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TRUMP CONTINUES TO LOOK TO WARSAW TO DISPLACE RUSSIAN ENERGY IN EUROPE: The Trump administration on Wednesday presided over the second largest export deal to pump more U.S. natural gas into Europe via Poland in the next two years.

Wednesday’s deal was between Poland’s state-owned oil company and San Diego-based Sempra Energy to supply 15 percent of Poland’s energy needs per year.  

It’s the second large liquefied natural gas export deal to be announced with Poland in just over a month. In November, Poland signed a 24-year LNG supply contract with Houston-based Cheniere Energy.

Both deals are part of President Trump‘s push to move Europe off of Russian natural gas supplies in favor of U.S. and other countries’ shipments. The administration opposes Germany’s agreement to build the Nord Stream II pipeline from Russia in pursuing its plan to promote U.S. LNG.

“As demonstrated with the launch of the Strategic Dialogue on Energy in Poland last month, the Trump administration remains committed to increasing energy diversity, advancing energy security, strengthening national security, and creating a future of prosperity and opportunity in Poland and throughout the region,” Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in announcing the deal with Sempra on Wednesday morning.

Relaxing reporting rules for LNG: Soon after the Sempra deal was announced, Perry issued a new guidance to industry, easing rules to expedite the flow of U.S. LNG into the market.

What are the changes? The new guidance would relax rules requiring companies to report the country where the natural gas would be used. Instead, the Energy Department will only require companies to report the country, or countries, of LNG deliveries. That means a U.S. firm can sell LNG to Poland, but does not need to track where it goes after Poland takes ownership.

Relaxed, but not so relaxed that Iran benefits: The end-use reporting is meant to guard against U.S. energy suppliers making shipments to bad actors or terrorist states. Nevertheless, the Energy Department said the change in reporting still requires LNG exporters “to continue the current ban on LNG exports to sanctioned countries,” like Iran.

US set to become no. 3 in the world: “Today’s action is another way the Trump Administration is working to advance American energy dominance,” said Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg, explaining that it supports the U.S.’s current trajectory of being the third largest LNG exporter by the end of next year.

“Right now, the U.S. is growing its position as a global leader in LNG exports and is projected to be the third largest in the world behind Australia and Qatar by the end of 2019,” he said.

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 ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS STRATEGY TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM LEAD: The Trump administration on Wednesday introduced a multi-agency strategy to reduce the exposure of children to lead poisoning in drinking water or in dust that is generated from old lead paint in homes and schools.

Acting Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler, along with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson unveiled the “federal lead action plan,” which is a big-picture strategy document, and not a formal regulatory proposal.

“Lead exposure is a calamity that disproportionately harms children and low income communities,” Wheeler said during a press conference at EPA headquarters. “The Trump administration is committed to combating the problem head on.”

The Cabinet officials belong to the President’s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children, a coalition established in 1997 featuring the leaders of 17 agencies meant to address the problem of lead from children.

Preparing a major policy: The EPA is working with state and local officials to update the 1991 Lead and Copper Rule, a federal mandate that dictates how communities test for lead in drinking water.

Wheeler said that the agency plans next spring to unveil its proposed new version of the rule.

The Lead and Copper rule, which has not been revised in more than a decade, governs how much lead is acceptable in drinking water and what utilities must do if their water tests above the threshold.

Replacing lead pipes is the best way to combat lead, according to a 2015 report by an external group of water advisers organized by the EPA, but it is expensive. It’s unclear if Wheeler’s proposal would require it.

GREENS FIRE LAWSUIT WARNING ACROSS TRUMP FERC APPOINTEE’S BOW:  A coalition of leading environmental groups is threatening to sue Trump’s recent appointee to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission if he doesn’t recuse himself from work that could be used to advance Trump’s coal agenda.

The appointee, Bernard McNamee, joined FERC, the nation’s lead energy regulator, earlier this month after a contentious confirmation fight in the Senate, which Democrats framed as a vote on Trump’s plan to rescue coal plants.

The recusal demand: The Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Earth Justice, and the Union of Concerned Scientists on Tuesday filed a formal petition with FERC on Tuesday, asking that McNamee recuse himself from two key FERC dockets addressing grid resiliency.

