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TRUMP AGAIN ATTACKS OPEC FOR HIGH PRICES: President Trump is again blaming OPEC for high oil prices that pushed gas prices in the U.S. to their highest level in four years this week.

“The OPEC Monopoly must remember that gas prices are up & they are doing little to help. If anything, they are driving prices higher as the United States defends many of their members for very little $’s. This must be a two way street. REDUCE PRICING NOW!” Trump tweeted on Wednesday.

What’s the deal: Trump’s continued complaints come after OPEC and non-member countries such as Russia reached a deal last month to boost oil output by one million barrels per day in order to lower rising prices. The Trump administration had pressured OPEC to boost production after 18 months of cuts because higher global oil prices have led to rising gasoline prices for U.S. drivers.

Never enough: The president has since said the OPEC deal did not go far enough. Trump recently claimed he received assurances from Saudi Arabia that it alone could boost oil supply by two million barrels per day. The White House later softened that claim, saying that the Saudis told Trump they can increase oil supply as needed, from its two million barrels a day of spare production capacity.

Rising prices: Despite the OPEC deal, and Trump’s concerns, oil prices continue to rise. The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, has risen more than 20 percent so far this year, to about $78 a barrel. The American benchmark was around $74 a barrel.

As the world goes: Trump may be concerned about high gas prices harming his and Republicans’ midterm credentials. But the reality is gas prices could continue to rise because of geopolitical risks to oil supply, including new sanctions on Iranian oil, and political turmoil causing lost production in Venezuela.

Twitter twist: Iranian OPEC Governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili said on Thursday that Trump had raised oil prices by tweeting so much.

“Your tweets have increased the prices by at least $10. Please stop this method,” said Kazempour, according to the the Iranian oil ministry’s news agency, SHANA.

Joseph McMonigle, an energy consultant and former chief of staff of the Energy Department in the George W. Bush administration, dismissed the Trump tweet as “political posturing.”

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.

TRUMP: COAL IS COMING BACK FOR NATIONAL SECURITY: “Coal is coming back” for national security reasons, Trump said in West Virginia on Tuesday night, alluding to his order for Energy Secretary Rick Perry to take actions to save uneconomic coal plants from closing.

National security case: “And it’s also coming back for another reason: national security,” the president said. “And your governor knows very well, and your senator knows very well what that means with coal.”

The memo: A memo leaked by the White House last month made saving coal and nuclear plants a matter of national security, because of the resilience they provide during times when the grid is stressed from an extreme weather event or even a cyber or physical attack on the nation’s infrastructure.

Coal industry meetings: Coal industry representatives that have met with the administration in recent weeks tell John that “national security” is their main focus when thinking about coal-fired power plants.

Picking on natural gas: Trump also suggested that natural gas, coal’s main rival in the electricity market that is also producing most of the nation’s electricity, is a less secure fuel because it’s dependent on pipelines.

‘Bomb’ pipelines: “You know, you bomb a pipeline, that’s the end of the pipeline,” Trump said. “With coal, that stuff is indestructible.”

Coal’s flexibility: “You can move it around on a truck, you can dump it at the plant, you can do whatever the hell — you can rain on top of it for a long time,” Trump explained. “You hit those pipelines, they’re gone, and that’s the end of it.”

Not enough talk about coal: “So for national security purposes, I don’t think people talk about it enough — coal.”  

Opposition: The oil and natural gas industry, in a coalition with the renewable energy industry, utilities, and manufacturers, are opposed to subsidizing coal and nuclear power plants, which would cost billions of dollars to implement and distort the energy markets.

Trump’s pledge to oil industry: Although Trump promised to help out the coal miners of West Virginia, he also pledged support of the oil and natural gas industries. Some of his first actions as president were directed to build pipelines.

In Montana: Trump is in Montana Thursday to address a Make America Great Again rally, where energy could come up again along with land-use issues.

COAL AND NATURAL GAS CONSUMPTION DROPS IN TRUMP’S FIRST YEAR: U.S. fossil fuel consumption decreased for the third year in the row in 2017, according to the Energy Department’s energy analysis wing.

“The decline in fossil fuel consumption in 2017 was driven by slight decreases in coal and natural gas consumption,” according to the Energy Information Administration.

Coal’s story: Coal consumption dropped by 2.5 percent in 2017, following larger annual declines of 13.6 percent and 8.5 percent in 2015 and 2016, respectively. “U.S. consumption of coal peaked in 2005 and declined nearly 40 percent since then,” the agency report read.

