OVERNIGHT ENERGY: EPA’s McCarthy defends agency’s science

by Timothy Cama and Laura Barron-Lopez - 04/28/14 6:23 PM ET

THAT SNEAKY SCIENCE: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Gina McCarthy sought to dismantle all accusations that the science behind the agency’s key regulations are “secret.”

{mosads}McCarthy tore into critics for claiming th EPA has used faulty science to back its core climate regulations, among others, which seek to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.

“You can’t just claim the science isn’t real when it doesn’t align well with your political or financial interests,” McCarthy said on Monday at the National Academy of Sciences’ 151st annual meeting.

NATURAL GAS: Head of the Energy Information Administration Adam Sieminski will deliver remarks at the Natural Gas Roundtable luncheon on Tuesday.

DOE: Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will testify Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee on the department’s ability to drive innovation through federal investments.

ENERGY PROWESS: The Atlantic Council will continue the conference it started on Tuesday about the foreign policy implications of United States energy prowess. The event on Capitol Hill will feature speeches by Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Michael Turner (R-Ohio), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), along with Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.). The event will also feature government leaders from the Czech Republic, Romania, Latvia, Poland and Hungary.

Rest of Tuesday’s agenda …

The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Environment and Economy subcommittee will hold a hearing on Rep. John Shimkus’s (R-Ill.) proposed Chemicals in Commerce Act. Democrats on the panel wrote to Shimkus, its chairman, on Monday to object to the bill, which they said would override state and local laws regarding hydraulic fracturing chemicals.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee will begin debate on the markup of Rep. Cory Gardner’s (D-Colo.) bill that would allow for expedited liquified natural gas exports to Ukraine and Eastern European countries.

Mike Rowe of the Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” will be the star witness at a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on energy industry jobs for skilled workers. The panel will also hear from labor and business representatives.

Sens. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) will attend the Assembly of the Friends of Azerbaijan for its convention on Tuesday to discuss energy security and Azerbaijan’s role in transporting energy sources through the Eurasian energy corridor.

The Fuels America coalition will host a discussion on cellulosic ethanol and the implications of reducing the renewable fuel mandate. A number of biofuel industry representatives will participate in the event.

AROUND THE WEB:

The Justice Department is fighting Transocean’s attempt to overturn five subpoenas the Chemical Safety Board has issued in its investigation into the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Houston Chronicle reports.

Developers are halting investments in the Bluegrass Pipeline after the Army Corps of Engineers asked for detailed information on how the project would affect streams and other bodies of water, the Louisville, Ky., Courier-Journal reports.

The drought in California is spurring water agencies in the state to start selling the first $200 million in bonds toward a $25 billion project to build two new 30-mile water tunnels to bring water to southern California, Bloomberg News reports.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out the energy and environment stories that ran in The Hill Monday …

– Cassidy urges Landrieu to help bypass Obama on Keystone
– House Dems: Bill weakens chemical safety
– Sanctions hit CEO of Russian oil giant
– Pebble Mine backers ready EPA pushback
– Green group slams ‘big oil’-backed Colorado ad, Rep. Gardner
– Rep. Shuster: EPA’s water rule would hurt natural gas industry
– Rep. Cassidy blasts new Landrieu ad
– DOE issues guidance on electric grid cybersecurity
– EPA chief slams ‘secret science’ claims
– Sen. Landrieu touts Republican supporter in new campaign ad
– Coal and nuclear power plant retirements to impact carbon emissions