With help from Catherine Morehouse, Ben Lefebvre, Ximena Bustillo
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— Suddenly, Senate Democrats seem optimistic about finding a new path for their climate package, even after the CEPP, the heart of their plan, crumbles.
— FERC’s failure to come to agreement on a controversial market mechanism allowed it take effect, and three of the commissioners laid out their reasoning in filings released Tuesday night.
— EPA’s water chief, Radhika Fox, heads before the Senate Environment and Public Works committee today to tout the agency’s PFAS mitigation plans.
HAPPY WEDNESDAY! I’m your host, Matthew Choi. Christopher McMichael of the National Conference of State Legislatures gets the trivia for knowing Adele was born in Tottenham. For today, what small bird do Tom and Greg eat in “Succession”? Send your tips and trivia answers to [email protected]. Find me on Twitter @matthewchoi2018.
DEMOCRATS DON’T STOP RALLYING: After a weekend of bemoaning the apparent demise of the Clean Electricity Performance Program — the most ambitious part of their climate plan — Democrats’ mood suddenly turned chipper on Tuesday and they expressed new optimism that a deal could come together soon. But just what will make up that deal is floating in the ether.
Coming out of a caucus lunch Tuesday, Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Tom Carper told reporters that he and his peers had “a great conversation. One of the best that I think we’ve had this year.” The infrastructure and reconciliation packages include “not just dozens but scores of provisions” that would work to combat climate change.
Sen. Tina Smith, the CEPP’s biggest proponent, said she feels “much more optimistic than I did a little while ago. … There is a strong feeling that we need to get this done and get it figured out and do the compromise we need to do.”
But it’s not clear how. Chatter that a carbon tax was the political solution to replace the CEPP was quickly quashed by Senate Energy Chair Joe Manchin, who told reporters that a price on carbon was “off the board.” Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden continues to push clean energy tax credits under his committee’s purview that he says will yield the lion’s share of President Joe Biden’s goal to cut U.S. carbon emissions by at least 50 percent by 2030, but details of that are still being worked out with the House.
One environmental advocate close to negotiations on a new climate proposal told POLITICO’s Burgess Everett and Anthony Adragna that a “Plan C” could also involve pouring tons of money into grants, loan guarantees and other programs aimed at curbing emissions. (Burgess and Anthony have more on the caucus’ climate efforts).
And the White House sought to emphasize there were plenty of options to consider. “No one policy in our view makes or breaks our chances,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during her briefing Tuesday, citing a Rhodium Group report Tuesday that found the U.S. still capable of achieving Biden’s climate goals through an aggressive, government-wide approach.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer laid out a new time frame on Tuesday, saying that the caucus had a “universal agreement” to have a deal on moving forward with reconciliation by Tuesday of next week. He conceded that “you can’t write the whole bill within the next few days, but getting a framework done that is agreed upon by 50 senators and 218 House members — which we’re getting closer to, we’re not there yet, we’re getting closer to — and then moving both bills together is gonna be what we’re gonna do.”
And of course, climate policy is only one of several contentious policies in play. Anthony and Burgess break down the status here in Congress Minutes.
MEANWHILE IN INDUSTRY: BP, Shell and thirteen other companies threw their support to climate provisions in the Democrat’s current budget reconciliation framework Tuesday. “The climate provisions in the Build Back Better Act support our own investment in low-carbon innovation and will help us grow our business and remain competitive globally while also meeting our climate goals,” the group said in a letter to House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Interestingly, the companies, which also include Unilever, Ikea and Carrier, said they “look forward to discussing the revenue provisions including potential alternative approaches.”
PFAS IN COMMITTEE: The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hear from EPA water chief Radhika Fox today about the agency’s work on reducing PFAS pollution. The hearing comes after EPA unveiled its long-awaited roadmap to target PFAS contamination and boost testing requirements.
Chariman Carper praised the roadmap as “truly a soup-to-nuts plan—one that commits to cleaning up PFAS in our environment while also putting protections in place to prevent more of these forever chemicals from finding their way into our lives.” A Carper aide told ME that the senator plans to question more about EPA’s plan, particularly its implementation timeline — which garnered some pushback from environmentalists for not being speedy enough.
Over in the House, the select committee on the climate crisis will meet to discuss private business’ role in combating climate change, and the Natural Resources Water, Oceans and Wildlife subcommittee will discuss the Colorado River drought conditions.
FERC DAY IN SENATE ENERGY: Biden’s pick for the next FERC commissioner, Willie Phillips, gave a peek into his priorities Tuesday, telling the Senate Energy Committee that he would zero in on environmental justice when weighing new fossil fuel infrastructure.
When pressed by Republicans on whether he would favor renewable energy at the expense of fossil fuels — a concern they and Manchin have telegraphed for months — Phillips offered up that he favored an “all-of-the-above strategy.” Still, he said “I’m very aware that we’re in the middle of an energy transition. … And I want to do everything that I can, if confirmed, to push forward innovation.”
