OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Lame-duck battle on renewables escalates

The prospects are unclear for continuing the Treasury Department grants for wind, solar and other projects. But the issue has become a priority for some Democrats, says Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.).

With several energy provisions — including expiring ethanol tax credits — up in the air, there might be deals to be made that would help bring Democrats upset with continued tax cuts for the wealthy into the fold. Udall mentioned the phrase “quid pro quo.” (Although for the record, he opposes the tax package.)

We hear that Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) have about a dozen co-signers thus far on a letter that says the lawmakers would have difficulty voting for a tax package that excludes the grants.

Across the Capitol, Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Rush Holt (D-N.J.) and Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) are gathering signatures on a letter to House Democratic leaders that calls for extending the grants in “any appropriate legislative vehicle before Congress adjourns.”

“This program has proven that it will increase jobs, increase the market share for U.S. renewable energy companies, and reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy,” they wrote.

On tap Thursday: Big renewables summit

The American Council on Renewable Energy is hosting a big summit in the Cannon House Office Building. The goal? To “lay the groundwork for a new, collaborative national renewable energy policy agenda.”

Speakers are scheduled to include Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, and many others.

On tap Thursday II: Nukes panel mulls small reactors

The Energy Department’s Nuclear Energy Advisoy Committee meets at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, D.C. The agenda includes discussion of DOE’s exploration of small modular reactors, an idea that has gained increasing attention on Capitol Hill and gained a fan in Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

On Tap Thursday III: Sutley to speak at Cancun talks

White
House Council for Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley will speak
at United Nations climate negotiations in Cancun, Mexico, Thursday. Her
topic? “GreenGov: The Role of the U.S. Federal Government Operations in
Reducing GHG Pollution.” Her talk starts at 11:45 CST. That’s 12:45 EST.

On Tap Thursday IV: Vilsack
to hold call on climate change and farmers

Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack will also attend the Cancun negotiations Thursday.
He’s planning to hold a conference call with reporters at 3:30 EST on
how famers can deal with the impacts of climate change.

News Bites:

Some power companies say EPA is A-OK

A group of power
companies is taking
the Wall Street Journal’s op-ed page to task for its
allegation last month that various EPA air pollution rules — notably
proposed sulfur dioxide standards — amount to an “unprecedented” and
harmful regulatory “assault.”

“Many companies, including ours,
have already invested in modern air-pollution control technologies and
cleaner and more efficient power plants. For over a decade, companies
have recognized that the industry would need to install controls to
comply with the act’s air toxicity requirements, and the technology
exists to cost effectively control such emissions, including mercury and
acid gases,” states a letter to the editor Wednesday from PG&E,
Exelon Corp., Constellation Energy and several other companies.

“Contrary
to the claims that the EPA’s agenda will have negative economic
consequences, our companies’ experience complying with air quality
regulations demonstrates that regulations can yield important economic
benefits, including job creation, while maintaining reliability,” they
write.

Dem senators to Clinton: Keep Copenhagen alive!

Sen.
John Kerry (D-Mass.) and four other Senate Democrats are urging
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to defend the “Copenhagen Accord”
reached at last year’s fractious UN climate summit. Their letter to
Clinton Wednesday comes amid this year’s UN climate talks in Cancun.

The
agreement calls for keeping global temperature increases at or below 2
degrees Celsius — although it isn’t
anywhere near tough enough to achieve that — and addresses
issues including deforestation and financing for developing nations.

“As people from around the world gather in Cancun, Mexico this week
for the high-level segment of negotiations under the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change, we want to express our support
for a balanced agreement that includes all the elements of the
Copenhagen Accord,” states the letter from Kerry, and Sens. Barbara
Boxer (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and
Ben Cardin (D-Md.).

“Last year in Copenhagen, the United
States helped shepherd an agreement that has received support from over
130 countries, representing more than 80 percent of global emissions. As
the threats posed by climate change continue to mount, we must continue
to make comparable progress on implementing the Accord’s building
blocks-mitigation, transparency, adaptation, technology, financing, and
forests,” it adds.

No final decisions on Energy and Commerce
subcommittees until next week

In a vote Wednesday, House
Republicans confirmed what we all knew Tuesday night: Rep. Fred Upton
(R-Mich.) will

chair the Energy and Commerce Committee. In a statement, Upton
said, “We must work towards a new era of less government and more jobs
— the administration’s rampant spending and unfettered, two-year
assault on the health, energy, and telecommunications sectors is now
over.” While there is talk of Upton appointing Rep. Ed Whitfield as
chairman of the energy and environment subcommittee, his spokesman says
there will be no final decisions until next week, once the lawmaker
talks with the other members of the committee.

Hall to lay
out Science panel’s climate agenda in coming weeks

Now
that his Republican colleagues have given

him the House Science and Technology Committee gavel, Rep.
Ralph Hall (R-Texas) isn’t ready to get specific about his plans for
tackling climate science on the panel next year. Hall’s spokesman told
The Hill: “Mr. Hall’s agenda will reflect the priorities of our members.
Once the committee is populated in the coming weeks, and once Mr. Hall
has had a chance to meet with Republican members and review their ideas
and priorities, he will officially roll-out a comprehensive agenda for
the 112th Congress.”

