With help from Zack Colman, Gloria Gonzalez, Karl Mathiesen and Josh Siegel
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— President Joe Biden will meet with other leaders to see how they are doing on their climate promises amid the global energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
— FERC Chairman Richard Glick says a Wall Street Journal editorial alleging White House influence on his work is “complete bull.”
— A federal watchdog is reviewing management and operations of the Chemical Safety Board just days after the troubled agency’s chief resigned.
WELCOME TO FRIDAY! I’m your substitute host, Alex Guillén. Congratulations to Kalyn Swihart of Sen. Rob Portman’s office for knowing that the first soft drink manufactured in the U.S. was Vernors Ginger Ale. Today’s trivia: Nick Nelson is the king of what sport in Netflix’s “Heartstopper”? Send your tips and trivia answers to [email protected] and [email protected].
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: Why U.S. manufacturers are unimpressed by Biden’s solar playbook
LEADERS TO TAKE STOCK ON CLIMATE: President Joe Biden will gather online with leaders of major emitting countries today to review their progress on climate goals and to discuss the impact of the war in Ukraine. It’s the first meeting of the Major Economies Forum since the invasion scrambled global energy and climate politics. The White House said the forum will advance Biden’s “efforts to use all levers to tackle the global climate crisis, urgently address rising costs around the world exacerbated by Russia’s war on Ukraine, and put the U.S. and allies on a path to long-term energy and food security.”
But the Biden administration has been “downplaying” the Friday meeting, Jake Schmidt, senior strategic for international climate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, tells POLITICO’s Zack Colman. After all, the last meeting took place in late January, when the climate and energy conversation was in a much different place as Russia had not yet invaded Ukraine, driving up energy prices.
Yet the Biden administration teased some new announcements in a press call previewing the meeting. Senior U.S. officials said Biden would roll out a commitment linked to the U.S.-European Union-led global methane pledge to curb emissions of the potent warming gas by 30 percent below 2020 levels by 2030. The push would focus on lowering oil and gas sector emissions and “eliminating routine gas flaring,” one of the officials said, with participating countries pledging $60 million of “new technical and financial resources to support this effort” or moves to “enhance domestic action,” or both. One of the officials said the first 10 signatories to the plan represent nearly 40 percent of global gas production.
One of the senior Biden administration officials said engagement with China on climate has been fruitful, with Special Climate Envoy John Kerry meeting several times in the past month with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua, who will represent the world’s top greenhouse gas and methane emitter at the Friday forum. In a joint announcement with the U.S. at last fall’s U.N. talks, China agreed to develop a plan to curb methane — the first admission from China that it must slash the potent heat-trapping gas.
Other deliverables the Biden officials previewed included a goal to ensure half of all vehicle sales are zero emissions by 2030. Biden also will urge nations to meet the International Energy Agency’s call for $90 billion of public investment in clean technology to meet net-zero by 2050 goals, with Biden counting $21.5 billion from last year’s bipartisan infrastructure law toward that target. The U.S. and Norway will also launch a “green shipping challenge” to help put it “on a credible step towards full decarbonization no later than 2050,” an official said.
The U.S. will also start a fertilizer innovation challenge in response to shocks from Russia’s war in Ukraine. Biden plans to announce an adaptation in Africa event with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, whose country will host the U.N. negotiations in November.
While the deluge of commitments and announcements is a plus, Climate Action Tracker recently pointed out that national targets have “barely moved” since countries promised to revisit them at COP26. The EU’s Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel — who both confirmed their attendance — could update the other leaders on the slow but steady progress of the Fit for 55 legislation that is the backbone of their climate efforts. Perhaps most interesting for many of the gathered countries is that both the European Council and — likely soon — the Parliament have agreed their positions on the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM).
…YOU GET THE HORNS: FERC Chairman Richard Glick blasted a Wall Street Journal editorial speculating that he’d had improper talks with White House officials as “complete bull” and said administration officials had no influence in developing its plan to increase the environmental scrutiny the regulator applies to new natural gas projects, Catherine Morehouse reports.
“I take FERC ethics very, incredibly seriously,” Glick told reporters following Thursday’s monthly open meeting, adding he would “never ever” violate FERC rules that bar commissioners from discussing matters pending before the commission to outside parties.
Policy news: FERC on Thursday took a critical step toward relieving the lengthy backlog of clean energy resources that has left gigawatts of power stranded in trying to connect to the grid.
WATCHDOG LAUNCHES WIDE ‘SPECIAL REVIEW’ OF CHEMICAL BOARD: EPA’s Office of Inspector General on Thursday launched a wide-ranging probe of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, just days after its chair submitted her resignation to President Joe Biden. The tiny agency — which is overseen by EPA’s OIG instead of an in-house watchdog — investigates accidents at refineries, chemical plants and other industrial sites, and has no regulatory power. But CSB has been plagued for years with complaints about management and staffing issues.
Chair Katherine Lemos, who was confirmed in 2020, last week submitted her resignation effective July 22, well before the end of her term in 2025. “Recent priorities of the Board have eroded my confidence in our ability to focus” on the agency’s mission, she wrote, according to a Bloomberg report on June 11. Once Lemos leaves, CSB will be down to two confirmed members, though the White House last week nominated a third.
