Daily on Energy: Carbon tax and dividend under spotlight

More than 800 Citizens Climate Lobby volunteers will meet with congressional offices Tuesday to urge support for the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, the straightforward bipartisan carbon tax proposal that has 68 co-sponsors in the House, the most of the seven carbon tax bills that have been introduced in Congress. The bill distributes the revenue from the tax into monthly rebates, divided into equal portions, to U.S. households, protecting them from higher energy costs

“This is the lynchpin climate policy,” said Mark Reynolds, the group’s executive director. “This is the most important one.”

A study released Wednesday by Columbia’s Center on Global Energy Policy, shows the bill would cause U.S. net greenhouse gas emissions to fall 32% to 33% from 2005 levels by 2025 and 36% to 38% below 2005 levels by 2030. That is about one-third of the way to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, the goal of many Democratic presidential candidates based on a target set by the U.N.’s climate panel. The bill has an overall target of 90% emissions reductions by 2050, compared to 2016 levels.

The emissions data is either a reason to be optimistic, or cynical: Depending on your point of view, of course.

While that level of emissions reductions is ahead of the pace from the Obama administration’s commitment to the Paris climate agreement, it is not a one-stop savior policy.

That’s because most of the near-term emissions reductions occur in the power sector, where there are easy alternatives to coal, which would be mostly eliminated because of the tax by 2030. However, some sectors, such as buildings and transportation, are slower to respond to a carbon tax because there are relatively smaller changes in consumer prices, and less smooth alternatives (getting millions of people to switch from gas-powered cars to electric ones is hard). The bill also does not cover agriculture, responsible for about 9% of U.S. emissions.

“This would clearly be the biggest climate policy in the history of the world in terms of emissions reductions over the first decade,” said Noah Kaufman, a Columbia energy economist who co-authored the report. “It’s the cornerstone of a broader policy. It’s not sufficient in itself.”

There’s a mixed bag of takeaways on the political front: One the one hand, the Columbia study found that dividend revenues would be a wash for average consumers, who receive checks in the mail that roughly compensate them for energy price increases (the richest households would receive less than they pay, because they spend more on carbon-intensive goods).

On the other hand, the bill falls slightly short of being “revenue-neutral” as promised.

“You don’t want to be banging the table on something if the data doesn’t back it up,” Kaufman told Josh. “It’s a political liability if people want to see it as strength.”

There’s also the problem of political math: That is something Citizens Climate Lobby is aware of, but not worried about. The legislation’s one Republican co-sponsor — Francis Rooney of Florida — is retiring. The group is hoping for a bipartisan bill to be introduced in the Senate, but it can’t find a Republican to do it.

Reynolds hopes that will change, but he’s not anticipating new Republican endorsements to come out during lobbying week, in the heat of election season.

“There is going to be a moment where it becomes clear the politics have changed and something will happen quickly,” Reynolds said. “We are trying to build trust and credibility so we can seize that moment.”

Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers Josh Siegel (@SiegelScribe) and Abby Smith (@AbbySmithDC). Email [email protected] or [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.

EPA SHAKES UP PERMIT APPEALS PROCESS: The result could be permits granted quicker, but fewer avenues for environmental groups to raise opposition.

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed Wednesday a number of changes to how its Environmental Appeals Board operates, plans the agency says will simplify and streamline how judges on the board resolve permit disputes.

The Environmental Appeals Board, created in 1992, hears administrative appeals, and opponents to permitting decisions made by the EPA can seek review by the board’s judges. That review, however, creates another step in the process and could hold up permits, to the dismay of industry.

Under the EPA’s proposal, parties disputing permit decisions could choose whether to use the appeals board formal review or to opt for an alternative program that lets parties negotiate their disputes to resolve things more quickly.

Jeff Holmstead, an attorney at Bracewell who led the EPA’s air office during the Bush administration, told Abby he expects the proposed changes would help “eliminate some of the unnecessary permitting delays.” That’s because in some cases it would allow permit disputes to go straight to court, rather than get held up at the Environmental Appeals Board, Holmstead said.

But not everyone supports all of the EPA’s proposed changes.