Clean air group slams industry boiler
standards report

Clean air advocates responded quickly
Wednesday to the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement that it
is seeking more time to repropose boiler emissions standards. Clean Air
Watch President Frank O’Donnell said in an email to reporters, “Let’s
hope the EPA takes a close look at this analysis as it moves forward and
does not succumb to the job-killing political pressure from cleanup
opponents.”

And the National Association of Clean Air Agencies is
pushing back against industry claims that meeting the proposed EPA
boiler standard will cost billions of dollars. In an analysis
released Wednesday, NACAA said the claims, originating in an August
study by the Council of Industrial Boiler Operators, are overblown. “To
put it simply, the CIBO report is based on total hyperbole,” NACAA
President Bill Becker told reporters Wednesday.

Greens
blast oil industry oil sands campaign

Environmental groups
slammed the American Petroleum Institute today after the oil industry
trade association announced it will

launch an advertising campaign early next year on “the benefits
of oil sands to U.S. consumers.”

“Additional carbon emissions
from tar sands are significant and we can’t afford to expand that
industry and still have an effective response to climate change,” said
Ken Bruno, campaign director for the No Tar Sands Oil campaign, in a
statement.

“It’s not exactly surprising that the industry is
planning a campaign to hide the health and environmental risks of tar
sands. Opposition to tar sands has been growing as more Americans
learn how nasty this stuff is. If I worked for the oil industry, I’d
be nervous, too,” said Kate Colarulli, dirty fuels campaign director for
the Sierra Club, in a statement.

Hastings fights on in longshot bid for energy jurisdiction

Incoming House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) says his effort to consolidate energy jurisdiction under his panel (and yank it from the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee) is still in flux. Capitol Hill aides and lobbyists call it a longshot, but Hastings says GOP leadership hasn’t ruled out the plan.

“It is still being discussed,” he told reporters in the Capitol. “I am an optimistic guy. … We are having discussions on all the issues that I have been talking about as far as the jurisdiction.”

Oil industry cheers ozone rule delay, wants more

The American Petroleum Institute is welcoming EPA’s decision to delay smog rules that industry groups say would burden the economy. EPA now plans to finalize the rules by late July, but API — the oil industry’s most powerful trade group — says the dekay should be longer, and called on the agency to rethink other plans.

Here’s API Director of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs Howard Feldman: “We welcome the news that EPA will delay its final rule for the ozone NAAQS.  We hope today’s decision means EPA will simply roll this out-of-cycle proposal into the next formal ozone review, which is scheduled to begin shortly. We also hope EPA will now reconsider other costly and unworkable proposals as well, such as the greenhouse gas regulations. EPA’s mission can and should be met through scientifically sound, cost-effective measures that allow for continued economic growth and job creation.”

In Case
You Missed It: Here’s a quick rundown of E2’s Wednesday posts.

Markey
says thousands
of renewable jobs at stake in tax package 

Sen. Udall: Some
Dems see renewables grants as ‘quid
pro quo’ for backing tax package

House shoots
down mine-safety bill

Kerry and Lieberman eye revival of ‘huge
energy debate‘ after cap-and-trade fail

EPA delays
tougher air pollution rules

Oil industry launches
campaign to promote Canadian oil sand imports

Ethanol group says credits
still alive in tax package ‘Survivor’

Enviro, renewables
groups want Dems to ‘make
demands’ for clean energy grants

Around
the Web:

China sticking with its call for voluntary,
non-binding emissions cuts

After a Reuters story raised
speculation that China may commit to binding emissions cuts, a Chinese
official said Wednesday that the comments were misinterpreted.

“China
is standing firm on its position of voluntary, non-binding carbon cuts,
a government official said at the climate change conference in Cancun,
Mexico,” UPI
reports.

EPA says natural gas drilling contaminated
water wells in Texas

“Dallas-based EPA Regional Director Al
Armendariz issued an emergency order yesterday against Range Resources
Corp., charging that its drilling in the Barnett Shale contaminated at
least two water wells with methane and benzene. The order gave Range 48
hours to provide clean drinking water to affected residents and begin
taking steps to resolve the problem,” Greenwire
reports.

“Armendariz’s order is not simply an action
against the company, but a slap at regulators at the Texas Railroad
Commission, whom he accused of not doing enough to help the people
living near the drilling operations in the Fort Worth area.”

Spill
commission chair says BP was ‘breathtakingly inept’

“There is
virtual consensus among all the sophisticated observers of this debacle
that three of the leading players in the industry made a series of
missteps, miscalculations and miscommunications that were breathtakingly
inept and largely preventable,” Reilly said at a conference in New
Orleans Wednesday, according
to Reuters.