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BRETT KAVANAUGH COULD GET ETHANOL SUPPORTERS ON HIS SIDE: President Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court could be good news for the ethanol industry and clean energy programs where adherence to the law is often challenged.

Political views ‘aside’: Trump said Kavanaugh, in his twelve years as a judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, has demonstrated his ability to “set aside” political views “to do what the law and the Constitution require.”

Trump’s message to Senate ethanol backers: It isn’t entirely clear, but that might have been the message Trump was trying to convey to Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, just hours before Monday’s announcement. He told the senator and a group of Iowa state officials in her office that they are going to “love” his court nomination.

Trump called Ernst, who promptly put him on speaker, to discuss ethanol and trade, said an aide privy to the call. He ended the talk by saying, “You’re gonna love the Supreme Court nominee,” the aide told John.

Senator’s concerns: Ernst had just finished a 99-county tour of Iowa, a giant among the farm states for ethanol and agriculture products, where she heard concerns about how Trump’s tariffs are posing problems for farmers by driving up costs.

Pruitt gone: Ernst has also led the charge against former EPA chief Scott Pruitt’s management of the ethanol program, which had stoked the ire of farmers and the ethanol industry, who sued Pruitt over his granting of waivers to oil refiners. The waivers exempted them from having to blend ethanol in order to manage the cost of abiding by the regulation.

The Grassley factor: Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a big ethanol backer and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, will lead confirmation hearings for Kavanaugh. He has already listed what he expects of the hearings. Both he and Ernst were present at the White House Monday night for the announcement.

A new day for comments: The comment period for the 2019 Renewable Fuel Standard opens Tuesday with the publication of the annual biofuel blending targets that refiners must abide by in the Federal Register.

Pruitt’s omission: Pruitt did not reallocate around 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol, which is the amount he allowed refiners not to blend by issuing the waivers. Farmers and ethanol industry lobbyists are furious over Pruitt’s omission, and will seek to change the 2019 standard under acting EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler. The comment period closes on Aug. 17.

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.  

KAVANAUGH SKEPTICAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS, BUT OPEN-MINDED: Kavanaugh is generally skeptical of far-reaching environmental regulations, his decisions and writing shows.

But conservatives who favor a deregulatory approach at EPA should not expect Kavanaugh to automatically vote in their favor, experts say.

Not ‘open season’: “Kavanaugh is temperamentally and philosophically skeptical about the exercise of government power, especially when agencies act expansively, and find new powers in longstanding laws,” Jody Freeman, the founding director of the Harvard Law School Environmental and Energy Law Program, told Josh.

“But I don’t think his pick means it’s open season for deregulation,” Freeman added.

‘Sloppy deregulation’: Legal experts have said the EPA under Pruitt has not provided sufficient evidence and data to support its efforts to delay, weaken and repeal various regulations, which have already led to setbacks in court.

In July, for example, a federal appeals court blocked the Trump administration from eliminating an EPA rule limiting methane emissions from oil and natural gas wells.

Freeman said Kavanaugh would not stand for careless deregulation.

“He is a ‘by the book’ judge on procedural regularity, meaning he won’t let agencies get away with taking short cuts,” she said. “So if the next few years bring careless and sloppy deregulation without a sufficient record and against the weight of the evidence, I don’t think the Trump administration should count on his vote.”

Check the record: Kavanaugh’s long record on environmental opinions shows he is “persuadable, not dogmatic” Freeman said.

But he has voted to invalidate some major EPA pollution rules in dissents, and supports strong judicial oversight in reviewing the actions of administrative agencies.

Clean Power Plan skeptic: With the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Kavanaugh in 2016 heard oral arguments for the lawsuit against the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan filed by states, companies and industry groups.

The Clean Power Plan was President Obama’s signature initiative to combat climate change, targeting carbon pollution from power plants by requiring states to reduce emissions by 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Kavanagh, in his comments, seemed to argue that Obama based the Clean Power Plan on an expansive interpretation of the Clean Air Act not allowed by the law. He also expressed sympathy for Obama’s efforts to manage climate change, and acknowledged humans are causing global warming. But he said aggressive action would require Congress to expressly authorize it.

‘Laudable’ but harmful: “The policy is laudable,” Kavanaugh said. “The earth is warming. Humans are contributing. I understand the international impact and the problem of the commons. The pope’s involved. And I understand the frustration with Congress.”

He added: “If Congress does this, they can account for the people who lose their jobs. If we do this, we can’t.”

TRUMP PARDONS HAMMONDS INVOLVED WHO INSPIRED INTERIOR DEPARTMENT STANDOFF: President Trump commuted the prison sentences of Dwight Hammond and his son Steven Hammond on Tuesday, releasing the Oregon ranchers from mandatory minimum prison sentences for arson.

