With help from Kelsey Tamborrino, Anthony Adragna and Alex Guillén.
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— Colonial Pipeline began limited shipments Monday evening, as it launched a phased restart after the cyberattack that shut it last week.
— Renewables were the only energy source that saw increased demand in 2020, with capacity additions seeing its highest year-over-year growth since 1999.
— OMB recently asked for public comment on its interim social cost of carbon as the figures, issued back in February, draw heat from GOP states.
WELCOME TO TUESDAY! I’m your host, Matthew Choi. Stuart Ross of Clean Air Task Force gets the trivia for knowing “Dead Poets Society” was filmed at St. Andrew’s School but special shoutout to Elizabeth Klein, senior counselor at Interior (and once potential deputy Interior secretary), who told ME she was an extra in the movie!
For today’s trivia: Jesse and Céline met on a train coming from what city in “Before Sunrise” (it’s not Vienna)? Send your tips and trivia answers to [email protected]. 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: Can Biden save the Amazon?
HEARD IT THROUGH THE PIPELINE: Colonial Pipeline restarted some shipments through a portion of the system it shutdown on Friday in response to the ransomware attack. Line 4, which runs from Greensboro, N.C., to Woodbine, Md. began moving supplies (though Colonial declined to specify what type) and some other lateral lines were operating as well. But the two main lines that connect the refinery hub of Houston to North Carolina and the line that runs to Linden, N.J. are still frozen.
The pipeline is reopening in a phased approach this week. President Joe Biden said on Monday he is receiving briefings on the pipeline’s status, and that the Energy Department is working with the Georgia-based company on the restart. The FBI is investigating the attack, and he cited the Transportation Department’s lifting restrictions on truckers to help facilitate fuel deliveries.
“We’re prepared to take additional steps depending on how quickly the company is able to bring [the] pipeline back to full operational capacity,” he told reporters. And he though he said there was no evidence the Kremlin was involved in the episode, the attack’s software came out of Russia, so “they have some responsibility to deal with this.”
The FBI confirmed the Russia-based DarkSide ransomware gang was behind the attack, and the administration said there is no evidence of a foreign state’s involvement. Ben Lefebvre and Eric Geller have more on the attack for Pros.
And from our cybersecurity colleagues: What you need to know about the Colonial Pipeline hack, by Eric.
THE NEW NORMAL: Renewable energy was the only source of power production that saw increased demand last year, despite supply chain challenges and construction delays from the pandemic, according to the International Energy Agency’s new renewable energy market update released this morning.
In 2020, annual renewable capacity additions increased 45 percent to almost 280 gigawatts — the highest year-over-year increase since 1999. The expansion was led by a 90 percent rise in global wind capacity additions and a 23 percent expansion of new solar photovoltaic installations to almost 135 GW in 2020.
Such high capacity additions are expected to become the “new normal” in 2021 and 2022, according to the IEA, with renewables making up 90 percent of new power capacity additions across the world. Annual additions of solar PV are expected to reach 162 GW by 2022 — up almost 50 percent from 2019. The IEA expects that the pace of annual market growth will slow for wind capacity additions in 2021 and 2022. Last year, wind capacity additions nearly doubled globally to 114 GW.
China was responsible for more than 80 percent of the increase in annual installations from 2019 to 2020. The country is expected to see a slowdown in its annual renewables market growth, the IEA said, but the rest of the world will maintain the pace of expansion.
The report comes as the Interior Department eyes approving plans for the Vineyard Winds project — the first offshore wind farm in federal waters, Bloomberg’s Jennifer Dlouhy reports. The authorization could come as soon as today.
OMB ASKS FOR COMMENT ON INTERIM SCC: The Office of Management and Budget asked for public comment last week on its interim social cost of carbon and other greenhouse gases, which are used by federal agencies in rulemakings and other policy matters. The interim figures were rolled out in February and hewed closely to Obama-era figures adjusted for inflation. (h/t InsideEPA, which spotted OMB’s short notice in the Federal Register.)
Laissez les bons SCC rouler: OMB’s notice comes not long after Louisiana and other Republican-controlled states asked a judge to block agencies from using the interim values, saying they violated notice-and-comment regulatory requirements. OMB’s notice asks for ideas about how to update the social cost of carbon calculations to reflect scientific and economic advancements. A final update is expected in January 2022, and climate activists hope it will significantly increase the level, making regulation easier.
WHO TO PICK: EPA got 100 nominations for the seven spots on the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, whose members EPA Administrator Michael Regan fired in March. The mass dismissal was an unprecedented “reset” on the heels of the Trump administration, and Republicans criticized Regan for politicizing the board.
Four of the members Regan fired are included in the panel’s latest nominations. Other nominees include past members from before Regan’s time, academics, advocates and consultants. Alex Guillén breaks it down for Pros.
