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KAVANAUGH’S CONFIRMATION PROVIDES DEMS A CHANCE TO GRANDSTAND ON CLIMATE: Democrats will finally get their chance to grill justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh over his environmental record, as the first of four confirmation hearings begin on Tuesday.

Democrats had been pressing Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, for all records pertaining to Kavanaugh’s climate and environment record, saying the Supreme Court nominee could have a “significant impact” on the laws that govern the air, water, and climate.

Not enough time for documents: Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California, who signed onto the letter demanding the documents, tried to stall the confirmation hearing Tuesday morning, saying the Judiciary Committee had insufficient time to review tens of thousands of new documents received Monday night.  

“We cannot possibly move forward,” Harris said, cutting off Grassley as he made opening remarks. Harris is the top Democrat on the environment committee’s regulatory oversight panel. Other Democrats also asked to stop the hearings until the thousands of documents pertaining to his record are reviewed.

Kavanaugh in the crosshairs: Leading up to Tuesday’s first confirmation hearing, Democrats, liberal groups and environmentalists had embarked on a campaign attacking Kavanaugh’s record as pro-pollution, alleging that he would favor fossil fuels and oil companies.

A week of protests: Next weekend, Moveon.org is staging a “Stop Kavanaugh” day of protest, leading up to California Gov. Jerry Brown’s global climate summit beginning on Sept. 12 in San Francisco. But the protests were already underway inside the hearing room on Tuesday, as protesters interrupted the proceedings several times.

The new Scott Pruitt: Outside groups and Democrats have labeled the justice nominee the “new” Scott Pruitt, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, who resigned from the agency after months of scandals and a protracted campaign by liberal groups to force him out.  

Democrats want more documents: Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, along with all the committee’s Democrats, pressed Grassley for all records pertaining to Kavanaugh’s environmental record, in an effort to unveil a complete record on the nominee to the public.

“The American public, and the U.S. senators who are constitutionally obligated to provide advice and consent on the president’s nominee, deserve a fulsome understanding of that nominee’s complete environmental record before he is considered — much less confirmed — for a lifetime appointment as associate justice on the Supreme Court of the U.S.,” the Democrats said in their Aug. 24 letter.

Taking aim at his time with Bush: The Democrats are mostly concerned about Kavanaugh’s formative years working as staff secretary for former President George W. Bush, picking up from comments Kavanaugh made three years ago on a panel at Marquette University, according to the letter.  

When asked what prior legal experience was most “instructive or informative to his preparation for becoming a judge,” Kavanaugh said “My five-and-a-half years at the White House and, especially my three years as staff secretary for President George W. Bush, were the most interesting and formative for me.”

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.  

UTILITIES RELUCTANT TO INVEST IN COAL PLANTS, EVEN AFTER TRUMP TRIES TO SAVE THEM: Utilities are giving the cold shoulder to the Trump administration in its bid to help keep their coal plants alive, remaining committed to providing energy from cleaner and cheaper sources such as natural gas, wind, and solar.

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed a rule Aug. 21 to replace President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan — his signature climate change initiative, targeting carbon pollution from coal plants — with a more modest measure designed to encourage plants to invest in efficiency upgrades that would allow them to burn less pollution, and exist longer.

But no utilities contacted by the Washington Examiner said they would commit to improving their coal plants, or re-evaluate planned coal plant retirements because of the Trump administration’s new rule, known as Affordable Clean Energy, or ACE. And none of them have plans to build new coal plants.

A cleaner future: Instead, the utilities were eager to tout their achievements in reducing carbon dioxide emissions from coal, and their ambitions to create a modern grid with fewer polluters on it.

“Based on what we know right now, we do not have any plants whose future would be affected by the adoption of the ACE rule,” Shannon Brushe, spokeswoman for Duke Energy, the giant utility based in Charlotte, N.C., told Josh. “Any previously announced plant closures across the states we serve will continue regardless of the rule.”

Ohio-based American Electric Power, one of the nation’s largest utilities, has similar views on the Trump pitch, even though it opposed the Clean Power Plan. It aims to reduce coal use from half its energy mix to one-third in the next decade, while cutting its carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050.

“AEP’s business strategy is focused on modernizing the power grid, expanding renewable energy resources and delivering cost-effective, reliable energy to our customers,” Tammy Ridout, a spokeswoman for the utility, told Josh. “That strategy will not change. Based on economics, our plans for the new generation include natural gas and renewables.”

