HAPPY THURSDAY! Welcome to Overnight Energy, The Hill’s roundup of the latest energy and environment news. Please send tips and comments to Rebecca Beitsch at rbeitsch@digital-staging.thehill.com. Follow her on Twitter: @rebeccabeitsch. Reach Rachel Frazin at rfrazin@digital-staging.thehill.com or follow her on Twitter: @RachelFrazin.
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LATE BREAKING NEWS: The White House pushed for a “correction” of a National Weather Service (NWS) tweet that contradicted President Trump during the so-called “Sharpigate” scandal, according to an internal watchdog report.
The report also says that the White House was involved in an unsigned statement rebuking the tweet.
The report from the Commerce Department inspector general detailed involvement of then-acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney in the incidents related to “Sharpiegate” last year.
In September, President Trump held up a map that showed an altered path for Hurricane Dorian sketched out with a black marker that appeared to wrongly show the storm headed toward Alabama in support of a statement he made earlier about the hurricane’s projected path.
The NWS Birmingham office later tweeted that Alabama would not see impacts from the storm.
The Commerce Department and White House then coordinated a response, the report issued Thursday shows.
“It appears as if the NWS intentionally contradicted the president. And we need to know why. He wants either a correction or an explanation or both,” Mulvaney wrote in an email to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, according to the report.
The report also says that Muvlaney had the option to approve a statement from the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) saying forecasts had shown that “tropical-storm-force winds from Hurricane Dorian could impact Alabama” and rebuking the NWS tweet.
However, an official testified that he did not respond to the draft statement.
The jobs of NOAA officials were not directly threatened, but some NOAA officials felt that jobs were on the line, the report said.
The White House declined to comment on the report.
In an official response, Commerce Chief of Staff Michael Walsh Jr. said that the report’s findings are “unsupported by any of the evidence or factual findings that the report itself lays out.”
A WIN FOR THE MUSCOGEE: The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a large swath of Oklahoma belongs to Native American tribes in a case that challenged the state’s authority to prosecute crimes on the land.
In the 5-4 decision, the majority ruled that the disputed area covering roughly half of the state and most of the city of Tulsa belongs to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
“Today we are asked whether the land these treaties promised remains an Indian reservation for purposes of federal criminal law,” Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, wrote for the majority. “Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word.”
The ruling could upend the state’s authority over much of the land and restrict it from prosecuting tribal members who are accused of crimes on that land. Oklahoma may no longer be able to tax those who reside on the Creek’s land.
Gorsuch was joined in the majority by the four justices on the liberal wing of the court: Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote a dissent, which was joined by Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas.
“The decision today creates significant uncertainty for the State’s continuing authority over any area that touches Indian affairs, ranging from zoning and taxation to family and environmental law,” Roberts wrote in his dissent. “None of this is warranted.”
The Creek tribe released a statement Thursday hailing the decision.
“The Supreme Court today kept the United States’ sacred promise to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of a protected reservation,” the statement reads. “Today’s decision will allow the Nation to honor our ancestors by maintaining our established sovereignty and territorial boundaries. We will continue to work with federal and state law enforcement agencies to ensure that public safety will be maintained throughout the territorial boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.”
Read more about the decision here.
SPOILERS ABOUT BOILERS: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing some tighter emissions limits for industrial boilers, a piece of equipment used to heat water or produce steam for industrial purposes, which emit various types of pollution.
The Thursday proposal follows two court decisions, one in 2016 and one in 2018, compelling the agency to take additional actions on its boiler standards.
In the new proposal, the agency aims to change the maximum amount of certain pollutants like carbon monoxide and soot that specific subcategories of boilers are allowed to emit. In 28 cases, the proposed changes would be more stringent and in six cases it would be less stringent.
“These amendments will reduce emissions of hazardous air pollutants,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler in a statement. “This underscores the Trump Administration’s commitment to reducing air pollution, while providing needed clarity to the regulated community.”
The court also required the EPA to explain why it decided to set a maximum carbon monoxide threshold as a stand-in for hazardous air pollutant (HAP) thresholds instead of setting direct limits for the individual HAPs themselves.
The agency explained this in its proposal, saying that carbon monoxide is a “good indicator of incomplete combustion and organic HAPs are products of incomplete combustion.
However, environmentalists have criticized this assertion, saying that the agency should directly regulate these HAPs themselves instead of using carbon monoxide as a catch-all indicator.
“The idea that limiting carbon monoxide is going to control the hazardous air pollutants doesn’t really make any sense because some of them can be very high even if carbon monoxide is low. So keeping carbon monoxide low doesn’t keep all of these organic chemicals low,” said Earthjustice attorney James Pew.
Read more about the proposal here.
EMINENTLY QUOTABLE:
Mark your calendars: “Next week, I’ll be laying out an updated blueprint for how we build a modern, safe, sustainable infrastructure and clean energy economy – how we make sure the communities who have suffered the most from pollution are first to benefit from this investment — and how to strengthen the union movement, by making sure that unions are building America, just like they built the middle class,” said former Vice President Joe Biden, according to prepared remarks.
‘Blackmailing:’ EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler expressed dissatisfaction with the House’s proposed budget for the agency next year, particularly saying the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan program didn’t get enough funding.
“House Democrats are blackmailing the agency on the basis of their arbitrary response deadlines for congressional letters,” he said in a statement. “In an election year gimmick they are attempting to penalize the agency by threatening to withhold funds for an alleged failure to provide information regarding my predecessor that was shared with the Appropriations Committee more than a year ago.”
ON TAP TOMORROW:
The House appropriations committee will hold a markup of the FY 2021 Interior and the Environment, and Related Agencies, and the Legislative Branch Appropriations Bills
OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY:
Worried about effects on recreation economy, Moab, Grand County urge feds to cancel energy lease sale, The Salt Lake Tribune reports
Time examines Why the Larger Climate Movement Is Finally Embracing the Fight Against Environmental Racism
Brazil bans fires in Amazon rainforest as investors demand results, Reuters reports