TO DIVEST OR NOT TO DIVEST: President Biden’s pick for EPA’s water chief, Radhika Fox, plans to keep holdings in a number of chemical, energy and beverage companies with interests before EPA, though she plans to sell off her stake in Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Berkshire Hathaway, Alex and Annie Snider report. Fox made the disclosures in paperwork ahead of her Senate EPW confirmation hearing on Wednesday. Those holdings were included in some limited partnerships, in which she and her children hold a 49 percent stake, or irrevocable trusts for which she is a full or partial beneficiary.
“As indicated in her recent EPA ethics report, the agency ethics official concluded that she is in compliance with applicable laws and regulations,” an EPA spokesperson told Annie and Alex. Annie and Alex break down Fox’s disclosures for Pros.
CLIMATE-FOCUSED DEVELOPMENT: The U.S. International Development Finance Corp. named Jake Levine as its chief climate officer and Aparna Shrivastava as his deputy Monday. Levine is the overseas investment arm’s first climate change officer. The two will be charged with achieving a net-zero emissions portfolio by 2040 and increasing climate-centric investments to 33 percent by FY 2023. Pro’s Zack Colman has more.
DOE NAMES NEW APPOINTEES: The Energy Department announced several new appointees to its ranks on Monday, including Ann Dunkin as chief information officer. Dunkin was most recently the chief strategy and innovation officer focused on state and local government at Dell Technologies and previously served in the Obama administration as chief information officer at EPA.
DOE also announced Monday that Kathryn Huff, an assistant professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will serve as principal deputy assistant secretary for nuclear energy and Yahaira Lopez, the director of people operations at Hawkfish LLC, as deputy chief of staff. Lopez was also previously human resources director for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. Read the full list of new appointees.
THAT’S HOW YA BARGAIN: Though Democrats turned up their noses to Republicans’ $568 billion infrastructure counter offer, GOP lawmakers told POLITICO’s Burgess Everett and Marianne Levine that nothing’s yet set in stone.
“The first offer is meant to be countered, so I would imagine that none of those figures are solid,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who is leading the negotiations on the GOP side. Read more from them here.
Republicans still want the package to focus on hard infrastructure. The White House is shooting to make major headway with the GOP before Memorial Day, scheduling meetings with congressional leaders for Wednesday and with key Republicans on Thursday. And Biden’s team feels that if they can charm a handful of Republicans, several more will follow suit.
A key component of the administration’s strategy will be emphasizing how Biden’s infrastructure package will benefit GOP districts. Administration officials and the president himself have traveled to red districts to pitch the proposal’s local aspects, and Democrats are hopeful that focusing on the interests of Republicans’ constituents will be effective in winning their support. Natasha Korecki, Laura Barrón-López and Chris Cadelago have more on what’s in store for the rest of the month on infrastructure negotiations.
ON TODAY’S DOCKET: The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will meet today, to discuss equity in transportation infrastructure.
DOJ GETS A VOTE: Todd Kim, Biden’s pick for the Justice Department’s climate head, will get a committee vote on Thursday. He’s expected to have a smooth confirmation process, with limited questioning during his confirmation hearing last month.
BP STILL ON BOARD: BP will stick with the American Petroleum Institute, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers (as well as other trade groups abroad) following those groups’ support for carbon pricing and other climate proposals. The British oil giant made the announcement in its annual sustainability report, Pro’s Lorraine Woellert reports.
BP has committed to reducing its emissions to net zero by 2050 and said that it will leave the trade groups if it feels their climate plans no longer align.
“We’ve been working to influence those associations to be more progressive on climate and in our latest update we’re pleased to report that they all have made considerable progress,” the company said in a statement.
Meanwhile, API CEO Mike Sommers published an op-ed in The Washington Post on Monday touting the group’s Climate Action Framework and emphasizing the industry’s role in combating climate change.
INVESTING IN CLIMATE: Orion Energy Partners is announcing a new fund today with over $1 billion in capital commitments to help finance energy transition and budding climate technology.
“We fully recognize that there are several other energy transition focused funds in the marketplace, but there are few focused on the infrastructure side of innovation driven by entrepreneur-owned private middle market businesses, and even fewer built on a team with a two decade history of investing together to drive long-term results and sustainability,” Orion CEO Nazar Massouh said in a release.
— Benjamin Williams was named FERC’s deputy director of the Office of External Affairs. He has served as Chair Richard Glick’s senior director of operations and communications since November 2017.
— “Chuck Grassley is the 80-something everyone’s waiting on,” via POLITICO.
— ”Bill Gates-Led Fund Invests in European Green Cement Maker,” via Bloomberg.
— “Air pollution from farms leads to 17,900 U.S. deaths per year, study finds,” via The Washington Post.
— “Why Democrats stopped stressing over big spending,” via POLITICO.
— “Calif. aims to cut gas use in homes, stops short of ban,” via E&E News.
THAT’S ALL FOR ME!
