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— House Democrats are scheduled to start floor debate on the bipartisan infrastructure deal today, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi is giving herself a few more days to get her caucus in line and ready to vote yea.
— The Senate Energy Committee is set to hear from the four FERC commissioners this week as the commission faces criticism over its environmental reviews and looks to revamp its pipeline approval guidelines with an eye toward climate and environmental justice.
— The Commerce Department must decide whether to pursue an investigation on solar imports this week that some solar proponents fear could lead to additional tariffs that could devastate the industry.
HAPPY MONDAY! I’m your host, Matthew Choi. Third Way’s Carly Berke gets the trivia for knowing Mia wore a blue dress in the “Someone in the Crowd” sequence in “La La Land.” For today: Before becoming the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten was a staffer in what White House office? 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: California takes new action in climate fight.
DEMS HAVE A NEW TIMELINE: Today was the day House Democrats agreed to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure deal to stave off a rebellion in the party’s ranks last month. But with continued infighting over how to move forward and a reconciliation bill that faces resistance from moderate senators, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing the vote to Thursday, she revealed in a Dear Colleague letter Sunday night, with floor debate on the bipartisan deal kicking off today. The surface transportation authorization runs out Thursday, which could make it a hard deadline for passing the bipartisan deal.
But the path to final passage remains littered with unanswered questions and disparate interests. House centrists are determined to get a legislative win soon, and several have asserted that getting the bipartisan deal through the chamber now won’t jeopardize the reconciliation package later. And they’re ready to abandon the reconciliation package if leadership pushes the BIF vote too far back.
House progressives meanwhile are threatening to tank the bipartisan deal without ample movement on reconciliation, which still needs to be worked out to pass muster in the Senate, despite a marathon markup in the House Budget Committee over the weekend. Pelosi said in her Sunday note that she is continuing to work with the Senate and White House to reach a deal.
Still, Pelosi and Democratic members expressed optimism that it’ll work out eventually, somehow, someway. Speaking with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, Pelosi said that “I’m never bringing a bill to the floor that doesn’t have the votes.”
POLITICO’s Heather Caygle, Sarah Ferris and Nicholas Wu took a dive into Pelosi’s push to haul President Joe Biden’s infrastructure agenda across the finish line. “As she does with tough votes, Pelosi has been relying on a grab bag of tactics — using her vast support network both inside and outside of the Capitol, tapping into an encyclopedic knowledge of individual members’ needs and requests, applying sheer force and subtly bending people to her will without them even realizing,” they write.
Meanwhile in the Senate, Energy Chair Joe Manchin is not projecting anywhere near the same urgency. “What’s the need? There is no timeline. I want to understand it,” he told POLITICO’s Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine. “I don’t think anything runs out. Right now, we’ve got good nutrition for children, a lot of things are covered right now clear [into] next year.”
Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema have opposed the $3.5 trillion topline figure, meaning the reconciliation text in the House is almost certain to get reworked into a lower number. But the two are taking different approaches, a Democratic senator told Burgess and Marianne, saying “Kyrsten recognizes there’s a timeline, there’s got to be a process,” whereas Manchin is “coming at it from a values perspective first and saying ‘I am happy to support this or this or this but not in this way or not at this time.’”
Sinema has also expressed more openness to climate provisions in the reconciliation package than Manchin, noting the toll climate change has had on her home state to The Arizona Republic. She’s also facing some added heat back home with the Arizona Democratic Party threatening to issue a no confidence vote if she votes against the spending plan or filibuster reform (Read more from The Daily Beast).
FERC UNDER FIRE: The Senate Energy Committee will be hearing from all four FERC commissioners Tuesday on the regulatory body’s jurisdiction as the commission tries to expand the criteria it uses to assess fossil fuel pipeline projects. But FERC has comes under fierce criticism from Ranking Member John Barrasso, who hasn’t been happy with the lack of urgency he says the commission has shown in approving new gas and power projects.
Recent court rulings have also called into question FERC’s review process, saying it doesn’t adequately take into account factors like climate change and environmental justice, and the commission is currently reassessing its approval guidelines. Pro’s Catherine Morehouse has more.
OTHER HEARINGS OF NOTE: Forestry and wildfires are scheduled to be on the docket in two House committees on Wednesday. The Small Business Committee will examine sustainable forestry’s role in mitigating climate change while a House Agriculture subcommittee will meet to assess this year’s wildfire season. A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee will also have a hearing Wednesday on revitalizing the Chemical Safety Board.
The Senate Foreign Relations committee will be hearing from Amos Hochstein, the State Department’s point person on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, on Wednesday in a closed hearing to go over the administration’s current policy on the controversial natural gas project. It comes as Europeans face increasing energy costs ahead of winter and fresh accusations from Ukraine that Russia is using natural gas as a geopolitical weapon.
COMMERCE’S SOLAR DEADLINE: The Commerce Department has until Thursday to decide if it will go through with an investigation into whether solar parts importers are avoiding tariffs by going through intermediary countries. U.S. panel manufacturers petitioned Commerce to open the investigation, alleging that Chinese products, which are currently subject to tariffs, are simply passing through Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam to avoid the penalties. If Commerce proceeds with an investigation and finds that is happening, it is required by law to impose tariffs on the Southeast Asian countries as well, which some solar advocates fear could be devastating to the industry, Pro’s Gavin Bade reports.
Related: “U.S. threatens national security tariffs on magnets for electric vehicles, fighter jets,” via Pro’s Doug Palmer.
EYE ON THE GULF: Russel Honoré, who served as commander of Joint Task Force Katrina in 2005, is pushing for stringent environmental review of liquefied natural gas facilities along the Gulf Coast, and wants to know if Biden’s newest FERC pick, Willie Phillips, could be the person to make it happen. Honoré wrote to Biden on Friday requesting the president ask Phillips about his approach to ensuring environmental and equity concerns are taken into consideration while assessing LNG projects in the region, which was battered by Hurricane Ida this summer. “My hope is that Mr. Phillips will be a climate and environmental justice champion if his nomination is confirmed by the Senate,” the general writes. Read the letter here.
NO NEW COAL: Seven governments are pledging not to build new coal power plants and want more nations to sign on ahead of the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, in November. The No New Coal initiative is currently being pushed by Sri Lanka, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Montenegro and the U.K., who all pledge to stop issuing permits for any new coal plants and to end construction of new plants by the end of the year.
Last week, China made waves by promising not to build more new coal projects abroad, but has been mum about its approach to its gargantuan domestic coal sector. Zia Weise with POLITICO Europe has more.
QUAD GOES IN FOR CLIMATE: Biden hosted the heads of government of Australia, Japan and India last week for an in-person summit of the so-called Quad, a strategic alliance positioned to counter China’s growing ambitions in the region. The four Indo-Pacific leaders made a number of commitments to cooperate on climate, infrastructure and cybersecurity, including the creation of a green shipping network, clean hydrogen partnership and regional infrastructure coordination group. Read a summary from the summit from the White House.
— Former FERC Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur was voted to chair ISO New England’s board of directors, starting Oct. 1. She has been with the board since 2019 and is taking the seat of Kathleen Abernathy, who is retiring.
— “Cold War, Hot Mess,” via VQR Online.
— “Bitcoin miners align with fossil fuel firms, alarming environmentalists,” via NBC News.
— “Australian PM refuses to commit to phasing out fossil fuels,” via Reuters.
THAT’S ALL FOR ME!