“Letting parties go straight to judicial review seems like skipping a step,” said Stan Meiburg, who served in a number of career roles at the EPA, including acting deputy administrator during the Obama administration.

Meiburg also raised concerns about the EPA’s plans to set 12-year term limits for appeals board judges, who currently don’t face term limits. That change could cause judges to “look over their shoulder more than they currently do,” he said.

SENATE CLIMATE CAUCUS HITS THE GROUND RUNNING: Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Michael Bennet of Colorado and Independent Senator Angus King of Maine are joining the caucus, co-founders Delaware Democrat Chris Coons and Indiana Republican Mike Braun announced Wednesday.

They join the three additional Republican members Braun confirmed to Abby last week — Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, Utah’s Mitt Romney, and South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham.

And the caucus is already getting to work. The group held its first meeting Tuesday, joined by CEOs from several companies, including utilities DTE Energy and PSEG and chemical giants Dow and BASF. The CEOs expressed their support for bipartisan climate legislation that uses “market-based approaches that are durable, equitable, and supportive of the American economy,” according to a news release.

KEYSTONE PIPELINE WILL STAY CLOSED FOR NOW: And it won’t reopen until its Canadian owner, TC Energy, takes a number of corrective actions, federal pipeline safety regulators say.

The Tuesday order from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration follows an oil spill last week from the Keystone pipeline, leaking about 383,000 gallons of oil in northeastern North Dakota. Continuing to run the pipeline “would be hazardous to life, property, and the environment without immediate corrective actions,” Alan K. Mayberry, associate administrator for pipeline safety, wrote in the order.

PHMSA directed TC Energy to take a number of actions, including developing a restart and return-to-service plan, testing the failed section of the pipeline, and completing an analysis of what caused the leak. The spill doesn’t bode well, however, for TC Energy’s proposed expansion of the pipeline, the controversial Keystone XL project, which President Trump approved but has sparked staunch opposition.

EPA TAKES FIRST REGULATORY ACTION ON ETHYLENE OXIDE: The EPA is taking first steps to reduce emissions of a toxic air pollutant determined to cause cancer in humans, as updated agency data shows communities across the country with elevated cancer risks from exposure to the pollutant — known as ethylene oxide.

Ethylene oxide is commonly used in medical sterilization, and the pollutant rose in public awareness as communities near sterilization plants in Illinois and other states raised concerns about contamination. Medical companies, however, have warned that a crackdown on ethylene oxide could jeopardize access to medical devices that hospitals and other facilities need.

The EPA on Wednesday proposed a number of changes for hazardous air pollution limits for chemical manufacturing. The agency said it is separately reviewing standards for commercial sterilization facilities.

PRESIDENTIAL CLIMATE PLANS FACE OFF ON THE WEATHER CHANNEL: Voters will have another chance to see presidential candidates sell their climate change plans Thursday when the Weather Channel airs a series of taped interviews.

The one-hour event at 8 p.m. ET features interviews with Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Pete Buttigieg. Republican Trump challengers Mark Sanford, Bill Weld, and Joe Walsh will also appear. Joe Biden is missing in action due to a scheduling conflict.

Questions asked of candidates by Weather Channel meteorologists and climate journalists cover “how climate change is impacting jobs, the economy, national security, extreme weather, and more and how their administrations would address these issues directly.”

CONSERVATIVE CLEAN ENERGY GROUP STAFFS UP: ClearPath Foundation is expanding its policy team with hires to beef up its advocacy on clean energy innovation.

Niko McMurray is joining ClearPath as nuclear program director and Cameron Tarry as policy fellow, the group announced Thursday.

McMurray worked at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a materials engineer focusing on new and advanced nuclear reactors. Tarry was previously a public policy consultant at electric utility Dominion Energy.

The Rundown

Washington Post Justices seem to want to avoid extremes in Clean Water Act case

Wall Street Journal Oil majors skip Brazil’s offshore oil field auction

Reuters New Zealand passes law aiming for net zero carbon emissions by 2050

Calendar

THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 14

9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 1601 K Street, NW. K&L Gates, the Energy Storage Association, and the Edison Electric Institute host this year’s third annual Energy Storage Conference.