Top News

The Town Fighting The Climate Crisis To Stay Afloat, One Hurricane At A Time. According to The Guardian, “The water slithered up while the people went to sleep. No text alerts. No sirens. Just the Lumber River, the color of black tea, carrying out its slow, silent ambush, creeping up to the steps of the Baptist church and the rototillers at the hardware store and the 99-cent greeting cards in the pharmacy. In her final hours in the home where she grew up, 55-year-old Bonnie Savage pulled a load of warm clothes from the dryer and folded them. She was hardly concerned about Hurricane Matthew. It had come ashore in South Carolina as a category 1 and was a tropical storm by the time it tumbled inland and into her hometown of Fair Bluff in eastern North Carolina. Before that night – 8 October 2016 – the only major flood in Fair Bluff came in 1928, courtesy of the Okeechobee hurricane. Hurricanes, most people in Fair Bluff believed, were problems for people who lived at the beach. Climate change, they often thought, was hogwash. Most of the 1,000 or so people in Fair Bluff had never seen more than ankle-deep puddles in their streets. No way, they believed, could Matthew drop 13 inches of rain that weekend and leave 71 of their homes uninhabitable. Certainly it couldn’t happen again just two years later with an even more brutal storm named Florence. Often, floods stir images of water rushing recklessly through communities.” [The Guardian, 7/21/19 (+)]

10 Ways Andrew Wheeler Has Decimated EPA Protections. According to Salon, “n Monday, President Trump hosted a White House event to unabashedly tout his truly abysmal environmental record. Tuesday, coincidentally, marked the one-year anniversary of Andrew Wheeler at the helm of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), first as acting administrator and then as administrator after the Senate confirmed him in late February. The good news, if there is any, is that Wheeler is an Eagle Scout compared to his ethically challenged predecessor, Scott Pruitt. The bad news is, as predicted, Wheeler has been more effective than Pruitt in rolling back and eliminating EPA safeguards. My organization, the Union of Concerned Scientists, has compiled a list of 80 Trump administration attacks on science since taking office, and Wheeler has been the driving force behind many of them. Below are 10 of the more egregious ways he has undermined the EPA’s time-honored role to protect public health and the environment so far. 1. Sidelined Scientists Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, has taken a number of steps to systematically reduce the role of scientists in the agency’s policymaking process. Last fall, for example, he eliminated the agency’s Office of the Science Advisor, which counseled the EPA administrator on research supporting health and environmental standards, and placed the head of the EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection on administrative leave.” [Salon, 7/22/19 (+)]

Historic Heat Wave Is Double Whammy For Climate Change. According to The Hill, “Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. is expected to be hit by a massive weekend heat wave, forcing energy companies to brace for maxed out grids and potential blackouts. It will also create a spike in carbon emissions, as the use of fossil fuels by people seeking to cool down expands. In Texas, the Midwest, the mid-Atlantic and New England, states are facing historic heat advisories, with temperatures expected to reach into the 100s in some places. Some weather experts estimate that more than 85 percent of the lower 48 states will experience temperatures of at least 90 degrees between Friday and Tuesday. Almost 50 percent of those states will experience temperatures higher than 95 degrees. All of that will lead to spikes in energy use. ‘A lot of Americans don’t really have a deep understanding of the energy they are using and the fact that time of the day and peak energy is peak fossil fuel use. It’s a double whammy in terms of climate,’ said Kiran Bhatraju, CEO of Arcadia Power. Increasing temperatures will likely result in increased air conditioning usage, a phenomenon power companies are keeping an eye on to make sure energy demand doesn’t exceed availability.” [The Hill, 7/19/19 (=)]

Science Committee Chair Threatens EPA Over 'Stonewalled' Answers To Lawmakers. According to The Hill, “Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), the chairwoman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, said she is ‘deeply troubled’ by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) lack of cooperation with lawmakers in a letter sent Thursday to EPA chief Andrew Wheeler. Johnson said the EPA’s failure to provide requested information to her committee represented an ‘obstruction of Congress,’ and she threatened ‘compulsory measures’ if it does not provide previously requested information by July and August deadlines. ‘Over the past five months, EPA has stonewalled this Committee — preventing a coequal branch of government from conducting constitutionally-mandated oversight,’ Johnson wrote. ‘I am deeply troubled by this lack of cooperation with our efforts to evaluate a program so vital to ensuring the health and safety of the American people, and this behavior fits into a disturbing pattern of obstruction and disrespect of Congressional authority.’ The EPA in a statement said the letter included a number of ‘inaccurate statements and mischaracterizations.’ It also said it had made efforts to send officials to the committee to answer its questions.” [The Hill, 7/19/19 (+)]

Fears About The Planet’s Future Weigh On Americans’ Mental Health. According to Truthout, “Therapist Andrew Bryant says the landmark United Nations climate report last October brought a new mental health concern to his patients. ‘I remember being in sessions with folks the next day. They had never mentioned climate change before, and they were like, ‘I keep hearing about this report,’’ Bryant said. ‘Some of them expressed anxious feelings, and we kept talking about it over our next sessions.’ The study, conducted by the world’s leading climate scientists, said that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, by 2040 the Earth will warm by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius). Predictions say that increase in temperature will cause extreme weather events, rising sea levels, species extinction and reduced capacity to produce food. Bryant works at North Seattle Therapy & Counseling in Washington state. Recently, he said, he has been seeing patients with anxiety or depression related to climate change and the Earth’s future. Often these patients want to do something to reduce global warming but are overwhelmed and depressed by the scope of the problem and difficulty in finding solutions. And they’re anxious about how the Earth will change over the rest of their or their children’s lifetimes. Although it is not an official clinical diagnosis, the psychiatric and psychological communities have names for the phenomenon: ‘climate distress,’ ‘climate grief,’ ‘climate anxiety’ or ‘eco-anxiety.’” [Truthout, 7/20/19 (+)]

A Field In D.C. Will Soon Be Home To 5,000 Solar Panels. It’s All Because Of Local Catholic Groups — And A Message From The Pope. According to the Washington Post, “Right now, it’s a large, empty field. But by next year, the five-acre plot in Northeast Washington will sprout about 5,000 solar panels, the largest ground array the nation’s capital has seen — a change wrought by local Catholic groups. Catholic Energies, a nonprofit organization that helps churches across the country switch to solar energy, partnered with the field’s owner, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, to build a system sufficient to keep the lights on in 260 homes for one year. The power produced will go back into the D.C. grid, earning Catholic Charities enough energy credits to offset the electricity costs of 12 of its properties across the District. ‘I’m just really excited that we’ve been able to do something that I really believe is the right thing to do for the planet,’ said Mary Jane Morrow, the chief financial officer of Catholic Charities, a faith-based social services agency. It is the second energy-saving project Catholic Energies has undertaken in the region to date. The group finished an installation of 440 solar panels on the roof of a Virginia church last month. The solar panels, slated for completion in early 2020, will cost several million dollars, according to Page Gravely, the executive vice president for client services at Catholic Energies. But Catholic Charities will not pay a cent.” [Washington Post, 7/21/19 (=)]

Op-Ed: Trump's Calculated Climate Of Fear. According to an op-ed by Jeremy Symons in The Hill, “The climate change movement is surging to newfound political power, thanks to an influx of new leaders of diverse ages, backgrounds and viewpoints. President Trump apparently sees weakness in this diversity, just as he sees political opportunism in racist tweets aimed at four American congresswomen. His calculus: The politics of fear will overcome his weaknesses with voters. Whenever Trump feels voters slipping away, he goes back to what he knows best: personal attacks. Few issues have shifted more sharply against Trump than climate change over the past year. Among voters, 62 percent disapprove of Trump’s handling of climate change, higher than any other issue, according to a July Washington Post poll. Floundering to connect with voters on the environment, Trump seized on the Green New Deal because he saw an easy win in stoking fears by attacking the plan’s champion, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y). As he mocked the Green New Deal and Ocasio-Cortez in April, Trump spelled out the particular recipe of fear he was brewing stating, ‘You have senators who are professionals that you guys know that have been there for a long time, white hair, everything perfect, and they’re standing behind her and they’re shaking, they’re petrified of her.’ Trump’s strategy probably resonates with some subset of older, white voters. However, it has only deepened the generational divide on climate change within GOP voter ranks.” [The Hill, 7/21/19 (+)]

EPA

ACE Backers Reach ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’ Not To Raise Key CPP Claim. According to inside EPA, “Industry and state supporters of EPA’s Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) power plant greenhouse gas rule are expected to ignore a key argument they made against the Obama-era climate rule it is replacing, reaching a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ among themselves not to raise the issue in forthcoming litigation over the rule. However, at least one free-market group opposed to EPA regulating GHGs at all is likely to raise the issue in litigation. At issue is the argument that EPA is precluded from regulating the power sector’s climate emissions at all because it already regulates its toxic emissions under a different section of the Clean Air Act. The legal theory was a key aspect of litigation over Clean Power Plan (CPP), West Virginia v. EPA, which remains stayed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit though the court is weighing requests to dismiss the case as moot now that ACE is final. The full D.C. Circuit heard arguments over the rule in September 2016 but never issued a merits ruling. Under the theory -- which supporters of EPA’s climate regulatory authority strongly oppose -- the agency is barred from regulating power plant GHGs under section 111(d) of the air law because it already regulates their hazardous pollutants under section 112 through the mercury & air toxics (MATS) rule.” [Inside EPA, 7/19/19 (=)]

