With help from Zack Colman
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— Hurricane season begins today, as states across the country rethink their disaster plans to account for the coronavirus pandemic.
— Environmentalist Tom Steyer — the co-chair of California’s economic recovery task force — talks to POLITICO about the role of environmental justice and sustainability in the state’s coronavirus recovery path.
— Interior’s inspector general found that a senior official violated federal laws by using his official email to pressure the EPA into hiring a relative.
WELCOME BACK! IT’S MONDAY. I’m your host, Kelsey Tamborrino. 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.
A joint trivia win for Kathy Bergren of the National Corn Growers Association and her 9-year-old daughter Cecilia for correctly naming the first American woman to walk in space: Kathryn Sullivan. Sullivan is also a former NOAA administrator and, as Peter Hill of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution reminds ME, could soon be the first woman to dive to the deepest point on Earth. For today: What’s the most popular first name for U.S. presidents?
And mea culpa from Friday’s answer: Gus Grissom was indeed the first person to fly in space twice, but it was on the Liberty Bell 7 and then on Gemini III. Send your tips and comments to [email protected].
Calling all China watchers: The trajectory of the U.S.-China relationship will determine whether this century is judged a bright or a dismal one. POLITICO’s David Wertime is launching a new China newsletter that will be worth the read. Sign up.
STATES GRAPPLE WITH HURRICANES, COVID-19: As the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season officially begins today, states across the country are trying to rewrite their disaster recovery plans amid worries that crowding large groups of evacuees in shelters could spread coronavirus, Pro’s Dan Goldberg and Brianna Ehley report.
Federal scientists anticipate an “above average” hurricane season. Officials at FEMA caution there will be “added complexities” this year for first responders and state and local officials amid the pandemic. And though President Donald Trump sees the summer as a time of economic revival, Dan and Brianna report emergency management officials fear a terrible combination of natural disasters could lead to a fresh spread of the coronavirus — and that the pandemic could, in turn, set back their work.
“If a hurricane like Harvey hit again in the middle of pandemic, you’ve got kids maybe going back to school and you’ve got flu season … from a public health standpoint, it’s an absolute nightmare,” said Carrie Kroll, vice president of advocacy, quality and public health at the Texas Hospital Association.
STEYER TALKS RECOVERY PATH: Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer spoke last week to your ME host about his new role as co-chair of California’s task force on the state’s economic recovery. The former Democratic presidential candidate said the effort would focus on “equity and justice, sustainability and resilience” and he defended plans to boost clean energy sources since they have “a much higher impact in terms of job creation than investing in other kinds of energy.”
Steyer said the task force, made up of political leaders as well as business, technology and labor officials, is focused on advising California Gov. Gavin Newsom on “how to come out as fast as is safely possible.” He added: “We’re going to put the communities — particularly the under-served communities, especially black and brown communities who have borne the brunt of this crisis from a health standpoint and also from an economic standpoint — they’re going to be at the front of our thinking as we advise on policies to come out.”
He also discussed the role of clean energy in the state’s coronavirus recovery path. “What I know is that investing in green energy has a much higher impact in terms of job creation than investing in other kinds of energy, and that’s been true for a long time,” he said.
A supporter of the Green New Deal, Steyer talked about how spending to protect the environment would pay off economically. “I think that that change is going to drive some job creation, a lot more productivity and lower costs, because when I started talking about this, there was the argument we can’t afford to do this — clean energy is too expensive. I think at this point, everybody understands that clean wind and solar are the cheapest energies, and going forward, they’re going to get not only actually cheaper, but relatively cheaper.”
ALL IN THE FAMILY: The Interior Department’s internal watchdog found that Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Doug Domenech violated federal laws by using his official email to push the EPA to hire one of his family members, POLITICO’s Ben Lefebvre reports. The inspector general’s office detailed in a report Friday how Domenech used his official Interior email account to seek out a high ranking EPA official’s contact information to make the case for one relative, while also touting another family member’s wedding business with the message, “Let me know if we can ever be of service.”
The first family member in question was Eric Frandy, a source familiar with the report confirmed to POLITICO, and the EPA official Domenech approached was Ryan Jackson, former chief of staff to previous EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. Frandy in 2012 married Domenech’s daughter Emily, who is a senior policy adviser to Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the House’s top Republican.
