With help from Eric Wolff
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— A POLITICO analysis reveals a looming pollution and climate change threat at more than 100 coal waste sites across the country.
— The DNC rejected a climate debate resolution but reversed its prohibition on candidates appearing side-by-side in any climate debate not organized by the DNC.
— Massive fires in the Amazon rainforest has turned into a political crisis, with Brazil’s president making unsubstantiated accusations that his critics started the fires, while environmentalists say they are a consequence of his pro-development agenda.
WELCOME TO FRIDAY! I’m your host, Zack Colman, shepherding you through one last Morning Energy before “cultural summer” ends, as my colleague Alex Guillen phrased it. Jordan Stone of the Association of American Railroads is your trivia champ for correctly identifying Annie Jump Cannon as the Delaware native who developed the Harvard star classification system. For today (but really when our long break is over): Where was the last place Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa was seen? Send your tips, energy gossip and comments to zcolman@politico.com.
CLIMATE CHANGE HEIGHTENS TOXIC WASTE THREAT: More than 100 sites storing toxic ash created from burning coal are located in areas at high risk of flooding, a situation that will grow more dire as climate change supercharges rain, floods and storms, according to a POLITICO analysis by your ME host. At issue are coal ash ponds and landfills within the FEMA’s Special Flood Hazard Area, known as the 100-year floodplain. The sites in this area face greater exposure to storms and floods that can spill waste into adjacent waterways and contaminate groundwater.
Most sites are already polluting groundwater, but the Trump administration is trying to weaken federal rules issued in 2015 designed to prevent contamination. Those efforts, combined with concern about slow cleanups, lax enforcement of existing standards and increasing risk from climate change, worry environmentalists and scientists. “That should be part of the equation, whether or not it’s safe to leave them here or whether that ash should be moved and landfilled somewhere far from bodies of water,” said Ellen Cowan, a scientist at Appalachian State University who has studied coal ash spills across the country.
Industry, however, contends utilities can safely close coal ash sites and prevent pollution, even if the ponds and landfills are in high risk flood zones. “The question of how to close really is a site-specific decision and you need to take a look at the site characteristics, where the groundwater is, where surface waters are,” said Jim Roewer, executive director of the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, a coalition of electric utilities.
View the full DataPoint graphic here. Want to add DataPoint to your Pro account? Learn more.
KXL IS BACK, MAYBE: The Nebraska Supreme Court today will announce the fate of the Keystone XL pipeline route. “The court will decide whether the Nebraska Public Service Commission was within its rights in 2017 to approve a route through the state that the company behind the project did not actually propose. The decision could be one of the few remaining regulatory hurdles for pipeline developer TC Energy, formerly TransCanada,” Pro’s Ben Lefebvre reports. Ben notes TC Energy hasn’t decided whether to build the pipeline.
DNC REJECTS CLIMATE DEBATE: The Democratic National Committee voted down a resolution to host a televised climate debate, Pro’s Carla Marinucci reports. Symone Sanders, a lead strategist for former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign, led the push to scrap the idea, saying it would complicate an already lengthy primary process.
While the DNC resisted a climate debate on the grounds that it doesn’t hold events for any single issue, it agreed to reverse a ban on candidates participating in climate debates not sponsored by the DNC. Sunrise Movement spokeswoman Sofie Karasek called the development a “partial victory.” CNN will hold a Sept. 4 climate change town hall, but environmental groups prefer a debate to that format.
AMAZON BLAZE CONTINUES: Fires in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest are raging unabated, with Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research noting more than 74,000 wildfires occurring since January, accounting for an 80 percent increase compared to last year. Most of the fires were intentionally set, rather than resulting from lighting strikes or other natural causes, and environmentalists in the region are blaming cattle ranchers as the likely culprits, CNN reports.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) weighed in, saying he would corral Senate support “to hold every source of funding we provide to Brazil in abeyance until this crisis is over.”
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is claiming, without evidence, that his political opponents and environmental groups are setting the fires. The claims from Bolsonaro, who favors increasing mining and agricultural access in the Amazon, have ignited something else — protests. “Brazil’s president is facing backlash after suggesting, without evidence, that nongovernmental organizations might be setting fires in the Amazon rainforest to make him look bad,” NPR tweeted.
The devastation to the Amazon, frequently referred to as “the Earth’s lungs” for the amount of planet-warming carbon dioxide it absorbs and oxygen it supplies, could have disastrous positive feedback loops for global greenhouse gas concentrations. The fires release plumes of carbon dioxide in two ways: They destroy trees that already vacuum gobs of carbon dioxide, which escapes back into the atmosphere when the rainforest burns. The fires are also torching carbon-rich soils, further exacerbating a CO2 spike.
NEWSOM REVS UP FIGHT WITH TRUMP: First-year California Gov. Gavin Newsom is relishing how his state’s side deal with four major automakers on fuel economy standards is throwing sand in President Donald Trump’s gears, Pro’s Jeremy B. White reports. The car agreement is another example of the Golden State’s feud with Trump, whose EPA is flirting with revoking California’s ability to set more aggressive tailpipe standards – a move that would splinter the U.S. car market and result in certain litigation. “This is checkmate,” Newsom told Jeremy. “This showing the limits of the power of this administration.”
STEAMBOAT KEEPS ON CHURNING: Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine today will address The Steamboat Institute’s Freedom Conference and Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colo. The three-day event will focus on issues “including free speech, administrative power, the future of space, and socialism vs. capitalism,” according to the institute.
EPA TAPS DOW LOBBYIST FOR REGIONAL POST: Dennis Deziel was appointed to take over EPA Region 1, which includes Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and 10 tribal nations, Alex reports. Deziel was most recently federal affairs director for Dow Chemical. “Dennis’ extensive experience in public service and deep knowledge of environmental issues make him an excellent choice to lead the Region 1 office,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement.
MARTY DURBIN TO LEAD GLOBAL ENERGY INSTITUTE: Durbin, formerly of the American Petroleum Institute, America’s Natural Gas Alliance, and the American Chemistry Council, will take over the helm of the Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute. Durbin told ME his plan is to try and recreate the political center with businesses at the heart of that movement. “We’re trying to recreate the middle,” he said. “I think that’s where as a nation, if we’re going to see progress, we have to have an effective middle. If we can be part of that effort to recreate that middle, that’s something I’ve very excited about.”
— “Workers at Big Government Lab Sue Over Exposure to a Toxic Chemical,” via The New York Times
— “Climate change has increased humidity in D.C., making it feel even hotter,” via The Washington Post
— “New York Among Major Cities Violating Ozone Standards, EPA Says,” via Bloomberg Environment
— “Great Lake dwarfs sea-level rise. Water is up 6 feet,” via E&E News
— “Wind developers, once keen on Mexico, losing heart as energy reforms stall,” via Houston Chronicle
THAT’S ALL FOR ME!