First step before they sue: “The [coalition’s] filing with FERC is a necessary legal requirement before the groups could file a court challenge if McNamee fails to recuse himself,” the groups said in a press release.

The groups argue that Commissioner McNamee’s role as a former Department of Energy adviser disqualifies him from participating in the broader regulatory discussion at FERC. McNamee had helped in the development of Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s proposed rule to incentivize economically ailing coal plants, which FERC unanimously rejected.

DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE LEADERS PRESS DHS TO PROTECT PIPELINES FROM CYBER ATTACKS: Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the top Democrat of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, demanded Wednesday that the Trump Administration take “urgent action” to protect the nation’s pipelines from cyber attacks.

The Democrats issued a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen after the Government Accountability Office released a report Wednesday that found the Transportation Security Administration does not have a process to update its pipeline security guidelines, accusing the TSA of “weaknesses” in pipeline security.

Does TSA need help? TSA, best known for airport security, is also tasked with protecting the nation’s natural gas pipelines from threats. Some commissioners of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees permit approvals to build interstate natural gas pipelines, have signaled they want a greater role in overseeing cybersecurity.

Pipelines are increasingly vulnerable to cybersecurity threats, especially with the use of more digital sensors, controls, and even drones to remotely access and monitor pipeline facilities.

The Trump administration has accused Russia of targeting the U.S. power grid with cyberattacks. In April, a cyberattack hit the electronic communication system used by a major pipeline network.

UTILITY INDUSTRY LUMINARY JIM ROGERS DIES AT 71: Former Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers, a prominent leader in the energy industry, died on Tuesday at the age of 71.

Drove coal utility to focus on renewable energy: Rogers was often quoted among his peers and was considered a luminary in utility industry circles. Duke Energy mourned the loss of the company’s former CEO by pointing out that he was the primary reason for the large coal utility’s switch to more renewable energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Our industry has lost one of its most influential and extraordinary leaders,” said Lynn Good, the current chairman, president, and CEO of Duke Energy. “I was fortunate to work alongside Jim and see his dynamic leadership skill up close.”

DC COUNCIL PASSES NATION’S MOST AGGRESSIVE 100 PERCENT RENEWABLE ENERGY BILL: The Washington, D.C. city council on Tuesday unanimously passed the nation’s most aggressive 100 percent renewable energy bill, in what would be the fastest-acting climate change legislation in the country.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, is expected to sign the bill. If she does, Congress will have 30 days to veto the bill.

The fastest-acting climate bill: The bill would require District utilities to source all electricity from wind and solar by 2032 — up from its current goal of 50 percent renewables in that time — and would set tough new energy efficiency standards for buildings. The bill’s authors say it will reduce greenhouse gases in the District 44 percent by 2032.

The Democrat-controlled states of California and Hawaii also have laws mandating 100 percent electricity from carbon-free sources, but those set a later target date than D.C. is proposing — 2045.

“This will be the strongest climate law in the country,” Jamie DeMarco, who focuses on state and local policy for Citizens’ Climate Lobby, told Josh. “The science tells us very clearly we need to reduce emissions more than 40 percent by 2030. D.C. will be the only jurisdiction in the country with a specific binding comprehensive law to help achieve those reductions.”

Impacting more than the power sector: The bill would also impose a fee on electricity and natural gas consumption that the legislation’s authors say would add $2.10 to D.C. residents’ average monthly gas bills and less than $1 to their average monthly electricity bills. That fee is unrelated to the 100 percent renewable mandate, but instead intended to encourage cleaner energy use in heating homes.

About 20 percent of the money raised from those fees would be used to provide financial help to low-income D.C. ratepayers. The rest would go to local “sustainability” projects used primarily for energy efficiency retrofits.

The D.C. bill would also create energy efficiency standards for existing buildings, both privately-owned ones and those owned by the District, a first-of-its-kind proposal in the nation. About 74 percent of D.C.’s greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings.

And it would address transportation emissions as well, directing the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue rules incentivizing fuel efficient vehicles, and requiring the city to use 100 percent electric public buses by 2030.

NINE STATES AND DC AGREE TO CAP-AND-TRADE PROGRAM FOR TRANSPORTATION: Nine Northeastern states and Washington, D.C., announced Tuesday that they will attempt to create a regional cap-and-trade program to limit emissions from transportation, the nation’s largest source of carbon pollution.