Trump's Changes To Science Might Not Last. According to E&E News, “The Trump administration’s attempt to overhaul the way EPA does science may not have a long shelf life. Many science advocates and past leaders of EPA’s expert advisory panels say the panoply of executive orders and guidances President Trump and his EPA administrators have issued over the past 2 ½ years — to sideline critical scientists, change how the benefits of rules are evaluated and blunt scientific messages — will dissolve as soon as a new president with a different philosophy enters the Oval Office. ‘All of these things collectively have been very damaging,’ said Christopher Frey, a former chair of EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) who served on its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) until 2018. ‘But they’ve been done by a flick of the pen by the administrator, and another administrator could flick their pen and do away with that.’ EPA Administrators Andrew Wheeler and Scott Pruitt have proposed sweeping changes to internal policies for how EPA supports and uses science. Even as they quarterbacked the repeal of Obama-era rules for methane, carbon dioxide and mercury, the two men led a multipronged effort to weed out the science and scientists those rules depended upon.” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (+)]

Having A Bad Air Day. According to Politico, “EPA last week released its annual air trends report that showed the number of bad air days across 35 major cities rose to its highest level since 2012. Such days have increased 14 percent since the last year of the Obama administration, Pro DataPoint's Patterson Clark breaks down in a graphic.” [Politico, 7/22/19 (=)]

Fearing Broad Precedent, Industry, States Fight New York’s Ozone Petition. According to Inside EPA, “Midwestern industry groups and states are pushing back hard against New York’s petition for EPA to regulate ozone pollution from hundreds of power plants and other facilities in upwind states, fearing it would set a precedent that could allow regulation of sources on a scale previously unseen and in sectors previously unaffected by such petitions. In comments submitted to EPA ahead of a July 15 deadline, states and industry groups in the Midwest and South reject New York’s assertions that upwind utilities contribute ‘significantly’ to problems meeting ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) on the East Coast. EPA on May 20 proposed to deny the petition, claiming that New York has not met its burden to prove that the many sources it cited compromise air quality in the state, and the states and industry groups urge EPA to finalize its rejection. New York’s March 2018 petition says that the state cannot attain the ozone NAAQS because of ozone stemming from outside the state, and is petitioning EPA under Clean Air Act section 126 for direct regulation of power plants and other facilities in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. In June 11 comments, the state chambers of commerce of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia oppose New York’s petition.” [Inside EPA, 7/19/19 (=)]

Policy Aide Heads To Utility. According to E&E News, “Daisy Letendre, a senior EPA official, is leaving the agency. Letendre, a senior adviser for policy and strategic communications at the agency, is joining FirstEnergy Corp. She will be part of the Akron, Ohio-based electric utility giant’s federal government affairs team in Washington, D.C. Letendre’s last day at EPA is today, according to a farewell email sent to colleagues and obtained by E&E News. ‘Serving this Administration and Administrator Wheeler has been an immense pleasure; the past two years have truly flown by,’ Letendre said in the email sent yesterday. ‘I am grateful to have played a small role in all that has been accomplished at EPA so far under this administration, and I am excited to see all that will continue to get done,’ she said. At EPA, Letendre worked out of its policy shop. She helped handle the Smart Sectors program, an effort to interact with industry regulated by the agency. The program has held dozens of meetings with business groups since its launch in October 2017 (Greenwire, Aug. 31, 2018). ‘Because we’re located in the Office of Policy, we’re able to take a cross-media view of the agency. As the program has evolved, we’ve sort of hit our stride a bit. We see ourselves at a minimum as an ombudsman within the agency,’ Letendre said last year about Smart Sectors.” [E&E News, 7/19/19 (=)]

Agency May Remove Part Of Mont. Site From Superfund List. According to E&E News, “EPA is proposing to remove part of a toxic site from its Superfund National Priorities List for the purpose of redevelopment. The agency and Montana’s state government say cleanup activities at part of the Idaho Pole Co. site are complete and no longer pose a threat to human health or the environment. Plans for redevelopment include affordable housing, residential construction and other commercial or industrial properties, EPA said. ‘EPA shares this milestone with those affected by contamination from historic wood treatment operations at the Idaho Pole Company site,’ EPA Regional Administrator Gregory Sopkin said in a statement. Idaho Pole Co. opened in 1945 as a wood-treating facility. Contaminants such as pentachlorophenol and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons seeped into the soil and groundwater. The site was added to EPA’s priority list in 1986. Public comments on the proposal are due by Aug. 19.” [E&E News, 7/19/19 (=)]

Wheeler

Wheeler Announces $2M For Cleanup Projects. According to E&E News, “The head of EPA has announced a $2 million grant program to clean up the shorelines and waters of the Great Lakes. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler during an appearance today in Cleveland says the grants will be available to state and local governments, nonprofit groups and universities for cleanup programs. Wheeler says removing trash from U.S. waterways is an EPA priority. The program is part of the EPA’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. It will fund up to a dozen projects, with the largest amount set at $500,000. EPA is seeking projects that will address trash on beaches, shorelines, harbors and rivers. It will also fund litter prevention and education programs. Grant applications will be accepted starting in October, with awards announced in February.” [E&E News, 7/19/19 (=)]

Wheeler Objects To Limiting Exports Of U.S. Waste. According to E&E News, “EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is opposing a recent international agreement that could limit the ability of the United States and other developed nations to send some types of plastic trash abroad. Under recently adopted amendments to what is known as the Basel Convention, the governments of importing nations would first have to grant permission to accept the waste. Wheeler formally objected to that requirement in a recent letter, telling the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that it could hurt the recycling trade and thus lead to more plastic scrap being sent to landfills or incinerated. The OECD, a group of 36 developed nations, includes the United States, Canada and most European countries. The U.S. is the only member to contest the new agreement, according to the Basel Action Network, an advocacy group that supports the added controls. Wheeler’s objection ‘will now trigger a lengthy debate within the OECD with a view to reaching consensus,’ the network said in a news release earlier this week. Absent an agreement, the United States ‘can block the rest of the OECD from incorporating the new global listings.’” [E&E News, 7/19/19 (=)]

White House

Trump Talks Energy With Pakistan. According to Politico, “President Donald Trump meets today at the White House with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to discuss a span of issues including energy and trade. The U.S. is ‘looking at opportunities, such as the possibility of a reverse trade mission for Pakistan on LNG supply and natural gas infrastructure,’ a senior administration official said last week, according to a readout of a call with reporters. Already, the official said, U.S. companies like General Electric are incorporating technologies, like wind, hydropower, gas and steam projects, into projects throughout the country. The White House is also looking at opportunities to advance U.S. energy-related commercial interests in Pakistan and increase private sector investment in Pakistan’s energy sector, the official added.” [Politico, 7/22/19 (=)]

Trump: 'We Have Bigger Problems Than Plastic Straws'. According to The Hill, “President Trump on Friday questioned the push by a number of municipalities to ban plastic straws, suggesting that there are ‘bigger problems’ such as wrappers and plates made of the same material. Trump was asked as he departed the White House for New Jersey whether he is in favor of banning plastic straws. The question came as his campaign began selling plastic straws in response to growing bans on the items among local governments and businesses for environmental reasons. ‘I do think we have bigger problems than plastic straws,’ he said. ‘You have a little straw, but what about the plates, the wrappers and everything else that are much bigger and they’re made of the same material?’ ‘Everybody focuses on the straws,’ he added. ‘There’s a lot of other things to focus, but it’s an interesting question.’ Local municipalities have banned single-use plastic straws in an effort to curb waste and keep the items from harming the environment. The movement has steadily spread over the past few years, and sports teams and other organizations have also stopped using the products. Businesses including McDonald’s and Starbucks have also worked to use fewer plastic straws, with the fast-food coffee chain eliminating them completely from their stores by 2020.” [The Hill, 7/20/19 (=)]

White House Extends Comment Period For NEPA Guidance. According to E&E News, “The Council on Environmental Quality is pushing back its deadline for comments on draft guidance for considering greenhouse gas emissions under the National Environmental Policy Act. Members of the public will now have until Aug. 26 to submit comments on the proposal. The original comment period was set to expire July 26. A pre-publication notice in the Federal Register said CEQ made the change in response to public requests for more time to comment. The draft guidance provides federal agencies with parameters for how they should consider emissions for major federal actions, such as the construction of pipelines and roads. The Trump administration has had no overarching guidelines for considering greenhouse gas emissions in these projects since the president repealed Obama-era guidance in 2017. That has led to agencies taking divergent approaches to calculating the potential impact of federally funded projects. The long-anticipated draft has been criticized for allowing federal agencies to narrow the scope of emissions considered in environmental impact analyses and for not offering agencies specific tools for how to go about counting both direct and indirect project emissions (Greenwire, June 25).” [E&E News, 7/19/19 (=)]

CEQ Extends Comment Period For Greenhouse Gas Guidance. According to Politico, “The White House Council on Environmental Quality is extending the comment period on its draft greenhouse gas guidance under the National Environmental Policy Act. CEQ has added another month to comment period, which now closes Aug. 26, according to a pre-publication notice that was signed today and will run in the Federal Register. The draft guidance would ease requirements on federal agencies’ consideration of climate change when approving major infrastructure projects and taking other actions.” [Politico, 7/19/19 (=)]

National

Ex-Obama Adviser Tapped To Lead Bluegreen Alliance. According to E&E News, “Jason Walsh has been named executive director of the BlueGreen Alliance. After a 20-year career peppered with positions focused on energy, climate and economic policy, Walsh will join the alliance Aug. 1 for the second time. Early in his career, Walsh served as the BlueGreen Alliance’s director of policy and strategic partnerships before taking off for a prestigious stint in the public sector. Walsh’s career has long resided at the intersection of economics and the environment — one main reason why the group felt he was fit for the job at the alliance, an organization that fuses labor unions and environmental groups to pursue climate action and a more equitable economy. ‘We know that the BlueGreen Alliance will continue to thrive and grow under Jason’s leadership because he embodies our core principle — namely, that any choice between good jobs and a clean environment is a false one,’ Co-Chairman Leo Gerard said in a statement. ‘We can and must have both.’ Walsh began his career as a congressional policy fellow for the late Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.). He later joined the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy as director of strategic programs before working at the Obama White House.” [E&E News, 7/19/19 (=)]

