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CONGRESS FINDS CLIMATE POLICY ‘SWEET SPOT’ IN ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Energy efficiency is having a moment on Capitol Hill, and is representative of low-hanging fruit climate change policy that could pass in a divided Congress.
The concept of using less energy in homes, at the office, and for industrial applications, is not new or controversial. That was the message from Senators Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, and Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, who re-introduced legislation Wednesday that would incentivize use energy efficiency in buildings, industry, and by the federal government.
“When we first introduced this legislation, Rob had black hair,” Shaheen said of Portman at a Capitol Hill press conference, making light of their failed previous attempts to pass versions of the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act.
The Republican-controlled House stymied passage of the bill in prior congresses, but that could change with Democrats having power in the lower chamber.
“What we’re dealing with is low-hanging fruit,” said Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and another co-sponsor of the bill with Maine Republican Susan Collins. “If we can’t do this, God help climate change.”
Key business allies: Energy efficiency is also a snug fit with Republicans’ new embrace of “innovation” to address climate change, a term that’s been adopted by allied business trade groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber includes energy efficiency among the emissions-reduction policies it favors, along with spending on research and development on carbon capture and advanced nuclear. The group, like Republicans at large, opposes more comprehensive climate change policies that could make a bigger dent in emissions, such as a carbon tax or clean electricity mandate.
“Efficiency gains improve U.S. productivity, benefiting all sectors of our economy while simultaneously addressing climate change,” said Christopher Guith, acting president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Energy Institute.
Why efficiency matters: Residential and commercial buildings accounted for about 40% of total U.S. energy consumption in 2018, according to the Energy Information Administration, with the federal government being the largest single consumer of energy in the country. The commercial and residential sectors are responsible for 12% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels for heat, the EPA says.
That percentage is much smaller than the electricity sector, for example. But power sector emissions are falling due from the switch to gas and renewables, while emissions from homes and buildings are rising due to increased development and energy use.
“That’s why we need to double down on efficiency,” Charles Hernick, director of policy and advocacy for the conservative Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, told me in an interview. “We need to make sure we are not being wasteful as we electrify more homes and buildings.”
Environmental groups like efficiency too.
“Study after study shows smarter energy use can help avert the worst effects of the climate crisis,” Grant Carlisle, clean energy advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told me.
What the new Senate bill does: The Portman-Shaheen bill would strengthen national building codes for homes and commercial buildings, encouraging states and private industry to adopt those standards (although they are voluntary) by creating a new grant program for homebuilders and contractors to build more efficiently.
It would direct the Energy Department to work with the private sector on R&D and commercialization of energy efficiency technologies that could be used in industrial applications.
And it establishes long-term energy and water efficiency goals for the federal government.
The House is on board with efficiency: Not to be outdone, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed bills Wednesday to promote energy efficiency (see more details below).
“It’s the sweet spot,” Portman said of energy efficiency.
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ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE APPROVES MELANGE OF ENERGY BILLS: The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a suite of 10 bipartisan bills Wednesday addressing improvements to cybersecurity, energy efficiency, weatherization of buildings, and workforce development.
Bills reported for consideration to the full House include: One that would establish an energy industry workforce development program to encourage participation from underrepresented groups; another that requires the Energy Department to prepare for cyber or physical attacks on pipelines and LNG export facilities; and others that would reauthorize grants for boosting the energy efficiency of public buildings, and strengthen DOE’s Weatherization Assistance Program, which reduces energy costs for low-income residents by increasing the efficiency of their homes.
“These bills reflect this Committee’s commitment to strengthening energy delivery, security, and reliability for Americans,” said the committee’s top Republicans, Greg Walden of Oregon and Fred Upton of Michigan.
HOUSE REPUBLICAN INTRODUCES BIPARTISAN CARBON CAPTURE BILL FOR GAS PLANTS: Representative Dan Crenshaw, Republican of Texas, is introducing a bipartisan bill Thursday that would require the Department of Energy to establish a carbon capture research program for gas plants, his office tells me. It’s the House version of a bipartisan bill — known as the LEADING Act — passed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee this week.
“This is an important step forward for green energy solutions that work towards our goal of lowering global emissions through clean, cheap, and exportable energy,” Crenshaw said.
Democratic co-sponsors to his bill include Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas and Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania.
EPA TOUTS AIR POLLUTION REDUCTIONS, BUT CRITICS SEE MISLEADING DATA: The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday released air pollution data for 2018, touting continued declines in emissions of traditional (non-C02) pollutants that began decades before President Trump took office.
The EPA data showed falling emissions from 2016 to 2018 with declines in nitrogen oxides (8.7%); particulate matter 2.5 (1.9%), particulate matter 10 — which includes lead (1.2%); sulfur dioxide (7.8%), carbon monoxide (7.2%), and volatile organic compounds (3.3%).
