E2 Morning Roundup: Reid to highlight efficiency, report urges changes at U.N. climate panel, Interior toughens drilling ethics rules, and more

Cuccinelli climate probe contained, not stopped

From E2 Monday:

A Virginia judge has put the brakes on state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s (R) probe of prominent climate scientist Michael Mann’s research while Mann was at the University of Virginia.

Albemarle County Circuit Court Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. on Monday formally set aside the AG’s “civil investigative demand” to the university — essentially a subpoena — for certain e-mails and documents.

The fallout: Cuccinelli says he’ll try again, climate advocates decry ‘witch hunt’

Mann applauded the judge’s ruling. “It is a victory not just for me and the university, but for all scientists who live in fear that they may be subject to a politically motivated witch hunt when their research findings prove inconvenient to powerful vested interests,” he said.



Cuccinelli said in a statement Monday that the glass is half full, noting the judge found that the university could be subjected to civil investigative demands. The ruling “has given us a framework for issuing a new civil investigative demand to get the information necessary to continue our investigation into whether or not fraud has been committed against the commonwealth,” the AG said.

EPA floats revised auto mileage labels

From E2 Monday:

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department are floating what they call the biggest overhaul of auto fuel-economy labels in three decades by including greenhouse gas information and making other changes to keep pace with technologies like electric vehicles.

 The agencies jointly offered two options for comment Monday, including one that would give each vehicle a letter grade of A+ though D (apparently no guzzler would flunk outright).

Auto trade group is wary

Gloria Bergquist of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers tells The Hill that the group is skeptical of the letter grades. “When you use a letter like A through D, it really does remind people of school,” she said Monday. The group is worried that letter grades reflecting mileage and carbon emissions don’t paint a sufficient picture for buyers.

Bergquist, the group’s vice president of communications and public affairs, also noted that the Internet — not showrooms — is where most shoppers go first for info on cars. That means it’s important for the agencies to get the info online, not just on window stickers in the showroom.

“By the time you get to point of purchase, a lot of decisions have been made,” she said.

Dems keep Feingold opponent’s ‘sunspots’ climate remark alive 

Wisconsin’s top Democrats are reminding Badger State voters that Republican Ron Johnson, who is challenging Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), recently blamed global warming on sunspots. WisPolitics.com has a recap of Sunday’s debate between state Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate and state Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus.

“Tate knocked Johnson for saying he’s open to oil drilling in the Great Lakes, for defending BP while holding stock in the company, for saying he’s against government subsidies yet accepting $4 million in government-backed bonds for his business, for suggesting sunspots are more to blame than man for global warming and for considering elimination of home mortgage interest deductions,” the website reports.

EPA-Texas battle over air permits heats up

Dow Jones reports:

“Two environmental groups said Monday they filed a motion with a federal court to join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a legal battle against the State of Texas over air permits.”

“The Environmental Defense Fund and the Environmental Integrity Project filed the motion Friday at a New Orleans federal court of appeals to obtain ‘full party’ status as a defendant along with the EPA, which is being sued by the Texas State Attorney General, Greg Abbott, over a decision to strike down air permits issued by the state’s emission authority.”

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