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CLIMATE TALKS REACH IMPASSE AS TRUMP RENEWS HIS OPPOSITION TO PARIS: Negotiators in the United Nations climate talks in Poland struggled to find agreement on Friday for a so-called rulebook to implement the Paris climate agreement.

That means the talks will go through the weekend, instead of closing as originally scheduled on Sunday.

“There’s still some dissatisfaction,” German environment minister Svenja Schulze said Friday. “It’s not the case that we can say everything is concluded. But it looks good. I believe that we will be successful in the end.”

But the end to the discussions may not come until Sunday, after dozens of drafts of the rulebook were released on Thursday with ideas that still need consensus on from nearly 200 countries.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration took the opportunity to reiterate its intentions to exit the Paris climate accord, unless the U.N. can grant it a better deal than was originally dealt to the United States.

Judith G. Garber, principal deputy assistant secretary of State for environmental and scientific affairs, said the U.S. approach to emissions reductions must include a complete mix of energy resources, including fossil fuels like coal, nuclear power, and renewables. The administration disagrees with a recent U.N. report that says the globe must be carbon-neutral by 2050, which would mean transitioning off fossil fuels to primarily renewable energy.

“From boasting about fossil fuel production to refusing endorsement of the staggering UN IPCC report on the climate crisis, the official US response to COP 24 has been deeply disturbing,” said May Boeve, executive director of the anti-fossil fuel group 350.org, responding to Garber on Thursday.

Boeve said that despite the Trump administration’s decision, states and local governments in the U.S. have vowed to take their own actions to remain a part of the Paris accord.

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.  

BOMB THREATS TARGET WASHINGTON NEWS OUTLETS: A bomb threat that circulated around Washington on Thursday temporarily shut down operations for news outlets, including those that cover energy policy.

“Yes, we got a threatening e-mail to a general mailbox early yesterday afternoon,” said Robert Harrelson, CEO of Inside Washington Publishers, just one of the victims hit by the threat. The company publishes Inside EPA among other subscription-based policy publications that cover environment, defense, and trade.

The threat said a “mercenary” had planted a bomb in their building, which would be detonated later in the day if $20,000 was not deposited in a bitcoin account, Harrelson shared.

The Washington Examiner also received a similar threat.

The threat was deemed a hoax, and people went back to work.

Harrelson said it’s “a tough situation” to be in — “you can’t ignore a threat, but it ends up a waste of our time and fire and police resources. We were on the street for around an hour.”

Reports on Thursday said bomb threats were received nationwide.

PERRY AS NEW WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF? Texas Monthly magazine is claiming that Energy Secretary Rick Perry is a potential candidate for White House chief of staff.

But the article closes by asking, “Why would he want the headache now?”

In talks with Trump, Perry has always said that he likes where he is at.

The article says Perry could be an effective chief of staff if he employs the same techniques he used in Texas. Perry is not a “detail kind of guy,” nor is he a “micro-manager,” which is “exactly what a chief of staff has to be.”

Another big plus in taking the reins from outgoing chief of staff John Kelly is that Perry has managed to stay scandal-free and out of the crosshairs of special investigator Robert Mueller.

“Perry has become like the designated survivor,” the magazine adds. “If enough people turn down the chief of staff job, the offer might come to him.”

AFTER GREENS THREATEN PROBE, PERRY SWITCHES OUT RENEWABLE RESEARCH HEADS: Perry announced on Thursday some staff changes to the advanced energy agency, following threats by a prominent environmental group that it will be asking Congress to initiate a probe into the office’s clean energy work.

Perry appointed Conner Prochaska as the Department of Energy’s first Chief Commercialization Officer, moving him out of the Advanced Research Projects Agency, which the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council wants probed for not allocating research funds.

Chanette Armstrong will be moved to serve as the new principal deputy director of ARPA-E.

Armstrong had headed the technology transfer office since January, where it has “evolved its commercialization portfolio to expand research and development that will advance the economic, energy, and national security interests of the nation,” said the Energy Department.

Greens want an investigation: The endorsement of Armstrong follows an analysis issued by the Natural Resources Defense Council earlier this week that said Perry has been sitting on over half a billion dollars at ARPA-E slated by Congress to be allocated for clean energy research.

The group also said it will by pressing congressional oversight offices to launch a probe into the advanced research office and Perry’s handling of the money.

Perry focuses on boosting new transfer office: “Mr. Prochaska’s background working on new and inventive technology transition programs at the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency coupled with his private sector experience will make him an outstanding leader for OTT as the three-year old enterprise begins to gain momentum,” said Perry.

Prochaska served as senior advisor and chief of staff at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. Prior to joining ARPA-E, he was a senior vice president and associate general counsel for a public investment fund.

MEANWHILE… PERRY FUNDS NEW WATER HUB: The Department of Energy announced $100 million to establish an Energy-Water Desalination Hub to address water security issues in the United States.

“Technological achievements generated through the Hub will help us achieve several strategic goals established through the Water Security Grand Challenge announced earlier this year,” Perry said on Thursday. “By focusing R&D efforts on advancing transformational technologies that promote cost-effective desalination, we are working towards meeting the national and global need for secure, affordable water.”

