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TRUMP CLAIMS EARLY VICTORIES IN WEANING EUROPE OFF RUSSIAN ENERGY: The Trump administration is claiming early success in its efforts to get Europe to divest itself from Russian energy, saying recent export agreements with Poland are just the beginning.

“We are starting to see the European Parliament, in particular, take action,” Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said in an interview with John.

Brouillette said that the parliament is beginning to discuss placing new restrictions on the Russian Nord Stream II pipeline, which is slated to be built in Germany to supply energy to Europe.

The Trump administration adamantly opposes the pipeline, pushing instead for Europe to diversify its energy supply with imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas.

The European Parliament passed a resolution on Dec. 12 that says the pipeline “poses a threat to European energy security.” On the same day, the U.S. House passed a bipartisan resolution opposing the pipeline.

Brouillette claimed that, after initial resistance from Germany, European nations are becoming more willing to view the pipeline in a geostrategic light.

Germany looks to become a new LNG market: Slowly but surely, European leaders are coming around to Trump’s view that they should diversify away from Russian energy, according to the administration.

Brouillette said the deal between the U.S. energy company Sempra and Poland on Wednesday highlights the European resolve to begin backing away from Russia.

Brouillette said more European countries will be following Poland’s lead and divesting from Russian energy, including Germany. Germany’s energy company Uniper is in discussions with Japan’s Mitsui to build an offshore terminal.

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.  

IN FIRST MEETING, FERC’S MCNAMEE PROMISES TO FOLLOW THE ‘FACTS’: Recently confirmed Bernard McNamee of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday promised to follow the law and facts in making decisions, as he looked to prove his independence during his first commission meeting.

“Some have asked me what is my agenda is at FERC,” McNamee said in brief remarks at the open of the meeting. “The key thing I want to do is listen and make decisions based on the law and the facts.”

McNamee did not vote on any of FERC’s agenda items, which were non-eventful, as he gets acclimated to the commission after enduring a bitter confirmation fight, which Democrats framed as a vote on Trump’s plan to rescue coal plants.

McNamee previously worked for the Energy Department as it devised a proposal that FERC rejected to subsidize coal and nuclear plants.

Mixed reception: McNamee’s colleagues welcomed him to the committee, with Democrat Cheryl LaFleur calling him “congenial” to work with so far. But two protestors briefly interrupted the proceedings. One of them shouted, “recuse yourself, Commissioner McNamee!” before being ejected from the room. A coalition of leading environmental groups is threatening to sue McNamee if he doesn’t recuse himself from decisions that could be used to advance Trump’s coal agenda.

LAFLEUR CRITICIZES GRID WATCHDOG’S COAL AND NUCLEAR RETIREMENT REPORT: LaFleur, in her opening comments, criticized a report released this week by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation that warned grid operators to prepare for aggressive retirements of coal and nuclear plants.

NERC based its analysis of an extreme (and unlikely) scenario where there are more coal and nuclear plants closures than have already been announced.

What the report said: For those regions that could be stressed, NERC said they must build out more energy infrastructure such as pipelines and transmission lines to deliver natural gas, and renewables.

How it was ‘flawed’: LaFleur said the study was “fundamentally flawed” because it assumed accelerated closures of coal and nuclear plants, and compared that only to new energy resource additions that have already been announced. So she believes NERC underestimated the ability of other resources to replace coal and nuclear.

“It’s a big deal making sure we have enough resources in the future, but we have to make sure we rely on facts and not projections,” LaFleur said.

GRID WATCHDOG SEES NATURAL GAS DOMINATING AS COAL AND NUCLEAR FADE: NERC released its 10-year reliability projections on Thursday morning, showing natural gas will continue its meteoric rise to supply nearly 50-percent of the nation’s electricity as coal and nuclear fall to their lowest levels.

Natural gas for electricity will rise across the entirety of North America, increasing from 43 percent to 46 percent by 2028. Meanwhile, coal and nuclear are projected to decrease to 19 and nine percent, respectively, according to the new NERC findings.

Solar energy production will also see huge climbs in supplying the grid with electricity, which dovetails with the rise of natural gas use.

SENATE PASSES SPENDING BILL WITHOUT PUBLIC LANDS PACKAGE: The Senate on Wednesday night approved a two-month spending bill, just two days before funding is set to expire for several federal agencies.

The bill would fund the government through Feb. 8 for nine agencies, including Interior and EPA.

In passing the bill, the Senate punted on approving a public lands bill that a bipartisan group of Western senators had hoped would be attached to the must-pass spending legislation.

Parks program still expired: The 650-plus page public lands bill had not been released publicly, as senators such as Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the Republican chairwoman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, pushed for a vote on it.

But it was expected to include a measure permanently reauthorizing the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund. The fund uses money from offshore oil and gas leases, and pays for public lands projects. It provides money to federal, state, and local governments for buying land and waters to improve national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and other public areas.

Environmental groups criticized the Senate for not acting on it.

“Congress failed to do its job by neglecting to renew the Land and Water Conservation Fund during this lame-duck session,” Diane Regas, CEO of The Trust for Public Land, said in a statement.

