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HOUSE APPROVES GOP LEADERSHIP MEASURE CONDEMNING CARBON TAX: The House easily approved a non-binding, GOP-leadership backed resolution Thursday opposing any carbon taxes as harmful to the economy.

“A carbon tax would be devastating to the manufacturing base, kill jobs, and raise costs for families all across this country,” Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., who sponsored the resolution, said on the House floor before the vote. “The resolution is simple. It’s a sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be detrimental to American families and business.”

The Republican-led House has already passed similar symbolic gestures in previous sessions of Congress, and it’s unlikely lawmakers would approve a carbon tax anytime soon.

Sea change? But the latest vote comes as some conservatives are promoting the imposition of a carbon tax, arguing that a fee on emissions of the greenhouse gas would send the markets a signal to reduce fossil fuel use and encourage clean energy development.

Six Republicans voted against the measure condemning a carbon tax, which some conservative groups took as a positive sign that momentum is shifting.

The Republicans are Reps. Carlos Curbelo, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Francis Rooney of Florida, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Trey Hollingsworth of Indiana, and Mia Love of Utah.

“Thrilled to see 6 rebels in the Republican caucus,” said Joseph Majkut, a climate scientist at Niskanen Center, a libertarian think tank supporting a carbon tax. “The spark that will light the fire?”

Seven Democrats, meanwhile, voted to support the resolution.

New GOP carbon tax bill: Indeed, next week, Curbelo is planning to introduce a carbon tax bill, showing the emerging split within some quarters of the party.

Curbelo, a moderate facing re-election who is co-chairman of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, represents a state already feeling the effects of sea level rise.

Curbelo, according to Axios, is expected to unveil his bill at an event Monday at the National Press Club, where he will be joined by representatives of the Niskanen Center, and environmental groups.

In addition, major oil and gas companies including Exxon Mobil, BP, and Shell, say they support some type of tax on carbon emissions, although they are reluctant to lobby on the issue.

Strong opposition: But many powerful conservative groups oppose a carbon tax. More than 40 conservative groups, including Americans for Tax Reform, Americans for Prosperity, and Club for Growth, signed a letter this week supporting the anti-carbon tax resolution because such a tax could “lead to less income and fewer jobs for American families.”

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HOUSE MOSTLY IGNORES TRUMP IN PASSING EPA AND INTERIOR SPENDING BILLS:

The House passed half of its fiscal 2019 spending bills on Thursday in a minibus that gave the Environmental Protection Agency a slight haircut, ignoring White House’s demands for deeper cuts.

The minibus (known as such for being a small-size version of an “omnibus” spending bill) passed the House floor in a party line vote of 217 to 199. The EPA and Interior Department funding portions came in at $35.3 billion combined.

Minor cut for EPA: EPA’s $7.96 billion in funding is just $100 million below 2018 levels. Nevertheless, it is over $2 billion more than Trump had requested.

Same as before: The Interior Department gets $13 billion, about the same as in the current year.

Despite keeping the Interior and environment spending relatively intact, the House bill was not short on riders in support of Trump’s deregulation agenda.

‘Rein in’: “The bill also makes strides to rein in harmful regulations at the Environmental Protection Agency,” the summary read. One of the principal targets is EPA’s Waters of the U.S. rule, which expanded the agency’s authority to regulate rivers and streams. Critics charged that the Obama-era rule would put every ditch, culvert and puddle under EPA jurisdiction.

The bill provides funding for the repeal of WOTUS.

STUDY: TRUMP’S COAL BAILOUT COULD COST $17.2 BILLION PER YEAR: President Trump’s plan to save coal and nuclear power plants could cost a whopping $17.2 billion per year, a new study funded by opponents of the bailout said Thursday.

Exceeding coal group cost estimates: The report by the consulting and engineering firm Brattle looked at two scenarios to assess the possible cost of a Trump power plant bailout that range from $16.7 billion to $17.2 billion. The report was created for the Advanced Energy Economy and funded by members of a broad coalition opposing the Trump plan to bailout the power plants.

By name: The funders included the large oil group American Petroleum Institute, the American Wind Energy Association, the Natural Gas Supply Association, the Electric Power Supply Association, and the Electricity Consumers Resource Council, representing large manufacturers and industrial users of electricity.

Draft memo: Brattle based its assessment on an administration draft memo reported by news outlets on May 31 to inform its analysis.

Trump ordered Energy Secretary Rick Perry to develop a plan to save coal and nuclear plants from closing prematurely due to unfavorable market conditions, especially the low cost of natural gas.

