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VAGUE LANGUAGE FROM CHINA: The U.S. and China have set a tone for cooperating on climate change this decade, but Beijing is still holding off on delivering concrete near-term pledges ahead of President Joe Biden’s big summit event later this week.
The world’s two largest emitters issued a broad but vague statement this past weekend after climate envoy John Kerry’s last gasp China trip to meet with his counterpart Xie Zhenhua.
Kerry was particularly keen to sell a provision of the joint statement that commits both countries to pursuing “enhanced climate actions that raise ambition in the 2020s,” which he told the Wall Street Journal meant that China was effectively pledging to move more quickly than currently promised.
“This language is intentionally vague, but indeed leaves the door open for China to announce more ambitious 2030 or pre-2030 targets,” Joanna Lewis, an associate professor of energy and environment at Georgetown University who focuses on China, told Josh.
Timing key for China: We are still awaiting specific announcements from China on what it will do to further its ambitions this decade to improve upon its target of having emissions peak before 2030. Despite Kerry’s push for quicker action, the world might have to keep waiting for more specifics from China until the runup to November’s U.N. meeting in Glasgow, where countries are expected to enshrine tougher targets to the Paris Agreement.
“The timing will likely be much more based on what makes sense to the Chinese economy as well as energy sector, and around the official UN/Paris timeline of events, rather than the US initiated timeline,” Jane Nakano, senior fellow in the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Josh.
Why quicker action from China matters: Without a near-term peak in emissions, it’s hard to understand how China gets to carbon neutrality by 2060, the long-term target it set late last year. That would certainly require a departure from coal, but the only reference to coal in the joint statement is a commitment to reduce emissions from coal, oil, and gas in the near-term. It also does not mention China ending the financing of coal export projects, another major ask of Kerry and other allies.
But by generically signaling more aggressive actions this decade, China may have given Kerry the opening he needs to claim his diplomacy is delivering quick results. It could also deflect attacks from Republicans who say the big new U.S. reduction target Biden is expected to announce at his summit has to be matched by China.
“This provides Biden more cover for his new U.S. commitment, helping deflect criticism that Beijing has no intention of taking new action,” Paul Bledsoe, a strategic advisor at the Progressive Policy Institute, told Josh.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers Josh Siegel (@SiegelScribe) and Abby Smith (@AbbySmithDC). Email [email protected] or [email protected] for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
BIDEN LAUNCHES CLIMATE PARTNERSHIP WITH JAPAN: The new bilateral initiative, which Biden announced Friday after his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide, includes consultations between the two countries on 2030 national emissions targets and partnerships to develop low-carbon technologies such as carbon capture, hydrogen and advanced nuclear power.
The focus on 2030 targets in particular portends an announcement from Japan this week strengthening its emissions reduction target for the next decade, possibly with a move away from coal. Biden and his team have been pressing international leaders to come to this week’s climate summit with more aggressive 2030 targets, but haven’t had luck with major emitters such as China and India (as we noted above).
HOUSE REPUBLICANS’ CLIMATE COUNTER-PROGRAMING: House Republicans began a three-day climate forum this morning to present their ideas on addressing climate change and counter the Biden Earth Day summit.
“Democrats often dismiss Republicans as being disinterested in addressing global climate change. That is just false,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a video teasing today’s proceedings.
The opening pitch: Rep. Garret Graves, the top Republican on the select climate committee, delivered the GOP’s political messaging in a pre-recorded video, attacking the Paris Agreement for enabling China to increase emissions, promoting a set of tax and regulatory policies to encourage clean energy innovation, and opposing larger measures to reduce fossil fuel use.
“Demand for fossil energy will increase substantially in the coming decades,” Graves said, arguing for the need to export U.S. natural gas to developing countries. “It’s simply irreplaceable in some cases.”
Also on the agenda today: House Republicans plan to outline their opposition to a carbon tax, promote a new bill we previewed providing more oversight of the Biden’s administration’s Paris agreement re-engagement, and discussing measures to boost carbon capture, nuclear energy, and critical minerals development.
EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT HYDROGEN: The Biden administration and all types of industry see developing a domestic hydrogen economy as a linchpin in the effort to eliminate U.S. emissions by 2050.
That is because hydrogen is a versatile, zero-carbon fuel that can be used to decarbonize the hardest-to-abate sectors, such as heavy-duty trucking, marine shipping, and industrial manufacturing, so long as it can be produced without emitting carbon.
The challenge, however, is scaling the technology. To do so will require a concerted policy effort to help drive down the costs of producing carbon-free hydrogen, according to energy analysts and industry representatives.
