SIGN UP! If you’d like to continue receiving Washington Examiner’s Daily on Energy newsletter, SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://newsletters.washingtonexaminer.com/newsletter/daily-on-energy/

CONSERVATIVE ENERGY CHIEF HOLDS TRUMP TO FEDERAL CLIMATE REPORT FINDINGS: Conservative clean energy champion Jay Faison is calling out the Trump administration for releasing a federal report acknowledging the risks posed by climate change, saying that it sets a marker on policy that President Trump in the 116th Congress have to live up to.

“Our level of goals and ambition, I think, should be set by whatever we perceive the risk to be,” which in this case is climate change, said Faison on Thursday, addressing an energy innovation forum on Thursday. “And I’d say that the Trump administration has put out a darn good marker there.”

When the National Climate Assessment was released in November and concluded that climate change is likely to place a drag on the economy, Trump said it was “fine,” but that he didn’t believe it.

Faison is the founder of ClearPath, a conservative clean energy policy and advocacy group that supports nuclear energy, but not solar and wind.

In order to get to that goal of a more advanced, clean energy system, Faison said “if you can’t talk about the problem, it’s kind of hard to set the goals.”

Elephant in the room: He said the Trump climate assessment makes it easier to talk about the elephant in the room of climate change.

“And what I am really excited about now, is we can call the elephant, the elephant — it’s climate change,” Faison said. “And the Trump administration put out a national climate assessment and… it’s pretty good, and it’s very, very detailed.”

He acknowledged that having the discussion on climate change is a “big ask” in shaping what it will become the energy system of the future, but the momentum is there to begin a thoughtful discussion on the goals of where the nation goes.

Meanwhile, the chairman of oil giant Shell said the pace of clean energy development is too slow to meet the U.N. climate goals without a big policy boost.

Welcome to Daily on Energy, written 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.  

PERRY DANGLES MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR PRIZES FOR BATTERY RECYCLING, CITING NATIONAL SECURITY: Energy Secretary Rick Perry launched a multi-million dollar effort on Thursday to recover the critical elements in lithium-ion batteries, casting the recycling initiative as a matter of national security.

“We aim to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of this material by encouraging entrepreneurs to capture up to 90 percent of America’s lithium-based battery technology,” he said while speaking at an innovation forum hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington.

Perry said that he is launching a Lithium-ion Battery Recycling Prize to provide cash rewards up to $5.5 million to companies and others over the next three years to find innovative ways of recycling lithium and other critical metals found in the batteries.

“This would strengthen our energy security, expand our economic security, and bolster national security,” he said. “All of this places the federal government squarely on the side of innovation.”

Perry also announced the creation of a new $15 million lithium-ion battery recycling center at the Argonne National Lab, one of the 17 national labs that Perry oversees, in Chicago.

PERRY BEGINS MEETING WITH DEMOCRATS ON ENERGY FUNDING: After making the remarks, Perry said he would be meeting with Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois, who was made chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s energy subcommittee on Wednesday.

Perry said he would discuss his energy “vision” with Rush, with his message being “innovation works” and “now is not the time to trim ourselves… now is the time to move ahead” and empower our country. “Carpe diem is at hand.”

TOP ECONOMISTS OF BOTH PARTIES ENDORSE CARBON TAX AND DIVIDEND: A bipartisan coalition of former Federal Reserve chairs, top economic advisers to recent presidents of both parties, and Nobel Prize-winning economists have endorsed a federal carbon tax, one that would distribute all of the revenue to American households, to combat climate change.

“A carbon tax offers the most cost-effective lever to reduce carbon emissions at the scale and speed that is necessary,” the economists said in a joint statement shared with Josh. “By correcting a well-known market failure, a carbon tax will send a powerful price signal that harnesses the invisible hand of the marketplace to steer economic actors towards a low-carbon future.”

The more than 40 signatories to the statement include the top economic advisers to Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

Former Federal Reserve chairmen Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke, first appointed by Republicans, and Paul Volcker and Janet Yellen, first appointed by Democrats, also signed the statement.

How the tax would work: The so-called carbon-tax-and-dividend model preferred by the group would distribute all of the revenue from the steadily rising tax as a rebate to American households, protecting them from higher energy costs.

American families would receive equal lump-sum rebates in an amount that, for most families, would be larger than the increase in energy prices.

The model has the backing of U.S. energy companies, including ConocoPhillips and Exxon. Each recently donated money to Americans for Carbon Dividends, an advocacy organization backing the concept.

A carbon-tax-and-dividend is more politically palatable to some Republicans, because it is revenue-neutral. It does not spend the proceeds of the tax on other things, such as government-funded clean energy investments, or offsets of other taxes. Most Republicans oppose the idea of a carbon tax.

FERC COMMISSIONERS MEMORIALIZE LATE CHAIRMAN KEVIN MCINTYRE: Commissioners of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday memorialized their former chairman, Kevin McIntyre, who died this month from brain cancer after less than a year on the job.

Neil Chatterjee, a fellow Republican who replaced McIntyre as chairman, delivered a nearly 30 minute speech to open the meeting, in which he credited the late commissioner as a mentor who convinced him that FERC must stay nonpartisan as it reviews increasingly contentious issues during the energy transition. He said the commission will name its meeting room after McIntyre to honor him.

“His leadership, impartiality, and respect for this institution made such a profound impact on me, and his influence will not be soon forgotten,” Chatterjee said.