WIldlife refuge: The Hammond case inspired a 40-day ooccupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016 by armed supporters who argued the family was treated unfairly. The men had previously served shorter prison sentences for the same crime, before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ordered they be resentenced.

Dispute with feds: The Hammond case involved a long-running dispute with the Interior Department. The ranchers were accused of setting fires in 2001 and 2006 that spread onto federal land.

The Bundy connection: The refuge takeover happened after the men reported to prison under their new, longer sentences. Activists were led by Ammon and Ryan Bundy, sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, whose supporters staged a 2014 standoff with federal authorities over a cattle roundup.

Activist shot: One activist was shot to death by authorities and more than two dozen people were arrested at the refuge, but prosecutors had mixed results in court. The Bundy sons were acquitted of all charges, but others were convicted of conspiracy and property damage charges.

U.K. bound: Trump’s clemency order was announced while the president was en route to Europe. The Hammonds had been floated earlier this year as potential clemency recipients.

#3 and #4: The men are the third and fourth people that Trump has released from prison using his constitutional clemency power. He previously released drug crime convict Alice Johnson in June after a visit from celebrity Kim Kardashian. In December, he released convicted fraudster Sholom Rubashkin — whose business went bankrupt after a federal raid nabbed nearly 400 illegal immigrants — at the urging of legal scholar Alan Dershowitz.

TRADE GROUP PRAISES TRUMP DECISION: “We are extremely grateful to President Trump for granting a full pardon to Dwight and Steven Hammond,” said Ethan Lane, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Public Lands Council executive director. “The Hammonds were forced to suffer from grave injustice for far too long, and the entire ranching community is relieved that they will be reunited with their families.”

No fear: Lane said that “no rancher undertaking normal agricultural practices should fear spending years in jail at the hands of the federal government.”

The large trade group had advocated for the Hammonds’ release.

Walden in the mix: The group thanked Representative Greg Walden, R-Oregon, the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, for working on this issue.

WHITE HOUSE REVIEWING EPA’S CLEAN POWER PLAN REPLACEMENT: The White House has received the EPA’s rewrite of the Clean Power Plan, according to a notice in the Federal Register.

The EPA is in the process of repealing and replacing the Clean Power Plan with a more narrow rule that would regulate power plants on a plant-by-plant basis, and give more discretion to states.

COAL GROUPS DIG IN TO SAVE POWER PLANTS: The coal industry is ramping up a campaign this summer to erase the “bailout” label that has become synonymous with the Trump administration’s push to save economically ailing coal power plants, while reinforcing the case for keeping coal in the nation’s energy mix.

‘Correct the record’: “We are just trying to correct the record,” said Michelle Bloodworth, the newly appointed president and CEO of the pro-coal industry group American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.

Upping the efforts: Bloodworth’s group is upping its efforts this summer to reverse the characterizations that accounting for the value of the coal fleet would constitute a subsidy or government-backed bailout for the coal industry.

Coalition of opposition: A coalition of trade organizations representing every sector from oil and natural gas to solar panel manufacturers has opposed the idea of using either market-based incentives or rarely invoked emergency powers to keep coal plants from closing over the next three years.

No need for ‘federal intervention’: “We just don’t see there is any reason to have any sort of federal intervention in the market to bail out coal and nuclear,” said Dena Wiggins, president of the Natural Gas Supply Association, representing major integrated and independent natural gas producers, and a member of the broad coalition opposing coal. She added, “we just don’t believe there is an emergency or there is a national security problem that requires federal intervention.”

Conservatives say no to Trump: A group of free-market and conservative groups recently called on the president to abandon the “bailout” scheme, and let the market dictate the energy resource mix.

Read John’s full article in today’s Washington Examiner magazine available here.

CLIMATE ACTIVISTS PRESSURE EPA AIR OFFICE OVER COAL EMISSIONS: A group of climate activists launched a campaign this week targeting the EPA air office for lagging behind in protecting mid-Atlantic states from coal emissions coming from Appalachia.

In the ozone: “Coal plants emit harmful air pollutants including nitrogen oxides,” which “is a precursor to ground-level ozone, … a common air pollutant that the EPA regulates under the Clean Air Act,” read a letter sent by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network to Lev Gabrilovich, the head of EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.

Is EPA a ‘Good Neighbor’? They want EPA to enforce the Clean Air Act’s “Good Neighbor” provisions meant to protect downwind states from emissions that travel from one region to another.

The group posted the form letter on its website, urging thousands to send the same letter to the EPA office.

