SIGN UP! If you’d like to continue receiving Washington Examiner’s Daily onEnergy newsletter, SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://newsletters.washingtonexaminer.com/newsletter/daily-on-energy/

TRUMP’S COAL BAILOUT IN THE CROSSHAIRS: A coalition of strange bedfellows of oil and renewable industry groups is set to release its analysis against Trump’s coal bailout as soon as Thursday, industry sources tell John, “about how much this coal and nuclear bailout is going to cost.”

Competing with Perry: The study comes as Energy Secretary Rick Perry has said in recent weeks that the administration is doing its own cost assessment of a plan that would seek to save coal and nuclear plants that are at risk of retirement in the next 3 to 5 years.

Why coal is losing: Low natural gas prices have made the coal and nuclear power plants less cost competitive. Natural gas power plants are increasing as coal’s share of the electricity market is waning.

Stopping the inevitable: The Trump administration wants to stop that from happening by seeking to influence the power markets with incentives and rarely used authorities from the Cold War era to order the plants to stay online, saying they are needed as a matter of “national security.”

Coal industry firing back: Coal industry groups have recently begun a campaign to show that the cost of  keeping the power plants online would not be that drastic when compared to the incentives that wind and solar receive from federal tax credits.

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 LAUNCHES PROBE INTO URANIUM IMPORTS: The Trump administration is initiating a Section 232 investigation into whether uranium imports impair national security.

Quick praise: “I applaud Secretary Ross for taking this important step,” said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, the chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee. Barrasso has been calling for action to limit the amount of uranium from abroad, which has been hurting producers in his home state.

Foreign producers are the reason: “For years, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan have undermined America’s uranium producers, including those in my home state of Wyoming,” Barrasso said. “We shouldn’t rely on foreign regimes to supply America with uranium. Ensuring our nation’s uranium producers can compete on a level playing field is critical to our national and energy security.”

WHEELER’S FIRST MAJOR ACTION AT EPA IS ON COAL: The Environmental Protection Agency finalized the first part of its plan to help coal power plants deal with the storage of coal ash waste.

Coal waste ‘flexibility’: “These amendments provide states and utilities much-needed flexibility in the management of coal ash, while ensuring human health and the environment are protected,” Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said Wednesday. “Our actions mark a significant departure from the one-size-fits-all policies of the past and save tens of millions of dollars in regulatory costs.”

First set of fixes: Today marked the completion of the first set of revisions to the 2015 coal ash rule for the disposal of coal combustion residuals, also known as CCR or coal ash, from electric utilities and independent power producers, EPA said. The action also marked one of the first major regulatory actions by Wheeler having to do with coal.

Cost savings: “The first set of revisions provides utilities and states more flexibility in how CCR is managed, and saves between $28 to $31 million a year in regulatory costs,” it said.

Industry praise: “Today’s action is a welcome step as EPA continues to revisit the 2015 CCR regulation,” said Jim Matheson, CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, representing a major segment of the electricity industry.

Extended deadlines: “By extending 2015 compliance deadlines, EPA is working to avoid unintended consequences while the agency updates the original rule to incorporate new regulatory authority provided by Congress,” Matheson said.

IOWA DELEGATION PRESSES EPA’S WHEELER FOR MEETING: Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst of Iowa led the Iowa delegation in pressing Wheeler for a major meeting to discuss the future of ethanol.

Ethanol’s role: “Renewable fuels are critical to achieving energy independence in the United States and play an important role in Iowa’s economy,” the delegation said in a letter sent to Wheeler on Tuesday.

They want Wheeler to visit Iowa to begin a relationship of collaboration on the Renewable Fuel Standard, the EPA program that requires refiners to blend increasing amounts of ethanol and other biofuels in the nation’s gasoline and diesel supply.

Iowa visit: “Across Iowa, cooperatives and renewable fuel plants dot the landscape,” the letter continued. “We invite you to visit Iowa and look forward to working with you.”

The hard stuff: The letter quickly addresses the controversial part of EPA’s management of the fuel program that has stoked the ire of farmers and ethanol producers for months, former EPA chief Scott Pruitt’s granting of waivers to over two dozen refiners to help them defer the cost of blending ethanol.

In total, EPA has quietly granted 48 small refinery “hardship waivers” for the 2016 and 2017 program years, which resulted in the “loss” of 2.25 billion gallons of biofuels under the RFS, according to the letter.

Change the standard: The delegation wants Wheeler to change the recently proposed blending standards for 2019 to make up for the lost gallons of ethanol. The 2019 Renewable Fuel Standard is slated to be made final by the end of November.  

Farmers hurting: “A reduction in demand for renewable fuels pushes commodity prices even lower and farmers are already facing low commodity prices,” the letter explained. “We strongly urge you to reconsider the proposed rule and work to ensure that the final rule is structured to ensure that any waivers granted do not reduce the overall Renewable Volume Obligation.”

More ethanol in gasoline: The also want Wheeler to begin mapping out a plan supported by President Trump to allow higher ethanol fuel blends to be sold year round.  

EPA GETS AN EARFUL AT RENEWABLE FUEL HEARING: The EPA took its proposed rule for next year’s renewable fuel program on the road to Michigan on Wednesday for a marathon public hearing that took in a lot of criticism from the oil industry.

On the defense: Refiners used the hearing to defend the waivers they received under Scott Pruitt and push back against the ethanol industry.  

