E2-Wire

OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Oil industry hopes to rebut pipeline criticism

by Andrew Restuccia and Ben Geman - 10/24/11 10:21 PM ET

State of Play: The oil industry will try to parry criticism of a controversial proposed oil pipeline Tuesday during an event featuring Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) and Canada’s ambassador to the United States.

The American Petroleum Institute, the powerful oil industry trade group, will host Daniels and Gary Doer, the Canadian ambassador, at an event in Indianapolis aimed at making the economic case for TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

The oil industry — along with many Republicans and some Democrats — has long argued that the proposed pipeline will create thousands of jobs and boost the economy.

The event comes as the fight over the Keystone XL pipeline is reaching a fever pitch ahead of the Obama administration’s final decision on the project, which is expected by roughly the end of the year.

The proposed $7 billion, 1,700-mile pipeline would carry crude from Alberta’s oil sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries.

Keystone critics hope to seize on Occupy Wall Street’s momentum: Environmental groups battling the project are hoping to seize on the momentum of the Occupy Wall Street protests to gain traction for their cause.

{mosads}Actor Mark Ruffalo called on Occupy Wall Street protestors in New York City last week to join activists at an anti-Keystone event in Washington on Nov. 6. There have been other ties between the groups as well.

Keystone opponents are also set to protest the proposed pipeline outside a fundraiser for President Obama’s campaign in San Francisco on Tuesday.

Greens raise concerns about Obama’s new campaign adviser: Meanwhile, news today that Broderick Johnson, Obama’s new senior campaign adviser, lobbied the administration last year to approve the pipeline is exacerbating long-time concerns by environmentalists that the White House is too close to TransCanada.

Critics cite a series of emails that show a friendly relationship between
TransCanada lobbyist Paul Elliot — a former 2008 campaign aide to
now-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — and the State Department.

But Keystone critics got a bit of good news Monday — Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman (R) said he is calling a special session of the state’s legislature in a last-ditch effort to alter the route of a controversial proposed oil pipeline.

Heineman’s criticism of the pipeline — he’s concerned that the the pipeline route crosses Nebraska’s Ogallala Aquifer — contrasts with Daniels’s support of the pipeline.

The State Department released a final environmental impact statement in August
that says there would be “no significant impacts to most resources”
along the proposed route if the company adheres to the conditions and
mitigation measures that pipeline regulators and environmental agencies
demand.

*Update: Federal lobbying disclosure records show that Johnson was registered to lobby in favor of the pipeline last year while he was a partner at the firm Bryan Cave. Bryan Cave, in a statement Monday afternoon, said Johnson’s work on TransCanada’s pipeline effort was “supervisory in nature and he was not focused on direct lobbying.”

NEWS BITES:

US Chamber: FERC is slacking

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is pressing Senate lawmakers to mandate a new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission analysis of the effects of new and looming EPA power plant pollution rules.

The Chamber alleges that the regulations pose a threat to power grid reliability. The business group’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, in a letter to the Senate’s Energy Committee, expresses “deep concern” about FERC’s “laissez-faire” approach.

From the Chamber’s Oct. 20 letter to Energy and Natural Resources Committee leaders:

As affordable and reliable energy supplies are critical inputs in sustaining American industry and are a necessary prerequisite for the future expansion of America’s economy and the creation of jobs, the Energy Institute is quite concerned that FERC’s current “wait and see” approach — if left unchecked — could seriously undermine the long-term reliability of electric power supplies in this country. As such, FERC should be required to immediately, undertake a formal process to address the reliability impacts that will likely result from the EPA’s implementation of its Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, its utility MACT rules, and potential greenhouse gas New Source Performance Standards, among its other rulemakings applicable to electric utility generation facilities.

Court rejects power plant rule delay

A federal court on Monday rejected a push by power companies to delay EPA’s upcoming air toxics rules for power plants by a year.

The agency plans to issue final “maximum achievable control technology” standards for coal-fired power plants in mid-December.

The Utility Air Regulatory Group, backed by some states, had sought to revise EPA’s consent decree with green groups, but the U.S. District Court for the D.C. Circuit nixed the effort Monday.

EPA and environmental groups have said the rules, which will mandate cuts in mercury and other air toxics, are vital public health protections.

But many Republicans, some Democrats and power companies with coal-fired generation say they are too aggressive and, taken together with other new EPA rules, lessen power system reliability.

ON TAP TUESDAY:

Wind industry checkup

The American Wind Energy Association will release its third-quarter results — with a dash of policy advocacy thrown in.

“Project construction is up and the cost of wind-generated electricity is down, thanks in large part to tax policy that works,” states an advisory on the market data release.

House panel continues EPA dust-up

A House Energy and Commerce Committee panel will hear from Gina McCarthy, EPA’s top air regulator, at a hearing about a bill to prevent EPA from toughening rules for farm dust.   EPA already announced this month that it will not tighten controls on coarse particulate matter, or farm dust, but the lawmakers pushing the bill want to ensure EPA doesn’t have the option.

Pushing for ‘open fuel’

Lawmakers and other advocates of alternative-fuel vehicles will make the case for an “open fuel standard” at a Capitol Hill event Tuesday. The lineup includes Reps. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and John Shimkus (R-Ill.), NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace and others.

Air quality experts gather

The big Air Quality VIII conference continues in Arlington, Va., Tuesday with federal and industry experts looking deeply into carbon capture and other matters.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

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

— House passes bill defying Europe’s aircraft emissions rules

— Environmentalists press lawmakers not to reject EU emissions trading

— Aviation, travel groups push Congress to ban EU emissions plan

— Nebraska governor calls special session on Keystone pipeline

— Energy Department threatened by cyber attacks, report says

— New Obama campaign adviser lobbied for Keystone pipeline

— Study finds no evidence that climate change caused more severe flooding

— Canadian PM confident White House will allow Keystone pipeline

— House looks to reject European emissions rules for US airlines

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