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SOLAR CRA BATTLE: The old battle lines over solar import tariffs have formed back up again as Congress weighs whether to cancel President Joe Biden’s solar emergency.
Who stands where: Bipartisan Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval in both chambers would nullify the emergency protections for Asian solar imports that Biden ordered last summer, which insulate cell and module products brought in from four major import sources from being stricken with tariffs through next June.
The Commerce Department’s anticircumvention investigation into imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, whose positive findings in favor of tariffs Biden headed off with his declaration, split Democrats with one group wanting the probe canceled or at the very least sped up to minimize impact to installations. U.S. developers get some 80% if their cell and module imports from the four Asian suppliers.
Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada, who was among that crowd of Democrats who’d pushed the administration for a quick resolution, has been lobbying fellow members against the “misguided Republican resolution” and argues Biden’s decision was a compromise allowing importers to continue accessing solar products and to keep new installations on track.
The Senate resolution, led by Sen. Rick Scott, provides Republicans another chance at repealing one of Biden’s energy and environment-related rules, as well as to tighten the reins on U.S.-China trade. Members have argued Biden’s emergency declaration provides cover for companies to continue to circumvent antidumping duties.
It has no Democratic cosponsors, but it has clear sympathizers in Sens. Bob Casey and Sherrod Brown, who represent the other camp of members who endorsed the Commerce probe as a means to protect domestic manufacturers — and feel vindicated by the department’s conclusion that Chinese companies are circumventing trade law with operations in those countries.
Casey and Brown implored Biden to rescind his solar emergency earlier this month, and there are a few other Democratic members facing reelection next year who’ve taken stands contra Biden on these GOP-led CRAs.
The House version of the solar CRA resolution, led by Reps. Bill Posey, a Republican, and Dan Kildee, a Democrat, and has more considerable bipartisan support. Its eight other cosponsors range from liberal members such as Ro Khanna to conservatives such as Bob Latta, and Kildee has said he believes the measure has a veto-proof majority in support.
Ways and Means plans to move the resolution this month, according to a House aide familiar with the committee’s plans, although no markup has been scheduled yet.
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WHITE HOUSE ISSUES VETO THREAT FOR HR1: The White House vowed to veto Republicans’ energy bill today, describing it as a “thinly veiled license to pollute.”
HR 1, the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement, would double costs of energy efficiency upgrades for families, pad profits of oil and gas companies, and weaken emissions requirements and investments to curb methane leaks.
What’s happening with the bill: The House Rules Committee will convene this afternoon to consider how to handle the more than 150 amendments introduced alongside the bill.
Some are likely to cause more friction within the majority than others, including an amendment introduced by Rep. Carol Miller that would authorize completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the nearly 300-mile natural gas pipeline that would deliver natural gas from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia to North Carolina and South Carolina.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline has been embraced by West Virginia lawmakers, but opposed by Rep. Morgan Griffith, a Virginia Republican, who has cited issues of eminent domain.
Two Pennsylvania Republicans, Rep. Scott Perry and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, introduced competing amendments on the issue of fracking in Pennsylvania’s Delaware River Basin.
And some Florida Republicans have trouble with the bill because of how it could affect offshore oil and wind projects in the Gulf of Mexico.
Not all of the amendments will be considered by the House Rules Committee today. But they illustrate the degree to which Republicans, who hold just a four-seat majority in the House, could struggle to unite and advance some of the bill’s more contentious proposals.
HR 1 will face an even rockier road ahead in the Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has described the bill as “dead on arrival” due to its massive allowances for fossil fuel producers.
CHINA’S 2023 REFINERY OUTPUT TO INCREASE BY NEARLY 8% IN 2023: China’s oil refinery output is slated to rise by 7.8% this year, a new industry report said, due to what it said was strong demand recovery as its economy continues to reopen after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Refinery throughput in China is estimated to grow to 14.66 million barrels per day this year, the China National Petroleum Corporation said in its new annual industry outlook. China is the world’s biggest oil importer, and among the top two global refiners—accounting for 17% of all global refining capacity.
Its oil imports are expected to rise by 6.2% this year, or an increase of 10.8 million bpd, the report said, allowing its refineries to produce 6.1% more diesel and 7.6% more gasoline.
EUROPEAN GAS PRICES RISE AMID CHILLY WEATHER AND STRIKES: Benchmark natural gas prices in Europe climbed as high as 5.5% today as the continent grapples with both lower-than-average temperatures and ongoing pension reform strikes in France that have cut into available power supply.
The French strikes, now in their third week, have hit oil refineries and LNG import terminals in the country. They’ve also caused nuclear reactor availability to drop to just 57%, pushing up energy costs in Europe.
The UK is also bracing for a strike from offshore workers at oil and gas platforms in the North Sea, who are demanding better pay and working conditions. As many as 1,400 workers could take part in the strike, according to a union representing them, which warned last week that the stoppages could cause a “tsunami of industrial unrest.”
PHILADELPHIA MONITORING WATER QUALITY AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL: Authorities in Philadelphia plan to retest drinking water tonight to determine if it’s still safe to consume after more than 8,000 gallons of a latex finishing solution spilled into a creek that feeds into the Delaware River on Friday.
Authorities tested supplies yesterday and determined water quality is safe at least through tonight, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
BIDEN ISSUES ORDER TO PRESERVE PACIFIC REMOTE ISLANDS: Biden signed an order Friday directing Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to begin the process of issuing a National Marine Sanctuary designation to protect the Pacific Remote Islands from development.
The White House previewed the designation in an announcement earlier in the week, saying it would serve Biden’s goal of preserving 30% of the nation’s lands and waters by 2030.
The designation would cover Wake Island and other uninhabited islands and features in the Central Pacific, which the United States claimed in 1856.
BERLIN VOTES DOWN MORE AGGRESSIVE CLIMATE TARGET: Voters in the city of Berlin voted yesterday in opposition to new binding targets that would have required the capital city to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
The referendum would have put the city’s target well ahead of Germany’s national target of 2045.
The Rundown
Financial Times European battery makers welcome EU response to US subsidies
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | MARCH 29
9:30 a.m. The Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing on the president’s FY 2024 budget request with testimony from Secretary Deb Haaland.
