OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Republicans step up opposition to Commerce nominee

State of Play: Senate Republicans on Tuesday stepped up their opposition to the nomination of John Bryson to head the Commerce Department, in the latest signal that the former energy CEO faces a bumpy confirmation process.

At the same time, Bryson’s nomination has given Republicans a new punching bag: the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a leading environmental group that Bryson helped establish.

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a member of the Senate Republican leadership team, called Bryson an “environmental extremist” in the Capitol on Tuesday because he co-founded the NRDC in the 1970s.

And he pointed to a comment from a March 2009 speech in which Bryson called the cap-and-trade bill that narrowly passed the House in 2009 a “moderate, but acceptable, bill.”

“We're at a point in our economy where we need to make it easier and cheaper to create private-sector jobs. The president has appointed someone who is going to make it harder and more expensive for the private sector to create jobs,” Barrasso said.

“So the president might think he's the right man at the right time. I think he is the wrong man at the worst time.”

Barrasso told reporters Tuesday that he would oppose Bryson's nomination. "I'm working with colleagues to see if I can get others to do so as well," he said.

Barrasso is the latest Republican to blast Bryson’s nomination.

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said late last month that he is considering placing a hold on Bryson’s nomination.

Inhofe criticized Bryson for co-founding NRDC, which he called a “radical environmental organization,” and for serving as a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change.

“[I]t is understandable that President Obama would select John Bryson as his nominee: He is a founder of a radical environmental organization and a member of a United Nations advisory group on climate change,” Inhofe said.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has also taken aim at Bryson, calling him a “green evangelist.” He also argued that NRDC is a “radical environmental group” at a recent hearing.

NRDC has come under fire from Republicans before, most recently when President Obama named the environmental group’s president, Frances Beinecke, as a member of the national oil spill commission.

But NRDC, for its part, rejects Republicans’ characterizations.

“For more than four decades the Natural Resources Defense Council has been safeguarding the Earth, all its people, its plants and its wildlife, as well as the natural systems on which all life depends,” NRDC spokesman Edwin Chen said in a statement to The Hill.

“At the same time, we are promoting across-the-board, sustainable solutions that will not foul or deplete the resources that support our life. What’s radical about that?”

Bryson’s defenders argue that he is hardly an “environmental extremist,” having served as CEO of Edison International, a California-based electric power generator, for 18 years.

NEWS BITES:

Gore calls imbalance in TV reporting on climate 'unacceptable'

Former Vice President Al Gore is not happy about a Media Matters report that says more than three-quarters of the guests featured on nine major television channels in the last two years to discuss Environmental Protection Agency climate regulations were critical of the rules.

On his blog, Gore, an outspoken climate activist, called the report's findings "an unacceptable imbalance."

DOE gives $15 million for energy-efficient lighting projects

Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Tuesday that the Energy Department is giving out $15 million for eight new projects aimed at developing new energy-efficient lighting technology.

“These investments in cutting-edge lighting technologies will support American innovation, create new manufacturing jobs for U.S. workers and help ensure that the United States leads the world in this rapidly evolving industry,” Chu said in a statement.

You can read more about the selected projects here.

US, Germany agree to work together on clean energy

The United States and Germany on Tuesday pledged to work together on a number of clean energy initiatives.

The countries vowed to combine resources at their respective national laboratories to develop solar technology; the Fraunhofer Society, a German research institute, will open the Center for Sustainable Energy Systems in Massachusetts; and Germany's Federal Institute for Vocational Training and the Education Department said they would work together to develop “internationally competitive qualification standards in the automotive industry.”

The agreements were coordinated as part of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Washington Tuesday.

Picture of the day

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ON TAP WEDNESDAY:

- The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a legislative hearing on a number of bills, including legislation aimed at changing a law that prevents the families of the 11 workers who died in last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil-rig explosion from suing for damages.

- A subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works panel will hold a hearing on “Air Quality and Children's Health."

- Wednesday is the second day of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation’s ocean conference. Featured speakers will include Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska).

- Securing America's Future Energy will hold a conference call laying out the potential oil savings from enhanced fuel economy standards.

- Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) will unveil legislation aimed at weaning the military off of its dependence on oil.

- Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt will speak at the National Press Club on "Urgent Threats to the U.S. Conservation Legacy."

- The Center for Strategic and International Studies will examine whether the country is entering a natural-gas “golden age,” as the International Energy Agency recently suggested.

- The Woodrow Wilson Center will host a talk called "Enhancing Public Engagement in Climate Change: The 2011 Climate Change Communicators of the Year."

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT …

Here’s a quick roundup of Tuesday’s E2 stories:

- Critics of EPA climate regulations monopolize TV news, report says
- Federal regulators: Nuclear accident plans are lacking
- China ends wind-power subsidy after U.S. challenge
- EPA: State Department review of proposed pipeline is 'insufficient'
- House Democrats: Slash oil tax breaks as part of deficit deal
- Report: 'Green' buildings could harm your health

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