It’s been a gas: Natural gas consumption fell by less than coal in 2017, seeing a 1.4 percent decline, which marked “a change from recent trends,” according to the Energy Information Administration.

Natural gas on top: “Unlike coal consumption, which has decreased in 8 of the past 10 years, natural gas consumption has increased in 8 of the past 10 years, and in 2017, was twice that of coal,” the agency explained.

It’s electric: Natural gas consumption has been driven by increased use in the electric generating sector. Overall, U.S. consumption of natural gas increased by 24 percent from 2005 to 2017, the agency said..

What about oil? Petroleum consumption increased in 2017, but still remains 10 percent lower than its peak consumption level set in 2005.

New oil data out today: Look out for the Energy Information Administration’s latest oil data coming out on Thursday, following the July 4th federal holiday. It will include supply data as well as analysis on what is affecting prices and supply.

U.N.’S GREEN CLIMATE FUND CHIEF STEPS DOWN: Howard Bamsey has resigned as executive director of the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund on Wednesday, citing “personal reasons.”

Effective immediately: He made the resignation effective immediately at a board meeting, saying it was best if he left before the next round of fundraising began.

The Trump effect: Trump targeted the Green Climate Fund in making his June 1, 2017, decision to exit from the Paris climate accord. The fund is crucial piece of Paris deal, providing small developing nations with project financing to cope with the effects of global warming. The fund has targeted to receive at least $100 billion per year from developing nations by 2020.

Not all is well: Bamsey resigned on day four of a board meeting in South Korea, with no decisions on 11 funding bids worth $1 billion. There were also outstanding questions over how the fund would increase its already dwindling resources.

‘Disappointing’: “This has been a very difficult and disappointing board meeting for all of us, but most importantly for those people who are most vulnerable to climate change impacts, and who depend on the activities of the fund,” said Lennart Bage, chairman of the fund, who led the session.

POPE LEADS CLIMATE TALKS AT VATICAN: Pope Francis will mark the third anniversary of Laudato Si, his encyclical letter on climate change, in kicking off a two-day international conference Thursday at the Vatican.

Al Gore: Former Vice President Al Gore is there to mark the anniversary, telling Vatican News  in an interview Wednesday that the world has “no choice” but “to solve the climate crisis.”

Citing the Pope: “As Pope Francis has said, ‘if we destroy creation, creation will destroy us.’”

The great flood: Gore also put on his biblical scholar hat in the interview. “When Noah was instructed to gather two of every species in his ark in order to ‘keep them alive with thee,’ I believe that instruction is also meant for us” when it comes to climate change.

God’s creation: “I believe that the purpose of life is to glorify God — and if we heap contempt and destruction on God’s creation, that is grotesquely inconsistent with the way we are supposed to be living our lives.”

LNG SPARED FROM CHINA’S TARIFFS ON US: China omitted liquified natural gas from the large list of U.S. products that Beijing will impose tariffs on beginning Friday.

Right back atcha: China will, however, slap tariffs on $34 billion of U.S. goods ranging from pork and poultry to soybeans, corn, and cotton. The move is in retaliation for Trump’s $34 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods set for Friday.

Need for gas: China has said it will spare U.S. LNG, because Beijing needs the cleaner-burning fuel source to wean itself off coal and reduce smog.

Chinese imports of U.S. LNG could increase to as much as $9 billion annually within two or three years, from $1 billion in 2017, according to Morgan Stanley.

CHINA REJECTS US CALL TO END IRANIAN OIL USE: China has no plans to cooperate with Trump’s crackdown on the Iranian oil industry, a Chinese diplomat said Tuesday.

‘Beyond reproach’: “China is always opposed to unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters when asked if China would cooperate with the U.S. “China and Iran are friendly countries.”

“We maintain normal exchanges and cooperation within the framework conforming to our respective obligations under the international law,” he added. “This is beyond reproach.”

Zero tolerance: A State Department official told reporters last week that the U.S. has no plans to give waivers on sanctions to Iran’s oil customers and expects countries to stop imports by Nov. 4.

Most of Iran’s oil exports go to Asia, with China being among the largest customers.

The reimposition of sanctions on Iran is a result of Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, in which Tehran agreed to constrain its nuclear program in exchange for restored business and financial ties to the world economy.

