TOP ETHICS OFFICIAL PRESSES EPA TO DEAL WITH PRUITT SCANDALS: The government’s top ethics official wants Environmental Protection Agency lawyers to take immediate steps to address EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s controversies that have put his job in jeopardy.

• Take ‘appropriate actions’: David J. Apol, the acting director of the Office of Government Ethics, sent a letter Monday morning to the EPA’s top ethics official, Kevin Minoli, questioning actions taken by Pruitt and asking the agency to take “appropriate actions to address any violations,” the New York Times first reported.

• Potential ethics violations: The letter addresses questions Pruitt’s condo living arrangements where he paid $50 per night. The Capitol Hill condo is owned by the wife of an energy lobbyist. Apol also wants the EPA ethics lawyer to address Pruitt’s flights to his home state and reported demotions for staff who challenged Pruitt’s decisions on travel expenses.

• Trust: “The success of our government depends on maintaining the trust of the people we serve,” Apol wrote. “The American public needs to have confidence that ethics violations, as well as the appearance of ethics violations, are investigated and appropriately addressed.”

IT’S NOT EASY BEING PRUITT: President Trump over the weekend acknowledged some of the behavior that has landed Pruitt in the hot seat, but he didn’t suggest anything close to firing him.

Trump is still of the mind that Pruitt has done a fine job as EPA chief and is giving every indication that he’s going to keep him around, even as a White House investigation into Pruitt’s plugs away.

• Top environment Republican chimes in: Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee that oversees Pruitt, said Monday morning that he believes Pruitt has set the agency in a better direction and supports his actions to correct the EPA’s overreach.

• ‘Certain questions:’ But at the same time, “certain questions have been raised about internal operations of the agency and the administrator’s actions,” Barrasso said. “The White House has indicated it has taken on a formal review of these questions. I will wait for the outcome of that process.”

• Weighing the tea leaves: It is not clear if Trump will release the findings of the Pruitt investigation before he leaves Washington Friday to meet with South American leaders in Lima, Peru, for the Summit of the Americas.  

• Should Pruitt stay or should he go? Some sources with an ear to the White House told John that it would be odd for the president to fire the EPA chief before heading to South America.

• Another week? It is more likely that Trump would depart Washington and then return to deal with Pruitt. That gives Pruitt at least another week of speculation to contend with.

However, if Trump does make a decision before his trip, it likely would come soon. Like Monday or Tuesday, sources suggest.  

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.

WHITE HOUSE, EPA TAKE TIME OUT TO WRESTLE WITH ETHANOL: The White House has scheduled a meeting Monday of the EPA, the Agriculture Department, and the National Economic Council to deal with another point of criticism being leveled at Pruitt — the Renewable Fuel Standard’s ethanol mandate.  

• Why now? The meeting follows criticism and threatened litigation from the ethanol industry over a secret agreement between refinery giant Andeavor and the EPA to waive regulations for blending ethanol in gasoline for three of the company’s smallest refineries.

• Cease and desist: The ethanol industry claimed foul and doesn’t want Pruitt to grant other any other companies waivers, as that would contradict Trump’s support for corn farmers and rural America.

• Trump’s ‘win-win’: Sources tracking the meeting say the Andeavor decision is not part of the president’s search for a solution that would resolve cost complaints from refiners, while still supporting Trump’s promise to defend the ethanol mandate.

• Pruitt attending? One lobbyist tracking the meeting told John that Pruitt is expected to be at the meeting, with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, but the White House would not confirm attendees. It is not clear if Trump will be there or if senior White House aides will be leading the meeting.

Here’s the Pruitt news you may have missed over the weekend:

TREY GOWDY INDICATES HE IS INVESTIGATING SCOTT PRUITT CONTROVERSY: House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said Friday that he has begun looking into the controversy surrounding Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, according to a video shot Friday by activists.

“I don’t have a lot patience for that kind of stuff,” Gowdy said at a book-signing event with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., his co-author.

• Scope unclear: Gowdy did not indicate whether he plans to start a formal investigation Pruitt’s string of controversies, headlined by a $50-per-night living arrangement at a condo on Capitol Hill during the opening months of the Trump administration.

He told the activists that while he and the committee have seen documents that they have requested, they have not been formally given copies.