Recalling the advice McIntyre gave him upon joining the commission in 2017, Chatterjee said, “He said just do what you think is right, put country over party, and the public good over politics, and you will be just fine.”

McIntyre’s legacy: Commissioners credited McIntyre with his leadership during FERC’s unanimous vote last January to reject a proposal from the Energy Department to provide subsidies to struggling coal and nuclear plants.

Chatterjee joked that he initially “threw up all over myself and botched” how he handled consideration of the proposal.

Chatterjee, a former staffer for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, initially expressed support for subsidizing coal and nuclear plants, because of his home state of Kentucky’s dependence on coal.

But he said McIntyre quickly convinced him that there was no legal justification to aid coal and nuclear plants, and no grid emergency that would require it.

An empty policy agenda: FERC had little on its agenda, postponing consideration of various gas-related items.

The natural gas industry has encouraged FERC to move quickly on reviewing a backlog of liquified natural gas projects.

NATURAL RESOURCES CHAIRMAN CRITICIZES INTERIOR FOR WORKING ON OFFSHORE DRILLING DURING SHUTDOWN: Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, called on the Interior Department Wednesday to reverse its previous decision and to allow employees to work during the shutdown on finalizing the agency’s massive plan to expand offshore oil and gas drilling.

“One of the most striking features of the current government shutdown is the way the administration has bent over backwards to ensure that the pain of the shutdown falls only on ordinary Americans and the environment, and not on the oil and gas industry,” Grijalva said in a letter to Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.

Dozens of Interior employees continue to work on the offshore drilling plan during the shutdown, and others are available on an on-call basis, according to a contingency plan posted online recently by the agency’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

The Democrats said Interior should reverse course or else provide them a briefing on the legal justification for the move, which they say violates the Antideficiency Act. That law prevents agencies from using federal resources on things unless Congress has appropriated money for it.

Offshore plan delayed by shutdown: Joe Balash, Interior assistant secretary for land and minerals management, told Josh this week the agency won’t release the final offshore drilling rule until February at the earliest, after industry groups had expected it this month.

The agency released its draft proposal in March to permit oil and gas drilling in nearly all federal waters, and industry officials are eager to see whether Interior shrinks the plan after bipartisan complaints from coastal governors worried about the possibility that it could increase spills or hurt tourism.

CLIMATE ACTIVISTS STAGE SIT-IN AT SCHUMER’S OFFICE DEMANDING GREEN DEAL: Climate activists supporting a swift transition away from fossil fuels staged a sit-in protest at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office on Thursday, petitioning Democratic leadership to support the Green New Deal in the Senate.

Event organizer 350.org, a leading anti-fossil fuel group, said the over 100 young sit-in participants are using the government shutdown to deliver thousands of petition signatures to Schumer’s office on Capitol Hill, demanding that the Democrats make a commitment to the Green New Deal agenda.

“With the White House and Republicans in Congress deep in the pockets of Big Oil, it will take Democrats having the courage to support a Green New Deal in order to make it a reality,” said 350.org.

Activists staged a similar rally and sit-in at the office of House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi late last year, demanding that Democrats commit to the green agenda.

The deal calls for a wide range of policy changes to shift the U.S. away from fossil fuels to 100-percent renewables by 2030.

SOLAR INDUSTRY BEEFS UP CONGRESSIONAL ADVISERS DURING SHUTDOWN: The solar industry’s lead trade group is increasing its lobbying muscle and congressional expertise amid the shut down, as the Green New Deal looks to dominate the discussion on renewable energy this year.

The Solar Energy Industries Association announced it is restructuring and expanding its leadership team, including by adding Erin Duncan, who it refers to as “a proven legislative strategist and advocate.”

Duncan has been named the top solar industry organization’s new vice president of congressional affairs. She served 11 years as a federal lobbyist for the National Education Association, and before that served six years as legislative director for Republican Rep. Tom Osborne of Nebraska.

“The solar industry is a powerhouse, employing 250,000 Americans and operating in all 50 states, but there’s a lot of ground left to cover here in Washington,” Duncan said. “I cannot wait to get started representing solar on the Hill and elevating the industry’s profile among lawmakers.”

She will be joined by Katherine Gensler, who was named Thursday as the solar industry group’s vice president of regulatory affairs.

OPEC ALREADY CUTTING OIL PRODUCTION BEFORE  START OF NEW PACT: OPEC said Thursday it already started cutting oil supply in December before the start of a new pact beginning this month to withhold production in order to boost prices.

The oil cartel reported its oil output fell by 751,000 barrels per day in December to 31.58 million barrels per day, the biggest drop from month to month in nearly two years.

The largest drop in oil supply came from the group’s largest producer, Saudi Arabia, which cut 468,000 barrels per day. Libya and Iran cut the second and third most, respectively, but both for involuntary reasons. Libya is suffering from political unrest, and Iran’s production has been curtailed by U.S. sanctions.

Getting a head start: The supply drop in December shows OPEC is likely to be able to successfully implement its agreement reached last month to cut 1.2 million barrels per day of production to increasing sagging prices. That deal began in January, lasting for six months.

Trump has opposed the pact, worried about the impact of higher prices on Americans’ pocketbooks.

RUNDOWN

Associated Press Government shutdown taking toll on wildfire preparations

Wall Street Journal In Canada, oil output cuts pay off as prices rally

Bloomberg PG&E warned investors about disasters. It was mostly ignored

New York Times Glaciers are retreating. Millions rely on their water