E2 Morning Roundup: Oil spill commission gets down to brass tacks. Plus, Salazar hints at drilling as bargaining chip, more fallout from White House drilling retreat, senior House Republican seeks ‘fracking’ answers, and more.

On tap Thursday: Spill panel mulls findings on safety, environmental review

The presidential commission that’s probing the BP oil spill and drilling reforms meets Thursday and Friday to review draft findings ahead of its big report to the White House in January.

The panel — called the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling — will debate staff conclusions on the industry’s “safety culture,” regulatory oversight, Arctic drilling and others matters during the Washington, D.C., meetings.

More fallout from Obama’s drilling retreat

The spill commission meeting comes a day after the Obama administration announced it’s backing off plans to expand areas where offshore drilling is allowed (see our pieces, here, here and here).

Fallout from the big policy change continued all day Wednesday. Here’s some reaction that didn’t make it into our other pieces:

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), a strong oil-and-gas industry ally, bashed the White House over yet another drilling decision with which she disagrees.

“Today’s announcement by Secretary Salazar to limit areas in the Atlantic and Eastern Gulf of Mexico is major step backwards for our nation’s energy security. The original 5-year plan, when it was announced in March, signaled that this administration was serious about jobs and our nation’s energy security,” Landrieu said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, despite the rigorous new safety regulations that are now required as a result of the Deepwater Horizon accident, this Administration has decided to make a U-turn.”

Florida’s Nelson, New Jersey senators cheer

But Obama’s decision to back off expanded drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and to scrap plans for Atlantic Coast leasing was welcome news to several drilling foes.

The plan never called for drilling off the Jersey Shore, but Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) had feared that leasing as far north as Delaware would have jeopardized their state in the event of a spill.

“I am grateful that the administration has heard my message loud and clear: no drilling for oil anywhere near the Jersey Shore. I applaud this action, which will protect our state’s economy and environment. The Jersey Shore supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, drives our state’s economy and is a birthright for all New Jerseyans,” Menendez said.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) is also pleased that Obama is no longer seeking to roll back the big no-drilling buffer in place off Florida’s Gulf of Mexico shores until 2022. He called it “an enormous victory for our state.” The moratorium was part of a compromise 2006 law that expanded drilling elsewhere in the Gulf.

Salazar: Eastern Gulf drilling could be part of bigger energy plan

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, near the end of a Wednesday conference call with reporters on the drilling decision, dropped a hint that the Obama administration is open to negotiations about eastern Gulf development.

He said the administration would be “willing to entertain” a discussion about the moratorium in the area — but only if it’s part of a “balanced” energy package that emphasizes efficiency, renewables and R&D into green energy technologies.

The comment suggests the Obama administration has altered its political strategy on energy after the collapse of comprehensive climate change and energy legislation on Capitol Hill this year.

Back in late March, when the White House rolled out its plans for expanded drilling, environmentalists were dismayed that President Obama made the move without securing GOP commitments on climate policy in return.

Hastings wants answers — in public — from Interior on gas ‘fracking’ plans

The House Republican who will lead the Natural Resources Committee in the next Congress wants Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to testify about potential rules governing natural-gas drilling on public lands.

Salazar said Tuesday that Interior might compel drillers to disclose the chemicals they’re using when employing a controversial drilling method called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” on public lands.

Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), the incoming committee chairman, fears the plan will create red tape that stymies energy production.

“It is requested that before taking action to unilaterally implement this policy as Secretary, that you appear before the House Natural Resources Committee in the 112th Congress to provide testimony and answer questions from Committee members. It is important for the Department to carefully consult and consider guidance from the House Natural Resources Committee on policies that will impact technological innovation and competitiveness on federal lands,” Hastings writes in a letter to Salazar.

Interior officials say they’re very much in favor of natural gas development. “The Department of the Interior has a responsibility to ensure that natural gas development on our federal public lands takes place in the right way and in the right places so that our natural resources and our communities are protected," said Interior spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff on Wednesday.

Divisions surface at UN climate talks in Cancun 

“China and Brazil led developing nations in saying Japan’s refusal to help extend the Kyoto Protocol to curb greenhouse gas emissions may halt work on a global accord to combat global warming,” Bloomberg reports.

“A total of 37 developed countries, including Japan, ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, agreeing to set limits on fossil fuel emissions. The Kyoto accord expires in December 2012 and with no other agreement to replace it, delegates at the United Nation climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, say extending the protocol is crucial,” their piece adds.

“The Kyoto Protocol is the very basis of the framework to address climate change through international cooperation,” China’s envoy, Su Wei told reporters in Cancun. “If the pillar is collapsed, you can guess the consequences.”

Report: Global warming could double food prices

“Even if we stopped spewing global warming gases today, the world would face a steady rise in food prices this century. But on our current emissions path, climate change becomes the ‘threat multiplier’ that could double grain prices by 2050 and leave millions more children malnourished, global food experts reported Wednesday,” the Associated Press reports.

UN pushes efficient light bulbs to fight warming

“The United Nations on Wednesday urged a global phase-out of old-style light bulbs and a switch to low-energy lighting that it said would save billions of dollars and combat climate change,” Reuters reports.

“About 40 countries already have programs to switch from incandescent light bulbs, the U.N. Environment Program, or UNEP, said in a report issued on the sidelines of U.N. climate talks in Cancun.

“Generation of electricity for lighting, often from burning fossil fuels, accounts for about 8 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions," it said. "A shift to more efficient bulbs would cut electricity demand for lighting by 2 percent.”

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