E2 Morning Roundup: Reid looks ahead to ‘piecemeal’ climate battle, Murkowski mulls third-party options, BP internal probe results imminent, and much more

By Ben Geman - 09/08/10 06:12 AM ET

Reid puts nail in the climate bill coffin

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday called it a “cinch” that the Senate won’t tackle climate change legislation this year. He proclaimed the bill’s death at the clean energy summit he co-hosts annually in Las Vegas. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), a co-sponsor of emissions-capping legislation and its most tireless advocate, had recently held out the prospect of action in a lame-duck session.

But Reid is plotting climate strategy for the next Congress

He suggested lawmakers should avoid more attempts to pass a sweeping bill that imposes emissions curbs across the economy. Instead, Reid lauded the “piecemeal” approach of capping heat-trapping emissions from electric power plants, which account for about 40 percent of U.S. carbon pollution. That was already the focus of Senate climate talks before they collapsed entirely this year. We wrote about Reid’s comments Tuesday night, including his view that the House must “get real” and accept a very slimmed-down energy package if anything is going to move this year.

Murkowski: Don’t count me out just yet

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) might yet mount a bid to retain her Senate seat following her stunning GOP primary loss to Tea Party favorite Joe Miller, according to press reports. She’s the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The Associated Press looks at the possible run on a Libertarian ticket or as a write-in candidate.

“A week after conceding the tight GOP primary to Joe Miller, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she's not a quitter and is ‘still in this game,’” the AP reports from Alaska.

“Murkowski told The Associated Press on Tuesday that she's been inundated with calls and e-mails from supporters and overwhelmed by people just coming up to her, asking her not to leave the race. She said she had been ready to consider her future outside the Senate on Aug. 31, when she conceded, but has been humbled by the outpouring from Alaskans, is listening and weighing her options.”

Joe Lieberman redux on the Energy Committee?

Some “what-ifs”: If Murkowski runs, and if she wins, the immediate question is whether she retains her ranking slot — or potential chairmanship if Republicans reclaim the Senate — on the influential energy panel.

That’s what happened with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) after he lost his 2006 Democratic primary to anti-war challenger Ned Lamont. Lieberman ran as an independent and kept the seat and his senior spot on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

On tap Wednesday: BP’s internal accident report

The company this morning is slated to release the results of its internal investigation into the causes of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the worst such accident in U.S. history.

Report: BP will take some blame for the Deepwater Horizon blast

From the Wall Street Journal:

“BP PLC's report on its investigation into the Deepwater Horizon disaster will assign some of the blame to itself but also hold other companies responsible for the various decisions that led to the explosion, according to a person familiar with the matter.”

“It remains unclear how much of the blame will be shouldered by BP in the report, which will be released Wednesday. The company has positioned the report as an objective assessment of events leading up to the April 20 explosion of a drilling rig that killed 11 workers and damaged a well, which unleashed nearly five million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.”

On tap Wednesday II: Pelosi to talk oil sands with top Canadian officials

My colleague Darren Goode reported Tuesday on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) planned meetings on her visit to Canada, which are expected to include discussion of Alberta’s massive oil sands.

From E2 Tuesday:

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach Tuesday said he plans to appeal to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) “sense of reason” when the two meet with other leaders in Canada on Wednesday about his province’s oil-sands development.    

Pelosi will be in Ottawa to attend a G8 Speakers’ Conference that starts Thursday. But she will also have a dinner meeting Wednesday with Stelmach, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and Quebec Premier Jean Charest on energy and environmental issues, including oil sands.

“The purpose of the meeting is to get the energy-producing premiers together over dinner,” Stelmach told reporters. “Our goal there is to appeal to her sense of reason.”

On tap Wednesday III: Enviro report to call ‘snowmageddon’ a sign of the climate-changing times

The group Environment America will unveil a report that explores how climate change could make extreme weather events, such as last winter’s epic Northeast snowfalls, more common in the future.

The report is part of a campaign by an array of green groups to protect EPA’s power to impose emissions curbs under its existing authority. Several plans on Capitol Hill would delay EPA rules or scuttle them outright.

Here’s a preview of the report:

“Extreme weather events lead to billions of dollars in economic damage and loss of life each year. Scientists project that global warming could affect the frequency, timing, location and severity of many types of extreme weather events in the decades to come.”

  “Over the last five years, science has continued to make progress in exploring the connections between global warming and extreme weather. Meanwhile, the United States has experienced a string of extreme events, including massive floods in the Midwest, Tennessee and Northeast, intense hurricanes in Florida and along the Gulf Coast, drought and wildfire in the Southeast and Southwest that serve as a reminder of the damage that extreme weather can cause to people, the economy and the environment.”

Energy Dept. spreads stimulus climate cash around

The Energy Department on Tuesday announced the selection of 22 projects that will share $575 million in stimulus funding to develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) — a technology the White House hopes to see cost-effectively deployed within a decade. A full list of the projects can be found here.

On tap Wednesday IV: Chu, Rockefeller talk carbon in West Virginia

Energy Secretary Steven Chu is slated to speak at a University of Charleston forum on CCS hosted by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.). Rockefeller, by the way, is leading the charge to delay EPA climate rules, an effort the White House opposes. They’ll also tour DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, W.Va.

In case you missed it

Here are some other E2 posts that ran Tuesday:

Interior official: Gulf oil platform fire won’t alter deepwater drilling ban

Feds: Oil is lowering Gulf oxygen but not creating ‘dead zones’

Report: BP was a top Google advertiser in June

Oil industry admits better spill-response plans are needed

Top climate activist calls focus on economy, security ineffective

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