The report marks the second time in six months the OIG found Domenech broke federal ethics statutes. House Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney and Subcommittee Chairs Gerry Connolly and Harley Rouda said Interior Secretary David Bernhardt “must not allow Domenech to remain in his position, but instead should take appropriate action and dismiss Domenech from federal service” in a statement Friday. “We are also concerned that the senior official at the EPA involved in this case ignored six different requests to be interviewed by the Inspector General,” they said, adding the committee will follow-up on the matters.
EPA WON’T ELEVATE PEBBLE MINE CONCERNS: EPA will not formally elevate its prior concerns about the proposed Pebble Mine’s environmental impacts — a sign the agency doesn’t intend to exercise its veto power once the Army Corps of Engineers issues a permit, Pro’s Alex Guillén reports. EPA spokesperson Corry Schiermeyer said in a statement that extensive engagement with the Corps in recent months meant the agencies “were able to address many issues” raised last year by EPA regarding its impacts on waterways and the regional salmon population. The agency decided not to formally elevate the matter to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James — a move widely considered a prelude to EPA vetoing a permit later.
EPA IG TO LOOK AT TRIBAL DRINKING WATER OVERSIGHT: EPA’s Office of Inspector General said it plans to evaluate the agency’s oversight of tribal drinking water systems, including its response to Covid-19. The OIG said it is looking to determine the “effects of the EPA’s oversight, including compliance assistance and enforcement activities, on the ability of public water systems in Indian Country to provide safe drinking water to customers,” and how the agency modified its oversight during the coronavirus pandemic.
ON THE SCHEDULE: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer laid out the lower chamber’s schedule and procedures for the next two months in a Dear Colleague letter Friday, which detailed action on three “must-pass” bills. “Throughout the month of June, legislative work in House committees will be our focus, with committees meeting to hold hearings and to mark up and report legislation,” Hoyer wrote. “Their goal will be to prepare must-pass legislation for consideration on the Floor in late June and going through July,” including a 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, an infrastructure package that includes reauthorization of expiring surface transportation provisions and a reauthorization of the Water Resources Development Act.
HOW FINANCIAL SYSTEMS CAN GEAR UP FOR CLIMATE CHANGE: A new report recommends a series of steps U.S. regulators and institutions should take to insulate the financial system from climate change shocks. The suggestions from business sustainability group Ceres include the Federal Reserve requiring stress tests to ensure financial health across a range of climate and policy scenarios, the Securities and Exchange Commission mandating climate risk disclosure rules and clarifying when such risks are considered material information for investors, and the Federal Housing Finance Authority researching climate risk to federally backed mortgages, among other items. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara will discuss the report today in a media call.
The report comes as the Federal Reserve has taken heat from climate activists and some in the finance world. They allege the central bank’s corporate debt-purchasing programs Congress created to combat the coronavirus-fueled economic crisis potentially props up oil and gas firms that were ailing before the crisis. Sarah Bloom Raskin, former Treasury deputy secretary in the Obama administration and member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors under President Barack Obama, wrote in the report’s foreword that economic rebuilding must come with sustainability “explicitly embedded in market valuation,” adding, “This transformation will come, in part, from urging the leaders of our financial regulatory bodies to do all they can — which turns out to be a lot.”
Related: The International Monetary Fund recommended greater disclosure by companies of their potential climate change risks in a new report Friday focused on equity prices and the “physical risks” of climate change. IMF researchers found that “investors may be paying insufficient attention to climate variables, Pro’s Zachary Warmbrodt reports.
— Sara Baldwin joined think tank Energy Innovation as electrification policy director. Baldwin was previously vice president of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.
— “Cost of shipping oil tumbles as production cuts bite,” via The Wall Street Journal.
— “Occidental cuts dividend to a penny with debt woes mounting,” via Bloomberg.
— “Detlev Helmig was frugal with tax dollars. Then CU fired him for misusing funds,” InsideClimate News.
— “Economic giants are restarting. Here’s what it means for climate change,” via The New York Times.
— “Trump administration looks to fast track logging on public lands,” via The Hill.
THAT’S ALL FOR ME!
