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DEMOCRATS: SHUTDOWN HARMING PUBLIC LANDS, HELPING ENERGY FIRMS EVADE PROBES: Top Democrats in both the House and Senate are faulting Trump for the shutdown and charging that it is harming national parks and public lands, while upturning a probe into a horrendous natural gas explosion that shocked Massachusetts last year.

“The unnecessary Trump shutdown is shutting down justice for the residents of the Merrimack Valley impacted by the Columbia Gas disaster,” said Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, D-Mass., who has been pressing the natural gas utility on its safety record, along with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., after the Sept. 13 gas explosions wreaked havoc across three towns near Boston.

Federal probe into Columbia Gas: Although the senators had launched their own probe into the disaster, Markey wants the full resources of the National Safety and Transportation Board to be restored so it can continue its investigation into the explosions that he faults the companies Columbia Gas and NiSource for causing through negligence.

“Without the results of this investigation, the people of this community cannot hope to move forward,” Markey said in a statement issued Thursday. “The residents of Lawrence, Andover, and North Andover have already had to wait too long for answers; they should not have to wait any longer.”

Problems for public lands: Meanwhile, in the House, Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-AZ, the expected incoming chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, is taking aim at the shutdown for causing widespread problems for the management of the nation’s public lands, and especially “Indian country.”

“President Trump and his enablers seem happy to let this shutdown grind our economy, hurt Indian Country and put our public lands at risk indefinitely,” Grijalva said, noting that about a third of Bureau of Indian Affairs has been furloughed.

“It shouldn’t be hard for my colleagues to choose between funding normal government operations and making communities suffer for the sake of the president’s ego,” said Grijalva.

He touted Democratic funding bills as setting good priorities and that should become law, rather than appease the president’s demands for money to build the wall.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California pledged to make the House “America’s town hall” on Thursday, saying the chamber will be  place where the peoples’ “voices will be heard and will affect all of our decisions.”

And don’t forget climate change: The House also plans to launch into hearings soon on climate change, according to Rep. Frank Pallone, D-NJ, the new chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

“There is no more pressing issue for our economy, our communities and our planet than climate change, and this is the first of many hearings the Committee will hold on this growing crisis,” Pallone said in a statement on Thursday.

Pallone said the hearing would take place later this month.

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.  

ELECTRIC CARS VS. BIG ETHANOL ON CAPITOL HILL: Electric vehicles and ethanol will be pitted against each other in the new Congress as interest groups push lawmakers to bet on plug-in cars over corn-based biofuels.

A new story in next week’s Washington Examiner magazine looks at how environmental groups want to shape the debate when it comes to infrastructure spending to help drive a transition away from liquid fuels, including ethanol, toward electricity and battery-powered transportation.

It is no secret that environmental groups haven’t seen the ethanol use as the most environmental of options when it comes to greening the highways. “Corn ethanol has been a disaster for the environment,” said Scott Faber, vice president for government affairs for the Environmental Working Group, an activist organization.

Subscribe here to get exclusive access to the Washington Examiner magazine ahead of when it hits the newsstands on Tuesday.

WHAT’S UP WITH COAL UNDER TRUMP? The Energy Department dumped a lot of data on coal over the last two days that showed an amazing pick-up in exports of the black-and-sooty stuff for fueling, not U.S., but foreign power plants, including those in climate change proponents France and Germany.

Coal exports for power plants rose by 4.4 percent in the third quarter of 2018 to 14.5 tons, taking up the slack from waning demand for metallurgical coal exports required to make steel.

Overall, the Energy Department sees coal exports totaling 113 million tons once the fourth quarter data comes in for 2018. Exports will reach 102 million tons in 2019, according to the latest forecast.

Meanwhile, domestic consumption of coal surged to 194 million tons in the third quarter of 2018, marking a 23.9 percent increase from the 156 million tons reported in the second quarter.

Nevertheless, consumption was still 4.6 percent lower than the 203.5 million tons reported in the third-quarter of 2017.

Nearly all the U.S. demand for coal last year came from the electricity sector at around 94 percent.