Wild card scenario: The report says it “conservatively” estimates that the cost could at least double to between $20 and $35 billion per year, If the Trump administration adopts a financial support formula includes a return on invested capital, the report read.

INTERIOR WATCHDOG PROBING RYAN ZINKE’S FOUNDATION AFTER REAL ESTATE DEAL: The Interior Department’s internal watchdog is investigating whether Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke violated conflict-of-interest laws when the foundation he established brokered a real estate deal with developers linked to global oil services firm Halliburton, according to a report.

“You expressed special concern about the reported funding by a top executive at Halliburton and assuring decisions that affect the nation’s welfare are not compromised by individual self enrichment,” Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall wrote in a letter to House Democrats obtained by Politico, referring to Halliburton Chairman David Lesar.

“My office opened an investigation into this matter on July 16,” Kendall continued.

Initial denial: When news first broke that Lesar was trying to buy real estate managed by Zinke’s Great Northern Veterans Peace Park Foundation in his hometown of Whitefish, Mont., Zinke’s spokeswoman Heather Swift said the secretary was no longer affiliated with the organization. It was also reported at the time that the transaction, pursued to build a commercial development, was a private deal unrelated to Halliburton.

Ties to foundation remain: Swift, however, did not refute that the Zinke family’s involvement in the purchase might still result in a conflict of interest given the role the secretary plays in regulating oil and gas drilling activities. Zinke’s wife, Lolita, is still president of the foundation, and Politico reported that the family could run a microbrewery on the redeveloped site.

JOHN BARRASSO LOOKS TO CEMENT TRUMP’S TOUGH TALK ON NATO IN ENERGY BILL: Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., is looking to cement Trump’s tough opposition to a Russian natural gas pipeline in a bill he introduced on Wednesday.

Trump ‘absolutely right’: Barrasso, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said Trump was “absolutely right” to voice his concerns over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline when he was in Brussels last week to meet with NATO members.

‘Captive’ Germany: Trump made headlines when he called Germany a “captive” of Russia because of its dependence on energy supplies from there. Trump wants Europe to diversify its energy supplies to rely more on U.S. natural gas exports, as the U.S. is now the largest oil and gas producer.

‘Sucker’s bet’: The Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline would bring natural gas directly to Germany via the Baltic Sea, bypassing Eastern Europe. Barrasso called the arrangement “a sucker’s bet.”

Cutting ‘ties to the Kremlin’: “Germany seems to be betting that increasing its economic ties to the Kremlin will have no effect on the political manipulations that Russia wants to play on Europe,” he said on the Senate floor.

ESCAPE: Barrasso’s bill, the Energy Security Cooperation with Allied Partners in Europe, or ESCAPE, Act would direct the U.S. and Europe to diversify energy markets, creating more competition and pushing Russia out as the dominant provider.

Sanctions: “It also mandates sanctions on the Nord Stream II pipeline that would carry natural gas from Russia to Germany, along with other Russian energy export pipelines,” according to a summary of the bill.

COURT BLOCKS SCOTT PRUITT’S FINAL ACTION AS HEAD OF EPA: A federal appeals court has imposed a stay on former Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt’s final action as head of the agency before he resigned back on July 5.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 2-1 order Wednesday temporarily blocking Pruitt’s order to cease enforcement of Obama-era pollution rules for “glider trucks,” older tractor-trailer trucks that have rebuilt engines without many of the modern pollution controls. The Obama EPA allowed for only a few hundred to be sold annually, to limit the widespread use of the trucks under its emission program for big-rig trucks.

Quick ruling: A group of environmental groups sued the EPA on Tuesday over Pruitt’s final action, asking the court to stop the order, which would allow the trucks to ignore emission standards as EPA moved to repeal them altogether.

‘Stay’: The court said that EPA’s “no action assurance” memorandum dated July 6, 2018, one day after Pruitt resigned, be stayed pending further order of the court.

PROTESTS OVER FATE OF LARGEST COAL PLANT IN THE WEST TARGET WALL STREET EXEC: The Navajo Generating Station in Arizona is the largest coal-fired power plant in the western U.S., but some want it to close sooner rather than later to make room for renewables. Protests: Opponents of keeping the plant open past its original 2019 closure date took to the streets, so to speak, in protest over a hedge fund executive’s plans to run the plant for years to come.  