“In November 2016, Maryland petitioned the EPA under the ‘Good Neighbor’ provision of the Clean Air Act asking the agency to control NOx pollution in upwind states,” the letter added. Maryland v. Trump country: “Maryland requested that the EPA require operators of 36 units at 19 coal plants in five upwind states to run their existing controls properly during the summer months. Those states are Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.”

‘Failed to respond’: The EPA “failed to respond to Maryland’s petition,” which the group said is “forcing Marylanders to contend with dirty air for even longer.”

On top of that, the group says it has learned EPA now intends to officially deny Maryland’s petition.

By doing so, EPA is harming the public health as well as the environment.

“In conclusion, the EPA should not deny Maryland’s petition,” the letter reads. “Instead, it should act on Maryland’s request and require upwind coal plants to regulate the pollution that is harming the health of Maryland residents and our environment.”

OPEC PRESIDENT SAYS TRUMP SHOULDN’T BLAME CARTEL FOR RISING OIL PRICES: OPEC’s chief said Monday that Trump should not blame the oil cartel for rising prices.

‘Doing its part’: “OPEC alone cannot be blamed for all the problems that are happening in the oil industry, but at the same time we were responsive in terms of the measures we took in our latest meeting in June,” Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries President Suhail al-Mazrouei told Reuters in an interview.

“I feel OPEC is doing its part.”

Blame game: Trump, worried about higher gas prices, has directed his anger at OPEC, and its chief member, Saudi Arabia, which collectively agreed last month to boost oil production by 1 million barrels per day to compensate for lost crude elsewhere.

But Trump says OPEC didn’t go far enough, and expects the oil cartel to do more to make up for Iranian oil exports he wants to shut down to zero.

Until the new OPEC agreement to boost production took effect this month, the oil cartel for the last 18 months had worked with Russia to cut crude production to boost prices that had fallen to below $30 in 2016.

IRAN VOWS TO ‘SELL AS MUCH OIL AS WE CAN’ DESPITE US SANCTIONS: Iran vowed Tuesday to ““sell as much oil as we can” despite the Trump administration’s promise to apply tough sanctions punishing countries for importing Iranian crude.

‘Vital’ income: Iran’s vice president Eshaq Jahangiri acknowledged that U.S. sanctions would hurt the economy, but promised to “sell as much oil as we can,” according to Reuters.

“America seeks to reduce Iran’s oil sales, our vital source of income, to zero,” he said, in comments reported by the Fars news agency. “It would be a mistake to think the U.S. economic war against Iran will have no impact.”

Zero-tolerance: In June, the Trump administration said it would take a zero-tolerance approach to enforcing sanctions on Iran after it abandoned the nuclear agreement with Iran in May. The White House wants countries to stop importing oil from Iran by November. If that happens, most experts are expecting higher prices for oil and gas.

Iran is OPEC’s third largest producer, and sells around 2.4 million barrels a day, or more than 2 percent of global supplies, since the lifting of sanctions in 2016.

MEANWHILE, SAUDI ARABIA IS LOBBYING ONE OF ITS BIGGEST OIL CUSTOMERS:

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir, the kingdom’s former ambassador to Washington, is on a rare mission to China this week, where oil, Iran and Trump’s trade war are likely to come up, according official news briefs.

Vision 2030: Al-Jubeir’s tour is centered on gaining support for Saudi Arabia’s landmark plan to diversify its economy away from oil by 2030, called the Vision 2030 plan.

Chinese support: “China supports Saudi Arabia in pursuing a development path which suits the country’s conditions and has its own characteristics, and supports Saudi Arabia in making and implementing the Saudi Vision 2030 plan,” said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Low oil prices: The 2030 plan was a product of low oil prices two years ago cutting the oil-rich kingdom’s budget in half, forcing it to consider other economic options beyond oil. At the same time, the low price forced its to join with non-OPEC and OPEC members alike to cut production in order to drive the price of oil back up in the wake of the global supply glut.

Meeting with communist leaders: Al-Jubeir also met on Monday with Yang Jiechi, a member of the Politburo of China’s Communist Party. “During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations between the two friendly countries, ways of enhancing them in all fields, the latest regional and international developments and a number of issues of mutual concern,” the official Saudi news service reported.

Aramco IPO shelved: A major part of Vision 2030, making a public offering for stock shares of Aramco, the Saudi-owned oil company, the largest national energy firm in the world, may be permanently shelved, according to several reports. Saudi officials had hoped selling shares of the national company would raise tens of billions of dollars to help fund the economic diversification plan.