There are lots of details to work out: The partners agreed to create a system within a year that caps the region’s transportation emissions and sets up a market of pollution permits so entities can trade in auctions for the right to emit carbon. The agreement contains little detail, such as which types of entities would be regulated and have to trade in pollution permits.

The revenue from putting a price on transportation fuels would go to investments in “low-carbon and more resilient transportation infrastructure” such as mass transit, electric buses, and electric vehicle charging stations.

The states participating in the initiative with D.C. are Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.

Why the pact matters: About 28 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation, recently passing the power sector as the most polluting. Reducing emissions from transportation is considered more difficult because it would require consumers to shift away from gasoline-powered vehicles to electric ones, which remain expensive, or change how they commute.

“It’s not as simple as switching from coal to natural gas and renewables,” Noah Kaufman, an economist at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy who studies carbon pricing, told Josh. “It’s about changing consumer behavior, which is more difficult.”

EXXON ASKS EPA TO KEEP OBAMA-ERA METHANE RULES: Oil and gas giant Exxon wants the EPA to keep Obama-era regulations targeting methane leaks from oil and gas drillers and fracking operations.

Exxon, in a letter seen by Reuters, said it opposes the Trump administration’s proposal to relax a 2016 rule that required oil and gas drillers to inspect for leaks every six months, and to repair leaks within 30 days.

A proposed Trump EPA rule would permit drillers to do inspections every year, and give them 60 days to make repairs. The proposal would also allow companies operating in states with weaker methane standards to follow those instead of federal rules.

“We support maintaining the key elements of the underlying regulation, such as leak detection and repair programs,” Exxon Vice President Gantt Walton said in the letter to EPA.

Why this is important: Most oil and gas companies historically prefer to participate in voluntary initiatives to limit methane leaks instead of following federal regulations that companies consider expensive and time-consuming. While leaks are infrequent, companies have an economic incentive to plug them because they don’t want to lose some of their product. Exxon, however,  had previously said it supported a federal regulation on methane, but had not lobbied for it in writing until now.

Methane, the main component in natural gas, is more potent than carbon dioxide because it traps more heat, although its greenhouse gas emissions are relatively short-lived in the atmosphere.

REPUBLICAN EPW COMMITTEE LEADER CALLS FOR CLIMATE ACTION, BUT NOT A CARBON TAX: Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., on Tuesday called for action to combat climate change, but said pricing carbon is the wrong way to do it.

Barrasso, the chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, wrote an op-ed in the New York Times in which he says government support for innovation is the best strategy, not regulations or global agreements like the Paris accord.

“The climate is changing and we, collectively, have a responsibility to do something about it,” Barrasso said. “Innovation, not new taxes or punishing global agreements, is the ultimate solution.”

The innovation he would support: Barrasso points to proposed legislation supporting development in the nuclear sector on advanced reactors, and in carbon capture technology to trap emissions from coal and natural gas plants.

Is it enough? Barrasso’s call for action is notable, considering his stature, and past history of avoiding the subject of climate change.

But while a recent report by the United Nations says innovation in the power sector has been crucial to driving down U.S. emissions, it warns a comprehensive policy like a carbon tax is necessary to avoid the worst outcomes of climate change.

RUNDOWN

Wall Street Journal Fight brews in Houston’s port over energy exports

Politico Manchin vs. Manchin: MAGA stalwart or liberal ally?

The Hill Judges skeptical of case against Obama smog rule

New York Times As seas warm, Galápagos Islands face a giant evolutionary test

SPONSOR MESSAGE: In 2018 the United States continued to drill its way toward energy independence. With the country now producing record-setting amounts of oil and natural gas, the need for infrastructure to transport those resources – from the Bakken, Marcellus, and Permian shale formations all the way to New England – is more important than ever. Fortunately, midstream projects such as the now-complete Rover Pipeline and expanding Dakota Access Pipeline are setting the stage for safe and efficient energy transportation across the U.S. GAIN is hopeful that 2019 will be another momentous year for American energy. To learn more head to www.gainnow.org or follow us @GAINNowAmerica.