Congress

Hearings To Address PFAS, Search For Alternatives. According to E&E News, “Substances will be the focus of two separate hearings on Capitol Hill this week. The House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on the Environment will examine corporations and their role in the spread of toxic chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Those chemicals were once championed for their nonstick and water-resistant properties, but they are now linked to thyroid issues, birth defects and other health problems. The hearing, ‘The Devil They Knew — PFAS Contamination and the Need for Corporate Accountability,’ is Wednesday. The panel is lead by Rep. Harley Rouda (D-Calif.). The title of the hearing is a play on the documentary ‘The Devil We Know,’ that follows residents in a small town in West Virginia who discover a large company had been exposing them to toxic chemicals. One of the Democrats on the subcommittee, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, is currently dealing with PFAS contamination in her district. She has co-sponsored legislation aimed at providing the U.S. Geological Survey with $45 million to develop technology to detect the chemicals as well as conduct a nationwide sampling for PFAS.” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

Committee To Vote On U.N. Pick, Pipeline Sanctions. According to E&E News, “The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote this week on President Trump’s controversial nominee for U.N. ambassador, as well as legislation that would sanction companies helping to build a Russian-backed pipeline. The panel meets tomorrow to consider the nomination of Kelly Craft to be U.N. ambassador, a pick that has drawn scrutiny from Democrats over her views on climate change and her financial and personal ties to the coal industry. Craft, who is currently the U.S. ambassador to Canada and the wife of Alliance Resource Partners LP CEO Joseph Craft III, would replace former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who stepped down from the U.N. post last year. During her nomination hearing in June, Democrats zeroed in on public comments Craft once made expressing belief in ‘both sides’ of the debate over man’s role in climate change. While she walked back those remarks somewhat during the hearing, she stood by the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Paris climate deal (E&E Daily, June 20). Craft also promised Democrats last month that she would recuse herself from any negotiations involving coal and climate change, a nod to concerns over the $60 million in fossil fuel assets she holds (E&E News PM, May 3).” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

Committee Prioritizing Pushing Competition With China. According to E&E News, “The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will meet Thursday to talk about energy innovation from an economically competitive point of view. The hearing marks the third time the panel has gathered around the general topic of innovation since February, as lawmakers look to build momentum for legislative efforts to bolster Department of Energy research and development for clean power technologies. The previous two hearings framed the topic in terms of climate change. This hearing will look at innovation through a global competition, with China and the United States appearing on the verge of a clean energy technology race. For ENR Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), that global energy competition is a top consideration motivating her work on the panel. Two weeks ago, she released a white paper outlining a general framework for increased congressional attention to long-term planning in energy trade (Greenwire, July 11). ‘Markets are dynamic and rankings are not static,’ the white paper said. ‘Americans must compete every day for our prosperity.’” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

Panel To Examine Renewable Energy, Permitting Bill. According to E&E News, “A House Natural Resources subcommittee Thursday will discuss a new bipartisan bill aimed at increasing renewable energy development on public lands. H.R. 3794, the ‘Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act,’ would expedite permitting for projects in areas suitable for solar, wind and geothermal production. The legislation, introduced late last week by Reps. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and Mike Levin (D-Calif.), also would set up a revenue-sharing arrangement for states and local communities where proceeds from renewable energy development is generated. Under the bill, states, counties and a new renewable energy resource conservation fund would each receive 25% of revenue. The remaining 25% would be split between helping the federal government to streamline renewable permitting and the general treasury. The legislation boasts several Democratic and Republican supporters, including Natural Resources Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and the panel’s top Republican Rob Bishop of Utah. Democrats were happy with the focus on renewable energy in the bill, while Republicans praised the effort to cut red tape. ‘The United States has many sources of renewable energy that aren’t being harnessed to their full potential because of bureaucratic backlogs and convoluted permitting processes,’ said Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.).” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

Committee To Vote On Energy Research Legislation. According to E&E News, “Legislation to boost research and development spending for renewables and carbon capture technologies within the Department of Energy are set to advance to the House floor this week when the House Science, Space and Technology Committee holds a full committee markup Wednesday. The bills are part of the Democratic response to helping address climate change by infusing more research and development money into technologies critical to reducing carbon emissions from the power sector. In total, the three bills related to energy technology would authorize nearly $7 billion in new annual spending during the next five fiscal years, representing a 33% to 36% increase from current levels. The legislation moved out of the Energy Subcommittee two weeks ago on a voice votes despite some Republican hesitation with the new spending levels. Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) argued the bipartisan support of the bills proved how essential a clean energy future was to the country. ‘The research paths we set forth today, such as those laid out in these bills, will be essential to helping us achieve our climate change mitigation and adaptation goals while ensuring that every American has access to low cost, reliable electricity,’ she said during the subcommittee markup.” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

Hearings To Focus On Warming Costs, Decarbonization. According to E&E News, “Lawmakers will hold a series of climate change hearings this week, a couple of which will likely be overshadowed by former special counsel Robert Mueller’s high-profile appearance on Capitol Hill. The Mueller spotlight will be a test for House Democrats struggling to accomplish something on climate beyond appropriations riders, many of which will likely get dropped in negotiations in the Senate. Two separate hearings in the Budget Committee and the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis will address the cost of climate change and offer both parties a chance to strut their talking points. Democrats have tried to keep the focus on how climate effects like sea-level rise can damage the U.S. economy and threaten billions of dollars in assets. But Republicans usually counter that by discussing the Green New Deal, the nonbinding Democratic resolution that the GOP says, misleadingly, will cost $93 trillion. The Budget panel will meet Wednesday, on the same morning as Mueller’s appearance, for its second hearing this year on the costs of climate change. It will feature an official from Unilever, the multinational consumer goods giant, as well as two retired rear admirals who have been involved with the military’s efforts to adapt to climate change — Rear Adm. Ann Phillips, who’s now special assistant to the governor of Virginia for coastal adaptation and protection, and Rear Adm. David Titley, now the director of the Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk at Pennsylvania State University.” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

Budget Deal Delayed As Negotiations Tackle Offsets. According to E&E News, “Congressional negotiators and the White House are hoping to reach an accord before the House leaves for summer recess at the end of this week that would raise both discretionary spending and the nation’s debt ceiling. The lead negotiators, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), both said late last week they were close to an accord that would lift automatic budget cuts, known as sequestration, due to hit in 2020 and 2021. They also are in agreement on raising the nation’s debt ceiling, which is due to be hit in September. ‘I think we’re closer than we ever have been,’ Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said last week, adding he believes congressional Republicans would get behind whatever deal Mnuchin can negotiate. Discussions were focused on finding ways to offset the costs of spending increases over the next two years that could reach $150 billion. The White House is likely to offer up proposals for mandatory cuts, including to Medicaid and student loans, that were part of its budget request, but Democrats are seen as unlikely to back them. Another option could be to simply delay the sequester by a few years rather than rescind it, a move that could allow lawmakers to argue they will make up for the increased spending with future cuts.” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

House Democrats Eye Subpoenas For Interior, EPA. According to Politico, “House Democrats are getting closer to issuing subpoenas aimed at prying loose details on Trump administration polices at EPA and the Interior Department. House Science Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) and Natural Resources Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) say they are running out of patience over numerous requests for documents and interviews with agency officials this year. It’s a sign that the political fights with other House committees, over matters like the Russia investigation and 2020 census, have filtered down to lower-profile panels as well. Grijalva told POLITICO he is considering ‘every option that’s available for us,’ including issuing subpoenas, after requests for information on offshore drilling, coal mining and industry outreach by top Interior officials have not received adequate replies from the department. A final decision will be made after August, Grijalva said. While he suggested a court fight may be necessary to get the administration to comply with a subpoena, the chairman said he was more concerned about not defending Congress’ oversight authority. ‘The counter-risk is to appear to people — regardless of what the court does — to be passive, and that’s the other side of the risk. I’m more worried about that,’ the Arizona Democrat said.” [Politico, 7/22/19 (=)]

Coal Miners Advocate For Black Lung Fund. According to Politico, “Coal miners will descend on Capitol Hill this week to push for a reinstatement of a tax rate that supports the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund with a 10-year extension. Nearly 150 coal miners and their families will travel from Appalachia to meet with members of Congress and their staff on the fund, which was cut in half in January and is used by clinics to help treat former miners with black lung disease, the Associated Press reports. ME is told participates will meet with members and staff from the offices of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Pat Toomey(R-Pa.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), as well as Reps. Morgan Griffith (R-Va), Carol Miller (R-W.Va.), Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), Bobby Scott (D-Va.), and John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) The miners will also hold a roundtable Tuesday with Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey (D).” [Politico, 7/22/19 (=)]

Lawmaker: EPA Stonewalling On Formaldehyde Assessment. According to E&E News, “EPA for months has ignored the House Science, Space and Technology Committee on questions related to its Integrated Risk Information System, according to Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson. In a letter yesterday to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, the Texas Democrat said, ‘I am deeply troubled by this lack of cooperation with our efforts to evaluate a program so vital to ensuring the health and safety of the American people, and this behavior fits into a disturbing pattern of obstruction and disrespect of a congressional authority.’ EPA’s IRIS program assesses the health hazards of chemicals. At issue are missing assessments for formaldehyde and nine other chemicals, Johnson said. Formaldehyde is used in everything from pesticides to products such as insulation and plywood. The Department of Health and Human Services has listed the chemical as a known human carcinogen. A final assessment on formaldehyde had been in the works since 1997. And IRIS had been set to release the assessment last year, but GAO found the agency halted that release (E&E News PM, March 4). ‘There are questions about what happened to it,’ Alfredo Gómez, the director of the Government Accountability Office’s natural resources and environment team, said during a House Science, Space and Technology subcommittee hearing in March (E&E Daily, March 28).” [E&E News, 7/19/19 (=)]