EPA DEFENDS HIRING OF TRUMP NOMINEES BEFORE THEIR CONFIRMATION:

The EPA quickly defended its decision to allow two Trump nominees to begin work at the agency in lower-level positions prior to being confirmed to top roles, after a top Democrat voiced concerns.

Two special counsels: Peter Wright and Chad McIntosh began working at EPA as “special counsels” to Andrew Wheeler, the acting EPA administrator, who took over after Pruitt resigned late last week.

Law abiding: EPA assured that the decision to allow the two nominees to work at the agency is being done within the confines of the law, and abides by court precedent.

“The agency will ensure we are in compliance with the law at all times,” said Kevin Minoli, EPA principal deputy general counsel, in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “There is nothing in the Vacancies Reform Act or the Supreme Court jurisprudence that is dependent on the stage a nomination is at in the Senate’s advice and consent process,” Minoli explained.

Carper troubled: Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, said having the two at work at the agency so soon after Pruitt’s resignation is “troubling.”

EPA PROMISES WHEELER WILL BRING ‘CHANGE OF TONE’ TO AGENCY: The EPA is promising that Wheeler will bring a “change of tone” to the agency by being transparent with the public and media.

“As with any change in leadership you can expect a change in approach, and in this case a change in tone as well,” EPA spokesman John Konkus told reporters Monday in a statement. “Acting Administrator Wheeler has already stated that he puts a premium on transparency and that transparency helps the agency so people know and understand what we are doing. I think you can take that mindset and apply it across the board when it comes to how EPA will be communicating with the media and the public going forward.”

No more secrets: Wheeler appears to be trying to combat a narrative that the EPA under Pruitt was overly secretive. The agency would not publish Pruitt’s daily schedule ahead of time, as is custom. It also restricted access to certain media outlets for press conferences, and limited reporters from asking questions.

CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS HOPE TO REPEAL GAS TAX IN NOVEMBER: Californians will vote in November on a ballot proposition that would kill recent hikes to state gas taxes and vehicle fees that fund road repairs and mass transit projects. If it passes, the measure would also require voter approval for any future gas tax increases. No other state will have a similar measure on its ballot.

Republican muscle: California’s Republican congressional delegation, including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Mimi Walters, who is facing a tough re-election fight, helped finance the campaign to put this initiative on the ballot. They plan to spend even more to make it pass.

“The liberal legislature in the state of California continues to tax hardworking Americans, instead of spending our tax dollars wisely,” Walters told Josh. “They continually waste our money in Sacramento and then have to go to the taxpayers in California and ask for more. Californians are sick and tired of the abuse and will stand up to it.”

Keeping count: Since 2013, more than 25 states, including Republican states such as Wyoming and Georgia, have raised their gas taxes due to federal inaction. The federal tax on gasoline has not been raised since 1993, holding steady at 18.4 cents per gallon and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel. It is not indexed to inflation.

Last April, California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat who is retiring, signed a bill increasing the state’s base excise tax on gasoline by 12 cents per gallon, raising it to 30 cents, the first gas tax increase there since 1994.

Turnout play: California drivers already pay the highest average price for gasoline after Hawaii, paying $3.66 per gallon as of Tuesday, compared to the $2.86 national average, according to AAA.

California Republicans hope angst over higher fuel prices will inspire turnout in the November elections, and harm Democrats who supported tax increases.

“This fall, Sacramento Democrats will have to defend and answer for the most egregious tax hike on California workers and families in years — the gas tax,” McCarthy told Josh.

Use it, pay for it: Supporters of the higher gasoline tax say it is the most fair way to pay for California’s major infrastructure repair needs, and to relieve its notorious congestion, since the levy is a user fee paid for by people who drive.

Read more in the latest Washington Examiner magazine edition.

SPIDERS TAP UNSEEN ELECTRICAL FIELDS TO FLY, STUDY: The University of Bristol found that spiders can sense naturally-occurring electrical fields and use them to launch themselves into the air using balloons made of silk.

Spiders, especially newly hatched broodlings, can be seen in the summer months launching themselves by the hundreds off a fence post or tree, using available air currents to do so. But researchers at Bristol propose that the spiders shouldn’t be able to do that as easy as it may look.

They determined that spiders can sense electric fields that tell them when to cast their webs and when a breeze is coming.  

Spiders have been tracked as high as 16,000 feet.

RUNDOWN

Bloomberg Permian pinch spurs a pipeline binge, and fears of overbuild

ProPublica How the EPA and the Pentagon downplayed a growing toxic threat

New York Times Algae bloom in Florida prompts fears about harm to health and economy

Quartz India’s investments in renewable energy are growing faster than even China’s

Bloomberg Worthless just two years ago, West Texas sand now brings in billions