With help from Anthony Adragna
Editor’s Note: This edition of Morning Energy is published weekdays at 10 a.m. POLITICO Pro Energy subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 6 a.m. Learn more about POLITICO Pro’s comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services at politicopro.com.
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— Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has pitched a $16 trillion climate plan that targets 100 percent renewable electricity generation by 2030 — and would muscle many of the country’s biggest utility companies out of the business.
— EPA chief of staff Ryan Jackson is headed to the National Mining Association after joining the agency in 2017.
— The CFTC approved a contentious proposed rule designed to curb excessive speculation and market manipulation in oil markets.
GOOD MORNING, IT’S FRIDAY! I’m your host, Kelsey Tamborrino.
Back-to-back wins for the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Ed Chen, who was first to correctly guess there are seven former mayors in the current Senate: Sanders, Dianne Feinstein, Cory Booker, Tim Kaine, Mike Enzi, Bob Menendez and Jim Inhofe. In honor of the Super Bowl, for today: What’s the highest total score of any Super Bowl game? Send your tips, energy gossip and comments to ktamborrino@politico.com.
READ IT: POLITICO’s Global Translations newsletter kicks off today with a spotlight on sustainability. Inside, you’ll get a look at how corporations are facing more risk than politicians on climate, China’s Belt and Road energy project, and the push to plant one trillion trees across the globe. Subscribe.
BREAKING DOWN BERNIE’S CLIMATE PLAN: A Bernie Sanders administration would transition U.S. electricity generation away from fossil fuels to renewable resources like wind, solar and hydropower by 2030 — much faster than any other Democratic candidate’s target. To do it, Sanders would pour funding into the four existing “power marketing administrations” that are overseen by the Energy Department, as well as the Tennessee Valley Authority and one newly created entity, to vastly expand their solar, wind and geothermal power production, Pro’s Gavin Bade reports.
But critics say that government expansion won’t sit well in many parts of the country, including some places Democrats will need to defeat President Donald Trump. “What the Sanders proposal would do is create an 800-pound federally owned power gorilla that would make it very hard for the existing generators to compete,” said Josh Freed, head of energy and climate policy at Third Way. “I think a plan like this could turn off voters in large parts of the country. It would have challenges in Pennsylvania, Michigan — a lot of the states that are competitive for the election.”
The Sanders campaign says it is the only plan that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions quickly enough to meaningfully combat climate change. “This threat is beyond ideology — it’s a question of life and death,” said Sanders’ national policy director Josh Orton. “That’s why [Sanders’] plan is not only the most comprehensive, but is truly the only plan that makes the investments necessary to prevent irreversible damage to the planet.”
But reshaping the federal utilities is no simple task. It would require Congress to amend multiple laws authorizing the entities, like the Tennessee Valley Act and DOE Organization Act, likely along with the Clean Air Act to give the EPA stronger authority to regulate carbon, Gavin reports. And energy analysts caution that Sanders’ 2030 plan would require a federal infrastructure investment not seen since the construction of the interstate highway system. “Our best year for solar and wind — we’d have to multiply that by three and then sustain it for the next decade,” said Sonia Aggarwal, vice president at the analysis firm Energy Innovation.
ON THE MOVE: EPA chief of staff Ryan Jackson will soon depart the Trump administration to run government relations at the National Mining Association, sources familiar with the move tell Pro’s Zack Colman and Alex Guillén.
NMA confirmed the hiring in a statement to POLITICO. “Mr. Jackson’s in-depth knowledge of the issues and nearly 20 years of working in the U.S. Senate demonstrate a reputation for persistence, integrity, working in a bipartisan fashion and, as one recent story noted, ‘unsticking things that are permanently stuck,'” NMA senior vice president for communications Ashley Burke said. Burke added Jackson “will be restricted from lobbying the administration for a period of five years and his sole focus will be on congressional advocacy.”
Jackson is a veteran Hill operative who arrived at EPA in early 2017, serving under both former EPA head Scott Pruitt and current Administrator Andrew Wheeler. In recent months, however, Jackson quarreled in an unusually public manner with EPA’s Office of Inspector General over probes allegedly related directly to Jackson.
HOT TAKE: The Trump administration proposed a rule to cement the scope of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act so that it would not apply to the accidental take of birds. Instead, the rule would include only the intentional death or injuring of migratory birds, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday.
“With five federal circuit courts of appeals divided on this question, it is important to bring regulatory certainty to the public by clarifying that the criminal scope of the MBTA only reaches to conduct intentionally injuring birds,” said Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Rob Wallace in a statement. The action codifies a 2017 legal memo signed by then-principal deputy solicitor Daniel Jorjani under former Secretary Ryan Zinke.
