Overnight Energy: US bans use of pesticide tied to health problems in children

Happy Wednesday! Welcome to Overnight Energy, your source for the day’s energy and environment news.

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Today we’re looking at action from the Biden administration against a pesticide connected to health issues in children, the fallout from the White House’s call for OPEC to increase oil production and another rollback of a Trump-era energy rule.

BE-GONE: EPA bans use of pesticide linked to developmental problems in children

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided to ban the use of a pesticide that has been linked to developmental issues in children for all foods. 

In a statement on Wednesday, the agency said that it was revoking all food tolerances for a chemical called chlorpyrifos, which has been linked to lower IQ, impaired working memory and negative impacts on motor development.

The announcement follows a court order earlier this year that gave the agency limited time to either find uses for the pesticide that are safe or outlaw it. 

“The EPA has spent more than a decade assembling a record of chlorpyrifos’s ill effects and has repeatedly determined, based on that record, that it cannot conclude, to the statutorily required standard of reasonable certainty, that the present tolerances are causing no harm,” the majority opinion in that case stated.

Read more about the decision here.

 

DRILL, BABY DRILL: Biden draws ire of GOP, progressives with call to boost OPEC output

The Biden administration managed to draw criticism from both Republicans and progressives last week when it called on other countries to produce more oil amid high gasoline prices in the U.S.

Environmentalists rebuked the White House for encouraging the use of more fossil fuels at a time when the effects of climate change are intensifying, while Republicans responded by arguing President Biden’s energy policies have increased America’s reliance on foreign oil.

“The progressives see the hypocrisy in President Biden’s action just like we do,” House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (La.) said in an interview Tuesday.

“President Biden said he would be a uniter and I guess he has because he’s uniting conservatives and progressives who are all pointing out that his energy strategy is incredibly anti-American and foolish,” Scalise said.

Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute, said the choice should not be between calling for increased production or Americans shouldering higher gas prices.

“The way to give people relief from gas prices is not to expand oil production, because that will extend the life of a dying industry and it will maximize damage to our climate and to people’s lives and to their livelihoods,” she said. “What the Biden administration needs to do is give people direct relief when needed, like Congress did during the pandemic.”

The White House’s defense: White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan last week said OPEC’s recent steps on increased production weren’t sufficient.

“While OPEC+ recently agreed to production increases, these increases will not fully offset previous production cuts that OPEC+ imposed during the pandemic until well into 2022,” Sullivan said in a statement. “At a critical moment in the global recovery, this is simply not enough.”

“President Biden has made clear that he wants Americans to have access to affordable and reliable energy, including at the pump,” he added.

The Biden administration has defended its decision, reiterating its commitment to tackling climate change while pointing out that OPEC has the ability to impact global supply and push down prices.

But OPEC isn’t beholden to the U.S. and has no obligation to abide by its requests. Reuters reported on Monday that OPEC and its allies don’t believe they need to release oil more quickly.

Read more about the pushback here.

 

REGS IN HOT WATER: Energy Dept. proposes reversal of Trump-era furnace efficiency rollback

The Energy Department on Wednesday proposed reversing a Trump-era rule that was expected to undermine its ability to regulate efficiency of both residential furnaces and commercial water heaters. 

The Trump administration’s rule — completed five days before President Biden‘s inauguration — was expected to keep inefficient heaters on the market for more time by dividing up the heaters into two categories based on how they’re vented. 

By creating a new class of products for furnaces that had a type of venting known as noncondensing venting, these furnaces would need to be regulated separately and could not be entirely phased out. 

In its proposed reversal, the Biden administration announced an initial finding that the noncondensing technology doesn’t provide “unique utility” to consumers, so it shouldn’t be considered a separate product.

“DOE has tentatively determined that differences in cost or complexity of installation between different methods of venting … do not make any method of venting a performance-related feature … as would justify separating the products/equipment into different product/equipment classes,” it said.

Read more about the rollback here.

 

HEADS UP, SENATORS: Biden nominates National Park Service director after years of acting heads

President Biden is set to nominate Charles Sams to become the permanent head of the National Park Service (NPS), setting up a potential end to years of the park service being led by acting directors.

The White House confirmed Wednesday that Biden plans to nominate Sams for the role. He currently serves as a council member to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, based in Oregon.

If confirmed by the Senate, Sams would be the first permanent NPS head since Jonathan Jarvis during the Obama administration. The NPS saw four acting directors during the Trump era. 

Sams is an enrolled member of the Cayuse and Walla Walla, of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. He has worked in the non-profit conservation sector and for state and tribal governments for more than 25 years, according to a fact sheet released by the White House.

Read more about the announcement here.

 

 

WHAT WE’RE READING:

U.S. Energy Secretary visits Albuquerque energy efficiency project, KRQE reports

A 1987 Pollution Treaty Prevented the World’s Plants from Withering, Study Finds, VICE reports

Nord Stream 2 says Fortuna vessel working on final stage of project, Reuters reports

Biden admin weighs penalty increase for car companies, E&E News reports

The toughest carbon emissions for companies to capture have climate experts worried, CNBC reports

Exxon’s oil drilling gamble off Guyana coast ‘poses major environmental risk’, The Guardian reports

 

FROM THE HILL’S OPINION PAGES:  “Australia needs help from the US to defuse the ‘gas bomb’” by Doctors For the Environment Australia co-founder David Shearman

 

ICYMI: Stories from Wednesday (and Tuesday night)…

Biden nominates permanent Park Service director after years of acting heads

EPA bans use of pesticide linked to developmental problems in children

Progressive pollster: 65 percent of likely voters would back polluters tax

Energy Department proposes reversal of Trump-era furnace efficiency rollback

Chicago group asks Supreme Court to block Obama library construction

Biden draws ire of GOP, progressives with call to boost OPEC output

 Haiti death toll reaches nearly 2,000; over 1 million affected by earthquake

California city threatened by approaching wildfire

 

OFFBEAT AND OFF-BEAT: Owl’s well that ends well