Election 2020

Dems Debate In Motor City. Will Cars And Climate Be A Focus? According to E&E News, “Environmentalists say one topic should take center stage at the Democratic presidential debates in Detroit next week. It’s car companies and their contribution to climate change. Greens fault the ‘Big Three’ automakers — General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV — for their long history of producing gasoline-powered vehicles that release greenhouse gas emissions from their tailpipes. All three companies have headquarters in Detroit, where CNN is hosting two nights of debates at the historic Fox Theatre on July 30 and 31. The debates come as the Trump administration prepares to dial back Obama-era clean car standards. The rollback stands to dramatically increase oil consumption and tailpipe pollution. The Detroit matchup also comes after the transportation sector surpassed the power sector as the country’s largest source of carbon emissions. Cars and light trucks are responsible for the bulk of those emissions. ‘Holding a debate in Detroit and not discussing auto pollution would be like having one at the Vatican and not discussing religion,’ said Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Campaign. The candidates could harness the setting’s symbolism as the birthplace of cars to challenge automakers to address a major environmental problem, some climate advocates say.” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

Trump's Plastic Straws Snub 'Liberal' Ban. According to E&E News, “The latest addition to the President Trump’s reelection campaign’s online store is a 10-pack of plastic straws each emblazoned with ‘Trump.’ The listing features a photo of an unwrapped, solitary red straw, which Trump supporters might want to purchase, it suggests, because ‘liberal paper straws don’t work.’ Brad Parscale, Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, on Twitter announced sale of the straws with a tweet saying, ‘Making Straws Great Again.’ There has been a surge in plastic-straw bans this year, with a growing contingent of states, cities and counties passing or enacting the restrictions. Washington, D.C., became the most recent major area to implement a firm ban on July 1, while companies across the entire state of California have been unable since January to provide plastic straws to customers who don’t directly ask for them. Dozens of countries across the world have implemented national bans, including Canada earlier this summer. Less than 10% of all plastic used by Americans is actually recycled, and much of it — including plastic straws — ends up in oceans, crowding vulnerable marine ecosystems, hurting wildlife and leaching toxic chemicals such as polypropylene, colorants and plasticizers (Greenwire, Feb. 17).” [E&E News, 7/19/19 (=)]

Trump's Plastic Straws — $1.50 Apiece — Are Sold Out. According to E&E News, “President Trump’s online campaign merchandise store has already sold out of the ‘Trump’-stamped sets of red plastic drinking straws that first became available for purchase less than 24 hours ago. The listing drew an avalanche of attention this morning after Trump’s 2020 campaign manager tweeted a photo of the straws (Greenwire, July 19). Aside from the seemingly excessive $15 price tag, many Twitter users were quick to point out the irony in the website’s claim that the straws — quickly understood to be an attempt to poke fun at plastic straw bans nationwide — are BPA-free, reusable and recyclable. ‘There is something perfectly Trump about using grievance at the straw scolds and the soggy paper straws they have forced on us to market ... reusable plastic straws, priced at $1.50 apiece,’ said one tweet. ‘Kinda undercuts the message that they’re reusable and recyclable. Real Trump supporters use their straws only once,’ said another tweet. The president has repeatedly proved his ability to rile supporters over Democratic-backed policies that he perceives as frivolous. His campaign decried the bans, which are only a small part of the larger push to clear plastic waste from oceans, as ‘liberal.’” [E&E News, 7/19/19 (=)]

Extreme Weather

A Deadly Heat Wave After The Hottest June On Record: How The Climate Crisis Is Creating 'A New Normal'. According to TIME, “As millions of people prepare for sweltering heatwaves in the U.S. Midwest and East Coast, scientists say July will likely be the hottest July on record, following the hottest June on record. These types of heatwaves are expected to become more frequent throughout the world as global warming continues, say scientists. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports the average global temperature for June was 1.71 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average of 59.9 degrees. NOAA also reported record-breaking decreases in sea ice coverage in the Arctic and Antarctica. ‘Our climate is warming,’ Ahira Sánchez-Lugo, a climatologist at NOAA, tells TIME. ‘We have a new normal, we are in a new warmer climate. Just in the 21st century, we’ve set a new global world temperature record five times.’ Robert Rohde, lead scientist at Berkeley Earth, tells TIME that July is also likely to be the hottest July on record, as global temperatures continue to trend towards increasing heat. Regionally, hot June temperatures broke records in Europe, Africa and South America, and it was the hottest first half of the year for Alaska, Madagascar, New Zealand, Mexico, western Canada and eastern Asia.” [TIME, 7/19/19 (+)]

Heat Warnings Across US As Climate Experts Warn Of Spike In Very Hot Days. According to The Guardian, “More than half the US was under excessive heat warnings on Friday amid a brutal heatwave – which experts warned could become the ‘new normal’ because of the climate crisis. Forecasters warned of ‘very dangerous heat’ as temperatures rose to 100F (37.7C) – particularly in urban areas where the mass of buildings creates ‘heat islands’. Alerts were in place in states as far reaching as New Mexico and Maine. The worst of the heatwave is expected to be felt in Washington DC, Richmond, Virginia and Raleigh, North Carolina, where air temperatures of about 100F are predicted on Saturday and Sunday, with a heat index – which is closer to what the temperature actually feels like – of 110 to 115F (43.3 to 46.1C). A heat ‘dome’ of hot and humid weather is roasting the midwest. The high humidity makes it more difficult for the human body to cool itself down by sweating, because perspiration does not evaporate easily in the moist air. Advertisement Organisers of the New York City Triathlon cancelled Sunday’s event, a day after Bill de Blasio, the city mayor, urged them to do so out of concern for racers, spectators and staff. Many horse races are also cancelled. De Blasio announced the cancellation of Ozy Fest, a music and discussion event due for Central Park on Saturday and Sunday, and a moon landing anniversary celebration meant for Times Square.” [The Guardian, 7/19/19 (=)]

Heat Wave Slams The Grid. Here's What To Know. According to E&E News, “While nearly two-thirds of the country sweated through a crippling heat wave over the past week that’s been blamed for at least six deaths, the U.S. electric grid remained largely upright even as demand for power soared. But that reliability did not come without its toll — power outages were reported in places like Long Island, N.Y., and Philadelphia, where 300 residents of a senior center were evacuated Friday as temperatures soared without electricity, according to CBS Philly. High temperatures can affect the grid, related infrastructure and electricity workers just as much as they do ratepayers at the end of transmission lines. And as a changing climate brings more intense and longer-lasting bursts of extreme temperatures, experts are warning that grid operators will need to pay as much attention to how heat affects the grid as it does the demand from those looking to stay cool. ‘The electrical grid handles virtually the entire cooling load, while the heating load is distributed among electricity, natural gas, heating oil, passive solar, and biofuel,’ wrote authors of last year’s National Climate Assessment, including more than a dozen federal agencies and hundreds of leading scientists. ‘In order to meet increased demands for peak electricity, additional generation and distribution facilities will be needed, or demand will have to be managed through a variety of mechanisms.’” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

Plan Would Make Mansions Eligible For Disaster Aid. According to E&E News, “On an exclusive Connecticut peninsula, where signs warn outsiders to stay off private roads, eight multimillion-dollar homes with sprawling yards along Long Island Sound are poised to become eligible for taxpayer-funded disaster aid. That’s despite the fact that the Fenwick neighborhood of Old Saybrook is in a potentially perilous position, hovering where the Connecticut River meets the sound. A 1938 hurricane washed many Fenwick homes out to sea, including that of Katharine Hepburn’s family. The eight homes, a short distance from the rebuilt Hepburn house where the actress died in 2003, currently lie in a coastal protection zone that bans homeowners from receiving federal funds to fix storm damage. The goal is to create a disincentive for new development in areas vulnerable to storms. Half the homes were built after the zone was created nearly four decades ago. But a proposed massive overhaul of the protection system to correct mapping mistakes and other errors would lift the prohibition on aid for the Fenwick homes and more than 900 other structures along the East Coast from New Hampshire to Virginia. That would allow the owners to buy lower-cost flood insurance backed by the federal government and potentially benefit from millions of dollars in other federal aid to fix infrastructure including roads and bridges.” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

Big League Ballparks Broil As Heat Wave Grips Majors. According to E&E News, “At Wrigley Field, misters in the back of the bleachers tried to cool the crowd. At Yankee Stadium, only one player took batting practice on the field. In Cleveland, rules were relaxed on what fans could bring into the park. Even for a sport that promotes high heat, Saturday was a scorcher across the majors. The National Weather Service said it was part of a ‘dangerous heat wave’ gripping much of the country. From the Northeast through the Midwest, no player, manager or umpire was spared as temperatures soared near triple digits in big league broilers. Hours before Baltimore played Boston at sweltering Camden Yards, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde pulled aside starting catcher Chance Sisco and issued a stiff directive. ‘I told Chance, ‘Do not go outside until the game starts,’’ Hyde said. Sisco went all nine innings Friday night and was in the lineup again while backup Pedro Severino recovers from an illness. ‘I told Chance, I don’t want him hustling on and off the field. I want to see him walking,’ Hyde said. ‘When you’re a catcher in these type of games, it’s not easy. After the eighth inning, his face was beet-red.’ It was 97 degrees Fahrenheit for the first pitch, and no relief in sight, either.” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

Congress Might Make Homeowners Disclose Flood Damage. According to E&E News, “Congress is moving closer to requiring for the first time that all prospective homebuyers and tenants be told the flood history of a property they are considering purchasing or renting. The requirement, included in a new Senate bill to overhaul the federal flood insurance program, could vastly increase the number of property owners with flood insurance by making them aware of their flood risk. Flood damage is not covered in standard homeowners’ policies, forcing people to buy flood insurance separately. But millions of homeowners do not have flood coverage, which leaves them dependent on taxpayer-funded disaster aid that pays a small portion of repairs from flood damage. The disclosure requirement has been a priority for environmental groups. Four former Federal Emergency Management Agency administrators earlier this year endorsed the idea, saying in a letter that it would reduce costs to taxpayers of disaster aid and create ‘more resilient communities’ by raising awareness of flood risk. The National Association of Realtors has also supported the concept. A federal disclosure requirement would supersede a patchwork of state laws that leaves tens of millions of prospective homebuyers with no knowledge of whether a home they might buy has been flooded.” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

