| | | | | |  | | By Annie Snider | Presented by ExxonMobil | With help from Alex Guillén and Eric Wolff. Editor's Note: Morning Energy is a free version of POLITICO Pro Energy's morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day's biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro. | | | | | | | — President Joe Biden has revived the idea of a carbon tax, but climate hawks on Capitol Hill hope he will give them time to work through the tricky politics of the issue. — A cold snap that resulted in rolling blackouts in Texas this weekend will be front of mind when FERC meets Thursday to consider the grid resilience docket it had been widely expected to close. — The Biden EPA asked a court Friday to keep the Trump EPA's repeal of the Clean Power Plan on the books for the time being. WELCOME TO TUESDAY! I'm your fill-in host, Annie Snider. Congratulations to MJ Marshall of Grayling, who was the first of many to know that it was Martin Luther King, Jr. who convinced actress Nichelle Nichols to stay on "Star Trek." She later went on to recruit women and people of color to NASA. Today's trivia comes from 3-year-old Henry: Army ants march for 15 days at a time, building a nest out of their bodies each night to protect their queen and her larvae. What is the name for this nest? Check out the POLITICO Energy podcast — all the energy and environmental politics and policy news you need to start your day, in just five minutes. Listen and subscribe for free at politico.com/energy-podcast. On today's episode: The evolving face of environmentalism | | | | A message from ExxonMobil: As part of our ongoing commitment to help mitigate the risks of climate change, we plan to further reduce emissions in our operations by 2025. Our plans are expected to reduce our absolute upstream greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 30%, compared to 2016 levels. Learn more about the details of our plan to reduce our emissions. | | | | | | THE TRICKY POLITICS OF A CARBON TAX: The Biden administration's sweeping climate change agenda has some lawmakers quietly considering whether to push for a tax on carbon emission, but some of Capitol Hill's fiercest climate hawks are hoping the administration will give lawmakers time to work through delicate politics, Zack Colman reports this morning. Biden's campaign platform included an "enforcement mechanism" for reducing emissions, which many interpreted as a carbon tax. And major trade groups that have long been aligned with Republicans, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Petroleum Institute and Business Roundtable, have endorsed a loosely defined "market-based" mechanism for dealing with emissions. But many progressive Democrats have grown wary of carbon tax plans, fearing that they are too modest to fully deal with the emissions problem and that they fail to address the disproportionate impact that pollution has on low-income and communities of color. After running for president in 2016 on the idea of a carbon tax, Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) appeared to back away from the idea in 2020, although he and Green New Deal co-author Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) have indicated it could be included as part of climate legislation. But a carbon tax bill sweetened with goodies to attract the reluctant left could come at the expense of Republicans who are more likely to be swayed by the economic argument that a simple fee is more efficient and offers regulatory certainty to industry. Meanwhile, fossil fuel defenders on the Democratic party's right flank — notably Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia — aren't budging from their opposition. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) urged Biden to be patient: "I just don't think he will be as successful if he tries to cook up a climate bill in the opening months of his administration and then present it to Congress. I think it becomes a target at that point," the carbon price supporter said in an interview. COLD SNAP MESSES WITH TEXAS: FERC Chairman Rich Glick had been widely expected to use Thursday's open meeting to close the docket on grid resilience, but the cold snap that caused rolling blackouts in Texas and elsewhere may put those concerns back on the agenda. The commission had taken no real action under the previous two chairs on that docket, which was largely seen as a sop after the Trump administration's failed efforts to help bail out the coal power sector. But after 30 gigawatts of power generation fell off the Texas grid Monday morning amid freezing temperatures, the topic may get fresh life. FERC's jurisdiction largely stops at the Texas border, of course, but the problems in recent days there show how vulnerabilities to extreme weather could affectd grids across the nation. What went down: The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages most of Texas' power, said that it lost generation "across fuel types." But by Monday afternoon, the bulk of the losses — about 26 GW — appeared to be mostly from natural gas, according to a review of ERCOT data by Princeton University's Jesse Jenkins, while wind generators lost about 4 GW. Between midnight and 1:17 a.m. on Monday morning, as wind turbines froze and thermal units dropped off the system, the operator zoomed from normal levels to its most stringent emergency status, which calls on industrial customers to slash their load