Plans keep closing: Utility Xcel Energy, meanwhile, earned regulatory approval Aug. 27 to shutter two coal units at the Comanche Generating Station in Pueblo, Colo. a decade earlier than the company expected. Xcel Energy, one of the the nation’s leading wind energy providers, also plans to retire two coal units in Minnesota.

Why coal isn’t coming back: Many coal plants are too old to make upgrades worth investing in. Others have already done the efficiency work EPA outlines in its proposal, experts say. In addition, the rule won’t be implemented for years, and will be contested in court, meaning coal plants may die prematurely.

Read the rest of Josh’s story in this week’s Washington Examiner magazine.

EPA NOT JUSTIFIED IN MASSIVE SPENDING ON SCOTT PRUITT’S SECURITY, WATCHDOG FINDS: The Environmental Protection Agency’s internal watchdog faulted the agency Tuesday for failing to justify the high level of security provided to former administrator Scott Pruitt.

In a highly anticipated report, the EPA’s inspector general said Pruitt’s unprecedented use of a around-the-clock security detail cost the agency $3.5 million over an 11-month period, an increase of 110 percent compared to $1.6 million in security costs for the prior 11 months for Obama-era EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.

No proof for Pruitt’s threats: The inspector general said EPA did not properly document justification for that increased spending because it failed to conduct an analysis of the threats Pruitt claimed he faced. Instead, the EPA decided to give Pruitt around-the-clock security protection before he even arrived at the agency.

In addition, EPA’s internal watchdog found that some security personnel worked overtime without proper authorization, resulting in improper payments of $106,507 between January 2016 and March 2017.

Pruitt resigned in July after facing a dozen federal investigations over his spending, first-class travel, and use of security.

Pruitt’s security use was unprecedented: The EPA’s inspector general in April began investigating Pruitt for his use of the security detail, which he used on personal trips to Disneyland, the Rose Bowl, and college basketball games.

He was the first EPA administrator with such a high level of security. The EPA justified the constant security presence by saying Pruitt has faced threats from people who opposed his deregulatory agenda.

EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler quickly ended the use of constant security upon replacing Pruitt, the inspector general said.

THOUSANDS PROTEST ZINKE MOVE TO EXPAND HUNTING AT WILDLIFE PRESERVES: The National Park Service’s proposal to ramp up hunting of wolves and bears in Alaska’s wildlife preserves is sparking tens of thousands of public comments asking the administration to scrap the proposal.

One in a million: “As one of 1.3 million members and supporters of the National Parks Conservation Association, I strongly oppose the National Park Service’s attempt to roll back 2015 clarifications of existing park authority to protect bears and wolves on Alaska national preserves,” read one of the over 100,000 comments filed, so far, with the agency ahead of the Sept. 6 deadline.

“Extreme sport hunting methods, like brown bear baiting and killing hibernating black bear mothers and cubs in dens, don’t belong on national preserves in Alaska,” the comment continued.

Groups aim to block Zinke’s plan: The National Parks Conservation Association is waging a campaign to stop Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s hunting plan in Alaska. The group argues that the new rule would “force the Park Service to surrender its authority to protect bears and wolves and return to these shameful and unethical practices” of baiting the animals when their young are still suckling.

Time to protest or applaud: The deadline for submitting one’s protests, or approval, of the new Park Service hunting program follows a federal judge’s order Thursday halting a grizzly bear trophy hunt in Yellowstone, which could presage trouble for the new Alaska proposal.

The Montana federal judge suggested he could reverse the Interior Department’s decision to remove federal protections for the Yellowstone bears in the coming weeks, after delaying the hunt in Idaho and Wyoming. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reduced protective status for the bears earlier this summer.

LISA MURKOWSKI PLANS TO MOVE SOON ON TRUMP’S NEW NATIONAL PARK CHIEF: Senate Energy Committee chairwoman Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Friday that she plans to move soon to confirm Trump’s pick to head the National Park Service.

President Trump nominated David Vela to serve as the director of the National Park Service on Friday, a selection that received praise from Murkowski and other Republican leaders on Capitol Hill.

Trump’s pick getting praise: “I’m pleased the president has nominated Mr. Vela to be Director of the National Park Service,” said Murkowski, who controls the confirmation process for Interior Department nominees.

It’s all about the backlog: “As we seek to improve the culture of the agency and address its multi-billion dollar maintenance backlog, I look forward to meeting him and scheduling a hearing on his nomination in the near future,” she said.