UCS Documents Rise Of Lethal Heat, Boosting Calls For Climate Policy. According to Inside EPA, “As large swaths of the country face a record-breaking heat wave, environmentalists are warning that unchecked climate change will cause extreme and deadly heat across the country and bring ‘unprecedented’ health risks, underscoring their calls for deep cuts in carbon emissions as well as to take major steps to adapt to the threat. Researchers at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) released a July 16 report, ‘Killer Heat in the United States: Climate Choices and the Future of Dangerously Hot Days,’ and accompanying study in the journal Environmental Research Communications, warning that some areas of the country will experience a heat index where the ‘feels like’ temperature is higher than 105 degrees Fahrenheit for four months of the year, a temperature at which risk of a variety of adverse health effects begin to increase. Without significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, more than one-third of the 481 urban areas in the U.S. with a population over 50,000 will experience ‘off-the-charts’ heat index conditions of above 127 degrees by 2036-2050, the report finds. That will increase to 60 percent of the country having at least one ‘off-the-chart’ heat index day per year by 2070-2099, meaning 180 million people will experience such conditions.” [Inside EPA, 7/19/19 (+)]

High Temps Shut Down NYC Triathlon. According to E&E News, “The New York City Triathlon scheduled for this Sunday has been canceled due to the extreme heat levels expected for race day. The cancellation announcement was made last night after the National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning for the tri-state area from noon today until 8 p.m. tomorrow. The race organizers said they were ‘unable to provide either a safe event experience or an alternate race weekend.’ Participants who registered for the event will receive a full refund.” [E&E News, 7/19/19 (=)]

Courts and Legal

First Amendment Suit On Prop.65 Glyphosate Warning Poised To Proceed. According to Inside EPA, “A long-stayed constitutional challenge to California rules requiring cancer warnings for glyphosate pesticide products could be poised to proceed following federal appellate rulings on similar issues that the state was waiting on when it asked the court to delay imposing a preliminary injunction on its labeling rule in 2018. While parties in one of the two appellate cases the state is waiting on have not yet exhausted their appeals, a source representing Monsanto says the state has several options, including abandoning its defense of the rules, proceeding to argue the merits, or appealing the 2018 preliminary injunction barring it from requiring the warnings. A lawyer and spokeswoman with the California attorney general’s office did not respond to requests for comment. Attorneys representing several agriculture industry groups and Monsanto Co., the manufacturer of the popular glyphosate-containing RoundUp weed killer, may soon discuss with California lawyers next steps in the case, National Association of Wheat Growers, et al., v. Lauren Zeise, et al., in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.” [Inside EPA, 7/19/19 (=)]

Rejecting Suit, D.C. Circuit Backs EPA On Dropped CERCLA Mine Rule. According to Inside EPA, “A federal appeals court has rejected environmentalists’ lawsuit attempting to force EPA to set first-time Superfund financial assurance rules for the hardrock mining sector after the agency declined to do so, with the court applying the Chevron deference standard to uphold EPA’s decision. In a unanimous opinion issued July 19 in Idaho Conservation League, et al. v. Andrew Wheeler, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected arguments from six environmental groups that EPA’s decision not to issue a hardrock mining rule contradicted the Superfund law, was arbitrary and capricious and was procedurally defective. ‘We believe the EPA’s interpretation is reasonable,’ Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson wrote for the panel, which also included Judge Thomas Griffith and Senior Judge David Sentelle. The ruling clears the way for the agency to decline to impose financial responsibility requirements under the Superfund law for other potentially eligible sectors it has identified, including petroleum and coal producers, chemical manufacturers and the electric power sector, the last of which the agency has already proposed to exclude from any requirements.” [Inside EPA, 7/19/19 (=)]

AGs Hint At Suit Over EPA’s Planned Denial Of New York’s 126 Petition. According to Inside EPA, “The Democratic attorneys general (AGs) of New York and New Jersey, along with New York City, are indicating their willingness to sue EPA if the agency follows through on plans to deny the Empire State’s landmark Clean Air Act section 126 petition seeking regulation of hundreds of upwind pollution sources, opening the door to a legal battle on the reach of the agency’s power. EPA’s proposed denial ‘does not comply with [air law] sections 126(b) and (c) and the Good Neighbor Provision for the 2008 and 2015 ozone [national ambient air quality standards, or NAAQS], and should be withdrawn and replaced with an action proposing to make the requested findings and impose the requested emission limits,’ the AGs say in a July 15 joint statement that was joined by New York City. The agency’s proposed petition denial has already drawn strong support from upwind states and industry groups, who charge that if granted, it would set a precedent that could allow regulation of sources on a scale previously unseen and in sectors previously unaffected by such petitions. They have backed EPA’s arguments that New York has failed to show that upwind sources contribute ‘significantly’ to problems meeting ozone standards and that the state has failed to demonstrate that it will struggle to meet those standards by 2023.” [Inside EPA, 7/19/19 (=)]

Governments Sue Duke Energy Over 2014 Spill. According to E&E News, “The federal, North Carolina and Virginia governments asked a court yesterday to declare the country’s largest electricity company liable for environmental damage from a leak five years ago that left miles of a river shared by the two states coated in hazardous coal ash. Government lawyers sought to have Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy declared responsible for harming fish, birds, amphibians and the Dan River bottom. Hazardous substances like arsenic and selenium poured into the river at levels high enough to harm aquatic life, according to a complaint filed in the North Carolina federal district court near the site of the 2014 disaster. The leak of waste Duke Energy stored after burning coal for power coated about 70 miles of the river from a power plant near Eden, N.C., renewing national attention on the risks posed by similar storage pits across the country. Duke Energy pleaded guilty to federal environmental crimes in 2015 and agreed to pay $102 million. The company said three years of testing through 2017 found no long-term effects to the river’s environment. The government’s complaint ‘establishes beyond any doubt that the Dan River spill did serious harm,’ said Frank Holleman, an attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.” [E&E News, 7/19/19 (=)]

D.C. Circuit Yields To EPA On Hardrock Mine Bonding. According to E&E News, “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is upholding EPA’s decision against imposing new financial assurance requirements on hardrock mines under the Superfund law. In her opinion, Judge Karen Henderson, a George H.W. Bush appointee, said environmental groups, including the Idaho Conservation League, were misinterpreting the statute. She wrote that concerns about abandoned mine sites do not ‘undermine the reasonableness of the EPA’s decision not to promulgate additional financial responsibility requirements for the entire hardrock mining industry.’ Also on the panel reviewing the case were Thomas Griffith, a George W. Bush appointee, and David Sentelle, picked by President Reagan. During oral arguments in March, the judges homed in on deference to agency decisions under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as the Superfund law Greenwire, March 13). The government sent its top lawyer from the Justice Department’s environmental division to argue the case. Jeffrey Bossert Clark said CERCLA gave the president and EPA broad powers of industry regulation.” [E&E News, 7/19/19 (=)]

Court Sides With EPA In Mining Financial Assurance Dispute. According to Politico, “A federal court today upheld the Trump EPA’s decision not to require hardrock mining companies to prove they can pay to clean up after themselves. Nothing in the Superfund law, also known as CERCLA, ‘mandates the EPA to promulgate financial responsibility requirements for the hardrock mining industry, authorizing the EPA to decline to do so,’ the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. Superfund authorizes EPA to require industries to provide financial assurance for remediation, though in the almost four decades since the law was passed EPA has never used that power. Following litigation, the Obama administration proposed financial assurance requirements in late 2016 for hardrock miners, which covers a class of miners including gold, silver, zinc and copper. But the Trump administration ultimately reversed that and set no requirements. The court deferred to EPA’s decision to consider only financial risks from companies being unable to clean up after themselves, not risks to public health or the environment. The court also said environmentalists’ challenge to EPA’s economic analysis were unpersuasive. The ruling is a boon to EPA’s recent proposal to similarly set no financial assurance requirements for electric utilities. EPA is under a court-ordered deadline to finalize that rulemaking by December 2020.” [Politico, 7/19/19 (=)]

National Security

Defense, Technology, Transportation Picks On Tap. According to E&E News, “The Senate this week will consider the nomination of Mark Esper to become secretary of Defense in a fast-tracked confirmation process. The Senate Armed Services Committee approved Esper last week. Almost immediately, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) set the stage for his final votes. During his confirmation hearing, Esper promised to help address the impacts of climate change on the military and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination from firefighting foam. The Senate Armed Services Committee last week also approved the nomination of Mark Milley to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This week, the panel will consider David Norquist to become deputy secretary of Defense. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will vote on the following presidential nominees: Todd Rokita to direct the Amtrak board of directors. Jennifer Homendy to be a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. Michael Graham to be a member of the NTSB. Carl Bentzel to be a commissioner of the Federal Martime Commission. Michael Kratsios to be associate director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (see related story). Ian Steff to be director general of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service.” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

International

Teen Climate Activist Gets Normandy’s First Freedom Prize. According to the Associated Press, “Swedish teen climate change activist Greta Thunberg has received the first Freedom Prize awarded by France’s Normandy region, which last month commemorated the 75th D-Day anniversary. Thunberg, 16, received the award in Caen on Sunday, posing alongside D-Day veterans Charles Norman Shay and Léon Gautier. Thunberg said that ‘I think the least we can do to honor them is to stop destroying that same world that Charles, Leon and their friends and colleagues fought so hard to save.’ She sent out a warning that ‘we are currently on track for a world that could displace billions of people from their homes, taking away even the most basic living conditions ... making areas of the world uninhabitable for parts of the year.’ But she added, ‘We can still fix this.’” [Associated Press, 7/21/19 (+)]

Merkel Defends German Climate Moves As Rally Urges Action. According to the Associated Press, “German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her government’s efforts to combat climate change on Friday, promising that her Cabinet will make ‘decisive’ moves in September. As Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg joined thousands of young protesters in Berlin to urge policymakers to redouble efforts to combat climate change, Merkel said her government will decide Sept. 20 on such matters as whether and how to put a price on carbon emissions. The package, she told her annual summer news conference, ‘must be very well thought through.’ Merkel’s ‘climate Cabinet’ of senior officials held an inconclusive meeting on Thursday as the governing coalition wrangles over what measures to introduce. Germany aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 compared with 1990. The environment minister called recently for carbon taxes that could be used at least in part to financially boost low-income households, but there has been pushback from Germany’s powerful auto lobby and lawmakers representing rural regions, where many rely on cars to commute to work. Several blocks away, speakers at a rally attended by Thunberg underlined the need for urgency in combating climate change. Thunberg told the cheering crowd that adults haven’t taken responsibility for the climate crisis and young people have had to take to the streets around the world — sometimes skipping school — in the Fridays for Future rallies.” [Associated Press, 7/19/19 (=)]

Carbon Pollution Price Nears Key 30-Euro Threshold. According to E&E News, “Europe’s carbon market is nearing the psychologically important threshold of 30 euros ($33.70) a ton after signs the region will tighten rules on polluters and curtail supplies of allowances. The value of the securities that cover greenhouse gas emissions from industry and utilities has almost doubled in the past year, finishing Friday at its strongest weekly close since 2006. That followed comments from the designated European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen placing green issues at the heart of the political agenda. The surge in the cost of pollution along with a plunge in natural gas prices has prompted some power generators to switch away from coal to the cleaner fuel. It’s also starting to revive debate about carbon pricing as a tool for combating climate change, eliminating years of malaise in the market that finally passed in 2018. ‘People thought the market might take a breather in July, but they were wrong,’ said Ingo Ramming, head of corporate and investor solutions at Commerzbank AG. ‘The rally through Monday appeared to be driven by financial investors — everyone is waiting for the market to crack 30 euros.’” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

Industry and Business

Critics: Duke Energy Needs To Expedite Coal Power Retirement. According to the Associated Press, “Indiana’s largest electric utility needs to move faster to retire its aging network of coal-fired power plants and replace them with cleaner, more renewable power sources, environmentalist said. Duke Energy Indiana officials said they hope to retire all nine of the utility’s coal-fired units by 2038 and construct two large natural-gas plants. ‘We view this as the beginning of our transition to a more nimble, diversified fleet,’ said Stan Pinegar, president of Duke Energy Indiana, which serves 840,000 electric customers in 69 of the state’s 92 counties. But the environmentalists contend Duke is stalling and that other Indiana utilities are moving faster to mothball the plants, which spew carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the atmosphere, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported. ‘Duke’s plan is exceptionally disappointing,’ said Kerwin Olson, executive director of Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana. Many environmentalists said they are pushing for utilities to expedite their timetable for transitioning to clean energy because the climate is getting warmer and weather is becoming more severe.” [Associated Press, 7/21/19 (=)]

Can States Turn Their Goals Into Reality? According to E&E News, “Northeastern states are engaged in a game of renewable one-upmanship. Early last month, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed a bill into law calling for 2 gigawatts of offshore wind, or roughly enough to meet a third of the state’s electric demand. New Jersey followed a few weeks later with its first contract for a 1.1-GW project off the coast of the Garden State. The biggest announcement of all arrived last week, when New York announced two contracts worth 1.7 GW of power. The question is whether all this new wind power will actually be built. Offshore wind is a keystone to the Northeast’s climate goals. Meeting state greenhouse gas emissions targets in the region will be exceedingly difficult without large dollops of wind power generated in the ocean. The new turbines also have the potential to replace a series of old coal, oil and nuclear facilities that have retired in recent years. But there is cause for caution. Vineyard Wind, the first major offshore project in America, ran into trouble this month when a Massachusetts municipality denied it a key permit needed to run a transmission cable along the ocean floor. But that’s not Vineyard Wind’s sole concern. A federal environmental assessment for the 800-megawatt installation off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard is also expected to take longer than initially anticipated (Energywire, July 15).” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

Ex-Unilever Boss Seeks 'Heroic CEOs' To Tackle Climate Change And Inequality. According to The Guardian, “The former boss of Unilever is seeking a team of ‘heroic chief executives’ to drive a shift to a low-carbon, more inclusive way of doing business. Paul Polman, who stepped down from the Anglo-Dutch owner of Marmite and Dove in November last year after a decade at the helm, warns that the rise of populism and Brexit are symptoms of capitalism’s failure to adapt. Bosses, he insists, must commit to fighting inequality and tackling the climate emergency. ‘We are about to commit the biggest intergenerational crime in the history of mankind. We need to bring us together not drive us apart,’ said the 63-year-old Dutchman, who won plaudits for pushing the benefits of sustainable business long before it became fashionable. ‘If you don’t address inequality and climate change, to keep it simple, a lot more people are going to be dissatisfied, feel not included or left behind, and making these choices of rejection at the ballot box. The fact we are having these issues of populism and schisms in society is exactly because we are not addressing the underlying issue to evolve capitalism and make sure it works for everybody,’ he said. He believes the starting point is ‘heroic chief executives willing to step up and move outside of the comfort zone and take personal risks. I tried to do the same with Unilever. It’s a matter of willpower.’” [The Guardian, 7/21/19 (+)]

Coal Bankruptcies Pile Up. According to Axios, ‘Today Blackhawk Mining is slated to make a pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing that the Kentucky-based coal producer says will cut 60% of its debt and enable $150 million in new financing. Why it matters: It’s the latest in a string of coal company bankruptcies, which began before President Trump’s tenure but have picked up lately. They signal the challenge he faces in making good on pledges to revive the sector. Where it stands: Here’s a tally of what the firm S&P Global Market Intelligence calls major U.S. coal company bankruptcies since the start of 2017... Blackjewel, July 1, 2019 Cambrian Holding, June 16, 2019 Cloud Peak Energy, May 10, 2019 Trinity Coal, March 4, 2019 Mission Coal, Oct. 14, 2018 Westmoreland Coal, Oct. 9, 2018 Armstrong Energy, Nov. 1, 2017 But, but, but: While the industry’s long-term decline in power markets is well-known, it doesn’t explain all the problems in the wider industry that’s facing significant debt. For one thing, Blackhawk and some others who filed for bankruptcy produce metallurgical coal used in steelmaking. What’s next: Wood Mackenzie coal analyst Tony Knutson says that ‘we expect Blackhawk will make it through restructuring without any issues.’” [Axios, 7/19/19 (=)]

Refiners: Cutting Ethanol Mandate Won't Hurt Corn Farmers. According to E&E News, “Eliminating federal biofuel mandates wouldn’t be the disaster for corn farmers that ethanol advocates predict, a study commissioned by petroleum refiners said. The study by Energy Ventures Analysis found that doing away with the renewable fuel standard would reduce the percentage of biofuel in gasoline by less than 1 percentage point by 2025, from 10.8% to 10.3%. Because ethanol is cheaper to produce than gasoline, refineries would use it even without a mandate, according to the study. That suggests Congress could end the program without hurting biofuel markets or corn farmers, the study said. The study was paid for by a group of merchant refiners that opposes ethanol mandates, the Fueling American Jobs Coalition. Merchant refiners say they take the brunt of the RFS program’s shortcomings because they typically don’t blend biofuels themselves and are forced instead to buy renewable fuel credits to show compliance with the program. ‘Results presented in this report demonstrate that the RFS mandate is no longer relevant as an energy policy. Better ways to advance these policy goals may exist, but the outdated RFS is not one of them,’ the study said.” [E&E News, 7/19/19 (=)]

Research and Analysis

Scientists Honor Iceland's First Glacier Lost To Climate Change With Plaque, Eulogy. According to The Hill, “Scientists are memorializing Iceland’s first glacier lost to climate change with a plaque and eulogy that will be unveiled in August. Rice University recently announced researchers will join the Icelandic Hiking Society to reveal the plaque Aug. 18, honoring the melted Okjökull, ‘Ok,’ glacier The plaque contains a somber warning to visitors, titled ‘A letter to the future.’ ‘Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier. In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it,’ it reads. Engraved on the plaque is also ‘415 ppm,’ which references the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reported in May, Earther reports. In 2014, Ok became the first glacier in Iceland to lose its title due to climate change. The story is told in the 2018 documentary ‘Not Ok’ produced by Rice university anthropologists Cymene Howe and Dominic Boyer. The Howe and Boyer fear all of Iceland’s more than 400 glaciers will be gone by 2200.” [The Hill, 7/19/19 (=)]

Other Agencies

Agriculture

USDA Official Says Agencies Can Find New Staff After They Move To Kansas City. According to Roll Call, “A top Agriculture Department research official told a Senate committee that two agencies slated for a contested move out of Washington can recover from an exodus of employees and denied media reports the department has hidden agency documents on climate change. Scott Hutchins, deputy undersecretary for research, education and economics, said Thursday that many employees eligible to move to the Kansas City metropolitan area with either the Economic Research Service or National Institute of Food and Agriculture have notified USDA that they will stay in Washington. Employees who have agreed to move have until Sept. 30 to make the trek west, where the agencies will operate out of a temporary space until USDA finds a long-term landlord. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced a search for new homes for the agencies in August 2018, before he appointed Hutchins to the deputy post. Hutchins said the workers will be offered jobs elsewhere in the department as the USDA moves ahead with shifting the agencies to sites near Kansas City. He said the agencies will rebuild with new hires from agriculture researchers, economists and other professionals in the region, and with additional funding the USDA plans to provide from the projected savings of moving to an area with lower rental costs than the District of Columbia.” [Roll Call, 7/19/19 (=)]

