E2 Morning Roundup: Bingaman pushes lame-duck energy bills, Salazar’s non-announcement on drilling ban gets mixed reviews, Gibbs calls out Landrieu, and more

Don’t forget about the low-hanging fruit

Bingaman floated a separate bill Wednesday that ramps up energy efficiency standards for appliances and consumer products – including outdoor lighting, furnaces, refrigerators, dishwashers, air conditioners and electric spas – that were either in his panel’s bill last year or are items that received bipartisan consensus later.

“There is no rational reason why the Senate should not pass legislation which would save our nation energy, strengthen our economy, save Americans money, lower carbon dioxide emissions, and to which there is no known opposition, should not be passed by the Senate,” Bingaman said in a statement introducing the efficiency package that was submitted into the Congressional Record.

And the high-hanging fruit

Bingaman and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) of course are also still pushing a renewable electricity standard that is nearly identical to one that the Energy and Natural Resources panel approved in that larger bill last year.

Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-Nev.) assured that at least some energy debate will take place when senators get back to town in mid-November by filing late Wednesday a motion to limit debate on legislation he introduced boosting production of vehicles fueled by natural gas and electricity. That cloture vote – requiring 60 votes — would be one of the first items on the agenda when they return Nov. 17.

But a potentially scant lame-duck session and other legislative priorities may mean a vote on Reid’s bill will be the only energy item the Senate takes up before the end of the year.

“Alas nobody knows how long the lame duck is going to be,” notes Bingaman spokesman Bill Wicker. “Is it going to be three to four hours? Is it going to be three to four weeks?” That uncertainty “makes it near impossible” to make any predictions, he said.

Bigger, better, faster, more!

Most of the focus in the meantime remains on the Obama administration response to the BP oil spill and when the federal freeze on deepwater drilling will end.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Thursday – in a speech at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars – announced the immediate implementation of two new offshore oil and gas drilling and workplace safety rules.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the announcement “in many ways” likely moves the ball forward towards lifting the administration’s moratorium. “There are a series of technological and safety reforms that this administration is very serious about implementing that need to be implemented and secured prior to the lifting of that moratorium,” he said. 

Greens give backing

Environmental groups cheered Salazar’s announcement. Natural Resources Defense Council Executive Director Peter Lehner called it “a good first step” towards avoiding future spills like this summer’s in the Gulf of Mexico.

The elephant in the room

Salazar also pushed back at oil-state lawmakers, industry officials and others who want him to lift the ban immediately, saying it would not be lifted until he is “comfortable that we have significantly reduced” risks associated with offshore drilling. 

National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn of Texas jumped into the fray Thursday, issuing a statement lamenting the administration’s “failure to lift the drilling moratorium is holding Gulf Coast jobs hostage.”

He said while he supports new drilling safety rules, “today’s announcement was disappointing” because the administration “offers no answers, no certainty months after the shutdown of this vital Gulf industry.” Cornyn met earlier Thursday morning with the co-chairs of the National Oil Spill Commission President Obama set up in May to talk about the drilling ban and other post-spill issues.

Gibbs calls out Landrieu

Gibbs, meanwhile, did not take too kindly to Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-La.) blocking the Senate confirmation of President Obama’s federal budget chief, noting to reporters Thursday that it was “sad” and “outrageous.”

Landrieu has put a procedural hold on Jacob Lew’s nomination to head the White House Office of Management and Budget to protest the administration’s deepwater drilling ban and a slow down in permits being issued for shallow water projects not officially covered under a ban.

Bromwich hits back as well

Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation and Enforcement Director
Michael Bromwich also Thursday said his agency won’t succumb to political pressure to lift the deepwater oil drilling freeze, while nonetheless suggesting it may not last until the scheduled late November expiration.

“There’s no chance that we’ll lift it sooner because of political pressure of any sort,” Bromwich said on MSNBC.

Obama to
show his cards on vehicle efficiency

The Obama
administration could offer a glimpse as soon as Friday of its plan to impose new vehicle efficiency requirements that begin in 2017
(increased mileage rules for 2012-2016 were completed earlier this
year.)

“The administration is expected to give its view Friday in
the form of early planning for mileage standards for model years
2017-2025. President Barack Obama has sought tougher fuel efficiency
standards from the auto industry to reduce the nation’s dependence on
oil, and as part of his efforts to grow the economy through clean energy
jobs,” the Associated Press reports.

“Rules already in place
will boost the fleet average to 35.5 mpg by 2016, an increase of more
than 40 percent over current requirements. Environmental groups say a
mix of gas-electric hybrids, electric vehicles and improvements to
conventional vehicles could create a vastly more efficient fleet. A
target of 60 mpg by 2025 would translate to about a 6 percent
improvement each year,” their piece adds.

What I really meant to say was

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) frankly just stated the obvious when he told reporters in the Capitol Building Wednesday that his plan to delay EPA climate regulations by two years stands no chance of getting the two-thirds support needed in the Senate to overcome a promised presidential veto.

However, perhaps acknowledging a possible opening for Majority Leader Reid not to bring the measure up for a vote in a lame-duck, Rockefeller issued a statement Thursday not only reminding us of Reid’s promise to hold a vote but also to stress growing momentum towards at least the needed 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

“As I have said repeatedly, the Majority Leader has committed to allowing a vote on my bill this year and I believe we have more and more momentum to get it passed in the Senate,” Rockefeller’s statement read.  “Even in the face of the President’s veto threat, we must send a clear message that Congress – not an unelected regulatory agency – must set our national energy policy.” 

New BP chief seeks ‘fast evolution’

BP’s incoming chief executive Robert Dudley – who officially takes over that role Friday – says the company needs a “fast evolution, not revolution,” in righting its ship following its role in the Gulf spill.

“BP is a company that is coming back from a near-death experience,” Dudley said in a telephone interview with the New York Times Thursday. He has already announced plans to reorganize the company’s exploration and production operations and removed Andy Inglis, who had been in charge of the drilling and capping of the ruptured Macondo well.

In case you missed E2 Wire yesterday

Check out some of our posts from Wednesday:

BP hit with record Clean Air Act civil penalty for refinery violations

Labor-enviro lobbying coalition swells

Energy Dept. plan on rare earth materials ‘nearing completion’

Senior House Dem to seek new coastal drilling bans

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