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A SENATE REALITY CHECK FOR DEMOCRATS: The defection of three red-state Senate Democrats on a vote Thursday to block the Trump EPA’s gutting of the Obama Clean Power plan shows that Democrats still have work to do — a lot — to pass a big climate bill if they take the majority in 2020.
This shouldn’t be news, but maybe it is with all the hype around Democratic presidential plans for unprecedented climate change plans that call for phasing out fossil fuels.
Cracks within Democrats’ ranks show that even killing the Senate filibuster, as candidates like Elizabeth Warren propose, would not be a foolproof solution for overcoming opposition.
Nixing the filibuster would allow the Senate to pass legislation with a simple majority of 50 votes, rather than a 60-vote minimum, but that would require all Democrats to be on board, assuming no Republicans flip.
“Democrats may well pick up purple Senate seats in the 2020 election, given Trump’s problems and the GOP defense of him, so they must create effective climate policies that can gain support from moderates within their own party to enact legislation in 2021, even if they use budget reconciliation and only need 50 votes,” Paul Bledsoe, a former Clinton climate adviser and Senate Finance Committee aide with the Progressive Policy Institute, told Josh.
Bledsoe is referring to the challenges of using a secondary option floated by Democrats that would not require them to end the filibuster: Budget reconciliation, which is a procedural tool that allows for passing of fiscal measures with a simple majority, and could be a good fit for passing something like a carbon tax.
Why Dems voted no: Democrats who voted with Republicans to stymie Chuck Schumer’s attempt Thursday to overturn the Trump administration’s narrow regulation for coal plants — known in shorthand as the “ACE” rule — used creative gymnastics to explain their opposition.
Joe Manchin of coal state West Virginia blamed “partisan gimmicks” for his refusal to back his party, describing the Congressional Review Act which Schumer used as “an overly broad legislative tool.” But the reality is Manchin is a long-time opponent of major emissions-reduction legislation who literally shot a hole in the cap and trade bill in a campaign ad. Manchin has moderated his rhetoric some upon becoming the top Democrat of the important Energy and Natural Resources Committee, but his votes look similar.
Doug Jones of Alabama, vulnerable to losing his seat, said his vote against his fellow Democrats “should in no way be construed as support for this Administration’s views on climate change” but “I believe the federal approach to climate change must bring all stakeholders to the table.” A spokesman for the third Democrat, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, told Politico she voted down the resolution “for the same reason she voted against repealing the Clean Power Plan in 2015. We need bipartisan solutions.”
An alternative view: Mike Carr, a former Democratic counsel to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said it would be wrong to over-analyze the Democratic votes against repealing Trump’s coal plant rule, and what it tells us about the wisdom of nuking the filibuster.
Carr sees the political climate being different if Democrats win the White House and control Congress.
“The circumstances in January of 2021 are likely to be so much different than today that I don’t think you can draw many connecting lines,” he told Josh. “I’m confident that Manchin and other ‘energy state Democrats’ understand that it’s a moral and economic imperative to transition to a clean energy economy. They just need to make sure their constituents are a part of it.”
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IT’S NEVER THE RIGHT TIME TO SAY GOODBYE: President Trump has finally confirmed the worst kept secret in Washington, that Energy Secretary Rick Perry is resigning effective by the end of the year.
Perry officially signed off with a video montage shared on Twitter, calling his tenure “the coolest job I’ve ever had.”
Trump said Thursday evening that he had known for months that Perry intended to leave, even before the president received a resignation letter aboard Air Force One on the way to a Texas rally. We’ve previously reported the energy secretary craves work in the private sector.
Things are getting real: But Perry became a central character in House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry of Trump. It’s unclear how much that had to do with the timing, although Perry told Fox News this morning it has “absolutely nothing to do with Ukraine,” adding he was looking to return to Texas.
Perry faces a deadline today to comply with the subpoena related related to Perry’s knowledge of Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump pushed his counterpart to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden. Perry hasn’t committed to complying, saying he will follow the advice of lawyers. Democratic House investigators could also issue a subpoena for Perry to testify before them.
Leaving a legacy: Perry, the former Texas governor and presidential candidate, had outlasted counterparts in the energy and environment space by being more politically savvy, reveling in his job as chief pitchman for American “energy dominance.”
On a policy level, Perry leaving the Energy Department won’t change the agenda set by the agency during his tenure, which focused mostly on exporting coal and natural gas, and promoting nuclear power. His Energy Department also invested in renewables research, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity, Perry reminds us in his resignation letter.
Perry will be succeeded, at least on a temporary basis and likely more permanently, by a career conservative bureaucrat, Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette. Brouillette is unlikely to rock the boat and has been filling in for Perry at Cabinet meetings during Perry’s world travels, sources told Josh.