and utilities to start cutting demand in order to prevent an uncontrolled power failure. The drop in power production affected about 40 percent of ERCOT's forecasted demand . Rolling blackouts ensued, with power distributors like Oncor and CenterPoint Energy telling customers to be prepared for hours without electricity. ERCOT was bringing some power back into the system late Monday, restoring electricity to 500,000 homes, but millions of customers faced a frigid night. And not just Texas: Entergy-Texas, which supplies power to eastern Texas under the auspices of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, implemented rolling blackouts in its service territory, and the Southwest Power Pool, a grid operator that manages power for 14 Midwestern and Southwestern states, also issued a Stage 2 emergency, which calls for demand reduction but no rolling blackouts. But unlike Texas, these operators are both FERC regulated, putting pressure on Glick and his colleagues to decide what, if any, systemic changes are needed. FERC ready to dig in: "[FERC ]is in contact with ERCOT, SPP and MISO – as the regions served by these grid operators have been particularly hard hit by record cold and wintry precipitation. Safeguarding the reliability of the bulk power system is paramount and I have directed FERC staff to coordinate closely with the RTOs/ISOs, utilities, NERC, and regional reliability entities to do what we can to help," Glick said in a statement. "In the days ahead, we will be examining the root causes of these reliability events, but, for now, the focus must remain on restoring power as quickly as possible and keeping people safe during this incredibly challenging situation." | | | | TUNE IN TO GLOBAL TRANSLATIONS: Our Global Translations podcast, presented by Citi, examines the long-term costs of the short-term thinking that drives many political and business decisions. The world has long been beset by big problems that defy political boundaries, and these issues have exploded over the past year amid a global pandemic. This podcast helps to identify and understand the impediments to smart policymaking. Subscribe and start listening today. | | | | | | | | BILL GATES' CLIMATE CALL: Bill Gates is not interested in talking about far-fetched ideas like eliminating fossil fuels in a decade, nor in narrow solutions, like trying to make electric vehicles slightly cheaper. What he wants, Gates said in an interview with Kelsey Tamborrino, is for President Joe Biden to push for investment in technology that could eliminate greenhouse gases by the middle of the century, especially from sectors like steel, concrete, aviation and farming, that have seen little progress to date. ME's Gates bonus round: Gates is brimming with insights into the nation's climate and energy situation – and he shared so many with Kelsey that we're going to bring some more to ME readers over the next couple of days. Grid reliability in a net-zero carbon future: Without a major build out of the nation's transmission system, Gates argues that ambitious renewable energy goals like the state of California's simply won't be achievable. One of his recent pet projects has been to model out the grid and all of the sources and uses of electricity, then run through various extreme weather events to test the system's reliability. "We're lucky North America actually has a scale , that the wind is usually blowing somewhere and the sun is usually shining somewhere, and so that no single weather front, even if it shuts down the Midwest, is going to shut down all of the North American continent," he told Kelsey, noting that the diversity of supply decreases the need for emergency storage. But getting states that have been drawn to low-cost, low-risk natural gas on board for approving new, high-voltage transmission lines will be crucial to enabling a net-zero electric system. "The state piece has got to come in, because [without it] you'll never get those right of ways. You'll never get the consensus," Gates said. | | | |   | | | | | | GRIJALVA TALKS EJ STICKING POINTS: As the Biden administration moves to prioritize environmental justice and support for disadvantaged communities, House Natural Resources Chairman Raúl Grijalva acknowledges that thorny issues abound. In a conversation with Pro's Anthony Adragna and Zack Colman last week, the longtime environmental justice advocate said that details about the Biden administration's vow to provide 40 percent of benefits to disadvantaged communities must be "fleshed out," and he admitted that identifying eligible populations will be challenging. But the Arizona Democrat said he sees political necessity of including coal towns and other former fossil fuel-producing communities in those prioritized for support. "Transition communities have to be part of the investment going forward, because that's where the attention has to be paid into that transition, because that's where the pushback is going to happen with regard to any effort to try to go either on climate change or [environmental justice]," he said. Read the full Q&A here. CLIMATE HAWK TAKES KEY APPROPRIATIONS GAVEL: Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), a staunch advocate for action on climate change, will chair the Appropriations Committee subpanel responsible for funding the EPA and Interior Department, the full committee announced Friday. Merkley, an original cosponsor of the Green New Deal resolution, S. Res. 59 (116), replaces retired Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) as the top Democrat on the subpanel. Anthony's got more for Pros on key Appropriations changes. STICK WITH NORDSTREAM II SANCTIONS: Sens. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) wrote Biden Friday urging him to fully implement sanctions passed by Congress after recent press reports that the German government had pitched President Donald Trump on building some liquefied natural gas import infrastructure there in exchange for the U.S. holding off on implementing the sanctions. "Opposition to the pipeline has been U.S. policy since the Obama Administration, and this policy continues to enjoy strong, bipartisan support," the bipartisan pair of senators wrote. | | | | GET TRANSITION PLAYBOOK TO 100K: In three months, our scoop-filled Transition Playbook newsletter has grown from zero to more than 90,000 subscribers. Find out what's really happening inside the West Wing, who really has the ear of the president, and what's about to happen, before it occurs. Transition Playbook chronicles the people, policies, and emerging power centers of the Biden administration. Don't miss out, subscribe today. And once you do, we'd be grateful if you could spread the word to your friends and colleagues, or, even better, post about Transition Playbook on Facebook or Twitter using this link: politico.com/newsletters/transition-playbook | | | | | | | | BIDEN IS OFFICIALLY A 'NO' ON THE CPP: The Biden administration moved Friday to keep the Trump EPA's repeal of the Clean Power Plan on the books for the time being -- but only for wonky legal reasons. The D.C. Circuit's Jan. 19 ruling striking down Trump's ACE rule (Reg. 2060-AT67) also reversed EPA's decision to repeal the CPP. But the court did not go so far in that ruling as to reinstate the Obama rule, which by now has deadlines and emissions targets half a decade out of date (and that have already been achieved, EPA noted). The agency said it has received questions from "multiple states" about whether they have any current regulatory obligations. So in order to "leave no room for doubt," EPA in a Friday motion asked the D.C. Circuit to "withhold the mandate" on its ruling regarding the CPP repeal — legalese that would mean the court will not formally strike the CPP repeal rule from the books for the time being. That would guarantee there is no greenhouse gas rule for existing power plants in place, the agency argued, and the states can be sure they do not have to act. It also means the agency once again will face a legal obligation to issue a regulation since the underlying endangerment finding remains in place, though of course Biden had long planned to write a new rule. None of the participants opposed the motion, so there's a good chance it will be granted. Still to be seen is whether any of the pro-ACE rule states or companies try to appeal the ruling. HAWAIIAN CLIMATE CASES SENT BACK TO STATE COURT: A federal judge on Friday sent a pair of climate change lawsuits brought by Honolulu and Maui back to state court, the latest in a string of such rulings around the country. Like other states and cities, the Hawaiian localities are seeking common law damages from fossil fuel companies which they allege did not disclose the dangers of climate change. As elsewhere, the companies tried to move them to federal court, where conditions are considered more favorable. But in a familiar tale, Judge Derrick Watson of the U.S. District Court for Hawaii rejected the companies' reasoning and concluded there is "no basis for federal jurisdiction" over the cases. Of course, that could change should the Supreme Court side with the companies in the Baltimore case heard last month. 9th CIRCUIT HALTS CONOCOPHILLIPS ARCTIC PROJECT: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit issued an injunction Saturday, requiring ConocoPhillips to halt work on its Willow project in the western Arctic on federal lands in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, while the court weighs an appeal in a case brought by environmental and native groups challenging the Bureau of Land Management's approval of key permits. | | | | A message from ExxonMobil: We've announced plans to reduce the intensity of our emissions, which we expect to reduce our absolute upstream greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 30%, compared to 2016 levels. Similarly, absolute flaring and methane emissions are expected to decrease by 40-50%. Through continued application of operational efficiencies and deployment of lower-emission technologies, such as carbon capture, our plans drive meaningful near-term emission reductions and are consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Learn more about the details of our plan to reduce our emissions. | | | | | | Abby Tinsley has been promoted to Associate Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs at the National Wildlife Federation. | | | — "VW 'unintended victim' in battery supplier dispute, seeks four-year reprieve," via Reuters. — "There's an invisible climate threat seeping from grocery store freezers. Biden wants to change that," via Washington Post. — "Northwest Natural Gas Company's Plan For A Carbon Neutral Gas System," via NPR. — "Texas oil refineries shut as winter storm hits U.S. energy sector," via Reuters. THAT'S ALL FOR ME! | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment