With help from Annie Snider, Ben Lefebvre, Kelsey Tamborrino and Alex Guillén
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— Climate envoy John Kerry is heading to China this week, the first visit to the country by a Biden administration official.
— Biden invited over members of Congress to work out differences on infrastructure, but Republican lawmakers are firm in their opposition to key parts of the $2 trillion-plus plan.
— Iran and the U.S. are resuming their indirect nuclear talks in Vienna this week, despite the explosion at an Iranian nuclear facility the Tehran blamed on Israel.
HAPPY TUESDAY! I’m your host, Matthew Choi. Congratulations to Christine Harbin of International Conservation Caucus Foundation for knowing that Elle Woods grew up across the street from Aaron Spelling. For today’s trivia: What are the five mother sauces of French cooking according to the Escoffier guide? Send your tips and trivia answers to [email protected]. Find me on Twitter @matthewchoi2018.
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KERRY GOES TO CHINA: U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is expected to stop in China this week to discuss ways for the two largest greenhouse gas emitting countries to collaborate on climate change. The visit comes after he traveled to India and Bangladesh last week, where he met with leaders of the No. 3 emitter and one of the countries most vulnerable countries to climate change.
Kerry will travel to Shanghai, according to media reports, just a month after the tumultuous Anchorage summit where Chinese and U.S. officials traded barbs over human rights abuse allegations in Xinjiang and civil rights abuses in the U.S. Tensions are mounting between the two countries, and both Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are increasingly unafraid of calling each other out.
But climate often comes up as a potential point of collaboration. Kerry and his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, were key brokers of the Paris Climate Deal in 2015 — the last time China and the U.S. came to an agreement on climate change. Xi is also expected to attend Biden’s climate leaders virtual summit this month.
Biden is touting his infrastructure push as a way to bolster global competitiveness — a potential path for courting Republican support. But Kerry has said that the administration’s climate action isn’t a counter to China, and he’s called for global cooperation, saying “no one nation can solve this problem by itself — impossible. Each of us need everybody else at the table to make this happen.”
During an interview with India Today last week, Kerry said he was hopeful but not confident that China would come on board with the administration’s ambitious climate goals. China has said it hopes to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060 — 10 years after Biden’s goal. “We hope that China will come to the table and lead,” Kerry said.
The State Department didn’t confirm Kerry’s travel itinerary to ME on Monday. But when asked about the reported travel plans to China, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said: “Certainly he’ll be focused on discussing climate and how we can work with leaders around the region to get control of … the climate crisis.”
BIDEN, LAWMAKERS HUDDLE ON INFRASTRUCTURE: Biden is on the charm offensive, courting a bipartisan group of lawmakers Monday at the White House on his infrastructure package. By all accounts the meeting was cordial, with Republicans pleased with Biden’s engagement amid claims that it’s all just for show.
But Republicans remain opposed to both Biden’s corporate tax hike and his expansive definition of infrastructure. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said the meeting had gone quite well, but the proposal’s tax increase will be “almost impossible to sell.”
Biden said he was open to negotiating on the funding source and scope of the package and promised attendees he’d send staff to their offices as soon as today to talk through the details, lawmakers present told Pro’s Sam Mintz. Biden also tried to appeal to Republicans by focusing on global competitiveness, according to a Democratic aide. Read more on the meeting from Sam.
GOP KEYSTONE FORUM: Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce climate change subcommittee will hold a pro-Keystone XL pipeline forum today, focusing on how Biden’s rejection of the project last month will hurt local jobs and workers.
The GOP’s witnesses include Scott Moe, the premier of Saskatchewan, Canada; Austin Knudsen, attorney general of Montana; and John Stoody, vice president of government and public relations for the Association of Oil Pipe Lines. The forum is not a hearing, which requires consent of the majority. You can watch it at 4:30 p.m. here.
IRAN TALKS STILL ON: Iran and the U.S. are pushing ahead with their indirect nuclear talks this week in Vienna, despite an apparent attack at an Iranian nuclear facility that the country has deemed “nuclear terrorism.” Iran blamed Israel for the explosion that caused a blackout at Natanz, though Israel has not publicly denied or confirmed a role in the incident.
An American official told POLITICO’s Nahal Toosi and Natasha Bertrand that there was no indication in intelligence reports that Israel was cooperating with the U.S. on the operation. But another person familiar with the issue said there could have still been a notification to the U.S. at some level.
The attack hasn’t weakened Iran’s resolve in its negotiations. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is quoted in Iranian state media as saying: “If they think that we would have had the lower hand in the negotiations, they should know that this desperate act made our stance even stronger in the negotiations.” Israel is one of the most outspoken opponents to the deal, viewing Iranian nuclear ambitions as an existential threat.
This will be the second week of negotiations among the parties of the JCPOA, though Iranian representatives have so far refused to meet face to face with their American counterparts. Read more from Nahal and Natasha.
HEADS UP: Industry and green groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, as well as the state of Colorado, plan to file five separate petitions today with EPA calling on restricting the use of potent climate-warming hydrofluorocarbons across air conditioning, refrigeration and other applications, like dehumidifiers.
The petitions will point to the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, S. 2754 (116), which Congress enacted in December, to begin phasing down uses of HFCs where there are safer alternatives.
