OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Blowin’ in the (offshore) wind

The offshore wind industry, however, is not as far along as its onshore counterpart. Jewell told reporters she hoped the lease sale could help stimulate private-sector investment for offshore wind.

ALSO COMING TUESDAY:

Wildfire management in focus

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will consider ways to improve federal wildfire prevention and response efforts during a Tuesday hearing.

{mosads}The 10 a.m. hearing comes as firefighters are trying to tamp down a wildfire that’s raging in California.

Federal agencies have warned that first-responders are shorthanded this year because of budget cuts from sequestration.

Witnesses include Thomas Tidwell, chief of the U.S. Forest Service with the Department of Agriculture, and Kim Thorsen, deputy assistant secretary of law enforcement, security, emergency management and wildland fire with the Interior Department.

Click here for more on the hearing, which will be webcast.

Veterans talk public lands with lawmakers, administration

A group of veterans with the Vet Voice Foundation will meet with White House officials and lawmakers to press for more conservation and national monument designations.

The veterans “will be asking their legislators to put land conservation on equal ground with oil and gas development to ensure that future generations of veterans will return to a country that provides space for the hunting, camping, hiking and exploring that has helped heal the physical and emotional wounds of war for this generation,” an advisory states.

The veterans will meet Tuesday with a host of lawmakers, including Reps. Ben Luján (D-N.M.) and Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) and Democratic Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus of Montana. They’ll also speak with administration officials from the White House Council on Environmental Quality and Interior. 

They met Monday with the offices of Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). They also spoke with staff for Reps. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.).

State clean-energy approaches evaluated

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) will speak at a Tuesday Capitol Hill briefing on state policies that are designed to reduce the cost of generating clean electricity.

From an advisory:

The briefing will discuss the role and value of federal-state partnerships on innovative clean energy investments and provide state-specific examples. This is a chance to hear first-hand from officials implementing new approaches for clean energy projects across the country.

Click here for more on the 3 p.m. event, which is sponsored by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute and the Clean Energy States Alliance. It will also be webcast.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out these stories that ran on E2-Wire Monday and over the weekend …

— Watchdog finds TVs, unused furniture at squalid EPA warehouse

— White House adds sanctions on Iran’s currency, auto sector
— Sen. Alexander proposes ‘grand principles’ for cheaper sustainable energy
— Interior to unveil plans for offshore wind leases

— Alternative fuels group taps new vice president

— Sen. Lautenberg’s health, environment legacy praised
— The week ahead: Offshore drilling back on House agenda
— Weather agency ends furloughs as deadly tornadoes strike Okla.
— Green groups to Obama: Designate public lands to stop oil and gas drilling
— Alaska governor touts Keystone, Arctic refuge in GOP address

NEWS BITES:

Energy efficiency forcing shift for European utilities

Regulations and renewable energy targets are pushing Europeans to invest in energy-saving technologies and services, in turn causing electric utilities to rethink their business models.

From Reuters:

An unstoppable efficiency drive spurred by EU regulations and national targets poses a dilemma for utilities.

Do they look for a profitable way to help consumers save energy or try to defend their traditional business model?

…

Analysts say despite the challenges, utilities have no choice but change and there are some signs of them doing so.

Study: Climate change makes meeting US biofuel goals unlikely

Water shortages from climate change will make it difficult to attain U.S. biofuel blending targets, according to a recent study.

The Rice University and University of California at Davis study said global temperature increases predicted by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change would reduce U.S. corn yields for ethanol 7 percent and increase needed irrigation 9 percent in the next 40 years.

That forecast would jeopardize meeting targets set forth by the renewable fuel standard. The rule requires refiners to blend 15 billion gallons of ethanol into conventional transportation fuel by 2022.

From the Houston Chronicle:

They found that states in the corn belt — Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Missouri — along with Minnesota and Wisconsin, where corn growth is primarily fed by rainfall, would be subject to more intense but less frequent precipitation, especially during the summer. Crops would require as much as 25 percent more irrigation.

Biofuels group names communications director

Biofuel industry group Growth Energy has promoted Michael Frohlich to communications director.

Frohlich had been the group’s press secretary since May 2012, and was director of media relations with the National Association of Manufacturers prior to that post.

“The appointment of Michael to Director of Communications will help strengthen and focus the strategic vision of our efforts to communicate the numerous benefits of renewable fuels to the economy, the environment and to consumers,” Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis said in a Monday statement.

Please send tips and comments to Ben Geman, ben.geman@digital-staging.thehill.com, and Zack Colman, zcolman@digital-staging.thehill.com.

Follow E2 on Twitter: @E2Wire, @Ben_Geman, @zcolman