| | | | |  | | By Matthew Choi | Presented by Chevron | With help from Alex Guillén 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.
| | | — Natural gas power plant owners are pushing for a price on carbon at the state and regional levels, though these programs still face a lot of obstacles. — The heads of EPA, DOE and DOI go to the Hill this week to defend the administration's budget requests. — White House Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy isn't leaving her post any time soon, though she won't be there forever, she says. HAPPY MONDAY! I'm your host, Matthew Choi. Congrats to a lot of you for knowing Lord Farquaad ruled over Duloc , but congrats in particular to Mike O'Neill of K&L Gates for getting it first. For today's trivia: What were the two ports where the Titanic picked up extra passengers between Southampton and the iceberg on its maiden voyage? 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: Ukraine's green post-war vision.
| | | | | A message from Chevron: The Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico is one of America's most prolific oil and natural gas resources. By the end of this year, we plan to increase Chevron's Permian oil and natural gas production by 10% while continuing to reduce our operations' carbon and methane emissions intensities. | | | | | | GAS FOR CARBON PRICE: A price on carbon doesn't have the environmental luster it used to, but it enjoys support from one group: natural gas power plant owners, POLITICO's Catherine Morehouse reports. With gas generators fearing their investments will be disadvantaged by a patchwork of clean energy policies, they are rallying around state and regional pricing schemes to keep them competitive. "It has been the experience of the state-by-state approach that it has not been as successful in securing emissions reductions as some would like to think, and it has proven to be much more expensive than a well-crafted, economy-wide price on carbon would be," said Todd Snitchler, president and CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association, which represents several major energy companies including BP Plc, Shell Energy and NRG Energy. But getting a carbon pricing policy adopted is proving a challenge. Climate-focused Democrats have largely averted their attention toward clean energy tax credits and other incentives to spur renewable development. And partisan battles, tensions between states that have emissions reduction goals and those that do not, and environmental justice concerns have thwarted attempts to expand these programs at the state and regional levels. Environmentalists are also skeptical about a program that may lower overall emissions but further bake natural gas into the grid for the long haul. Read more from Catherine here.
| | | BUDGET BUSINESS: Did everyone enjoy recess? Great. But it's time for Congress to get back to business, which means talking about the budget this week. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm heads to the Hill Thursday to defend Biden's DOE budget request for fiscal year 2023. She'll meet with the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the morning and the Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee in the afternoon. The largely symbolic budget request reflects the administration's prioritization of domestic manufacturing and includes a 7 percent increase from the fiscal year 2022 omnibus package. The House Science Committee also has a hearing Wednesday going into DOE's research and infrastructure needs, with testimony from Geraldine Richmond, under secretary for Science and Innovation. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland will also have her moment before the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday to discuss her department's fiscal year 2023 budget request, which includes a nearly 25 percent increase from the 2022 omnibus. EPA Administrator Michael Regan faces the committee on Friday to discuss his agency's $11.9 billion budget request, with a roughly 25 percent increase from the omnibus. Other agencies going before House Appropriations this week: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation budget requests get a hearing on Wednesday featuring Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael Connor, Reclamation Deputy Commissioner of Operations David Palumbo, the Corps' Chief of Engineers and Commanding General Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon and DOI Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo. Finally, the U.S. Forest Servicehas a committee hearing on its budget request Wednesday afternoon. NOMINEE NEWS: The Senate Energy Committee has a vote scheduled Thursday on Kathryn Huff to be assistant secretary of Energy for Nuclear Energy. The committee will also discuss the nominations of David Applegate to lead the U.S. Geological Survey, Carmen Cantor to be assistant secretary of the Interior for Insular and International Affairs, and Evelyn Wang to be director of DOE's ARPA-E program. Where's Laura? Absent from the Senate ENR lineup is Laura Daniel-Davis, nominee to be assistant Interior secretary for Land and Minerals Management. Chair Joe Manchin held up her nomination over concerns that DOI was not adequately moving to shore up domestic fossil fuel production, though he supported her nomination last fall. Manchin's office didn't respond to ME's query on Daniel-Davis' nomination. Federal oil and gas leasing will also get some attention at a House Natural Resources Committee oversight hearing Thursday on carbon storage in the Gulf of Mexico. ANOTHER HEARING FOR YOUR RADAR: The House Science Committee has a hearing Thursday on ways to respond to climate change, with Ko Barrett, IPCC vice chair and NOAA senior adviser for Climate, among the witnesses.