Energy

Where's Perry? According to Politico, “Energy Secretary Rick Perry is in Israel and Egypt this week to discuss regional energy security. Perry will hold bilateral meetings in Israel with his counterparts in Jerusalem, visit the National Cyber Directorate facilities in Be’er Sheva, and tour the Noble Gas Ashdod Onshore LNG terminal, according to the Energy Department. While in Cairo, he will represent the United States at the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum, which gathers officials from the Eastern Mediterranean region.” [Politico, 7/22/19 (=)]

Interior

Lawmakers To Examine Political Meddling With Science. According to E&E News, “A House panel this week will put Interior Department science under the microscope. Pointedly titled ‘When Science Gets Trumped: Scientific Integrity at the Department of the Interior,’ the House Natural Resources Committee hearing Thursday will examine alleged political interference with the work of agency scientists. It’s a topic that’s worried congressional Democrats, environmental advocacy groups and some scientists since the start of the Trump administration. ‘We have little trust in the department’s current leadership to faithfully adhere to principles of scientific integrity,’ Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and three other committee Democrats wrote Interior last October. The four House members further said that Trump administration officials ‘have repeatedly tried to manipulate’ science to advance energy or other policy agendas. At the time, the Democrats were in the minority and could do little about their complaints. One of the four — Rep. Niki Tsongas of Massachusetts — has since retired, but with Democrats now controlling the House, Grijalva has become chairman of the resources panel with the power to convene oversight hearings. A 2018 survey by the Union of Concerned Scientists and Iowa State University’s Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology found that 50% of scientists questioned on average across 16 agencies agreed that ‘consideration of political interests’ hindered science-based decisions (Greenwire, Aug. 14, 2018).” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

Interior Cuts Back On Telework. According to E&E News, “An Interior policy that took effect this week no longer allows department supervisors to telework on a regular basis. Supervisors are ‘not suitable for core telework’ because their jobs entail dealing directly with staff and managing employee performance, according to a department bulletin from Raymond Limon, Interior’s deputy assistant secretary for human capital and diversity. The department implemented the new policy Monday. Limon sent the memo outlining the changes to employees in mid-June. Core telework is defined as an arrangement in which eligible employees work from an approved alternative work site on a recurring, scheduled basis. Interior supervisors will be allowed to telework on a ‘situational’ basis, which means they can work remotely under special circumstances, which can range broadly. Those circumstances could include inclement weather, a personal appointment or business travel obligation. While eligible employees can still telework, the new policy also seeks to curtail their time spent working off-site. Interior employees approved for telework now must physically report to their official duty station at least two full workdays per biweekly pay period, or once a week essentially, except in certain rare circumstances such as recovery from an injury.” [E&E News, 7/19/19 (=)]

Opinion Pieces

Op-Ed: Welcome Home, BLM! According to an op-ed by Rep. Scott Tipton in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, “As the representative for the 3rd Congressional District of Colorado, I’d like to officially welcome the Bureau of Land Management to Grand Junction! If you missed the news, earlier this week, the Department of the Interior announced that as part of its reorganization efforts, the BLM will relocate its headquarters to Grand Junction and several personnel will be moved from Washington, D.C., to Western states. Ninety-nine percent of federal lands are located in just 12 states in the West, and if we are to trust that federal land management decisions are made with the best interests of the people whom those decisions affect in mind, bringing the decision-makers geographically closer is common sense. The decision to move the BLM to Grand Junction comes after years of tireless work from local leaders and economic groups, as well as dozens of state and federal officials. I, along with Sen. Cory Gardner, began holding conversations during town halls and meetings in 2016 to get input on how Washington could do a better job managing public lands, and the idea of moving the BLM west was born. I went back to Washington and introduced legislation requiring Interior to submit a strategy to Congress for moving the BLM headquarters west.” [Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, 7/21/19 (=)]

Op-Ed: Trump Let Down American Hunters And Anglers. According to an op-ed by Marcia Brownlee in The Hill, “America’s hunters and anglers are a diverse group that come from across the nation: from rural and urban areas, from Democratic and Republican states. We do not agree on everything, but we do agree that we must work diligently to protect our natural spaces and the resources that support our outdoor traditions. Conservation requires collaboration to ensure that future generations can enjoy the same experiences we do. Despite what his recent comments suggest, President Trump has not lived up to this spirit of collaboration or conservation. On July 8, the president gave a speech from the White House praising his administration’s record of protecting our outdoor spaces and wildlife. Echoed by several of his cabinet secretaries, the president’s remarks obscured an agenda that has done the exact opposite. Hunters and anglers who rely on healthy lands and waters know the value of protecting these landscapes and resources. As a hunter and angler, I was disappointed by the president’s rhetoric — and I know that much of it is simply not true. In my own backyard, the Department of Interior recently drafted plans that deny protection to 100,000 acres of land in north-central Montana, land which has been identified as prime wilderness area. The plan also eliminates all existing areas of critical environmental concern — areas like the Rocky Mountain Front and the Judith Mountains, Square Butte and Blacktail Creek.” [The Hill, 7/19/19 (+)]

Op-Ed: How To Save The Amazon Rain Forest. According to an op-ed by Lisa Viscidi and Enrique Ortiz in the New York Times, “Throughout the Amazon region, human activities like agricultural production, infrastructure development and logging are leading to alarming levels of deforestation. After impressive advances like the tripling of protected areas in Colombia, we are now seeing backsliding or insufficient improvement throughout the basin. Policies that are sound on paper often succumb to the combination of weak institutions and inadequate enforcement coupled with powerful economic forces, both legal and illegal, driving activities that destroy forests. The Amazon rain forest plays a critical role as a carbon sink, mediator of the global water cycle and cradle of biodiversity. Massive loss of the Amazon rain forest would spell catastrophe not just for the 30 million people living in the basin but also for the world. Half of the world’s tropical forests are in the Amazon, and yet deforestation produces 8 percent of net global emissions, more than the entire European Union. Scientists warn that we may be close to a ‘tipping point’ — a degree of deforestation at which the Amazon basin will no longer be able to generate its own rainfall by recycling moisture and thus cease to support rain forest ecosystems. According to a 2018 study by the World Wildlife Fund, as much as half of wildlife in the world’s richest forests, like the Amazon, could be at risk of extinction in the next century.” [New York Times, 7/19/19 (+)]

Op-Ed: New York State Of Wind. According to an op-ed by Carolyn Kissane in The Hill, “Offshore wind is coming to New York. Last month New Jersey, in what was then the largest offshore wind procurement in the United States, announced a 1.1 gigawatts project off the coast of Atlantic City. The bid went to Orsted. Not to be outdone, New York State then announced the largest offshore wind power project, with two new projects totally over 1.7 gigawatts. New York State aims to have 9 gigawatts (9000 MW) of wind by 2035, an ambitious target; the state is starting at zero. Three companies share New York State’s offshore wind bids. Norway’s Equinor gets to build out Empire Wind with 60 to 80 wind turbines off the southeast coast of Long Island with 816 megawatts of production. Sunrise Wind, a joint venture between Denmark’s Orsted and U.S.-energy company Eversource, will build out 880 megawatts 30 miles off of Montauk Point. All in, a lot of new wind turbines are coming to New York. New York Governor Cuomo this week signed into law a new bill ramping up the state’s climate goals. Sitting next to Al Gore, Cuomo committed his state to reducing greenhouse gases 85 percent by 2050, a 5 percent increase from earlier targets, and now the most ambitious CO2 reduction of any state, even surpassing California. New York workers will also benefit from these new energy projects. Building out New York’s wind energy vision requires new transmission infrastructure, wind-ready offshore ports and skilled workers who can install and manage the turbines.” [The Hill, 7/20/19 (+)]

States

Alaska

'A Death Spiral For Research’: Arctic Scientists Worried As Alaska Universities Face 40% Funding Cut. According to Inside Climate News, “The University of Alaska Fairbanks is a hub for Arctic climate research, and a magnet for top scientists and international collaborations—and it’s in trouble. Alaska Gov. Michael Dunleavy has slashed the university system’s state funding by more than 40 percent, and efforts in the legislature to restore the money have so far failed. It’s not yet clear how the funding cut will play out at the universities, but some experts worry that when it comes to the future of climate science there, the damage is already done. ‘Researchers are going to leave—that’s the bottom line,’ said John Walsh, the chief scientist at UAF’s International Arctic Research Center. ‘They’ll take their research funding elsewhere.’With experts on permafrost, short-lived climate pollutants, sea ice and more, UAF has earned a reputation as a leader in Arctic climate research. Its research is often the product of years of work with partners from universities worldwide. While much of the funding for that research comes from federal grants, the Republican governor’s state funding cuts signal an uncertain future for the university—one that will likely send faculty and graduate students elsewhere, and which could slow momentum on crucial monitoring projects that are helping scientists grapple with the rapid rate of climate change in the Arctic.” [Inside Climate News, 7/19/19 (=)]

Colorado

Colorado Springs, Aurora Seek To Drill On Proposed Homestake Creek Dam Sites. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, “The cities of Colorado Springs and Aurora are increasing their efforts to develop a reservoir on lower Homestake Creek in the Eagle River basin that would hold between 6,850 acre-feet and 20,000 acre-feet of water. The two Front Range cities, working together as Homestake Partners, have filed an application with the U.S. Forest Service to drill test bores at four potential dam sites on the creek, renowned for its complex wetlands. They briefed members of Colorado’s congressional delegation in April about federal legislation they are drafting to adjust the Holy Cross Wilderness boundary near the dam sites. […] The 20,000-acre-foot version would flood a corner of the wilderness area but would also require moving Homestake Road up the mountainside, impacting 500 acres. An adjustment to a wilderness boundary requires an act of Congress. In April, representatives from the two cities described the potential boundary change to staffers of U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner and U.S. Reps. Scott Tipton, Jason Crow, Joe Neguse and Doug Lamborn. Fitzwilliams said Monday the Forest Service won’t accept a full-blown land-use application for Whitney Reservoir until the wilderness boundary issues are resolved. A 2016 study estimated between 26 and 180 acres of wetlands on lower Homestake Creek would be impacted by Whitney Reservoir.” [Colorado Springs Gazette, 7/21/19 (=)]

