OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Speculation rules arrive

Tuesday’s big story: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission plans to roll out long-delayed final rules that set new limits on speculative energy trading, but at least one Capitol Hill critic is already calling them too weak.

The CFTC plans to finalize rules required under last year’s Dodd-Frank finance law that mandated new restrictions — called position limits — on the number of contracts traders can hold.

{mosads}Many Democrats allege that excessive Wall Street speculation in oil markets has driven up prices in recent years.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has decried CFTC delays in implementing position limits, expressed concern in a letter to CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler Monday that the rule will be too weak.

Sanders said recent media reports leave him concerned that the rule, as currently drafted, will “do little or nothing to lower prices and it will not eliminate, prevent or diminish excessive speculation as required by the Dodd-Frank Act.”

The CFTC will consider the final rule at a meeting Tuesday morning. More info here.

NEWS BITES

Senate panel to weigh threat of foreign drilling near U.S. waters: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hear from the country’s top offshore drilling regulator Tuesday about the country’s capacity to respond to oil spills in foreign waters near the United States.

Michael Bromwich — the director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement — will testify at the hearing. Vice Admiral Brian M. Salerno, deputy commandant for operations at the United States Coast Guard, will also testify at the hearing.

The hearing comes as Spanish oil company Repsol is preparing to drill off the coast of Cuba, fewer than 100 miles from the Florida coast.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has said that Cuban offshore drilling is an “issue of concern.” U.S. officials have met with executives at Repsol to discuss their plans to drill in the Gulf.

Ahead of the hearing, The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. officials will promise to inspect the rig Repsol will use in Cuban waters.

Judge tosses polar bear rule: Big news on polar bears and climate change, via The Associated Press.

“A federal judge has thrown out a key section of an Interior Department rule that declared global warming  is threatening the survival of the polar bear.”

White House begins auto mileage, emissions rule review: EPA and the Transportation Department sent their delayed proposal for the next round of joint greenhouse gas and mileage standards to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review Friday.

The proposal to cover model years 2017-2025 — which reaches 54.5 miles per gallon — had been slated for release at the end of September, but was recently delayed.

EPA and the Transportation Department said they intend to release the proposal in mid-November.

Obama applauds Senate spending plan’s climate provision: President Obama is cheering the Senate’s Commerce Department funding bill for approving the realignment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s climate change work, which House Republicans have resisted.

“The Administration appreciates the Senate bill’s support for a Climate Service line office, and urges the Senate to approve this realignment of existing NOAA programs. A Climate Service will improve the performance of roughly $340 million in related programs that are currently spread across three NOAA line offices,” notes the formal White House Statement of Administration Policy on the spending legislation the Senate is debating this week.

House Republicans blast White House for denying Solyndra documents: Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are furious that the White House isn’t providing additional documents related to the $535 million Solyndra loan guarantee.

Here’s what Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Oversight and Investigations subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) had to say in a statement.

“What is the White House trying to hide? Since day one of the Solyndra investigation, the Obama administration has fought us tooth and nail, even forcing us to subpoena documents from [the Office of Management and Budget]. Along the way, they have repeatedly claimed there’s nothing to see and no wrongdoing to uncover, but the facts have proven we are on the right trail. For an administration that campaigned and governs under the banner of transparency, such an overt refusal to share emails directly relevant to an ongoing investigation is deeply troubling.”

Read more about the White House’s decision not to provide all communications on the loan guarantee here.

Report: 100,000 people employed by solar industry: A new report by the Solar Foundation says there are more than 100,000 people employed by the solar industry, a 6.8 percent increase from last year.

{mossecondads}The report was the latest to show that prospects for the U.S. solar industry aren’t as dire as some predict.

Read more here and here.

ON TAP TUESDAY

Senate panel to probe pipeline safety: The Senate Commerce Committee will hear from the nation’s top pipeline safety regulator and other officials about industry matters, including last year’s fatal natural-gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, Calif. More info here.

Carbon tax in focus: The Peterson Institute for International Economics and Resources For the Future are teaming up for an event titled “Fiscal Reform and Climate Protection: Considering a U.S. Carbon Tax.” More info here.

Think tank to probe India’s energy future: The Center for Strategic and International Studies will host a top Shell official at an event that probes India’s growing energy needs.
 
More info on the forum — titled “India’s Energy Options: New Sources, Innovations and Areas of Cooperation” — is available here.
 
Report to assess climate adaptation: The World Resources Institute will release a report Tuesday on “climate adaptation and decision making for national leaders,” an advisory states.
 
The think tank is holding a press briefing that includes United Nations officials and others.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

Here’s a quick roundup of Monday’s E2 stories:

— Sen. Paul ends ‘hold’ on pipeline safety bill
— EPA will not tighten farm dust standards
— Dems press supercommittee to go after oil subsidies

Please send tips and comments to Ben Geman, ben.geman@digital-staging.thehill.com, and Andrew Restuccia, arestuccia@digital-staging.thehill.com.


Follow us on Twitter: @E2Wire, @AndrewRestuccia, @Ben_Geman