OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Obama to enlist farmers in climate fight

TAKING CLIMATE FIGHT TO FARMERS: The Obama administration rolled out a suite of 10 voluntary initiatives Thursday aimed at making agriculture and forestry more environmentally friendly.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the programs would prevent or sequester the equivalent of 120 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

“American farmers and ranchers are leaders when it comes to reducing carbon emissions and improving efficiency in their operations,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement.

“We can build on this success in a way that combats climate change and strengthens the American agriculture economy,” he added.

Among the programs aims are encouraging rotational grazing, preserving private forests, planting trees in urban areas and other measures.

Read more here.

ON TAP FRIDAY: The Association of Climate Change Officer’s Defense, National Security and Climate Change symposium continues. A handful of administration officials speak.

Rest of Friday’s agenda … 

Energy executives and scholars join the Atlantic Council to discuss “financing, regulation and design” for sustainable energy. 

Scholars discuss recent nuclear agreements between the U.S. and South Korea at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

NEWS BITE: Two Democratic senators from coal-heavy states introduced a bill Thursday to comprehensively overhaul federal mine safety oversight.

Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said they want to fix the broken safety system and better ensure that bad actors cannot escape accountability.

“This is commonsense legislation that will prioritize the safety of coal miners and ensure that there are serious consequences for those that disregard basic safety,” Casey said in a statement.

Manchin said it is “critical to continue to improve safety standards so that our miners’ lives are never in jeopardy.”

The bill would increase penalties for repeat offenders of safety rules, better ensure that violation fines get paid and whittle down a backlog of safety claims, the sponsors said.

AROUND THE WEB:

The Sierra Club and an association of physicians said it is planning to sue the administration of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) for failing to enforce ozone pollution limits on power plants, the Baltimore Sun reports.

In the first auction of its kind, Australia’s conservative government agreed to pay A$660 million ($848 million) to carbon polluters to reduce their emissions, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Oil prices rose 3 percent Thursday to the highest level of the year, Reuters reports.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 

Check out Thursday’s stories …

– Park Service takes up 106 major projects for centennial
– Senate Dems want to double size of solar training program for vets
– Obama looks to farmers, foresters to fight climate change
– Study links drilling to earthquakes
– 163 Republicans push for more offshore drilling
– Obama: US can profit from climate change
– No hurry to lift oil export ban, federal data chief says 

Please send tips and comments to Timothy Cama, tcama@digital-staging.thehill.com; and Devin Henry, dhenry@digital-staging.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @Timothy_Cama, @dhenry, @thehill