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES: Reactions quickly poured in to Perry’s resignation, most following partisan lines.
Top House Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Greg Walden hailed Perry’s “enthusiasm and energy” and credited him for “unleashing innovation in nuclear technology,” while recalling their shared status as Eagle Scouts.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chairwoman Lisa Murkowski said Perry has “been a leader on energy innovation, the expansion of America’s energy trade, and efforts to increase our nation’s cybersecurity.”
Demcoratic Paul Tonko, who leads the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s climate change subcommittee, gave a more mixed review. Tonko said he “once believed” Perry “was one of the more upstanding members of the cabinet.”
But now that Perry has thrust himself in the Ukraine controversy, Tonko said of Perry: “If he has knowledge or evidence of criminal actions he needs to disclose it, and if he broke the law he needs to come forward and accept the consequences.”
CLIMATE CHANGE MISSING FROM TRUMP’S G-7 SYLLABUS: OK, then.
“Climate change will not be on the agenda,” White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Thursday of the Group of Seven meeting hosted by Trump at his Doral resort next summer.
This is not surprising given Trump’s seeming annoyance at climate change dominating previous G-7 meetings (he ditched a meeting on climate change at the group’s meeting this year in France).
But the fact the administration felt the need to try and outlaw discussions on climate change months in advance is a bit striking, given the meeting will occur in Miami, one of the cities most exposed to climate change and sea level rise, where state and city leaders are already taking steps to manage “sunny-day flooding,” as the Washington Post points out.
PUT THE BRAKES ON ELECTRIC VEHICLE TAX CREDIT, BARRASSO SAYS: Federal incentives for electric vehicles are being mismanaged and costing the American taxpayer way too much money, Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming wrote Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a letter Thursday.
Barrasso, a member of leadership and the top Republican on the environment committee, has been leading oil state senators in the fight to kill EV tax credit. In his letter, he pointed to a recent watchdog report finding the Internal Revenue Service has allowed as much as $81.7 million in credits to be claimed on ineligible vehicles.
But some of his Republican colleagues — Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Susan Collins of Maine — are working to extend the credit with Democrats. Even with federal and some state-level incentives, EV sales are still less than 2% nationally.
Automakers like Tesla and General Motors, along with electric utilities and clean energy advocates, have been lobbying Congress to expand the credit. Currently, the $7,500 credit begins to phase out once automakers hit 200,000 cumulative EV sales. Both Tesla and General Motors have already hit that limit.
IS YOUR DISHWASHER RUNNING? The free market group Competitive Enterprise Institute doesn’t think so, and the Energy Department may agree.
But the push by the Energy Department to create a new product class — and ultimately new energy efficiency standards — for home dishwashers is meeting staunch opposition from environmental groups and Democratic-led states. A group of 13 state attorneys general, for example, say it’s an effort to undermine the department’s energy conservation program, which also cuts significant greenhouse gas emissions.
“This is a sham proposal,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement Thursday. “DOE is doing the bidding of a dogmatically anti-rules institution to undermine cost-saving standards at the expense of hardworking families and businesses.”
ELECTRICITY STORAGE GETS A BOOST: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission largely approved plans Thursday by two grid operators, saying they’ve adequately moved to value energy storage in electricity markets.
The approvals — for grid operators in the Southwest and the Mid-Atlantic — are the first following FERC’s order that regional grid operators must change their pricing to allow energy storage to compete fairly in power markets. FERC did, however, ask the grid operators address requirements on how long storage must run to participate in the power market.
“Breaking down these market barriers encourages the innovation and technological advancements that are essential to the future of our grid,” Commission Chairman Neil Chatterjee said in a statement. Energy Storage Association CEO Kelly Speakes-Backman called FERC’s move a “tremendous step in fully removing barriers to energy storage” in the market.
The Rundown
New York Times Bank regulators present a dire warning of financial risks from climate change
Wall Street Journal Saudi Aramco delays launch of world’s largest IPO
Reuters Trading tires: How the West fuels a waste crisis in Asia
Bloomberg Environment Documents show Massachusetts AG ready to file climate case against Exxon
Calendar
TUESDAY | OCTOBER 22
10 a.m. 366 Dirksen. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to examine international efforts to increase energy efficiency and opportunities to advance energy efficiency in the United States.
WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 23
10:30 am, 2322 Rayburn: The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee will hold a hearing on “Building a 100 Percent Clean Economy: Solutions for Planes, Trains and Everything Beyond Automobiles.
THURSDAY | OCTOBER 24
9:00 am, American Gas Association, 400 N Capitol St. NW, Suite 450: The American Gas Association will present its annual winter outlook on natural gas supply, demand, storage, temperatures, weather events, pipeline capacity, and potential impacts on customer bills.