Ethanol industry is ‘mistaken’: “The biofuels industry has sought increasingly more generous benefits under the mistaken contention that demand for ethanol has declined as small-refiner exceptions have been granted,” the Fueling American Jobs Coalition, representing refiners, said in a statement before the hearing. “This has been refuted by both Energy Information Administration (EIA) data and statements in earnings calls by ethanol producers that entirely contradict this assessment.”

The oil and natural gas industry also addressed the hearing, saying the ethanol program is broken, and must be reformed by Congress.  

A ‘broken’ system: “The proposed volumes are an annual example of a broken government program,” said Patrick Kelly, senior fuels policy advisor for the American Petroleum Institute. Legislative ‘fix’: “We continue to believe the best solution to fix the RFS is comprehensive legislation that includes a sunset of the program in 2022.” Kelly said the large trade group “continues to work with bipartisan leaders in Congress to come up with a comprehensive approach to fixing the outdated and broken ethanol mandate.”

Kelly supported the small-refinery exemptions, and encouraged EPA to continue granting waivers to refineries.

HOUSE MEMBER REELS IN REPORTS OF HIS CARBON TAX PLAN: Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida is pulling back a little on reports that he will introduce a carbon tax bill in the House next week.

‘Not finalized’: “The details circulating are not finalized and regrettably are not an accurate representation of the plan, as it is still being discussed,” Joanna Rodriguez, Curbelo’s spokeswoman, told John.

What was reported: E&E News reported on Tuesday that Curbelo will introduce a bill placing a tax on carbon dioxide emissions as a policy measure in response to global warming. If introduced, he would be the first Republican to put his name to a carbon tax bill.

$23 per ton, or not? The copy of the bill obtained by E&E said the bill would replace the gasoline tax with a $23 per ton carbon tax on refineries, coal and natural gas facilities beginning in 2020.

But Curbelo’s office was adamant that nothing has been finalized. Rodriguez would not confirm a time when a bill would be dropped by the congressman.

Still ‘working’: “Congressman Curbelo has long said all options should be on the table to address rising carbon emissions and adapt to and mitigate for climate change, and has been open to the fact he is working on an innovative solution to do so,” she said.

TRUMP APPOINTEES ADDRESS CONFERENCE OF CLIMATE SKEPTICS: The Trump administration is appearing in force at this year’s annual conference of the Heartland Institute, a group known for its questioning of climate science.

The group released the list of keynote speakers in an agenda Tuesday night for the Heartland Institute’s America First Energy Conference.

Interior Department: Joe Balash, the Interior Department assistant secretary for Land and Minerals Management, is set to deliver the closing keynote speech on August 7 at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside hotel.

Energy Department: Another keynote speech will be given by Douglas Matheney, special advisor to Energy Secretary Rick Perry. Matheney advises on fossil fuels policy.

The agenda: The conference will examine President Trump’s energy agenda, “which is focused on making the United States a global energy power,” according to the group’s agenda. “The conference will examine what has changed, how that has affected America’s economy, and what’s next.”

More speakers: Other speakers on the list include Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La.; Ken Cuccinelli, former Virginia attorney general now with FreedomWorks; Kathleen Hartnett White with the Texas Public Policy Institute and a former member of Trump’s transition team; Benjamin Zycher, Ph.D., American Enterprise Institute; Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Trump’s former EPA transition chief;

ENVIRONMENTALIST: ‘BRETT KAVANAUGH IS THE NEW SCOTT PRUITT’: Democrats’ opposition to Trump’s Supreme Court nominee is looking a lot like how they went after former Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, a senior environmentalist remarked Tuesday.

‘Fair to say’: “I think it is absolutely fair to say that Brett Kavanaugh is the new Scott Pruitt,” said Tiernan Sittenfeld, senior vice president of government affairs for the League of Conservation Voters.

Sittenfeld joined with top Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Tuesday in officially launching their effort to block Kavanaugh.

‘Very worried’: “All Americans should be very worried about what Justice Brett Kavanaugh would mean for our air, our water, our land, our health, and our climate,” said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate climate change task force.

‘Catastrophe’: “We know Judge Kavanaugh’s track record on the environment, and it is a climate catastrophe,” said Markey.

Sittenfeld remarked that Senate Democrats on the environment committee did so well in fighting Pruitt day-to-day that she sees them doing something similar when it comes to Kavanaugh.

FEDERAL WATCHDOG WARNS MILLIONS OF STUDENTS MAY BE AT RISK FROM LEAD IN DRINKING WATER:

A federal watchdog revealed a startling number on Tuesday that showed 41 percent of U.S. school districts, about 12 million students, do not routinely test for lead in drinking water. And of those districts that did test, a large number found that students were exposed to elevated levels of lead.

Federal survey: The Government Accountability Office released the results as part of a countrywide survey of school districts it conducted last year to examine how many test for lead in drinking water.

Not testing: The key findings showed that 41 percent of the districts, representing 12 million students, had not tested for lead for at least 12 months before completing the federal agency’s survey.

‘Elevated levels’: Of the 43 percent of districts that did test for lead, about 37 percent of those found “elevated levels” of lead and took steps to reduce or eliminate exposure.

Sixteen percent of the districts did not know if they had tested, according to the watchdog.

RUNDOWN

The Intelligence VP Mike Pence off to W.Va. for fundraiser hosted by coal magnate Bill Murray

CBS News Lava from the Kilauea volcano has added nearly 700 acres to Hawaii’s Big Island

CNN Texas to surpass Iraq and Iran on oil production

LA Times Climate change sizzle may never subside