• Future in doubt: “Well, we’ve actually seen them. They just haven’t produced them. They let us come over and see them,” Gowdy said. “I’m not sure he’s going to make it that long. It gets worse every time there’s a report in the news.”

Pruitt has been under fire but has publicly received President Trump’s backing.

• ‘Great job’: Trump offered a ringing endorsement of Pruitt in a tweet Saturday evening.

“While Security spending was somewhat more than his predecessor, Scott Pruitt has received death threats because of his bold actions at EPA. Record clean Air & Water while saving USA Billions of Dollars. Rent was about market rate, travel expenses OK,” Trump said., “Scott is doing a great job!”

MORE REPUBLICANS CONCERNED ABOUT PRUITT’S CONDUCT: Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine., on Sunday called for congressional oversight of Pruitt following more allegations of misuse of taxpayer funds.

• Drip, drip, drip: “This daily drip of accusations of excessive spending and ethical violations serve to further distract the agency from accomplishing its very important mission,” Collins told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“I think Congress needs to do some oversight. After all, we don’t know the extent of the recommendations made by Mr. Pruitt’s security team, but on policy grounds alone I think Scott Pruitt is the wrong person to head the EPA,” she said.

Collins was the only Republican senator to oppose Pruitt’s nomination as EPA administrator.

• ‘Unforced errors’: Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., offered even sharper criticism of Pruitt.

“Stop leading with your chin,” Kennedy said in an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “Now these are unforced errors. They are stupid. There are a lot of problems we can’t solve. But you can behave. I don’t mean to denigrate Mr. Pruitt, but doggone it, he represents the president of the United States, and it is hurting his boss and it needs to stop.”

• Bad look: Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., meanwhile, said Sunday that Pruitt has “done a good job,” and he’s waiting what the congressional oversight panel learns.

“The bottom line: This doesn’t look good,” Graham said.

PRUITT’S EXPENSIVE SECURITY TEAM TRIPLE THE SIZE OF PREDECESSOR: Pruitt spent millions of taxpayer dollars on a 20-member security detail that is three times the size of his predecessor, according to a report Friday.

The agency spent millions of dollars on the full-time detail, which exceeded overtime budgets and prevented officers from looking into environmental crimes, the Associated Press reports.

• Watchmen: EPA senior special agent Pasquale Perrotta oversaw a vast expansion of Pruitt’s security detail to guard him 24 hours a day. Pruitt was reportedly even under watch during family vacations and when he traveled home to Oklahoma.

Pruitt’s excess travel caused many of his detail members to hit their annual salary caps of nearly $160,000.

• ‘Unprecedented’ threats: EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said in a statement sent to the Washington Examiner that Pruitt has faced an “unprecedented” number of death threats.

“According to EPA’s Assistant Inspector General, Scott Pruitt has faced an unprecedented amount of death threats against him and his family. Americans should all agree that members of the president’s Cabinet should be kept safe from these violent threats,” Wilcox said.

PRUITT’S DEPUTY GETS KEY DEMOCRATIC ENDORSEMENT AHEAD OF VOTE: Pruitt’s nominee for deputy, Andrew Wheeler, who likely will face a full vote in the Senate this week, earned a key endorsement this weekend from Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.

“After meeting with Mr. Wheeler and reviewing his record, I have decided to support his nomination,” Heitkamp said. “I believe he’ll be open to working on issues important to North Dakota in a pragmatic and fair way, and I’ll hold him accountable to make sure he implements the mission of the EPA in a way that works for my state.”

Republicans have a slim 51-to-49 advantage in the Senate.

• His wheelhouse: Wheeler is an energy industry lobbyist whose ties to Murray Energy, a privately owned coal giant, have drawn scrutiny from Democrats.

He previously worked on the staff of Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., including as chief counsel on the Environment and Public Works Committee.

MOVING ON …. ENVIRONMENTAL APPROVALS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS TO BE EXPEDITED: Various federal agencies are expected Monday to sign an agreement intended to shorten the environmental review and permitting process for infrastructure projects.

The leaders of at least 12 agencies will sign the “memo of understanding,” according to Bloomberg, which would implement an executive order signed by Trump in August.

• Signoff: Trump is expected to preside over a signing ceremony after a Cabinet meeting Monday.