The Hub will focus on early-stage research and development for energy-efficient and cost-competitive desalination technologies. Desalination facilities could help bring relief to parts of the country facing drought, as well as being exported to help other countries around the world.

ZINKE HYPES RECORD OFFSHORE WIND LEASE SALE: The Interior Department’s offshore lease sale for wind off the coast of Massachusetts has generated record price amounts as a second day of bidding began Friday.

After 29 rounds of bidding, companies have offered at least $326 million so far toward three offshore wind lease opportunities, with more jockeying occurring as of Friday morning.

The highest single bid so far is $135 million.

The previous high was Norwegian oil and gas giant Equinor’s $42.47 million bid in 2016 to build an offshore wind farm near New York, according to Bloomberg.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke hyped the bid result Thursday night.

What’s up for grabs: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s offshore wind auction covers 390,000 acres, with 19 companies qualified to participate.

That opportunity could support 4.1 gigawatts of electricity and power nearly 1.5 million homes, the bureau says.

Zinke right to be bullish: The results are strong, suggesting that was once a fringe and costly investment is becoming America’s newest energy-producing industry.

Stephanie McClellan, director of the special initiative on offshore wind at the University of Delaware, told Josh Friday that states from Maryland to Massachusetts have committed to projects equal to 10 gigawatts of offshore wind.

“The swift and expeditious action by the states to issue solicitations for offshore wind and the willingness of utilities to contract for offshore wind power is showing the offshore wind industry that the U.S. market is not just a political aspiration of renewable energy advocate governors and legislatures, but rather that it is a part of those states’ energy portfolios going forward,” McClellan said.

TRUMP BLASTS GM FOR MOVE TOWARD ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Trump said Thursday that car companies should not switch wholly to making electric vehicles, while arguing U.S. job losses in the industry are “not acceptable.”

Trump, during an interview with Fox News, blasted looming General Motors job cuts in the Midwest. The company shuttered several North American facilities to marshal its resources on emissions-free and self-driving vehicles.

“They are changing the whole model of General Motors. They going to all electric. That’s not going to work,” Trump said. “I don’t run a car company, but all electric isn’t going to work.”

“It’s wonderful to have it as a percentage of your cars,” he continued, “but to tell me a couple weeks before Christmas that [GM is] going to close in Ohio and Michigan? Not acceptable to me.”

GM is unfazed: Speaking at a recent event in Washington D.C., Dan Turton, GM’s vice president of North American policy, acknowledged Trump’s criticism but said that GM foresees an “all-electric future.” The industry recently celebrated the milestone of 1 million electric vehicles being driven on U.S. roads as of October.

“The reality is this electrification movement is going forward anyway,” Turton said in a response to a question from Josh.

BIPARTISAN CARBON TAX BILL GETS EIGHTH CO-SPONSOR: Rep. Judy Chu on Thursday became the latest member to co-sponsor the first bipartisan carbon tax legislation in nearly a decade, introduced last month.

Eshoo joins Reps. Francis Rooney, R-Fla., Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Dave Trott, R-Mich., along with Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida, the Democratic co-chair of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, Charlie Crist, D-Fla., John Delaney, D, Md., and Anna Eshoo, D-Calif.

The bill would impose a tax of $15 per ton of carbon dioxide in 2019, increasing $10 each year, rising to nearly $100 per ton by 2030.

It distributes all of the proceeds from the tax into equal portions in the form of a monthly rebate to American households.

CBO SAYS CARBON TAX IS A TOOL THAT BE USED TO REDUCE THE DEFICIT: The Congressional Budget Office said in a report on deficit reduction options Thursday that a $25 per ton carbon tax on most energy-related emissions of greenhouse gases, increasing by 2 percent annually, would increase federal revenues by $1,099 billion from 2019 through 2028.

Here’s why it would work: “The tax would reduce emissions in a more cost-effective manner than regulations because such a tax would create uniform incentives for businesses and households throughout the economy to reduce their emissions,” CBO said.

The cost increases would trigger corresponding increases in the prices of carbon-intensive consumer goods, providing incentives for businesses to produce products in ways that create fewer emissions.

Caveats apply: CBO says most of the benefits of reduced emissions might occur outside of the U.S. over the next several decades, particularly in developing countries that are especially vulnerable to climate change. It also notes that reductions in U.S. emissions could be partially offset by increases in emissions overseas if carbon-intensive industries relocated to countries without a carbon tax.

However, many carbon tax proposals, such as the new bipartisan legislation referenced above, include a border carbon adjustment provision, forcing exporting countries to pay a fee on carbon-emitting products coming into the U.S.

RUNDOWN

New York Times The oil industry’s covert campaign to rewrite American car emissions rules

Wall Street Journal California girds for higher power prices from PG&E after fires

Axios The climate battle: Fuels vs. emissions

The Guardian Black lung disease is still killing miners. The coal industry doesn’t want to hear it

SPONSOR MESSAGE: Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have spoken about supporting improvements to America’s infrastructure, with little ever being done. Now politicians have an opportunity to bridge the bipartisan divide and work to rebuild the nation’s roads, bridges, pipelines, and waterways. When lawmakers reconvene in Washington in January, GAIN encourages returning and newly-elected officials to find common ground to grow America’s infrastructure. To learn more and stay up to date on the latest go towww.gainnow.org or follow us @GAINNowAmerica.