The proposed rule will publish in the Federal Register on Feb. 3, kicking off a 45-day public comment period. But already environmental groups panned the change, particularly noting how the act has been used previously to hold energy companies accountable in the aftermath of oil spills and other disasters. “This radical interpretation of the law has already allowed oil companies to kill birds without repercussions,” Center for Western Priorities Executive Director Jennifer Rokala said. “Now, the Trump administration wants to make sure extractive industries can continue to kill birds after they leave office.”
National Ocean Industries Association President Erik Milito cheered the new rulemaking for providing clarification to both wind and offshore oil and gas. “The new FWS guidance prevents the unnecessary criminalization of passive takes that we have seen impede critical projects, including wind energy development,” he said.
The proposal follows legislation, H.R. 5552 (116), that advanced through the House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday on the issue. That bill would define an incidental take as “the killing or taking of migratory birds that directly and foreseeably results from, but is not the purpose of, a commercial activity.”
CFTC PROPOSES LIMITING COMMODITIES SPECULATION: After a decade-long fight over the issue, the CFTC approved a proposed rule in a 3-2 vote Thursday that would limit speculative positions in certain futures and derivatives contracts, Pro’s Kellie Mejdrich reports. The rule is designed to curb excessive speculation and market manipulation in physical commodities in the agricultural, oil and metals markets.
The issue has been contentious for some time, with earlier proposals earning concern that position limits would make it harder for agriculture and energy firms to use swaps to hedge against rapid price swings. Advocates for tougher limits have said past spikes in oil prices were partly a result of big banks making speculative trades in energy derivatives.
KOHLER TO PAY $20M: Kohler Co. will pay a $20 million civil penalty to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act and California law related to its sale of small spark-ignition engines, the Justice Department announced Thursday. Also under the agreement — which was reached between the Wisconsin-based company, EPA, DOJ and the California Air Resources Board — Kohler will retire unlawfully generated hydrocarbon and oxides of nitrogen emission credits, which will total close to 3,600 tons of HC and NOx emissions reductions.
“Today’s precedent setting settlement sends an unequivocal message to all types of engine manufacturers — from manufacturers of heavy-duty highway engines to manufacturers of small nonroad engines like those at issue in this settlement — that EPA will vigorously investigate and bring companies into compliance to reduce pollution and protect public health,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Mike Stoker. The violations relate to the sale and manufacture of the small SI engines that did not conform to certification applications Kohler was required to submit to EPA and CARB. The regulators also allege more than 144,000 of the engines were equipped with a defeat device.
McCARTHY COMING TO STATE OF THE UNION: House Select Committee for the Climate Crisis Chairwoman Kathy Castor will bring Gina McCarthy, former EPA head and current CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, as her guest to next week’s State of the Union address. “I’m grateful to have a champion like her in our corner as we lead the fight for climate action to protect the health of all Americans, particularly as President Trump has repeatedly sided with polluters and heaped costs on families across America,” Castor said in a statement.
Also invited: Washington Rep. Derek Kilmer invited Citizens’ Climate Lobby volunteer, Mike Kelly, to attend the State of the Union, ME is told. Kilmer is one of the cosponsors of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2019, H.R. 763 (116), a carbon tax and dividend bill championed by the group.
BISHOP TO SEEK RANKING MEMBER WAIVER: Rep. Rob Bishop indicated he’d likely seek a required waiver from House Republican leaders to retain his perch as ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee, following his announcement earlier this month that he’s running for lieutenant governor of Utah, Pro’s Anthony Adragna reports. “My staff got a message from the minority leader’s staff to seek a waiver,” Bishop told reporters Thursday. “I haven’t formally done that. I will write them something soon.”
The waiver, the Utah Republican said, would ensure his staff could keep their current roles through the Congress and would keep a successor from having the remaining year from counting toward their six-year term limit.
Timeline: A spokesperson for Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the Republican Steering Committee will meet “within the next two weeks” and “will consider requests for waivers and for replacement ranking members” consistent with Republican conference rules.
ONE OR THE OTHER: Friends of the Earth Action endorsed two candidates — Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren for president — a first for the group in its 50-year history. Erich Pica, the group’s president, said in a statement that while their policies and approaches differ, both Sanders and Warren “offer bold solutions to the deep structural problems plaguing this country.” On climate, Pica noted, “they are both committed to phasing out fossil fuels, protecting workers and communities, ensuring a just transition, and investing trillions of dollars to achieve 100 percent renewable energy.”
— “Document shows Bernie Sanders’ team preparing dozens of potential executive orders,” via The Washington Post.
— “How House Republicans won over conservatives to gain consensus on a climate agenda,” via The Washington Examiner.
— “Sanders introduces bill to ban fracking,” via The Hill.
— “Trump’s drive to make toilets, dishwashers great again collides with companies, product testing,” via The Washington Post.
— “Administration eyes changes to environmental enforcement,” via E&E News.
— “State faces calls to act more swiftly on climate change,” via Associated Press.
THAT’S ALL FOR ME!
