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INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK? President Trump is making his mark on what’s shaping up to be another infrastructure week in Congress. Trump will maneuver around lawmakers on Thursday with an executive order, as lawmakers struggle to see eye-to-eye on how to make infrastructure a part of the nation’s economic recovery.
Senior Trump administration officials told Josh the “emergency” order would expedite construction of highways and other projects such as civil works and energy infrastructure like mines and pipelines.
It would instruct the Interior, Agriculture, and Defense Departments to use “emergency and other authorities” to accelerate projects on federal land and continue the administration’s focus on easing “burdensome and outdated bureaucratic processes” that stall the construction process. The Washington Post reported Trump will instruct agencies to temporarily waive environmental laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act to speed up federal approval of projects.
Trump officials are promising more details this afternoon.
Trump’s action comes after House Democrats unveiled a nearly $500 billion infrastructure package Wednesday that would invest in highways, bridges, and other surface transportation, along with spending on environmental measures such as electric vehicle charging infrastructure and zero-emissions buses.
Republicans blasted the effort as too expensive and broad. The Senate Environment Committee held a hearing on the issue Thursday (see more coverage below).
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REPUBLICANS LIKEN HOUSE INFRASTRUCTURE BILL TO ‘GREEN NEW DEAL’: House Democrats’ decision to focus on climate change provisions drew immediate criticism from Senate and House Republicans. The House bill includes massive increases in investment in EV charging and zero-emissions buses, and it would require the Transportation Department to set carbon emissions performance targets, among other climate-related measures.
Sen. John Barrasso, who chairs the Senate Environment Committee, slammed the House Democrats’ bill for limiting flexibility to states and spending too much on public transit, which he said people will be hesitant to use in the near-term due to the coronavirus. Instead, Barrasso touted the bipartisan bill he co-sponsored with his Democratic counterpart Sen. Tom Carper that has cleared the Senate environment panel unanimously.
That bill would provide $287 billion over five years for highways, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure, and it also includes a climate section — though not as robust as what House Democrats have proposed. The Senate bill would invest $10 billion in low-emissions and resilient transportation projects, Carper said during an infrastructure hearing Thursday in the Senate environment panel.
What’s at risk if the House and Senate don’t agree: Federal highway funding expires in September, and relying on month-to-month extensions instead of a comprehensive, multi-year reauthorization would lead to project delays and higher costs, which would ultimately hurt U.S. economic recovery, Barrasso said during the hearing.
Nonetheless, tough negotiations are ahead, especially since the Senate, the House, and the White House also haven’t agreed on a way to pay for any infrastructure package yet.
SENATE REPUBLICANS INTRODUCE BILL TO ADDRESS EMISSIONS FROM FARMS: Republican Senators Mike Braun of Indiana and Lindsay Graham of South Carolina introduced legislation with Democrats Thursday to enable farmers to be paid for reducing emissions from their land.
The Growing Climate Solutions Act, co-sponsored by Democrats Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, would create a certification program at the Department of Agriculture to resolve barriers that prevent farmers from participating in carbon credit trading markets. It would enable farmers and forest landowners to earn carbon credits for practices that reduce emissions, such as capturing carbon in soil, planting trees, restoring wetlands, or using fertilizer more efficiently.
“As a Main Street Entrepreneur and conservationist, I know firsthand that if we want to address our changing climate then we need to facilitate real solutions that our farmers, environmentalists and industry can all support, which this bill accomplishes,” said Braun, the co-chair of the Senate’s Climate Solutions Caucus.
The bill would also set up a website that will serve as a “one stop shop” of information and resources for producers and foresters who are interested in participating in carbon markets. The often ignored agriculture sector represents 9% of of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
Broad support is a ‘breakthrough’: The American Farm Bureau Federation, National Corn Growers Association, Environmental Defense Fund, Climate Leadership Council, Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, and corporations such as McDonald’s and Microsoft are among the groups endorsing the legislation.
Whitehouse, of one Congress’ biggest climate hawks, known for pushing Republicans on the cause, said the legislation represents a “breakthrough” that “signals a broader move coming on climate in this country.”
MARCO RUBIO CO-SIGNS LETTER ON FINANCIAL RISKS OF CLIMATE CHANGE: Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, co-authored a letter this week with Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California to a panel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that is preparing to produce a report on mitigating the risks of climate change to the financial system.
