E2 Morning Roundup: Murkowski expected to lose top energy panel slot, swing Republicans hold key to renewables battle, House to hear of ‘clean energy’ peril, and much more

But he cautions, “We must be careful in moving ahead on this trade dispute with China.”

“At the end of the day, competition is good. Competition is one of the chief reasons that the price of a solar model has fallen by half in the last two years. Competition will ultimately make solar energy competitive with grid electricity in this decade. But this competition must be fair. It must allow American workers to play on the field.”

Bigger fish to fry

Markey also suggests that it’s U.S. policy decisions – not China’s practices – that hold the key to spurring the clean energy sector here. “If we do not act decisively to provide the long-term and short-term incentives to make American the best place to invest clean energy dollars, someone else will. We will trade our addiction to Middle Eastern oil for an addiction to Asian or European clean energy technologies,” he plans to say.

In case you missed E2 Wire yesterday

Here are a few posts from Tuesday:

Senate backers of 11th-hour push on renewable power mandate predict victory

Energy companies weigh their loyalty to long-time ally Murkowski

Landrieu won’t vote for renewables bill unless offshore drilling proceeds

Murkowski to lose top GOP spot on Senate Energy Committee

Bingaman strategy: Court votes first, then approach Reid on renewables standard

Green group hits Sarah Palin, Sharron Angle in campaign attacking GOP climate skeptics

Bono backs oil measure in Wall St. law

Soros: Climate talks ‘removed from reality’

Study defends oil sands on emissions . . .

This should add fuel to the fire in the climate debate.

A
new study concludes that fuels made from Canadian oil sands result in
higher greenhouse gas emissions than normal crude oil, but they’re not
nearly as high as critics of oil sands development contend.

Canadian
oil sands imported to the U.S. result in greenhouse gas emissions that
are on average six percent higher than the average crude consumed in
the country, according to the study
from IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, a major industry
consulting firm. This puts oil sands on par with other sources of U.S.
crude imports, including oil imported from more volatile nations such
as Nigeria and Venezuela, the report finds.

The study’s lead
author – Jackie Forrest, IHS CERA’s director for global oil –
emphasized that “oil sands are not as different as the average crude
consumed in the United States as people think.” She said the study is
meant to provide clarity regarding “the different numbers that are out
there.”

. . . and draws a quick rebuke

But Natural Resources Defense Council scientist Simon Mui quickly issued a rather scathing rebuke
of the findings on the green group’s blog. “There’s a lot of problems
with it,” he told E2. They “recalculate” the numbers, he contends,
without showing what they recalculated and how they did so. He also
said the study omits “important parts of the life-cycle impacts.”

On tap Wednesday III: Chamber of Commerce to fight against yanking oil-and-gas tax breaks

Karen Harbert, the CEO of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, holds a conference call this morning to make that case that removing tax incentives will harm the economy.

The briefing comes as the White House and many Democrats are pushing to remove several oil industry tax breaks, such as the industry’s ability to claim a domestic manufacturing deduction.

Light demand for oil worker relief fund – report

“Fewer people than expected have applied for money from a $100 million fund BP PLC set up to help deepwater rig workers after a federal moratorium on drilling prompted by the massive oil spill,” the Associated Press reports.

Undersea oil plume reports disputed

“The government is unable to confirm reports of a miles-long plume of oil lurking beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico from BP Plc’s giant oil spill, a government scientist said on Tuesday,” Reuters reports.

Bill Clinton says climate change is increasing disaster risks

“Former President Bill Clinton on Tuesday warned of the growing devastation of the global economic downturn and said the dangers posed by natural disasters around the world had been increased by the effects of climate change,” AP reports.

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