OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Sen. Lindsey Graham plots return to energy talks

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State of play: Republican eyes energy talks with Obama administration, Dems

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) walked away from climate change and energy talks with Democrats months ago, but he’s plotting a return to the thick of Senate energy debates.

Graham said Thursday that he’s reviving his proposal to create a “clean energy” standard for utilities in the next Congress.

The idea would require power companies to supply escalating amounts of energy from various low-carbon sources. Power generated from new nuclear plants would be eligible.

Graham told reporters that he wants to link the idea with proposals that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from “overly” regulating several air pollutants — including carbon.

“I am going to try and get with some Democrats and Republicans and see if we can come up with a clean energy standard that has a regional flexibility, that focuses on clean energy, and keep the EPA from overly regulating all these pollutants. That would be the tradeoff,” Graham said in the Capitol.

Eyeing Carper-Alexander plan

Graham said bipartisan legislation by Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) — which requires steep cuts in mercury, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide pollution — is something to “take seriously.”

Graham said the bipartisan bill could be married to a clean energy standard while limiting EPA’s looming regulation of greenhouse gases. “Carbon is going to be regulated by the EPA. I think that is the worst of all ways to do it,” Graham said. “Have a clean energy standard that moves the country to a low-carbon economy in a business-friendly way.”

From renewable to clean

The “clean” standard is an alternative to stalled Democratic proposals (which have attracted a few Republicans) to create a renewable electricity standard.

The move got a shot in the arm this week when Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the Obama administration is warming up to the idea, now that climate legislation to cap greenhouse gases has collapsed on Capitol Hill.

President Obama campaigned on a renewables standard while running for the White House, so Chu’s comment was a concession of sorts to Republicans that want any such policy to credit power from new nuclear plants and coal plants if they trap carbon (a technology that’s not yet commercialized).

“I saw that,” Graham said of Chu’s comments. “We need to talk.” 

Graham and other critics of a renewables-only mandate say it would disadvantage the southeast because the region lacks enough wind and other renewables to comply.

“I am talking to more people. I think probably a regional approach is the way to go — a clean energy standard that meets regional needs,” he said.

On Tap Friday: GM chief speaks in D.C.

Generals Motors CEO Dan Akerson will give a speech before the Economic Club of Washington titled “GM: New Company for a New World.” The address comes as the revamped, post-bankruptcy company has been touting its green credentials, including the new Chevy Volt electric car.

NEWS BITES:

Dems seek political momentum for renewable grants

As we reported earlier Thursday (here and here), it looks like extensions of Treasury Department grants for renewable power projects are on their way to finding a home in the Senate package extending Bush-era tax cuts. A big group of House Democrats — 81 in all — are trying to show the depth of political support for the measure as the tax talks continue on both sides of the Capitol.

The lawmakers — led by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Rush Holt (D-N.J.) and Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) — sent a letter to House Democratic leaders calling for extension of the expiring program.

Blumenauer said Democrats called inclusion of the grants — which seemed to be left on the cutting-room floor in the initial White House tax deal with Republicans — a priority in the caucus meeting with Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday. “I think he understands the intensity of our interest,” Blumenauer told reporters Thursday.

Upton, Inhofe vow probe of EPA ozone rules

Incoming House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) are putting the EPA on notice that they’re going to be watching as the agency crafts ozone pollution standards.

Upton and Inhofe, the top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, wrote to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson one day after EPA said the rules would be delayed until mid-2011.

The lawmakers said they applaud the delay of the smog rules, but added that they “remain gravely concerned with the direction the agency is headed” on the rules, which many Republicans allege will be economically harmful.

The letter spends several paragraphs bashing the rules and urges EPA to consider “the full range of scientific studies and information, including considering studies, and interpretations of studies, that the agency may disagree with.”

Vilsack releases USDA climate plan

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, speaking at an event during the United Nations climate change negotiations Thursday, announced a series of steps the Agriculture Department is taking to address climate change. He also released a Climate Change Science Plan meant to “enable clear and consistent consideration of current and potential investments in climate change science activities.”

Vitter puts hold on NOAA nominee

Sen. David Vitter (D-La.) put a hold on Scott Doney, the president’s nominee to be the chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In a letter to Obama Thursday, Vitter cited what he called a drilling permitting “bottleneck.”

“Specifically, I am uncomfortable confirming a high-level science advisor within your administration while there remain significant outstanding concerns over scientific integrity at federal agencies and the White House, including with regard to the recent drilling moratorium and the ongoing bottleneck in permitting, which I would characterize as a continuing de facto moratorium,” the letter says.

Pew report on climate talks calls for 'incremental steps'

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change released a report that says, while countries should eventually commit to a legally binding climate treaty, they should in the meantime set their sights "on incremental steps that can deliver stronger action, resources and transparency even in the absence of binding commitments."

AROUND THE WEB:

Poll: Most scientists are Democrats

“It is no secret that the ranks of scientists and engineers in the United States include dismal numbers of Hispanics and African-Americans, but few have remarked about another significantly underrepresented group: Republicans,” Slate reports.

“No, this is not the punch line of a joke. A Pew Research Center Poll from July 2009 showed that only around 6 percent of U.S. scientists are Republicans; 55 percent are Democrats, 32 percent are independent, and the rest 'don't know' their affiliation.”

Climate scientists try to make a believer of New Jersey governor

“Three scientists who specialize in climate change delivered a message to Gov. [Chris] Christie on Tuesday: Global warming is real, it is caused mostly by people, and it has already increased the frequency of severe weather in the Garden State,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

“The Rutgers University scientists came to the Statehouse with reams of documents in the hope of convincing Christie, who has said he is reserving judgment on the issue. Christie did not meet with the experts. Instead, his representatives sat in on their presentation.”

Delegates in Cancun debate details of deforestation plan

“The delegates in Cancun are trying to hammer out just what shape it will take: Who will administer it, who will fund it, who will enforce it and even what some of its most basic rules will be,” The Associated Press writes.

“The program was touted as one of the biggest potential deals at Cancun, but the talks have been stymied by disagreements over how to finance and evaluate projects, and over safeguards to guarantee that forest-dwellers won't be evicted by the process.”