EU'll go your way, EPA'll go mine

Jun 16, 2023 View in browser   By Debra Kahn THE WEEK THAT WAS Chemical recycling companies may want to ply their trade in Europe. | Jordan Wolman/POLITICO CONTINENTAL DIVIDE — We're obviously nowhere near having a global system on almost anything when it comes to the environment, but it's striking how disconnected we are from our closest allies. This week made that clear on two fronts: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen aired concerns about a pending EU rule that would require companies to police their supply chains for human rights and environmental issues, as Eleanor Mueller reports. The rule would go further than the SEC's also-pending climate disclosure rule by requiring action, rather than just disclosure. We knew Republicans didn't like it, but Yellen's citing the "potential for unintended negative consequences for U.S. firms" is an escalation. And while U.S. regulators are starting to crack down on chemical recycling, the EU is trying to boost it. The Environmental Protection Agency put out a proposed rule Thursday that would require testing of fuel that comes from heated-up plastic and specifies that the process doesn't count as recycling, our Jordan Wolman reports. The European Commission warned against discouraging the technology that same day, Leonie Cater reports. It's a pretty fundamental disagreement over the role of melting down old plastic into new components, an expensive process embraced by petrochemical companies that regulators in red states have been promoting and blue states have largely been discouraging.   SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY.     WHAT WE'VE LEARNED ANTI-ESG ALTRUISM — Those watching House Republicans' ongoing assault on ESG investing might notice a concern for the poor among their quiver of rhetorical arrows. Don't buy it, experts tell Avery Ellfeldt, reporting for POLITICO's E&E News. There's no evidence that ESG investing has affected energy prices, experts say. It hasn't gotten more expensive for energy companies to borrow money by issuing debt, and investors have far more fundamental reasons than ESG to get turned off by the fossil fuel sector in general. The criticism further falls apart when one considers industry trends over the past decade. Natural gas production is at an all-time high, and oil production is near its pre-pandemic peak in the United States and still rising. Both natural gas and oil prices, meanwhile, are well below where they were for most of the past decade. "Energy prices only seem high if we compare them to the crisis period of 2020, when prices of practically everything temporarily dropped amid lockdowns," said Pavel Molchanov, the managing director for renewable energy and clean technology research at investment bank Raymond James & Associates Inc. "The rhetoric may be 'Let's help consumers,'" said Clark Williams-Derry, an energy finance analyst with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. "But the substance of the rhetoric is unrelated to consumer concerns." AROUND THE WORLD CORPORATE-COP TENSIONS — The United Nations is trying to thread the needle between bringing industry to the climate negotiating table and curbing its influence, Sara Schonhardt reports for POLITICO's E&E News. The U.N. will require everyone who attends the COP28 talks in November in Dubai to disclose whom they work for, a move aimed at quelling activists' concerns about potential conflicts of interest. At last year’s climate conference in Egypt, more than 630 of the 33,000 registered participants had ties to fossil fuel companies, a 25 percent increase from the year before, according to an analysis by several watchdog groups. Under the new rules, delegations will have to list the names and company affiliations of everyone in their group, and the information will be posted online. Delegates will also be asked to describe what they do for their company, though that question will be optional. Activists say it's a good first step. "Polluters do have a role to play in climate action, but that role is not writing the rules and undermining the rules of climate action,” said Rachel Rose Jackson, director of research and international policy at Corporate Accountability, one of the groups pushing for the new measures. THE GREEN JOB DANCE — Canada is trying to win over labor unions in its version of the Inflation Reduction Act, Zi-Ann Lum reports. New legislation by the federal government would attach union labor provisions to the 2023 budget’s C$80-billion in tax credits to spur a low-carbon economy. It would create a jobs council, a "sustainable jobs action plan" and would enshrine the principle that the energy transition should support “the creation of decent work, meaning good-paying, high-quality jobs — including jobs in which workers are represented by a trade union.” It marks the start of a new round of fighting with fossil fuel-rich provinces: “Alberta will not recognize, cooperate with or enforce any attempt to phase out our province’s oil and gas industry or its workforce,” said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. “This is non-negotiable.” BUILDING BLOCKS POWER PLAY — Car buyers are still worried about not having enough electric vehicle chargers, Tanya Snyder reports. A report Thursday from JD Power found that 49 percent of drivers that opt against getting an EV cite the lack of charging availability as their main reason. This despite $7.5 billion in federal funding that's rolling out for charging infrastructure. There's a "huge opportunity" for automakers to play a larger role in public charging, the report said, like Ford and GM's recent joining of forces with Tesla's Supercharger network. YOU TELL US GAME ON — Happy Friday! Welcome to the Long Game, where we tell you about the latest on efforts to shape our future. We deliver data-driven storytelling, compelling interviews with industry and political leaders, and news Tuesday through Friday to keep you in the loop on sustainability. Team Sustainability is editor Greg Mott, deputy editor Debra Kahn, and reporters Jordan Wolman and Allison Prang. Reach us at gmott@politico.com, dkahn@politico.com, jwolman@politico.com and aprang@politico.com. Want more? You can have it. Sign up for the Long Game. Four days a week and still free. That’s sustainability! WHAT WE'RE CLICKING — First came the wildfire smoke. Now it looks like the East's starting to see drought impacts like those that have been plaguing the Western U.S. The Washington Post has more. — Reuters examines the competition to reshape production of lithium, a critical mineral at the center of the green transition. — Bloomberg takes a look at the growing support for reducing methane leaks from oil and gas fields as an inexpensive way to fight global warming.   LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today.       Follow us on Twitter Debra Kahn @debra_kahn Greg Mott @gwmott Jordan Wolman @jordanwolman Allison Prang @AllisonPrang   Follow us

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