E2 Morning Roundup: The GOP’s muted response to oil spill findings, NOAA hits spill commission for ‘misleading’ paper, EPA stands firm on climate, and more

“While the EPA stands
ready to help Congress craft strong, science-based climate legislation
that addresses the spectrum of issues, we will assess and develop
regulatory tools as warranted under law using the authority of the
Clean Air Act,” EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson notes in a “message”
leading off the 72-page strategy
that the agency sent Congress and others Sept. 30 and was publicly
released Thursday. “Climate change must be considered and integrated
into all aspects of our work.”
 
EPA is also “developing a
comprehensive strategy for a cleaner and more efficient power sector”
that includes “strong and achievable” emission reductions for sulfur
dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and other air toxics, she notes. The
strategy “offers a solid foundation for the EPA’s long-term response”
to the impacts of the Gulf of Mexico spill, Jackson said.  

Global climate talks falter, risk going backwards

Climate talks appear to be in rough shape heading into the big United Nations summit in Cancun, Mexico late this year.

Negotiators are trying to ensure that even the modest deals struck at last year’s Copenhagen talks don’t unravel, the New York Times reports.

“There is no chance of completing a binding global treaty to reduce emissions of climate-altering gases, few if any heads of state are planning to attend, and there are no major new initiatives on the agenda. Copenhagen was crippled by an excess of expectation. Cancún is suffering from the opposite,” their piece notes.

“Delegates in Tianjin, China, at the last formal meeting before the Cancún conference opens Nov. 29, are hung up over the same issues that caused the collapse of the Copenhagen meeting. Even some of the baby steps in the weak agreement that emerged from last year’s meeting, a slender document known as the Copenhagen Accord, have been reopened, to the dismay of officials who thought they had been settled.”

BP’s internal probe faces doubts

BP’s internal investigation of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill assigned much of the blame to Deepwater Horizon rig owner Transocean and contractor Halliburton.

The Wall Street Journal looks at the construction of the document. “BP PLC’s lawyers helped prepare its internal investigation into its Gulf of Mexico drilling disaster, according to the report’s lead author, raising questions about the study’s impartiality,” their piece states.

“The report, led by Mark Bly, was presented by BP as an impartial investigation into what caused the April 20 explosion, which killed 11 workers and caused the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. But outside experts have been skeptical, saying its conclusions seemed convenient for BP’s legal position.”

In case you missed E2 Wire yesterday

Here are some of our Thursday posts:

Florida Dem ‘rejects’ environmental group’s backing

NOAA seeks to clarify oil flow claims with spill commission

Gibbs pushes back on reports of White House missteps in oil spill

Baucus not yet committing to support Rockefeller

Interior launches broad review of offshore-drilling environmental waivers

Report ranks U.S. 11th in oil, mining ‘transparency’

The oil spill is sad, but is it spooky?

The BP spill is the inspiration for one of this year’s hot Halloween costumes.

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