‘Complete silence’: “Navajo groups have extended an invitation twice now to Avenue Capital’s Chairman Marc Lasry, to visit and hear from the Navajo people directly on their thoughts about his firm’s proposed purchase of NGS. The response: complete silence,” read a statement from Navajo opponents of keeping the plant open, who are protesting outside of the east entrance of Navajo Nation Council Chambers in Window Rock, Arizona, on Thursday.

The group Diné CARE and Navajo communities want the Navajo leadership meeting there to step away from what they call Wall Street “vulture capitalists.”

‘Cutting them loose’: “And the longer their invitations have gone unanswered, the more their worries have grown, as unsettling new information about Avenue’s business model comes to light,” the Navajo supporters say. “Avenue’s business model appears to be built on swooping in and feeding on financially weak assets like NGS, squeezing as much value out of them in the short term before cutting them loose,” they explain.

TRUMP’S PICK FOR TOP WHITE HOUSE ENVIRONMENTAL POST PROMISES QUICKER PERMITTING REVIEWS: Mary Neumayr, Trump’s nominee to be the top environmental official in the White House, vowed Thursday to quicken permitting reviews for infrastructure projects, as Democrats challenged her to pursue “common sense” measures to combat climate change.

Second chance: Neumayr is Trump’s second pick for the job after his first nominee to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Kathleen Hartnett White, removed herself from consideration for the post after Democrats objected to her climate change views, and few Republicans came to her defense.

Neumayr is currently chief of staff for the environmental council and previously served in the Bush administration’s Energy and Justice Departments and as a counsel for the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

NEPA reform: “Under the leadership of President Trump, we have a unique opportunity to improve the government-wide implementation of [the National Environmental Policy Act], and to make government processes and decision-making under this and related statutes more timely, efficient and effective for the American people,” Neumayr said in her confirmation hearing before the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee.

The National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, mandates that agency decisions that could have an environmental impact on the nation’s air, water, or wildlife habitats include a scientific analysis of potential effects. Trump has ordered the White House Council on Environmental Quality to issues regulations to “streamline” the NEPA process.

‘Common sense’ goals: But Democrats, who say this effort will shortchange bedrock environmental laws, urged Neumayr to pursue “common sense” policies targeting greenhouse gas emissions.

Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, the top Democrat of the committee, said the leader of the White House environmental council “must be someone who can build alliances, work with Congress, and determine a path that strengthens the economy, while protecting our environment.”

He said the council should lead efforts to maintain tough fuel-efficiency standards on vehicles, and to marshall support for a 2016 United Nations amendment to the Montreal Protocol, known as the Kigali amendment, that calls for the replacement of HFCs, a refrigeration chemical blamed for exacerbating climate change.

Her climate views: Democrats also asked Neumayr to explain her views on climate change science. “I agree the climate is changing and human activity has a role,” she said.

STATE ENERGY REGULATORS URGE TRUMP TO PUT THEM IN CHARGE: State energy regulators will begin lobbying the White House to choose one from their ilk to fill vacant slots on federal energy commissions and other federal agencies.

Resolution means they can lobby Trump: The board of directors of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners passed several policy resolutions, “including a call for the Trump Administration to consider filling vacant federal commission slots with current or former state utility regulators,” the group said in a statement after its three-day summer meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona. The resolution says that “state commissioners are well positioned to help any administration fine tune policy to maximize opportunities in that sector” because the commissions “have implemented policies that have been the prototype for cutting-edge congressional or federal agency initiatives.”
But not a drop to drink: The conference in Scottsdale also focused on increased concerns over water usage in generating electricity, which is a major problem in the West, called the “water-energy nexus.”
Telecom:There was also a considerable amount of attention paid to communications and telecom issues, as well as agriculture.

Goodbye Powelson: The former president of NARUC, Rob Powelson, had served as a Republican commissioner on FERC until stepping down last month to head a water utility group.
Advocacy by states: “NARUC has a long and successful history of advocacy protecting state jurisdiction and advancing specific member sanctioned policy goals in Congress, in the Courts, and before federal agencies,” said current NARUC President John Betkoski III at the meeting’s close.

RUNDOWN

Washington Post EPA career officials raised concerns about price tag for Pruitt’s 2017 Italy trip

Wall Street Journal South Carolina fights U.S. plan to abandon nuclear project costing $1.2 million a day 

New York Times Climate change is killing the cedars of Lebanon

Reuters General Electric’s power unit faces threat in Saudi Arabia

Tampa Bay Times Leaky septic tanks fuel algae blooms. Rick Scott OK’d repeal of law aimed to prevent that