OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Big oil pushes for global carbon tax

by Timothy Cama and Devin Henry - 06/01/15 6:08 PM ET

BIG OIL: CHARGE US FOR EMISSIONS: Six major European oil companies are asking the United Nations and the world’s leaders to implement carbon pricing systems in every country.

As leaders try to find ways to cut greenhouse gases globally, leading up to a UN conference in December that is expected to result in a global pact, the oil majors say carbon fees would be the best way for them to contribute.

{mosads}”If governments act to price carbon, this discourages high carbon options and encourages the most efficient ways of reducing emissions widely, including reduced demand for the most carbon intensive fossil fuels, greater energy efficiency, the use of natural gas in place of coal, increased investment in carbon capture and storage, renewable energy, smart buildings and grids, off-grid access to energy, cleaner cars and new mobility business models and behaviors,” they wrote in a letter to the UN.

The letter came from United Kingdom’s BG Group and BP, Italy’s Eni, the UK-Netherlands’s Royal Dutch Shell, Norway’s Statoil and France’s Total.

The companies offered their resources to help the UN and world leaders to implement carbon fees in countries that do not have them, in such a way that they could eventually be integrated.

Read more here.

ON TAP TUESDAY I: The Hill will host a discussion on America’s Nuclear Energy Future, featuring interviews with Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Nuclear Energy Institute CEO and President Marvin Fertel. Experts from Third Way, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, Westinghouse and the North American Building Trades Unions will talk about different aspects of the nuclear industry.

ON TAP TUESDAY II: Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will testify Tuesday at a House Energy and Commerce Committee subpanel hearing on the Obama administration’s Quadrennial Energy Review. The administration used the review as an opportunity to lay out a plan worth billions of dollars to upgrade the nation’s energy infrastructure system, including pipelines and electric transmission lines. Lawmakers will also use the hearing to discuss their ongoing effort to write a major energy reform package, and to hear from outside witnesses.

Rest of Tuesday’s agenda …

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the current drought conditions in the West and what states and others are doing to address them. Senators will hear from Deputy Interior Secretary Michael Connor and representatives from states and other stakeholders.

The Republican Study Committee will hold a meeting on lifting the ban on crude oil exports. It will feature speeches by Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), as well as various private-sector representatives.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) will host a screening of the television show Fortitude and a discussion on climate change.

The National Academy of Sciences will hold a meeting Tuesday on ways to decrease emissions from the aviation sector.

AROUND THE WEB:

Norfolk Southern Railway told Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) that it may sue the federal Department of Transportation to stop the new rules on crude oil transportation by train, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

A late-season frost last week in Manitoba, Canada, wiped out much of the canola fields, causing prices for the crop to jump, Reuters reports.

Gas prices have probably peaked for the year, AAA says.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out Monday’s stories …

-French official says climate deal should bypass Congress
-Oklahoma blocks local fracking bans
-Feds fast-track approval for 3 solar power farms
-Maryland bans fracking
-Kansas governor signs bill to comply with power plant rules
-Nuclear industry intensifies push to reauthorize Ex-Im Bank
-Oil giants call for global carbon pollution fees
-Week ahead: House examines Obama’s energy infrastructure plan