KLEIN LANDS AT DOI: Liz Klein, whose nomination as Interior’s deputy secretary was blocked by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Senate Energy Chair Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), is now serving as senior counselor to Secretary Deb Haaland, Interior said Monday. Klein comes in after working as deputy director of the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at New York University School of Law. She also worked at Interior under the Obama administration as associate deputy secretary.
Interior said it will also bring in as speechwriter Felicia Salazar, a New Mexico native who worked as communications director for Haaland in the House and also in the office of New Mexico Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich.
BNEF WATCH: BloombergNEF hosts its virtual summit today and Wednesday. Among the speakers are Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy. Michael Bloomberg, the U.N. special envoy for climate, will also speak alongside McCarthy on aligning the U.S.’ international and domestic climate agendas. You can see the full lineup for the summit here.
REGAN’S FISHBOWL MEMO: EPA Administrator Michael Regan emphasized the value of public trust in the agency’s work in a memo to staff Monday. The memo, which follows in the footsteps of many of his predecessors, highlights transparency and sets guidelines for keeping himself accountable to the public.
“As we emerge from a painful pandemic, restoring the public’s confidence is critical to meeting our mission to protect human health and the environment. With a dedication to open communication, fairness, and transparent engagement with the public, I’m confident we will succeed,” Regan wrote. Alex Guillén has more for Pros.
A LITTLE DAPL DO YA: The Dakota Access Pipeline on Monday asked the full D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a January panel decision that vacated its permit and directed the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a more thorough environmental impact statement. The en banc motion argued that the panel overstepped in its ruling and wrongly vacated the permit despite potentially “devastating consequences.”
DAPL remains operational, but a district court judge on Friday said he will consider tribes’ request to order a shutdown, with a ruling possible later this month or in May. The company argues that the lower court judge cannot order a shutdown while its appeal is ongoing and it’s not clear whether the judge agrees. There’s a number of possible outcomes here, ranging from a shutdown order taking effect as early as this summer to the court not even ruling on the shutdown order before the EIS is completed in early 2022.
PRIVATE SECTOR PUSHES AGGRESSIVE CLIMATE TARGET: Hundreds of companies, including Apple, Philip Morris and Coca Cola, are calling on the Biden administration to set an ambitious “nationally determined contribution” under the Paris Climate Agreement and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to at least 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The companies signed on to a letter organized by environmental groups, including Ceres and the We Mean Business Coalition.
“The private sector has purchased renewable energy at record rates and along with countless cities across the country, many have committed themselves to a net zero-emissions future,” the letter reads. “If you raise the bar on our national ambition, we will raise our own ambition to move the U.S. forward on this journey.” Read the full letter here.
FILLING THE DISCLOSURE GAP: IMF First Deputy Managing Director Geoffrey Okamoto is optimistic governments will converge on standards for companies to report their climate-related activities. The U.S. is readying to set up disclosure rules like those in the European Union, after lagging behind under former President Donald Trump.
“For several years, there’s been a divergence in how particularly the U.S. and Europe have treated this issue of climate-related financial disclosures,” Okamoto said during a briefing with reporters. “There’s very clear interest in trying to close those gaps.” Pro’s Zachary Warmbrodt has more.
MEANWHILE IN FRANCE: The French government publicly has sought to tie environmental action and economic development together, but when it comes to protecting land versus protecting Amazon warehouses, the economic concerns appear more important. Pro’s Elisa Braun and Laura Kayali have more from Paris.
MOST ENDANGERED: The Snake River, where Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson has launched an effort to build support for removing four hydropower dams that block passage for his state’s iconic salmon runs, tops the nonprofit American Rivers’ list of Most Endangered Rivers for 2021.
Others on the group’s list of rivers facing the greatest threats this year include Georgia’s South River, where sewage overflows are disproportionately impacting Black communities; Oklahoma’s Tar Creek, one of the nation’s largest Superfund sites where mining pollution threatens Indigenous communities; and the Lower Missouri River, where the group is calling for the use of nature-based solutions like setting back levees to deal with the river’s worsening flood problems. Full report here.
MAJOR WATER MERGER: Two of the world’s largest private water and waste companies reached a deal Monday in which Veolia Environnement SA will purchase Suez SA. The deal, which values Suez at about $15 billion, largely covers the company’s assets in France, as well as elsewhere in Europe, Asia and Africa.
But critics of water privatization warn the merger will kill competition and leave consumers with bigger bills: “This lack of competition will worsen our water affordability crisis, eliminate good union jobs, and open the door to cronyism and corruption,” Mary Grant with Food and Water Watch said in a statement.
— Carrie Jenks will join the Harvard Law School Environmental and Energy Law Program in May as executive director. She comes from M.J. Bradley & Associates where she serves as executive vice president.
— In addition to Elizabeth Klein and Felicia Salazar, the Interior Department is bringing on Heather Barmore as director of digital strategy, Giovanni Rocco as deputy press secretary and Raina Thiele as senior adviser for Alaska affairs and strategic priorities.
— “U.S. crew secures Vineyard onshore wire job,” via reNews.
— “BlackRock, Temasek to raise billions for carbon-cutting startups,” via Bloomberg.
— “Why big-spending Biden can shrug off GOP warnings of inflation,” via POLITICO.
— “Japan to dump treated radioactive Fukushima water into ocean,” via Bloomberg.
— “Biden weighs Ken Salazar for ambassador to Mexico,” via Axios.
— “New Zealand introduces climate change law for financial firms in world first,” via Reuters.
THAT’S ALL FOR ME!