| | | | DON'T MISS ANYTHING FROM THE 2022 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO is excited to partner with the Milken Institute to produce a special edition "Global Insider" newsletter featuring exclusive coverage and insights from the 25th annual Global Conference. This year's event, May 1-4, brings together more than 3,000 of the world's most influential leaders, including 700+ speakers representing more than 80 countries. "Celebrating the Power of Connection" is this year's theme, setting the stage to connect influencers with the resources to change the world with leading experts and thinkers whose insight and creativity can implement that change. Whether you're attending in person or following along from somewhere else in the world, keep up with this year's conference with POLITICO's special edition "Global Insider" so you don't miss a beat. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | | GINA IS HERE TO STAY: White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy won't be working there "to the end of my days," but has no immediate plans to depart, she said during a Friday talk with Axios, her first public appearance since rumors last week of her impending resignation. "Right now, my only plan is to deliver for President Biden on the climate actions that we need and to show folks that those actions really are ones that don't require sacrifice, that ought to be embraced and applauded and move forward as quickly as possible. So I'm not ready yet to call it a day or ride off into the sunset." McCarthy also doesn't plan to stop her climate work after leaving the White House. "Anything that I can do in my own personal capacity, or looking at other opportunities, I'm just going to take them, because we haven't gotten this far and had this pinnacle of potential success ever before." SAB DIVES INTO WOTUS: EPA's Science Advisory Board plans to review the agency's forthcoming rewrite of the Waters of the U.S. rule, the panel said in a Friday letter. It cited "important emerging environmental issues" that require SAB's attention. The group specified interest in EPA's economic analysis, the scope of what waters are included, impacts on environmental justice communities, and whether EPA properly accounted for increased climate-related events like urban flooding. SAB also said it will consider "whether EPA's continued exclusion of sub-surface waters from Waters of the United States is supported by sound science given advances in understanding regarding the connectivity of surface and sub-surface waters." — SAB declined to review EPA's recent rule boosting tailpipe greenhouse gas standards through 2026 after concluding it "does not involve new approaches that require peer review." But the panel called on EPA to make changes to boost future rulemakings, including a more detailed analysis of environmental justice concerns and more work "to better understand the extent to which changing vehicle markets and new evidence from economic research on vehicle markets will affect the future benefits and costs of vehicle greenhouse gas emissions standards." REGAN IN HIS OLD STOMPING GROUNDS: The EPA administrator is heading back to his home state of North Carolina today with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to discuss the benefits of the bipartisan infrastructure package for rural areas, including water infrastructure investments. They'll meet with community leaders both today and Tuesday.
| | | | A message from Chevron:   | | | | | | MONSIEUR LE PRÉSIDENT: French President Emmanuel Macron has another five years in the Elysée after defeating far-right perennial candidate Marine Le Pen in the country's runoff elections Sunday. That means continued commitment to the current trans-Atlantic security model as the Ukraine war presents it with its greatest test since the Cold War and five more years of a president focused on an international approach to combating climate change. Both candidates vowed France would become more energy independent in the wake of the Russian invasion, including with additional nuclear development. But Le Pen took it further by calling for an exit from European grid and carbon networks. Le Pen also took a hostile approach toward wind and solar projects and hoped to distance France from global commitments to reduce emissions. But while Macron tried to collect leftist candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon's environmentally minded voters in the lead up to the run off, his record on climate issues proved a sore spot, with accusations from both the left and right that he talked a big game without delivering on any major overhauls, POLITICO's Louise Guillot and Karl Mathiesen report. Shortly after his victory was announced, Macron tweeted Sunday that "making France a great ecological nation" was "our project. Macron faced some similar woes that Biden has — accusations from the right that he is an aloof leader with little regard for daily pains like gas prices, and disappointment from the left that he is acquiescing to policy demands from the right. But Macron's Sunday victory appears to offer some encouragement in the Biden camp, with White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain tweeting : "An interesting observation, just FYI. President Macron appears to have secured a double-digit victory over LePen, at a time when his approval rating is 36%. Hmmm...." Of course, France elects its president via direct vote, not an electoral college. PUNCTILIOUS POINT: Just going to slip this factoid in here because Twitter was driving your host insane yesterday. France does have an electoral college, but they elect the Senate, not the president. Read more on Sunday's election from POLITICO's Clea Caulcutt in Paris.
| | | | JOIN US ON 4/29 FOR A WOMEN RULE DISCUSSION ON WOMEN IN TECH : Women, particularly women of color and women from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, have historically been locked out of the tech world. But this new tech revolution could be an opportunity for women to get in on the ground floor of a new chapter. Join POLITICO for an in-depth panel discussion on the future of women in tech and how to make sure women are both participating in this fast-moving era and have access to all it offers. REGISTER FOR THE CHANCE TO JOIN US IN-PERSON. | | | | | | | | — "The Former Chancellor Who Became Putin's Man in Germany," via The New York Times. — "Hear Elizabeth Warren's plan to avoid an election loss for Democrats," via CNN. — " Climate Activist Dies After Setting Himself on Fire at Supreme Court," via The New York Times. — "Janez Janša suffers heavy defeat as newcomer party wins Slovenian election," via POLITICO. — "Exxon Ban on LGBTQ Pride Flag Triggers Employee Backlash," via Bloomberg. — "'The sound of money': Wind energy is booming in deep-red Republican states," via CNN. — "U.S., Ukrainian officials weigh 'high possibility' of Putin invading Moldova," via POLITICO. THAT'S ALL FOR ME!
| | | | A message from Chevron: Balancing energy security, costs, and the need to reduce emissions have become an increasingly important part of the energy conversation at home and abroad. In the Permian Basin, we plan to increase oil production by 10% in 2022 while continuing to reduce both carbon and methane emissions intensities. And in the years to come, we expect to grow our Permian production beyond 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. Every day, we look for opportunities to make our own environmental footprint smaller as we strive to produce energy that Americans—and customers throughout the world—can count on. Find out more. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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