SENATORS HINGE NUCLEAR DEAL ON SAUDIS COMING CLEAN ON KHASHOGGI MURDER: Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Ed Markey, D-Mass., joined forces on Wednesday to introduce a bipartisan bill that would ban the U.S. from entering into a nuclear energy deal with Saudi Arabia unless it comes clean about the death of U.S. resident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

It’s about accountability: “This important bill will ensure Congress has oversight over and the right to affirmatively approve any nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, and also continues to press the Saudis for accountability in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder,” Rubio said in a statement.

The No Nuclear Weapons for Saudi Arabia Act gives Congress the final say on any nuclear cooperation between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. The bill also makes clear that no agreement shall be made until the oil-rich kingdom “is truthful and transparent” about the death of Khashoggi.

The bill requires Saudi Arabia to make progress on protecting human rights, including through the release of political prisoners, before any nuclear deal can be had.

Trump talks on nuclear power deal: The Trump administration has been in talks with the Saudis on developing the kingdom’s civil nuclear energy capabilities. The senators point out that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said that he would use that capability to build a nuclear weapon if adequate steps weren’t taken to contain Iran.

Having a civil nuclear energy program is the first step to harnessing plutonium that could be used in a bomb. The bill would put in safeguards to prevent that from happening.   

SENS. JEFF FLAKE AND CHRIS COONS INTRODUCE BIPARTISAN CARBON TAX BILL: As Josh was first to report, Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Chris Coons, D-Del., on Wednesday introduced a carbon tax bill to combat climate change, just days before the end of the current session of Congress.

The bill is nearly identical to bipartisan legislation introduced in the House last month — with three Republican co-sponsors — that would tax carbon emissions and return the proceeds to American households as a dividend, protecting them from higher energy costs caused by the tax.

The House version was the first bipartisan carbon tax legislation introduced in nearly a decade.

How the bill works: Both the House and Senate bills would impose a tax of $15 per ton of carbon dioxide in 2019, increasing $10 each year, rising to nearly $100 per ton by 2030.

The legislation distributes all of the proceeds from the tax as a flat monthly rebate to American households. The only difference: the Senate version does restrict the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, as the House bill proposes.

Republican momentum: Despite their poor chances of passage anytime soon, the bills represent an increasing willingness from at least some Republicans to address global warming and risk the wrath of many conservatives who view any form of carbon pricing as a tax increase.

“Republicans need to get serious about climate change,” Flake, who is retiring, said in a Twitter post on Wednesday night, adding that his bill “provides an honest path to clean energy.”

The state of play: Despite the inclusion of, and outreach to Republicans, it’s unlikely the new bill, if it were re-introduced next Congress, or any carbon tax legislation can pass in 2019. But Coons’ office tells Josh that the senator is having conversations with other Republicans who may be interested in co-sponsoring the bill next Congress, even with Flake retiring.

REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS PASS BILL TO PROTECT AFRICAN WATERWAYS: The Senate moved swiftly Wednesday to pass a bill protecting endangered fish habitats in Africa, following in step with a bill the House passed earlier in the year.

Coons co-sponsored the Defending Economic Livelihoods and Threatened Animals (DELTA) Act, along with lead Republican sponsors Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Richard Burr of North Carolina. Portman chairs the Senate conservation caucus.

The legislation encourages the U.S. to develop a strategy to protect the Okavango River Delta in southern Africa. Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island was also a lead sponsor of the bill.

PROGRESSIVES FRET REVIVED CLIMATE COMMITTEE MAY BE ‘TOOTHLESS’: Progressive sensation Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and activist groups that support her, rebuked House leaders on Wednesday for moving to limit the powers of a revived climate change select committee.

Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 House Democrat, told reporters that the panel won’t have subpoena power, as most congressional committees do. A previous iteration of the climate panel had the authority to issue subpoenas. This comes after Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi suggested the panel would also not have the power to bring legislation to the House floor.

“Our ultimate end goal isn’t a Select Committee. Our goal is to treat Climate Change like the serious, existential threat it is by drafting an ambitious solution on the scale necessary — a Green New Deal – to get it done. A weak committee misses the point and endangers people,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a Twitter post.

Ocasio-Cortez, and other incoming House progressives are demanding that Pelosi, who is expected to be speaker next Congress, revive the select climate committee and empower it to draft a climate change bill by 2020 that would require 100 percent of electricity to come from renewable sources within a decade.

Roughly two dozen congressional Democrats have endorsed the so-called Green New Deal in recent weeks.

PALLONE ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF HOUSE ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE: House Democrats elected Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey to be chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee next Congress.

The move is expected and ensures that Pallone will play a key role in oversight of EPA next year. Pallone has said he wants to grill EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler about his environmental rollback agenda.

“We’ll also conduct robust oversight of the Trump Administration’s ongoing actions to sabotage our healthcare system, exacerbate climate change and weaken consumer protections,” Pallone said in a statement Thursday.      

RUNDOWN

Wall Street Journal Oil demand flashes red, sending crude prices even lower

Bloomberg OPEC’s sequel to blockbuster oil deal faces struggle in 2019

Reuters Five oil majors face 2019 climate target pressure by investors

Washington Post In Detroit, one school leader’s reaction to lead in the water: Shut off the taps

The Guardian Trump conservation pick decried for inexperience and conflicts of interest

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.