Republicans on the committee are worried that FERC’s shift to consider environmental justice in its reviews is slowing down approvals for new fossil fuel infrastructure. Phillips acknowledged that there were inefficiencies in the pipeline review process, which he would seek to address as commissioner, but he also said he would stay in line with a federal court ruling ordering FERC to incorporate environmental justice and climate change more into deliberations. Phillips currently chairs the D.C. Public Services Commission. Catherine Morehouse has more from the hearing for Pros.
Also up in committee was Brad Crabtree, Biden’s nominee to lead the Energy Department’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. Crabtree called the track record of carbon capture technologies “quite positive,” having worked on the issue as vice president for carbon management at the Great Plains Institute and as director of the Carbon Capture Coalition. Crabtree defended carbon capture technology as “long proven and widely commercially deployed across the world,” though he agreed with senators that it is not economically deployed. Crabtree added the U.S. needs a combination of legislative and DOE support to “repeat the same success that we’ve seen with solar.”
The committee also probed Charles Sams, the nominee to direct the National Parks Service. If confirmed, Sams would be the first Native American to serve in the position, and the first Senate-confirmed director since 2017. But he has no National Park Service experience — a point Sens. Angus King, (I-Maine) and Ranking Member John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) pressed on the former Umatilla Tribe executive director. Sams cited his 30 years in conservation management, when he co-managed millions of acres of land alongside local, state and federal officials, including NPS. He also committed to working more collaboratively with Native American Tribes.
MOPR ON MY MIND: Three out of four FERC commissioners issued their opinions Tuesday night on the PJM replacement to its controversial rule that raised prices for state-subsidized resources in the RTO’s market. As anticipated, Chair Richard Glick and Commissioner Allison Clements supported the replacement rule as proposed.
But Commissioner Mark Christie voted against the plan, which passed by default earlier this month because of a 2-2 deadlock. The lack of consensus was a surprise to some observers, given Christie’s previous opposition to the prior version of the minimum offer price rule. Christie wrote in his dissent that he agreed the MOPR needed to be replaced, but felt the process was too rushed, and cited concerns from the grid operator’s independent market monitor that the replacement tariff is “even worse than having no MOPR at all.”
“We must do better and we can,” Christie wrote. “We should not rush into place a grossly inadequate proposal … and do so just because we do not like the current MOPR structure.”
FISHING GROUP FILES INTENT TO SUE: A coalition of U.S. fishing industry groups filed a notice of intent to sue the Biden administration on Tuesday, alleging that it violated the law in its approval of the lease, easement and construction and operations plan for the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind project.
The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance argues the government violated the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act, as well as other statutes, and said that if the violations aren’t fixed in the next 60 days, it will file suit under the citizens’ suit provision of the statutes. In September, RODA filed a petition for review in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals over the wind project, and Tuesday’s letter signals the advancement of proceedings in federal district court, while the appellate court considers the other petition, the group said.
SIERRA CLUB EYED CENSURE: The Sierra Club board considered censuring two of its directors — Aaron Mair and Chad Hanson — after they went public about internal disputes regarding the racial legacy of John Muir. Pro’s Zack Colman reports the board ultimately declined to vote on the proposed censure, which would have accused the two directors of “bringing significant harm to the organization” that was “substantial and ongoing.” Mair and Hanson spoke to POLITICO back in August following the abrupt departure of Michael Brune as the executive director, Zack reports — sharing details that the board described as internal matters. Read more from Zack.
CRUDE AWAKENING: U.S. crude prices are still hovering near seven-year highs, with WTI futures finishing Tuesday at $82.96 a barrel, a new closing peak for the November NYMEX contract that has risen more than 20 percent in a month and a half. A cold blast that’s hit Asia is further driving energy demand there, squeezing international supplies that experts say are likely to stay tight for several months. That’s offering no relief for U.S. drivers — or Biden — with AAA’s average pump price at $3.34 per gallon, up more than 6 cents from a week ago.
All eyes will be on the EIA inventory data due out today to see if it will match the 3-million-barrel build that Reuters reported the weekly American Petroleum Institute figures showed on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the oil industry in the U.S. is starting to report strong quarterly earnings: oilfield services provider Halliburton notched a nearly 30 percent jump in revenue on Tuesday. “I see a multi-year upcycle unfolding,” company CEO Jeff Miller said in a statement. What’s fueling that bullish outlook? ME notes that OilPrice.com has picked out pretty good metric: The U.S. isn’t exactly brimming with a huge amount of oil ready to come online. The number of DUCs — drilled uncompleted wells — was at 5,957 in July, the lowest in almost four years and far below the record in set in 2019 at 8,900.
— “Who Are the World’s Biggest Climate Polluters? Satellites Sweep for Culprits,” via The Wall Street Journal.
— “France Seeks to Ease Crisis for Energy-Intensive Companies,” via Bloomberg.
— “Russia allows methane leaks at planet’s peril,” via The Washington Post.
— “U.K. plans annual zero-emission vehicle sales mandate from 2024,” via POLITICO.
— “‘Why Don’t We Have Electricity?’: Outages Plague Puerto Rico,” via The New York Times.
— “Turkmenistan’s Dirty Secret,” via Bloomberg.
THAT’S ALL FOR ME!