LAURA INGRAHAM: SCOTT PRUITT ‘IS THE SWAMP. DRAIN IT’: Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham, a strong supporter of Trump, is escalating her demand that he fire Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt.

Ingraham said Pruitt embodied Trump’s much maligned Washington “swamp.”

“Pruitt is the swamp. Drain it,” she wrote on Twitter late Tuesday.

TRUMP ‘SOURING’ ON PRUITT AMID LATEST SCANDALS: Trump is “souring” on EPA Pruitt, sources close to the White House told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday, amid the latest deluge of negative headlines about Pruitt’s conduct at the agency.

Drip, drip, drip: New reporting this week about two requests Pruitt made to his staff has caused Trump to reconsider his hands-off approach and left White House staffers fuming, according to one source familiar with the situation.

Pruitt, who told congressional investigators in April he has “nothing to hide,” ordered aides to amend his official calendar numerous times to hide meetings from the public that could be perceived as controversial, CNN reported Tuesday. The network had first noticed discrepancies between Pruitt’s calendar and other records, and was later told by former EPA official Kevin Chmielewski that Pruitt’s staff regularly convened in the administrator’s office to “scrub” records.

A separate report this week by the Washington Post claimed Pruitt once asked a subordinate to look into potential jobs for his wife that would meet a minimum annual salary threshold of $200,000. The aide reportedly declined to follow through on the request.

‘Keeps on coming out’: “Stuff just keeps on coming out,” a source close to the White House told the Washington Examiner.

This person said Pruitt has been called in to the West Wing for “multiple meetings” about his ethical problems, and that those involved in such discussions, including chief of staff John Kelly, have grown increasingly frustrated with what appears to be a persistent problem.

“The president is finally souring on him,” the source said.

PRUITT DENIES REPORT HE ASKED TRUMP TO TAKE JEFF SESSIONS’ JOB AT DOJ: Pruitt, the former attorney general of Oklahoma, shot down a report Tuesday that he requested Trump appoint him as U.S. Attorney General in place of Jeff Sessions.

The denial comes after CNN reported that Pruitt made such an appeal to Trump earlier this year.

“This report is simply false,” Pruitt said in a statement to Josh. “[Attorney] General Sessions and I are friends, and I have always said I want nothing more than to see him succeed in his role.”

Master plan: The CNN report cited three people familiar with the request and claimed that the discussion occurred during an Oval Office meeting with Trump. Pruitt suggested that he would take Sessions’ place for 210 days as outlined under the Vacancies Reform Act, which allows the president to fill a position at a vacancy for a limited time if the official “dies, resigns or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office.”

Pruitt said he would head to Oklahoma after that period of time to run for office.

WATCHDOG GROUP TO PRESS EPA ON ‘SECRET’ CALENDARS IN COURT: A nonpartisan watchdog group announced Tuesday that it intends to ask a federal court to order the EPA to explain why it did not provide all of Pruitt’s official schedules after it promised it had.

Lawsuits: American Oversight said it already sued EPA last Friday for not meeting its Freedom of Information Act requests for Pruitt’s schedules. Now it plans to file an additional motion after CNN reported Monday night that an EPA whistleblower had told the House Oversight Committee that Pruitt kept separate and “secret” schedules.

‘Secret calendar’: “The EPA told American Oversight and a federal court that it had produced all of Scott Pruitt’s calendars, but the revelation of this secret calendar suggests this may not have been true,” said Melanie Sloan, senior adviser to American Oversight.

EPA asked to ‘explain itself’: American Oversight will now ask “to explain itself in court, and we’ll seek discovery if necessary,” she said, suggesting they will escalate legal proceedings in the case that could force EPA to disclose more of Pruitt’s inner workings at the agency.

‘Cover up’: “EPA can’t cover up Pruitt’s calendars no matter how much they’d like to,” Sloan said. “With Scott Pruitt under at least 13 separate investigations, the EPA no longer gets the benefit of the doubt.”

RUNDOWN

Los Angeles Times California billionaire roils Arizona utilities with push for renewable energy

Bloomberg Forget tech, big oil is doling out America’s fattest paychecks

New York Times Somali terrorist group bans plastic bags in areas it controls

Houston Chronicle Building pipeline support, one chicken, lamb and goat at a time

Bloomberg The 1,600 olive trees holding up a $5.2 billion pipeline