Hunters Gain New Ground In Colo. According to E&E News, “Colorado officials yesterday approved a measure to open an additional 100,000 acres of state lands for the upcoming hunting season, winning praise from sportsmen’s groups that have pushed the state to increase access to its state trust lands. The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission also voted to expand seasonal hunting and fishing access to state trusts to nearly 1 million acres over several years, more than double the existing 480,000 acres in use. ‘Colorado is a growing state with increased demand for recreation, hunting and angling throughout Colorado,’ state Department of Natural Resources Executive Director Dan Gibbs said in a statement. ‘In the coming years, Governor [Jared] Polis and the Department of Natural Resources will continue to seek additional access opportunities to encourage Coloradans to experience, explore, and enjoy the outdoors.’ According to a study released last month by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Colorado allows hunting and fishing access to only 20% of its state trust lands, and typically for only six months annually (Greenwire, June 20). A majority of Colorado’s state trust lands, about 1.79 million acres, or 64%, are closed to the public due to state policies or are leased to private individuals for recreation or other purposes.” [E&E News, 7/19/19 (=)]

VP Mike Pence to attend campaign events for Trump, Cory Gardner in Colorado on Monday. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, “Vice President Mike Pence is planning to return to Colorado on Monday to support President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign and U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner’s reelection bid, Republican sources say. The vice president will be attending a fundraiser for the Trump Victory Committee — a joint fundraising operation for the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee — in Aspen, as well as an event for Gardner’s campaign on the northern Front Range, according to Republican sources. Billed as a ‘VIP Reception’ with Pence, the Aspen fundraiser is hosted by RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, RNC Co-Chairman Tommy Hicks Jr. and Todd Ricketts, a co-owner of the Chicago Cubs and the GOP’s national finance chairman, according to an invitation obtained by Colorado Politics.” [Colorado Springs Gazette, 7/19/19 (=)]

Maine

Maine Political Leaders Promise To Press Trump For State’s Lobster Haulers Opposed To New Rules. According to the Bangor Daily News, “Mainers who haul lobsters for a living do not kill right whales. That was the message from a rally at Stonington’s commercial fishing pier on Sunday attended by more than 500 people, including Gov. Janet Mills, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, and U.S. Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree. At issue are pending federal regulations aimed at protecting the endangered right whale, which can be killed by getting tangled in lobster trap-lines, but would force state lobstermen to cut the number of lines they can put into the water by 60 percent. Rally speakers said that the rule would devastate the state’s lobster industry, which contributes an estimated $1 billion to Maine’s economy, while doing nothing to protect the whales, which, as a recent scientific study shows, seldom stray into the lobstering waters of the Gulf of Maine. According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, no right whales have died from entanglement in Maine fishing lines in many years, as increasingly rising ocean temperatures have driven the whales and the food they eat into Canadian territory.” [Bangor Daily News, 7/21/19 (=)]

Hard To Believe, But Sen. Collins Is Underwater. According to the Portland Press-Herald, “Susan Collins is underwater. If you said Monday follows Thursday, it would be easier to believe. But, in the Morning Consult quarterly tracking poll, more Mainers viewed their senior senator unfavorably than favorably, by a rate of 48 to 45. That’s a 16 percent fall from where she was at the beginning of the year in the same poll, and a far cry from where she has stood for years, when she was ranked among the most popular senators in the nation. Now her picture lands in the gallery of the 10 least popular, with only Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a man who makes Machiavelli look like a rube, beneath her. What does it mean? First some caveats. It doesn’t mean that she is going to lose the next election. Despite his unpopularity, McConnell is the odds-on favorite in his race, and of the other eight senators in the Morning Consult’s least popular gallery, four were on the ballot last year and won. Former Gov. Paul LePage never won any popularity contests, and he won two statewide races. Donald Trump is nothing but formidable, even with a job approval rating that rarely nudges 40 percent. The election is more than a year away and the Democrats won’t know their nominee until next June. A lot can happen in that time.” [Portland Press-Herald, 7/21/19 (=)]

Michigan

Utility Aims To Slash CO2 By Purchasing 3 New Wind Parks. According to E&E News, “DTE Energy is planning to buy three new wind parks in Michigan that are expected to help lower carbon emissions from the utility’s operations. The Detroit-based utility says Michigan’s Public Service Commission has granted conditional approval for the proposed purchase. Two of the wind parks are in mid-Michigan’s Isabella County. They are expected to begin commercial operation next year. The third park will be in Delta County in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Together, they are expected to increase DTE Energy’s renewable energy portfolio by nearly 50%. The utility says the projects will offset nearly 890,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually. DTE Energy Chief Executive Jerry Norcia says investing in renewable energy is a key part of the utility’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions by at least 80% by 2040.” [E&E News, 7/22/19 (=)]

New York

New York's Climate Plan Will Drive Big Changes, If It Works. According to NBC New York, “Solar panels on every roof. Parking meters that double as car chargers. Wind turbines towering above farm fields and ocean waves. A new law signed Thursday by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sets the nation’s most aggressive targets for reducing carbon emissions and is intended to drive dramatic changes over the next 30 years. It calls for all the state’s electricity to come from renewable, carbon-free sources such as solar, wind and hydropower. Transportation and building heating systems would also run on clean electricity rather than oil and gas. ‘The environment and climate change are the most critically important policy priorities we face,’ the Democratic governor said in announcing his signing of the sweeping climate legislation and the nation’s largest offshore wind project. ‘They literally will determine the future — or the lack thereof.’ But while the legislation’s goals are clear, details on how to achieve them have yet to be determined. It isn’t clear how much all this change will cost, or even whether it is all technically feasible. Some critics call the plan impractical. ‘It would require massive deployment of both onshore and offshore wind, which is going to be enormously costly,’ said Robert Bryce, an energy specialist at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. ‘You already have local opposition to onshore wind that has stymied the state’s ability to build any new capacity.’” [NBC New York, 7/21/19 (+)]

New York's Mighty (Offshore) Wind. According to Axios, “New York State officials yesterday announced that Norway-based Equinor and a joint venture that includes Denmark’s Orsted had won the solicitation to build 2 large offshore wind projects totaling around 1.7 gigawatts. Why it matters: It’s the biggest offshore wind agreement in the U.S. to date and, per New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, will provide enough electricity for over 1 million homes. The projects — 1 from Equinor and another from Orsted-Eversource Energy JV — are slated for completion by 2024, per Greentech Media. Quick take: It highlights something we wrote about in March — the marriage of aggressive policies in northeastern U.S. and deep-pocketed, experienced Europe-based players is finally jumpstarting offshore wind in the U.S. Where it stands: Action in several states is leading some analysts to revise their projections for U.S. offshore wind. Bloomberg NEF recently upgraded their forecast to 15.4 GW of U.S. offshore wind capacity by 2030, up from 11.4 GW in their prior analysis. Max Cohen of IHS Markit says that consultancy will soon be revising its estimates too, from the current projection of 7 GW by 2030. Combine the ‘flurry’ of contracting from New York and New Jersey with the legislative mandates for offshore wind in NY, Connecticut and Maryland, and the estimate rises a lot, Cohen says via email.” [Axios, 7/19/19 (=)]

Utah

Wet Spring Brings More Bears Closer To Civilization. According to E&E News, “Reports of bears coming down from the mountains and rummaging through backyards and campgrounds in Utah have more than doubled from the same time last year following a wet spring and an increase in their numbers, wildlife officials say. It comes as conflicts between people and bears have been on the rise elsewhere in the U.S. as populations grow in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho and on the East Coast. Utah’s Division of Wildlife Resources has received more than 25 reports of black bears getting into trash cans and campsites so far this year, spokeswoman Faith Jolley said. Most of the reports have been in central Utah, according to numbers released Wednesday. The agency tallied 27 bear encounters for all of 2018. The sharp increase can be attributed to a larger bear population across the Wasatch Front and a wet spring that kept bears hibernating and hungrier longer than usual, said Riley Peck, a wildlife biologist with the agency. Peck said last year’s dry summer sent leaner bears into hibernation. That, combined with a very wet, cold spring, ‘could be making the bears a little bolder in trying to acquire their needed calories,’ he said.” [E&E News, 7/19/19 (=)]

West Virginia

Editorial: West Virginians Need Answers On China Deal. According to the Huntington Herald Dispatch Editorial Board, “If something sounds too good to be true How many of us thought those words a couple of years ago when West Virginia officials announced the big development deal with China? Gov. Jim Justice and other state officials announced in late 2017 that they had entered into an agreement with the China Energy Investment Corp. on a number of shale gas development and chemical manufacturing projects in West Virginia over the next 20 years. It truly was a big deal — $83.7 billion. Since the announcement, few details have been released. Despite efforts by news outlets, including The Herald-Dispatch, to obtain a copy of the memorandum of understanding signed between the state and the corporation, it has been sealed by a judge. In short, we’ve been told there is a deal, but no one knows what the timetables are or what the state’s obligations are. Earlier this month, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., expressed concerns about the China deal at a Senate committee meeting. Manchin said he believes China wants the LNG, propane, ethane and butane, but the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has not done a review on such a request. ‘It could take away our building stock for manufacturing,’ he said. ‘And I can’t believe that this administration would allow in any way, shape or form for this project to go on.’” [Huntington Herald Dispatch, 7/20/19 (=)]

Chad Ellwood

Research Associate

cellwood@cacampaign.com

202.448.2877 ext. 119