The Biden administration has started to take steps in that direction, proposing funding for hydrogen pilot projects and a possible production tax credit in Biden’s big infrastructure plan. Those proposals, however, still pale in comparison to the comprehensive hydrogen roadmaps that many other countries, such as Australia, Chile, Japan, and the European Union, have developed.
More on the technology’s potential and the policy dynamics in Abby’s deep dive for this week’s Washington Examiner magazine.
MANCHIN…INFRASTRUCTURE DEBATE CAN’T NEGLECT COAL WORKERS: Sen. Joe Manchin, a key swing vote on Biden’s infrastructructure proposals, said this morning that any package cannot allow coal workers to be “left behind” in his home state of West Virginia.
Manchin, speaking at the National Press Club with United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts, plugged his bill to expand tax credits for manufacturers in rural areas to retool to produce clean energy technologies (the Biden proposal nods at this idea).
He also touted the importance of carbon capture technology investment and announced he is co-sponsoring the PRO Act, a Democratic bill to expand labor protections that UMWA supports that has passed the House multiple times.
Roberts, meanwhile, said carbon capture could be the lifeline to save the coal mining industry, which lost 7,000 jobs last year and is down overall to 34,000 coal miners from 90,000 a decade ago.
“We need to find a way to make coal acceptable in the environment we find ourselves in,” Roberts said. “The only way is [carbon capture].”
BP TARGETS 2025 TO END FLARING, BEATING ITS PEERS: Oil giant BP pledged this morning to eliminate routine flaring, or intentional burning, of excess natural gas, by 2025, in all its U.S. onshore operations, including in the Permian Basin.
That timeline meets the expectations of environmental groups who were disappointed with U.S. oil majors ExxonMobil and Chevron which recently targeted 2030 to end flaring, a practice that has become a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
European-based BP flares far more gas than its American counterparts in the Permian, so it has more work to do. BP intends to accomplish its goal by building a network network of pipes and other infrastructure to collect and capture natural gas produced as a byproduct from oil that would typically be flared.
Companies generally resort to flaring when there is insufficient pipeline or other infrastructure to transport the natural gas for use. Flaring primarily emits carbon, but some of the natural gas can escape as methane.
The Wall Street Journal has more on BP’s plans.
HURDLES TO BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE DEAL: Senate lawmakers are in talks to try to produce a bipartisan infrastructure bill, including a proposal to split the measure into two parts.
But heavy skepticism, as well as big partisan differences in how much to spend, stand in the way of an agreement, reports the Washington Examiner’s chief congressional correspondent Susan Ferrechio.
“The $2 trillion package that the Biden administration is pushing is really a liberal wish list,” Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican, said. “It is grouping things together for Big Labor and providing them with big perks, as well as elements of the Green New Deal.”
No one seems happy with the two-bill idea: A narrow infrastructure measure would likely attract GOP support, but lawmakers in both parties are wary of breaking up the measure.
Sen. John Thune, the minority whip and No. 2 Republican in the Senate, called a two-part bill “a cynical ploy” to lure the GOP to vote for an infrastructure bill while circumventing Republicans by passing all the unrelated provisions using a budgetary tactic that prevents a filibuster.
“I don’t think our guys are going to take the bait on that,” Thune said.
Democrats want to ensure all of Biden’s proposal makes it into law soon, and splitting up the bill risks pushing the clean energy and other provisions to the sidelines.
“I don’t know how much time we have for that,” Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat and a leading negotiator on the infrastructure legislation, said when asked about splitting up the legislation.
WHERE CLEAN ENERGY JOBS GREW IN 2020: Wind energy and clean vehicle manufacturing were two bright spots in a year where much of the clean energy sector saw significant job losses amid the pandemic, according to a new report this morning from Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2).
For example, while overall renewable energy jobs fell 6%, with residential solar especially hard hit, the wind energy industry added about 2,000 jobs last year, said Bob Keefe, E2’s executive director. Keefe also told reporters that automakers and auto parts suppliers added 12,000 jobs in electric and plug-in vehicle manufacturing last year.
Energy Department Deputy Secretary David Turk, in remarks during the news event, said the Biden administration hopes to grow clean energy jobs significantly beyond the 3 million in the U.S. currently employed in the sector. He stressed the “diversity” of clean energy jobs, noting that industries such as offshore wind and hydrogen could offer jobs consistent with the skillsets of oil and gas workers.
Turk also suggested the Biden administration is focusing on “near-term” employment opportunities, such as hiring pipeline workers to replace all of the U.S. lead service lines (a goal Biden outlined in his infrastructure plan).