The commission’s Climate-Related Market Risk Subcommittee is planning to release a first-of its-kind report for federal financial regulators, and the senators want to make sure it addresses certain questions.
“Most experts understand that climate risk is a serious source of financial instability, and we are pleased to see a U.S. financial regulatory agency make recommendations that multiple federal regulators may be able to use as a model,” Rubio and Feinstein wrote.
The senators want the panel to address how various federal financial regulators can improve coordination among one another, and how they can work with state regulators to consider climate risk. They also ask the subcommittee to propose legislative measures that could enable financial regulators to assess climate- and extreme weather-related risks, among other questions.
DOE’S BROUILLETTE IS GOING TO MIAMI (WILL SMITH VOICE): Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette is traveling to south Florida next week to receive a briefing from the state’s utility on hurricane preparedness for what’s expected to be an above-average season.
Brouillette will also tour Florida Power and Light’s Turkey Point Nuclear Plant, the Energy Department said. In December, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted the Turkey Point plant approval to operate for up to 80 years, the first nuclear facility to receive an extension of that length.
CRUZ’S LAST-GASP EFFORT TO STOP NORD STREAM 2 PIPELINE: Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, along with colleagues, is planning to introduce legislation Thursday expanding sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline to target companies that provide insurance to Russian vessels completing the project.
Cruz told Bloomberg that the Kremlin is trying to circumvent sanctions passed by Congress last year targeting businesses and individuals helping with the construction of Nord Stream 2, the controversial pipeline between Russia and Germany.
Soon after, Allseas Group S.A., a Swiss-based contractor hired by Russia to install deep-sea pipes for Nord Stream 2, stopped work on the pipeline.
But Gazprom, the Russian owner of the pipeline, has moved two Russian vessels to the area to finish construction.
The Trump administration has long lobbied against Nord Stream 2 for fear of increasing Europe’s dependence on Russian gas, and has been shipping more U.S. LNG to compensate.
MARKET RISKS FOR TRUMP-BACKED PETROCHEMICAL PLANT: Plastics prices have declined significantly in recent years, threatening the expected revenue of a petrochemical plant Shell is building in western Pennsylvania, according to a report Thursday from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Trump and other administration officials have touted the Shell plant, expected to open in 2021 or 2022, as part of a larger buildout of plastics production to revitalize the struggling Appalachian region. The IEEFA report, though, outlines substantial market risks for the project, including an oversupply that could drive plastics prices down even further. Those market risks are likely to be exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, the researchers note.
The market oversupply and low prices could be accompanied by flat or low demand for virgin plastics, IEEFA says, as consumers shift toward recycled products.
“This complex will not be as profitable as originally presented,” said Tom Sanzillo, IEEFA’s finance director, in a statement. IEEFA is calling on Shell to increase public disclosure about risks to the project, which reports say will cost at least $6 billion to construct.
DOMINION MAKES PROGRESS ON LARGEST US OFFSHORE WIND PROJECT: Dominion Energy announced Wednesday that it has successfully installed the foundations for two wind turbines off the coast of Virginia Beach in late May. The turbines for the project, which will be the largest in North America, will be installed later in June, the utility said.
The Virginia Beach project will ultimately deliver up to 2,600 megawatts of wind energy to customers by 2026, which can power as much as 650,000 jobs, according to Dominion. By the end of 2020, it’s expected to provide power to 3,000 homes. It’s also the first wind project installed in federal waters, the utility said.
The Rundown
Politico Bernie-friendly DNC panel pushes Biden to back $16T climate plan
Bloomberg Inside Microsoft’s mission to go carbon negative
Reuters GM plans electric van for business users in bid to pre-empt Tesla
Wall Street Journal Libyan Warlord’s oil forway draws US, UN scrutiny
Financial Times Chesapeake Energy: rise and fall of a US shale star
Calendar
TUESDAY | JUNE 9
10 a.m. 366 Dirksen. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee holds a hearing to examine wildfire management in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
12 p.m. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change holds a virtual hearing entitled, “Pollution and Pandemics: COVID-19’s Disproportionate Impact on Environmental Justice Communities.”
