| | | | |  | | By Matthew Choi and Josh Siegel | Presented by the National Mining Association | With help from Ben Lefebvre. Editor's Note: Morning Energy is a free version of POLITICO Pro Energy's morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day's biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro.
| | | — Republican senators are showing flexibility on their demand to immediately sanction the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as a bipartisan cohort works on Russia sanctions legislation. — House Oversight is setting a new hearing for oil majors' board members after they declined to appear for a hearing this month. — The Biden administration could decide as soon as today on whether to extend Section 201 tariffs on solar parts. HAPPY FRIDAY! I'm your host, Matthew Choi. Congrats to Meguire Whitney's Ryan Serote for knowing King Sejong the Great invented the Korean alphabet . For today's trivia: Which territory was the first (and last) European holding in China? Send your tips and trivia answers to mchoi@politico.com. Find me on Twitter @matthewchoi2018. Check out the POLITICO Energy podcast — all the energy and environmental politics and policy news you need to start your day, in just five minutes. Listen and subscribe for free at politico.com/energy-podcast. On today's episode: Biden's Fed nominee faces GOP pushback over climate.
| | | | | A message from the National Mining Association: The U.S. minerals mining industry provides the raw materials that fuel our society. From deploying EVs and meeting climate goals, to launching infrastructure projects and creating jobs, minerals make modern life possible. Click here to find out how. | | | | | | BEFORE OR AFTER THE INVASION: In order to preserve a bipartisan deal on a Russia sanctions bill, Republicans are giving some ground on their preference to immediately sanction the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline. The shift comes after Republicans spent weeks pounding President Joe Biden for waiving sanctions on the Russia-to-Germany pipeline and their failure to pass a stand-alone measure that would have imposed penalties on it. A bipartisan gang of Senate negotiators are still trying to finalize specific legislation language over Nord Stream 2 as they work to close the deal , but Democrats who are involved tell Pro's Josh Siegel that sanctions on the pipeline won't be applied ahead of a possible invasion by Moscow of Ukraine. "The [Biden] administration does not want to have any sanctions applied against Nord Stream 2 right now," said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). "I am sure our bill won't do that. We are looking at what happens if Russia invades and what happens if Germany doesn't continue to keep the pipeline on pause." To satisfy Republican demands that some sanctions bite on the front end, Democrats have agreed to punish Russia for destabilizing actions it has already taken, including cyberattacks targeting Ukraine as well as massing troops on the border between the countries. Russia, the top exporter of gas to import-dependent Europe, had not been shipping as much as would be expected with such high prices, which critics maintain is an intentional move from President Vladimir Putin to try to pressure Germany to certify Nord Stream 2. But Murphy said Democrats don't consider Russia's moves to leverage Nord Stream 2 as in the same league as those other pre-invasion activities. Republicans interested in presenting a united front against Russia suggested the lack of immediate sanctions on the pipeline is not a dealbreaker to them, with Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) saying the U.S. and its allies could do other things to reduce Europe's dependence on Russian natural gas. "I would likely vote for virtually anything that was sanctioning Russia," Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who led the effort blocked by Democrats last month to immediately sanction Nord Stream 2, told Josh. Still, Cruz said delaying the penalties "is likely to be completely ineffective in preventing an invasion." Read more from POLITICO's Andrew Desiderio on the latest on the Senate's sanctions saga.
| | | | A message from the National Mining Association:   | | | | | | ONE MORE CHANCE TO COMMIT: The House Oversight Committee is giving board members of the nation's biggest oil companies a new deadline to agree to testify about their companies' activities to combat climate change. Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney and Environment Subcommittee Chair Ro Khanna 's second attempt at getting the board members to comply comes after several turned down invitations to a Feb. 8 hearing. The new hearing is set for March 8. "The Big Oil companies should consider the March hearing their last chance to cooperate," Maloney said in a press release. "If their board members refuse to appear, they should expect further action from this Committee." The hearing comes as Democrats' sniff around big oil's climate pledges, which some green critics have dismissed as more for show than substance. Khanna's subcommittee held a hearing with top executives of several oil majors late last year to gauge what the companies knew about their role in climate change in past decades. Pro's Ben Lefebvre has more. NOT JUST ANY ACQUISITION: A Chinese state-owned company is taking over a Canadian-based lithium mining firm, and Canadian officials are waiving an extended national security review on the merger. It's a decision raising eyebrows, including south of the border, with Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) asking the Biden administration if the Canadians had informed them of the deal. "It was quite surprising to me to hear of this acquisition, given there's a clear national security nexus and I would think there's clear national security concerns," Waltz told POLITICO's Andy Blatchford. "Not just any acquisition — but from a Chinese state-owned firm is, again, very surprising and very alarming." The Trudeau government insists it has taken the necessary precautions and that "transactions involving critical minerals are systematically and thoroughly reviewed and scrutinized," Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne told a House of Commons committee. But Champagne declined to say if his cohort had reached out to the U.S. on the deal. Andy has more for Pros. ANOTHER CONTINUING RESOLUTION?! The clock is ticking on the fiscal cliff and appropriators on the Hill are coming to terms with the evaporating odds of reaching a deal for an omnibus package by the Feb. 18 deadline. Congressional leaders are huddling to plan a continuing resolution to keep the government open past the deadline — and maintaining funding at levels set under the Trump administration. The House could vote as soon as next week, according to Rep. David Price (D-N.C.), who chairs the panel that writes the Transportation-HUD piece of the funding package. And while that would avert a shutdown, it would take off a lot of motivating pressure to reach a full deal to finance the government for the fiscal year — a top priority for Democrats in order to fund the administration's climate and environment agenda. Pro's Jennifer Scholtes and Sarah Ferris have more. Meanwhile, senators are looking toward next fiscal year's budget with an eye on addressing PFAS contamination. Several Democratic senators, along with Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Angus King (I-Maine) wrote to Biden this week requesting funding to research and clean up PFAS be included in his budget request for FY 2023. Read their letter here. ICYMI: Sarah Bloom Raskin, the nominee for top Wall Street cop at the Federal Reserve, pushed back on GOP claims that she would starve fossil fuel companies access to major banks, telling lawmakers Thursday it would be "inappropriate for the Fed to make credit decisions and allocations based on choosing winners and losers." Pro's Zack Colman has more.