BUSINESS COULD RAISE CLIMATE TARGETS IF BIDEN DOES: Biden setting an aggressive national target to slash emissions in half over the next decade would likely also prompt many companies to rethink and strengthen their own climate commitments, a U.S. corporate leader said.
“I think that you would see a rapid increase to moving to zero-carbon electrification,” said Hugh Welsh, head of DSM North America, told Abby in an interview. He suggested companies, including his own, would speed up the adoption of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and electric vehicles if the Biden administration commits to a strong national emissions reduction target.
DSM North America was one of more than 300 companies, including other major corporations such as Apple, Exelon, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, and Walmart, that pressed Biden last week to set a new target under the Paris climate agreement to cut emissions by 50% below 2005 levels by 2030.
More in Abby’s story from over the weekend.
HAALAND REVOKES TRUMP ENERGY ‘DOMINANCE’ ORDERS: Interior Secretary Deb Haaland revoked a dozen Trump administration orders on Friday that prioritized energy development, particularly of fossil fuels, as the “dominant” use for public lands. These include orders that directed the Bureau of Land Management to expedite coal lease applications and required the agency to hold quarterly federal oil and gas lease sales.
New priorities: Haaland issued two new orders “to prioritize action on climate change throughout the Department and to restore transparency and integrity in the Department’s decision-making processes.” She established a climate task force to focus on accelerating the permitting process for renewable energy development and assisting fossil fuel-dependent areas exposed to the administration’s push for cleaner energy.
Haaland also directed the agency to do NEPA analyses that “appropriately” analyze climate change and engage the views of tribes and “environmental justice communities.”
TREASURY TALKS CORPORATE TAX LAW CHANGES WITH ENVIRONMENTALISTS: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, in a meeting that included Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, on Friday told nearly a dozen environmental groups that Biden’s infrastructure and tax plans begin “to modernize how we treat the fossil fuel industry,” including by removing fossil fuel subsidies. In a report earlier this month, the agency said eliminating fossil fuel subsidies would increase government tax receipts by more than $35 billion in the next decade.
Adeyemo, in his remarks to the groups, called Biden’s infrastructure plan “the most significant investment in the fight against climate change the country has ever made.”
CO2-TO-CONCRETE TECH WINS CARBON UTILIZATION PRIZE: Two companies that created technology significantly reducing the carbon footprint of manufacturing concrete each won $7.5 million from the Carbon XPRIZE, a five-year global competition focused on developing new ways to utilize captured carbon dioxide.
Both winners, CarbonCure Technologies and UCLA CarbonBuilt, created technologies that inject CO2 into different portions of the concrete manufacturing process. For both technologies, the CO2 is then permanently stored. CarbonCure is backed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Bill Gates’s climate innovation fund, among others, and UCLA CarbonBuilt’s sponsors include the Energy Department.
The Rundown
Wall Street Journal Landmen who once staked claims for oil and gas now hunt wind and sun
Reuters Power companies urge Biden to implement policies to cut emissions 80% by 2030
Bloomberg Gas is the new coal with risk of $100 billion in stranded assets
Washington Post White House removes scientist picked by Trump official to lead key climate report
Reuters Arizona mining fight pits economy, EVs against conservation, culture
Calendar
TUESDAY | APRIL 20
10 a.m. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland testifies remotely before a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee on the agency’s FY 2022 budget request.
10:30 a.m. The Senate Appropriations Committee will hear testimony from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, EPA Administrator Michael Regan, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge on the American Jobs Plan.
10:30 a.m. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy will hold a remote hearing titled, “Generating Equity: Deploying a Just and Clean Energy Future.”
11 a.m. The Great Plains Institute will host the second virtual CO2NNECT event on carbon dioxide transport and storage, featuring remarks from Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk and Sen. Chris Coons.
12 p.m. The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis will hold a remote hearing titled, “Making the Case for Climate Action: Creating New Jobs and Catalyzing Economic Growth”
12:30 p.m. The National Capital Area Chapter of the United States Association for Energy Economics’ will hold its annual Energy Policy Conference. The virtual event runs over two days.
WEDNESDAY | APRIL 21
10 a.m. The House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies subcommittee will hold a hearing with EPA Administrator Michael Regan on the EPA’s fiscal year 2022 budget request.
6 p.m. Citizens’ Climate Lobby’s D.C. chapter will hold a virtual town hall meeting with Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton.
THURSDAY | APRIL 22
10 a.m. 366 Dirksen. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing “to examine the opportunities and challenges that exist for advancing and deploying carbon and carbon-dioxide utilization technologies in the United States.”