Vela is the current superintendent of the Grand Teton National Park, and considered a seasoned National Park Service leader, serving at every level of the organization with distinction throughout his career, according to the Interior Department.

TRUMP OFFICIALLY NOMINATES CENTRIST TO LEAD EPA’S CHEMICAL SAFETY OFFICE: Trump on Friday officially nominated a centrist to lead the EPA’s chemicals office after he was forced to withdraw his first pick due to insufficient support from senators.

The president chose Alexandra Dapolito Dunn to lead EPA’s Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Office.

She has nonpartisan credentials: Since November, Dunn has been administrator of EPA Region 1, the local office covering the New England area. Prior to that, Dunn served as executive director and general counsel for the Environmental Council of States, a nonpartisan nonprofit that helps states improve their environments. In that role, she helped state governments improve water infrastructure, air pollution, and chemical management, according to her EPA bio.

She’s different than the last failed nominee: Dunn’s nonpartisan background will likely please senators, including Republicans, who opposed Michael Dourson, Trump’s first nominee for the chemicals office, because of his ties to industry, forcing him to withdraw.

EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler vowed that Dunn, if confirmed by the Senate, would be committed to properly implementing a bipartisan law approved during the last year of the Obama administration, known as the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), that set rules for how the agency determines health and safety risks of chemicals.

Democrats say the Trump administration is not faithfully implementing the law.

“She will use her experience and wealth of knowledge to help EPA faithfully implement the Toxic Substances Control Act and ensure chemicals in the marketplace are safe,” Wheeler said of Dunn.

FERC LOOKS TO SPEED UP A DOZEN NATURAL GAS EXPORT APPROVALS: The nation’s top energy regulator on Friday moved to expedite approvals for 12 natural gas export terminals, which are a key component of Trump’s energy dominance and trade agenda.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission took steps to speed up the environmental review process for a dozen liquefied natural gas export terminal applications pending at the agency.

Speeding up the process: “These efforts have helped to ensure that FERC will be equipped to process applications in a timely and expedient manner without compromising its statutory obligation to ensure safety and environmental protection,” the agency said.

Natural gas exports are key: Natural gas exports are the cornerstone of President Trump’s “energy dominance” and trade agenda, which calls for creating new markets for America’s energy products abroad. The nation recently became a net exporter of natural gas, meaning it exports more natural gas than it imports, thanks to the shale energy boom.

The nation’s ‘important role’ to play: “There is widespread acknowledgment that the United States is poised to play an important role in serving worldwide LNG demand, and its ability to serve that demand quickly will serve the nation’s national security and economic interests,” said FERC chairman Kevin McIntyre. “Because sufficient LNG export capacity is a necessary gateway to the global gas markets, the FERC’s efficient processing of LNG facility applications will put the U.S. in a more competitive position.”

CALIFORNIA PASSES BILL TO RESCUE UTILITIES FACING HIGH WILDFIRE COSTS: California legislators approved legislation Friday to rescue the state’s largest utility from wildfire liability costs by letting it bill ratepayers.

California law requires utilities to be financially liable for damage from wildfires that start because of their equipment, even if they properly follow regulations.

Utilities are feeling the pain: State investigators have determined that equipment from the utility Pacific Gas & Electric Co. unit caused 16 wildfires last year, and the company has said it expects to incur losses related to at least 14 of them, according to the Wall Street Journal.

PG&E faces about 200 lawsuits on behalf of 2,700 plaintiffs stemming from last year’s fires.

Now they would get more wiggle-room: The new law would soften the liability standard imposed on utilities based on whether equipment was reasonably maintained and operated. It would allow utilities to issue bonds to help pay for wildfire damages, with a surcharge on ratepayers’ bills helping to cover interest payments, Reuters reported.

Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, is expected to sign the legislation, which critics consider a bailout of utilities, but supporters say would protect ratepayers from worse fees if a utility has to declare bankruptcy because of costs from wildfires that are only getting more intense and frequent.

RUNDOWN

Bloomberg U.S. throttles Iran oil flows to buyers who vowed resistance

New York Times You’ve heard of outsourced jobs, but outsourced pollution? It’s real, and tough to tally up.

Wall Street Journal Flood of sand points to shakeout for shale suppliers

Washington Post Researchers say they felt pressed by federal wildlife officials to bury risk on endangered beetle

BBC How China’s giant solar farms are transforming world energy

Reuters Electric Mercedes opens German assault on Tesla

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