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FROM THREE OF A KIND TO A FULL HOUSE: Two nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) were confirmed to the panel by voice votes on Monday.
Democrat Allison Clements and Republican Mark Christie will serve on the panel, which regulates natural gas and hydropower projects and the interstate transmission of natural gas, oil and electricity.
Their confirmation brings FERC, which isn’t supposed to have more than three members belonging to any one party, up to its full capacity. Previously, the commission had been operating with fewer than the standard five commissioners.
Christie is a longtime utility regulator, serving as chairman of the Virginia State Corporation Commission. He’s also held leadership roles in organizations of utility regulators.
Clements has served as the founder and president of Goodgrid, LLC, an energy policy and strategy consulting firm. She also worked for a decade at the Natural Resources Defense Council and worked for two years as the director of the energy markets program at Energy Foundation, which advocates for energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Their nominations were advanced to the full Senate, though it had not been clear whether they would reach confirmation by the end of the session.
Despite her background in clean energy, Clements said during a September confirmation hearing that it wouldn’t be her job to pick one source of energy over another.
Energy Department seeks to boost mining through loan programs Trump…
“The commission’s role is not to pick winners and losers when it comes to fuel choices,” she said, adding that in pipeline cases she would “commit to going into each of those proceedings with an open mind and reviewing the specific facts.”
Now, FERC has three Republicans and two Democrats. However, the chair of the commission is selected by the president, so President-elect Joe Biden
Joe BidenGeraldo Rivera on Trump sowing election result doubts: ‘Enough is enough now’ Senate approves two energy regulators, completing panel Murkowski: Trump should concede White House race MORE may decide to pick Clements or fellow Democrat Richard Glick to lead the regulatory body.
Read more about their confirmation here.
RENEWABLE, BUT NOT RENEWED: The Trump administration failed to renew its biofuels policy by the Monday deadline, once again sidestepping a battle between the oil and the ethanol industries.
The missed deadline means it remains unclear how much ethanol and other biofuels oil refiners must blend into their fuels next year, punting the decision to the incoming Biden administration.
“It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that EPA is missing its statutory deadline for publishing the final rule … given that we still haven’t even seen a proposed rule,” Renewable Fuel Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper said of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Cooper said at this point it makes more sense to let the new administration handle the entire process.
“We are confident that the new EPA administrator, whoever that may end up being, will stop doing secret favors for oil refiners and ensure the RFS is implemented in a way that is consistent with the law and Congressional intent,” he said.
The ethanol industry remains perturbed that the EPA granted more than 80 waivers exempting small oil refiners from adding ethanol to their fuels — something they say cut demand for their product at a critical time. Many corn farmers were likewise being hit by tariffs as part of Trump’s trade war, limiting markets for their product.
The action pitted one part of Trump’s base against another — refiners have sought to avoid the added expense of adding ethanol to their product, particularly as their own markets have tanked.
The Association of Petrochemical and Fuel Manufacturers, which represents the refining industry, said they hope EPA will ultimately settle on a rule that’s “in line with market realities.”
“With unprecedented turbulence in the transportation fuels market, difficult market conditions, and a long and uncertain road to recovery from COVID-19, it is critical that EPA’s proposal reflect achievable targets to prevent further damage to America’s refining sector,” Geoff Moody, vice president of government relations for the group, said in a statement.
Read more about the missed deadline here.
DROP IT LIKE IT’S HOT: Ford Motor Company cited the incoming Biden administration as it encouraged other automakers to drop their involvement in a suit challenging California’s right to set more rigorous tailpipe emissions standards.
“During the last year and a half of the Trump Administration, we essentially split into two camps,” Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s president of Americas and International Markets Group, wrote in a letter to other automakers obtained by The Hill.
“With the election settled, the preemption fight is now, at least for the next set of years, essentially moot,” he said. “The more relevant issue is thus the question of the standards.”
As the Trump administration rolled back ambitious mileage targets set for automakers under the Obama administration, it also revoked the waiver that for decades allowed California to craft tougher emissions standards that were in turn adopted by more than a dozen other states.
While numerous automakers joined in the suit to back President Trump
Donald John TrumpGeraldo Rivera on Trump sowing election result doubts: ‘Enough is enough now’ Murkowski: Trump should concede White House race Scott Atlas resigns as coronavirus adviser to Trump MORE, other automakers signed a deal with California agreeing to meet emissions standards set closer to those under Obama.
Automakers have long sought one national standard, something Galhotra said in the letter would have “enormous value for the industry.”
“The Biden Administration will not let the Trump standards stand, and either by way of litigation and/or a regulatory reboot, the new team will move in a different, more stringent direction. And they will do so with California integrated in the effort, whether that is formal or informal,” he wrote.
Ford’s letter comes ahead of a meeting of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing auto manufacturers, and after an announcement from General Motors that they would leave the suit challenging California’s right to a waiver.
Read more about the letter here.
BANK ON IT: Bank of America is saying it won’t finance oil and gas exploration in the Arctic following a pressure campaign from environmentalists.
The Sierra Club in recent months has put pressure on Bank of America, calling it “the only major US bank not to rule out financing for the destruction” of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) following commitments not to finance drilling there from several of its peers.
The bank’s public policy and strategy in Washington chief Larry Di Rita told Bloomberg on Monday that it won’t finance Arctic oil and gas exploration.
“There’s been misunderstanding around our position, but we have not historically participated in project finance for oil and gas exploration in the Arctic,” Di Rita said. “But given that misinterpretation, we’ve determined that it’s time to codify our existing practice into policy.”
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citi have made similar commitments.
WHAT WE’RE READING:
‘Maine Won’t Wait’: Four-year climate action plan unveiled, New Center Maine reports
Exxon Mobil cuts billions in capital spending as oil and gas prices remain low, The New York Times reports
US: Mountain pine tree that feeds grizzlies is threatened, The Associated Press reports
ON TAP TOMORROW:
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a business meeting on a nuclear infrastructure bill
ICYMI: Stories from Tuesday (and Monday night)...
Energy Department seeks to boost mining through loan programs Trump proposed cutting
Ford pushes automakers to abandon Trump in suit challenging California emissions standards
Bank of America pledges no financing for Arctic oil
Senate approves two energy regulators, completing panel
EPA misses deadline, leaving ethanol policy in limbo
