JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo Monday for providing $1.5 billion in loans to TransCanada, the company that plans to build the Keystone XL pipeline.
Decision time: The long-contested Keystone XL overcame its last major regulatory hurdle last month after Nebraska regulators approved an alternative route for the pipeline through the state.
TransCanada is expected to decide this month whether it will build the pipeline, depending on how economically viable it is.
The $8 billion Keystone XL pipeline would ship oil from Canada’s Alberta oil sands to Steele City, Neb., and then on to refineries along the Gulf Coast.
RUNDOWN
New York Times China unveils a national carbon trading plan to curb climate change emissions
Wall Street Journal Atlanta airport blackout exposes a flaw in backup power systems
Washington Post Why the bitcoin craze is using up so much energy
Bloomberg Gazprom to splurge on EU gas pipeline as U.S. weighs penalties
Reuters Climate change driving record snows in Alaskan mountains: study
Wall Street Journal Why refiners are expected to give their tax savings right back to shareholders
New York Times What needs to happen before electric cars take over the world
Calendar
TUESDAY, DEC. 19
Congress takes up the final tax reform bill this week with implications for energy incentives and oil drilling. The House is scheduled to vote Tuesday afternoon, followed by the Senate expected to vote later Tuesday or Wednesday.
1 p.m., 562 Dirksen. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute holds a briefing on “What Came Out of the Latest Global Climate Talks,” focusing on the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 20
11 a.m.,1000 Independence Ave. SW. The Energy Department, the Homeland Security Department, the Patent and Trademark Office, the State Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Veterans Affairs Department hold the Fourth Annual Interagency Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Volunteer Fair.
eventbrite.com/e/4th-annual-interagency-stem-volunteer-fair-tickets-38970023389?aff=es
FRIDAY | Dec. 22
Deadline for Congress to pass a government spending bill before funding runs out.