Signing the memo will be the departments of Energy, Interior, Transportation, Commerce and Homeland Security, the EPA, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

• Need for speed: Trump’s Aug. 15 executive order calls for “timely decisions” on projects with the goal of completing “environmental reviews and authorization decisions for major infrastructure projects within two years.”

Under the agreement implementing the order, federal agencies will have to conduct concurrent environmental reviews, rather than consecutive reviews, to speed up the process.

The main agency with expertise will lead the permitting review process, setting timelines for the other agencies to follow.

NO MORE ‘SECOND-CLASS’ TREATMENT, RURAL POWER PROVIDERS TELL CONGRESS: CEOs from rural power providers will descend on Congress this week with the message that “second-class service” will no longer be tolerated and their customers deserve the same treatment as those who live in cities.

• Two days of lobbying: The utility bosses will be in Washington for two days of lobbying that begins Monday. The big push on Capitol Hill is part of the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association’s legislative conference to push energy’s role in the coming Farm Bill.

• Broadband not just for urban hipsters: “Rural America should expect comparable broadband speeds as urban citizens, and not subject to ‘second-class service,'” reads a lobbying agenda obtained by the Washington Examiner.

• Need grants, loans and money: The utilities want key grant programs fully funded under both the Farm Bill and fiscal 2019 budget appropriations, as well as “vehicles to invest in rural broadband,” which means a combination of loans and grants. Rural utilities are nonprofit electric companies that provide service to 42 million people in 47 states.

PERRY MAKES $2 BILLION BID FOR MEGA-COMPUTERS: Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced Monday that he is willing to give all comers up to $1.8 billion if they help him build at least two new exascale supercomputers by 2023.

• Competition for greatness: The announcement started the bidding process, in which industry and academics submit proposals and Perry picks the best ones.

The new supercomputers will follow the first U.S. exascale system authorized by Perry in June, called Aurora, which is being built at the Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago.

• The computer will be huge: The new computer will provide 50 to 100 times greater performance than the fastest current U.S. supercomputer.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OFFERS OPPORTUNITY FOR OFFSHORE WIND: The Trump administration is offering access to hundreds of thousands of acres for the offshore wind industry, in the hopes of boosting a renewable energy source that has struggled to gain traction and keep pace with Europe.

The Interior Department on Friday proposed a lease sale for 390,000 acres for commercial wind energy projects in two areas off the coast of Massachusetts. The department will start a public comment period for the proposal starting April 11.

• Wind currents: The offer continues a series of offshore wind auctions that began in the Obama administration. Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Management has previously awarded 13 commercial offshore wind leases in federal waters off the Atlantic Coast, from Massachusetts to North Carolina.

• ‘Emerging industry’:  “We have an emerging industry; this is an opportunity to move forward on a portfolio of all-of-the-above energy as well as develop infrastructure for a long-term industry,” Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said.

KINDER MORGAN THREATENS TO HALT PIPELINE EXPANSION IN CANADA: Texas-based company Kinder Morgan threatened Sunday to halt its proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline because of opposition from the provincial government of British Columbia.

The Trans Mountain expansion would nearly triple the amount of crude flowing from Alberta’s oil sands to a port near Vancouver. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau approved the Trans Mountain expansion in 2016.

• Work it out: Kinder Morgan, America’s largest energy infrastructure company, said it would stop all “nonessential spending” on the project and wait until May 31 to decide whether to move forward, pending discussions between British Columbia and the federal government.

• ‘Lost confidence’: Environmentalists cheered the delay as a win.

“Clearly, investors have lost confidence in this project and are waking up to the reality that the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline will never be built,” said Sven Biggs, Energy and Climate Campaigner at Stand.earth.

RUNDOWN

Wall Street Journal U.S. looks to protect domestic car makers from foreign competition

New York Times In his haste to roll back rules, Scott Pruitt risks his agenda

Bloomberg Your future home might be powered by car batteries

Reuters Offshore oil industry suppliers fight to be fit for frugal future

Quartz For every $1 the U.S. put into adding renewable energy last year, China put in $3

Wall Street Journal Americans face highest pump prices in years

Bloomberg Saudis see chemical, oil-refining bonanza along U.S. Gulf Coast