| | | | DON'T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE. | | | | | | | | TO SOLAR TARIFF OR NOT TO SOLAR TARIFF: The Biden administration is expected to make its decision on extending Trump-era tariffs on solar components as soon as today, Pro's Gavin Bade and Kelsey Tamborrino report. Which way it goes is still uncertain as the administration balances between competing its interests in spurring clean energy deployment and protecting U.S. manufacturing. The U.S. International Trade Commission recommended extending the tariffs, and the Department of Labor has been quietly lobbying for an extension as well. But large-scale facility developers and industry groups have argued extended tariffs would kneecap the administration's goals of solar providing 10 times more electricity than it does today by 2035. ME FIRST: DOE PUTS THE CASH ON GEOTHERMAL: The Energy Department will announce a new funding program for geothermal drilling demonstration projects today aimed at reducing drilling costs and the time needed to complete them. Drilling can contribute 50 percent of the costs of geothermal projects, according to DOE, and supporting projects in areas with traditional reliance on fossil fuels could help the administration in its mission to help ferry local economies toward clean energy. The program will free up $20 million in competitive funding through the Office of Geothermal Technologies. LET IT RIDE: Interior Secretary Deb Haaland sold shares of a casino gaming company worth between $1,001 and $15,000, according to a financial disclosure statement that appeared on the federal government's ethics disclosure website. An Interior spokesperson said the shares in PlayAGS, a Nevada-based company that sells slot machines, eBingo and other gaming systems to casinos, belonged to Haaland's long-time partner, whom she married in August 2021. Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs ratifies the gaming compacts agreed to by state governments and tribal nations and makes key decisions for tribes seeking to use land to build new casinos. The value of the shares did not meet the level that would have forced Haaland to recuse herself from matters related to those matters, the department spokesperson said. "Between her marriage and the point of sale, the Secretary was not required to recuse from any particular matters pending at the Department because her spouse's financial interest was below the government-wide regulatory de minimis level of $15,000," the spokesperson said. Haaland's husband, Skip Sayer, as of November 2021, runs a communications and marketing firm, according to his LinkedIn page. Before that he worked for more than a decade at Laguna Development Corp. helping to oversee the marketing of several casinos.
| | | BREAKING THE 90s: West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures topped $90 per barrel Thursday for the first time since 2014, while the global benchmark Brent contract reached $91.11. That's not good news for Biden, whose efforts to push down fuel prices have left him in a complicated political bind. While the high prices at the pump in the middle of winter feed into Republican criticisms of his energy policy, his efforts to shore up crude output overseas to temper the prices are complicating his green optics. Biden isn't getting much help from OPEC and its Russian partner, with the cartel deciding to stick with its gradual increase in crude output at its Wednesday meeting. Experts hadn't expected the group to call for a steeper increase in output with members signaling they were having a difficult time keeping up with the current monthly increases of 400,000 barrels per day as is. Read more from Reuters about Thursday's U.S. rally. BEIJING HUANYING PUTIN: The Beijing Winter Olympics formally kick off today, and the athletes won't be the only ones under the microscope. China is hoping to make this year's games the first green-energy powered Olympics in history (not including the ancient ones, probably) with a net-zero carbon footprint as a testament to its climate commitments. But critics argue the country is merely creating a potemkin Olympic village of clean energy while the country itself continues to grow its emissions share with its heavy reliance on coal generation. China's President Xi Jinping will also be hosting his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Friday, when the two leaders will have a one-on-one. Russia and China have been getting increasingly chummy, and an escalation in the Ukraine crisis could benefit Beijing, The Washington Post's Eva Dou and Mary Ilyushina report. Increased sanctions on Russia could open up market opportunities for China, and the Ukrainian situation is taking attention off of China's own human rights dirty laundry. The Biden administration, for its part, will not be there to witness the fun, maintaining its official diplomatic boycott of the games over the CCP's human rights record. CALIFORNIA HEEDS SOLAR OUTCRY: The California Public Utilities Commission is indefinitely holding off on a controversial proposal to slash rooftop solar incentives following fierce blowback from solar backers, celebrities and clean energy advocates alike. CPUC Administrative Law Judge Kelly Hymes wrote that new agency President Alice Reynolds "has requested additional time to analyze the record and consider revisions to the proposed decision based on party comments." Read more from POLITICO's Colby Bermel in California .
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | — " Mountain Valley Pipeline faces new setback after court invalidates environmental review," via POLITICO. — " Asset managers dismiss Biden's methane clampdown as too lenient," via The Financial Times. — "Inside Regan's meeting with an anti-Pebble mine billionaire," via E&E News. — " 'I am doing the devils work' — Staff at Dem firm revolt over work for Sinema," via POLITICO. THAT'S ALL FOR ME!
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