— Bruce Walker, an adviser to Lemos placed at CSB by Trump shortly after the 2020 election, has also reportedly resigned. Both were previously Northrop Grumman executives.
More about the probe: Assistant Inspector General Paul Bergstrand said in a Thursday memo that he plans to conduct “a multidisciplinary review of the CSB’s capabilities to effectively administer its programs and operations. This special review will include examining staffing levels, attrition, and leadership.” The review was ordered by Inspector General Sean O’Donnell “because of concerns with” those areas at CSB, a spokesperson said.
SHOW US THE ALGORITHM: Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency for what he said is its refusal to show the “magical algorithm” that he blamed for double-digit premium increases under the National Flood Insurance Program’s Risk Rating 2.0 system.
“They won’t even show it to Congress,” he said during a Senate Banking Committee hearing Thursday. “But yet we’re supposed to place blind trust in the federal government. What could possibly go wrong.”
Ranking member Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said a requirement for FEMA to “fully disclose their methodology” used to set premiums should be included in legislation the committee is considering to reform and renew the program, which is set to expire on Sept. 30. Kennedy also accused the agency of repeatedly hiring “lawyers and engineers who act like thieves” and delay and deny claims, dragging out the process for policyholders affected by flooding disasters.
An agency spokesperson defended its actions, saying “FEMA has provided numerous briefings regarding Risk Rating 2.0 to members of Congress and their staffs, including to Sen. Kennedy’s staff.” The data source, premium calculation worksheet examples and rating factors have been publicly available since April 2021 “for anyone interested in looking deeper into the making of the methodology.”
DEMS WADE INTO SACKETT FIGHT: A coalition of 167 current and former congressional Democrats today will file a “friend of the court” brief before the Supreme Court in the Sackett case to be heard in October that will decide the extent of federal jurisdiction over waterways and wetlands in the U.S. The current “significant nexus” test that courts use “most closely respects” the policy choices Congress made in passing the Clean Water Act, the Democrats argue.
“The Court should decline [the plaintiffs’] pleas to rewrite the Act and, through a jurisdiction-shrinking test, supplant waters-specific assessments that, under the Act, must be tested through the crucible of regulatory proceedings.”
PRUITT FUNDRAISING LAGS IN SENATE RACE: Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt raised just shy of $120,000 in his first two months running for Oklahoma’s Senate seat, according to his first major campaign finance filing on Thursday. Pruitt has also blown through his war chest, leaving him with just under $9,000 on hand. Just over $12,000 of his fundraising came from Pruitt himself (and has since been reimbursed). Since June 8, Pruitt has raised at least $17,000 from big donors, according to other FEC filings. The primary is on June 28.
That’s pretty anemic for a Senate race, particularly with multiple big-name Republicans seeking the spot. Other contenders like former Rep. Markwayne Mullin and Luke Holland, Jim Inhofe’s pick in the race and his former chief of staff, reported raising orders of magnitude more than Pruitt.
Pruitt’s donor rolls include several big energy executives, including Joe Craft, CEO of coal company Alliance Resources Partners (whose wife Kelly was Trump’s ambassador to Canada and the UN); United Refining Chairman John Catsimatidis; Chuck Duginski and Justin Byrne of oil and gas producer Canvas Energy; and Bruce Hein of Magellan Midstream Partners. The Federalist Society’s Leonard Leo also wrote Pruitt a big check.
INDUSTRY SEEKS DELAY OF SUPERFUND TAX: The American Chemistry Council has asked the IRS to delay the reinstatement of a Superfund tax on chemicals by six months, arguing companies need more time and guidance in order to comply. Congress reinstated the tax as part of last year’s bipartisan infrastructure law, raising billions of dollars in revenue.
But in a letter made public this week, ACC argued the July 1 reinstatement deadline is too soon and asked the IRS to push the tax back to Jan. 1, 2023, and to issue further guidance on multiple implementation and compliance issues. The IRS did not return ME’s request for comment.
— The Fertilizer Institute also recently wrote to the IRS seeking additional guidance on the tax’s exceptions for chemicals used to make fertilizers, to ensure they are not taxed.
COMPANIES WANT KIGALI RATIFIED: Over 40 companies — including Arkema, Chemours, Daikin, Danfoss and Johnson Controls — on Thursday asked Senate leaders to ratify the Kigali Amendment, the 2016 treaty that will phase down the use of hydrofluorocarbons worldwide. The amendment sailed through committee in May with just one no vote.
Sydney Bopp has joined Boundary Stone Partners as a senior vice president. She most recently was chief of staff to Jigar Shah, director of the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office.
— “Biden administration invites oil CEOs to meeting next week on gas prices,” CNN
— “Environmental group staffers say it’s a ‘nightmare’ to go to work,” E&E News
— “$32 million settlement reached over toxic Gold King Mine spill damages,” Farmington Daily Times
— “‘Climate change’ increasingly on candidates’ lips in Maryland governor’s race, but will it translate to votes?” Baltimore Sun
— “Biden withdraws DOE Office of Electricity nominee after Senate committee deadlock,” POLITICO
— “Climate change could be to blame for the Sriracha shortage,” NPR
— “Climate change expected to decrease yields of important ketchup ingredient,” KVUE
Did we miss anything? Send future events to: [email protected].
THAT’S ALL FOR ME!