At the same time, coal plants continue to close, as increased competition from natural gas and renewables makes them less able to compete.

New weekly coal stats are out Friday from the last week in December, and new short-term energy projections from the Energy Information Administration are due out Jan. 15.

GRIEF IS BIPARTISAN AT FERC: In the wake of Kevin McIntyre’s death announced on Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission became a beacon of bipartisanship amid the shutdown politics of Washington.

His death hits home with Democrats: Long-standing Democratic commissioner Cheryl LaFleur of Massachusetts put out a statement, expressing her deep admiration for the Republican she served with.

“On a personal level, I appreciated his warm collegiality and ready Irish wit, and was frequently charmed by his Catholic school vocabulary,” she said.

Trump’s pick: McIntyre was the Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, before he was forced to step down from the post to serve as a commissioner late last year. He died on Wednesday.

“I believe that FERC was very fortunate to have Kevin McIntyre at the helm for as long as he was, and I was honored to serve with him I particularly appreciated his keen legal judgment, unstinting commitment to the rule of law, and deep concern for the organization even in the face of his personal struggles,” LaFleur added.

A principled leader: Democratic commissioner Richard Glick called McIntyre “a man of great intellect and principle.”

“He brought both qualities to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission where, as Chair, he guided the Commission to bipartisan consensus during a particularly tumultuous time,” Glick said, alluding to continued pressure on the commission to adopt a coal plan that the White House had  been pushing.

The process at FERC: McIntyre had led a unanimous vote at FERC in opposing a plan proposed by Energy Secretary Rick Perry that would seek market-based incentives for coal plants. Instead, McIntyre said he would address the issue of coal and nuclear plant closures through a more lengthy, evidence-based process at FERC, which it is in the process of completing.

“But there was much more to Kevin than being a FERC Chairman,” Glick said. “He was extremely kind and witty… and never failed to inquire about my family.”

It’s better to have a full FERC panel: FERC is currently one Republican commissioner shy of having a full panel, which won’t affect its work too much, but could lead to stalemates on pressing votes on infrastructure and other issues.

With the government shutdown, it is not clear when, or if Trump, will nominate a replacement soon for McIntyre.

Many lawmakers that oversee FERC say it’s preferable to have a full five-member commission.

Energy firm officials that rely on the commission to move ahead multi-million dollar investments also favor a fully-functional FERC, especially given its current workload on major precedent-setting rulemakings that will affect the future of the electric grid.  

ZINKE DENIES HE IS UNDER INVESTIGATION BY JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Wednesday that he does not believe he is under investigation by the Justice Department over allegations he used his federal post for personal gain.

“It’s an unauthorized leak from an anonymous source over false allegations,” Zinke told the Associated Press in his first interview after departing the agency.

News broke just a few months before Zinke resigned that he was under federal investigation after Interior’s own inspector general referred allegations of Zinke’s misconduct to Justice lawyers.

Zinke has been scrutinized for a real estate deal involving a foundation that he once ran and David Lesar, the chairman of the large oil services firm Halliburton.

A meeting between Lesar and Zinke at Interior took place, which raised questions over whether the secretary had a hand in the dealmaking that his wife is now overseeing.  

RUNDOWN

WTOP Cherry blossoms in D.C. confused by wacky climate

Popular Mechanics Big-oil Texas can meet all its needs with wind and solar

Think Progress Shutdown takes a toll on EPA

KSAT On the last day of 2018, CPS Energy officially closes 40-year old coal plant

AP Outgoing Interior secretary defends legacy as he leaves

SPONSOR MESSAGE: In 2018 the United States continued to drill its way toward energy independence. With the country now producing record-setting amounts of oil and natural gas, the need for infrastructure to transport those resources – from the Bakken, Marcellus, and Permian shale formations all the way to New England – is more important than ever. Fortunately, midstream projects such as the now-complete Rover Pipeline and expanding Dakota Access Pipeline are setting the stage for safe and efficient energy transportation across the U.S. GAIN is hopeful that 2019 will be another momentous year for American energy. To learn more head to www.gainnow.org or follow us @GAINNowAmerica.