“One of America’s great but untold environmental success stories is that we have made – and continue to make – great improvements in our air quality, thanks largely to state and federal implementation of the Clean Air Act and innovation in the private sector,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler.
Digging deeper into the data: But the emissions declines are much greater over a longer period of time, with the combined reductions of those six pollutants equal to 74% since 1970.
Critics said the Trump administration is taking credit for environmental achievements it isn’t responsible for, and is burying some bad data.
“By many measures, air quality has worsened under the Trump administration,” said John Walke of the Natural Resources Defense Council, in a Twitter post.
Walke pointed to examples in the EPA’s own data. The number of “unhealthy air days” in 35 major U.S. cities — based on the amount of ozone (smog) and soot (PM 2.5) pollution — rose from 721 in 2017 to 799 last year. That’s still much lower than 2012, for example, when there were 1,296 unhealthy days.
Walke also noted levels of small and large soot pollution (PM 2.5 and PM 10) measured over a 24-hour period across the entire U.S. have increased under the Trump administration.
This says nothing about carbon: The report did not cover carbon emissions, the main contributor to climate change, which rose more than 3% last year, the largest increase since 2010. Trump’s EPA has moved to weaken regulations targeting carbon emissions from power plants, and vehicles.
SOLAR INDUSTRY PRESSES CONGRESS TO EXTEND INVESTMENT TAX CREDIT: Nearly 1,000 solar companies urged Congress Wednesday to extend key tax breaks credited with spurring investment into solar energy.
The Solar Energy Industries Association organized a letter to Congress pressing for a multi-year extension of the investment tax credits for solar, first signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2005 and extended by Congress in 2015 with bipartisan support.
The tax breaks for residential and commercial solar investment begin to phase down at the end of this year. The residential credit is scheduled to be eliminated by 2022, when the commercial credit drops to 10%.
While solar costs have plummeted, the industry argues it still needs the tax breaks without Congress passing a major policy to require or encourage clean energy. Solar accounted for only 2% of U.S. electricity generation in 2018.
“As we debate long-term solutions, now is not the time to abandon the single most successful policy on the books to deploy clean energy in the near-term,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Hopper said the investment tax credits have spurred $140 billion in private sector investment for solar. Solar installations have doubled since 2015 to more than 2 million.
NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE PASSES BILLS TO LIMIT URANIUM MINING: The House Natural Resources Committee approved a pair of bills Wednesday along party-lines authored by Democratic Chairman Raul Grijalva of Arizona to limit mining of uranium, a fuel used to produce nuclear energy.
One bill would ban new mining leases for uranium in about 1 million acres of federal land around the Grand Canyon national park in Arizona. Environmentalists have feared the Trump administration could reverse an Obama-era ban on mining near the Grand Canyon, which they said could threaten nearby ground water sources. The second approved bill would remove uranium from the federal critical minerals list, used to prioritize the development mining of minerals deemed critical to U.S. national security. Trump had added uranium to the list last year.
But last week, Trump rejected the recommendations of his advisers and declined to impose strict limits on uranium imports after utilities with large nuclear fleets complained quotas would raise electricity prices. The U.S. imports nearly all of its uranium.
TRUMP RE-NOMINATES DIRECTOR OF FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE: Trump re-nominated Aurelia Skipwith Wednesday to be director of the Interior Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service.
The president first nominated her to the same position in October 2018, but she never received a vote by the Senate. Skipwith currently serves at the agency as deputy assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks. She holds degrees in biology, molecular biology, and law. Skipwith formerly worked at the agrochemical company Monsanto.
She would be the first African-American to lead the Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees endangered species and wildlife refuges.
“Aurelia is a leader within the department who has helped us execute our initiatives as outlined by President Trump,” said Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. “I look forward to her prompt confirmation, so she can continue her service to the American people.”
The Rundown
San Francisco Chronicle Berkeley becomes first US city to ban natural gas in new homes
S&P Global AEP sets retirement date for massive Rockport coal unit in Indiana
Carbon Brief Why German coal power is falling fast in 2019
Reuters Does renewables pioneer Germany risk running out of power?
Calendar
THURSDAY | July 18
8:45 a.m., 1616 Rhode Island Avenue NW. The Center for Strategic and International Studies holds a conference on “Energy Investment and Infrastructure in Asia.” Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo. and Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Frank Fannon address the event.
10 a.m., 366 Dirksen. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee holds a hearing to examine opportunities to increase water storage and conservation through rehabilitation and development of water supply infrastructure, and to receive testimony on a number of bills.
