OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Temperature data could roil climate debates

Welcome back to OVERNIGHT ENERGY, E2’s daily roundup of the energy news you need to know and preview of tomorrow’s action. Please send tips and comments to Ben Geman, ben.geman@digital-staging.thehill.com, and Andrew Restuccia, arestuccia@digital-staging.thehill.com.

You can follow us on Twitter: @E2wire, @AndrewRestuccia.

STATE OF PLAY: 2010 climate data en route

Climate legislation is on ice, but new data about rising temperatures keeps pouring forth.

The
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is slated to release
the 2010 State of the Climate report Wednesday that will include last
year’s temperature rankings.

The report could inflame debate
about global warming at a time when Republicans are pushing to roll
back the Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas regulations.

NOAA has already reported
that the January-November period was the warmest yet. “For the 2010
year-to-date (January–November), the combined global land and ocean
surface temperature was 0.64°C (1.15°F) above the 20th century
average — the warmest such period since records began in 1880,” according
to NOAA.

ON TAP WEDNESDAY: Energy lobbyists make their pitches

The United States Energy Association holds its annual “state of the energy industry” forum at the National Press Club. The
event features remarks by top officials with a host of energy trade
associations, such as the Edison Electric Institute, the American
Petroleum Institute, the Nuclear Energy Institute and many others.

NEWS BITES:

New data say oil-and-gas drilling up in 2010

The American Petroleum Institute released new data Tuesday showing that oil and natural-gas drilling was up in 2010, but it remained below 2008 levels. The oil industry group called for policies that ensure the continued expansion of drilling. “With public policies that provide opportunity for responsible exploration and production as well as the certainty needed for any business to succeed, we can and will accelerate job creation and economic growth throughout the economy,” Hazem Arafa, director of API’s statistics department, said.

Markey vows legislation after spill panel report …

Rep.
Edward Markey (D-Mass.) — the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources
Committee – said Tuesday that he’ll push legislation to enact the newly issued recommendations from the presidential commission that probed the BP oil spill.

Markey’s
office noted that many of the ideas were reflected in oil-spill
legislation that passed the House last year but sputtered in the
Senate. “Rep. Markey will introduce this legislation in the coming
weeks, and it will reflect both the recommendations made today, and
portions of the legislation passed in the fall,” his office said.

… but GOP says not so fast

But getting the panel’s recommendations — which are summarized here — through the House fully intact is highly unlikely to happen.

Some senior Republicans have already issued noncommittal statements about the report by the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.

Rep.
Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), who leads the Subcommittee on Energy and
Mineral Resources, called several of the ideas “worthy of
consideration,” but then bashed a recommendation to give regulators
more time to review oil companies’ offshore exploration plans.

“The
current 30-day statutory requirement for approval or rejection of
Exploration Plans prevents bureaucratic foot-dragging, recognizing that
several layers of environmental review have already taken place during
formulation of a Five Year Plan and subsequent lease sale,” he said.  

Salazar demurs on details following report

Interior
Secretary Ken Salazar, in response to the spill report, highlighted
steps Interior has already taken to toughen offshore oversight. He
stayed away from the report’s specifics in a statement Tuesday.

“The
report and recommendations of the National Commission affirm the
urgency of our reform agenda and underline the importance of the
progress we have made toward strengthening safety and environmental
protections for offshore drilling,” Salazar said.

He added:

“We
have already implemented several of the key reforms the Commission has
made clear are necessary, and we will use the Commission’s report and
the findings of other investigations to inform future actions to
strengthen safety and oversight. We are on the right track toward
safer, more environmentally responsible oil and gas production on the
Outer Continental Shelf, and — as the Commission has made clear — now
is not the time to retreat from those efforts.”

Landrieu warns not to raise spill liability cap too much

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) warned lawmakers not to raise the $75 million liability cap on economic damages a company responsible for an oil spill must pay. “The Commission calls for raising the oil spill liability cap on oil companies above the current level of $75 million,” said Landrieu, a strong ally of her state’s oil-and-gas industry. “I agree that the cap should be raised and that $75 million is too low.  But the cap should not be raised to a level that will put small, independent companies out of business.”

The spill commission said Tuesday that the liability cap should be raised significantly, but it did not specify by how much.

Pew calls for reducing transportation emissions

A new report by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change lays out a plan for significantly cutting greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. “It is possible to cut GHG emissions from the transportation sector cost-effectively by up to 65 percent below 2010 levels by 2050 by improving vehicle efficiency, shifting to less carbon intensive fuels, changing travel behavior, and operating more efficiently,” the report says.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

There was a lot to miss on E2 Tuesday, what with the release of the presidential oil spill commission’s final report on the causes of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. E2 was there for the release of the report; we told you about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) call to pass oil-spill response legislation, and we took you inside Tuesday’s meeting between members of the commission and President Obama.

For much, much more, check out E2.

AROUND THE WEB:

EPA seeks phaseout of fluoride-based pesticide

“U.S.
EPA today proposed to start gradually banning a pesticide often used on
cocoa beans and dried fruits that degrades to fluoride, a move closely
linked to the Obama administration’s decision last week to curb the
maximum levels of fluoride in drinking water out of concern for
children’s health,” Greenwire reports.

CIA’s climate unit’s future unclear

From The Washington Post:
“The future of the CIA’s unit on climate change and U.S. national
security is ‘in jeopardy’ because of pressure for intelligence budget
cuts and resistance from conservative lawmakers, a new report says.”

Report: Low-carbon energy investments hit new highs in 2010

“Global
investment in low-carbon energy surged to a record $243 billion last
year, boosted by a 30 percent spending increase in China and a burst in
small-scale solar-power installations,” Bloomberg reports.

“The
figure eclipses the $186.5 billion spent in 2009 and is more than
double the level in 2005, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said today in a
statement. The investment came even as clean energy shares had a
‘lackluster performance’ last year, the London-based research company
said,” their piece adds.