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OVERNIGHT ENERGY: A tale of two chambers
State of Play: A pair of events Thursday — one in the House, the other in the Senate — will nicely encapsulate the partisan energy divides on Capitol Hill.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on a proposal that’s doomed for now: Chairman Jeff Bingaman’s (D-N.M.) bill that would require utilities to supply escalating amounts of power from carbon-free — or at least lower carbon — sources like wind, solar, natural gas and nuclear (click here and here for more on the plan).
President Obama called for such a “clean-energy standard” in his last two State of the Union addresses. But the hearing is more about laying the groundwork — the retiring Bingaman has acknowledged the bill won’t advance in the current Congress.
The bill’s dim prospects — it’s highly unlikely to gain 60 Senate backers, let alone support in the GOP-controlled House — say a lot about the current divides on energy policy.
The plan lacks GOP buy-in even though it is already a retreat from earlier proposals by Democrats and Obama, during his first White House campaign, for a renewable electricity standard that would not include non-renewable sources.
The decision to propose a standard that gives credit to non-renewable forms of energy, such as natural gas or coal plants that trap carbon — if that’s ever commercialized — was a concession to build wider support.
Across Capitol Hill, the House Energy and Commerce Committee is working on a highly different set of priorities: GOP calls to expand federal lands offered for oil-and-gas leasing and delay Environmental Protection Agency air pollution rules.
The Energy and Commerce Committee is marking up a pair of bills Thursday.
One would set up an new interagency committee to study the cumulative effects of a number of EPA rules on gasoline and diesel prices, economic competitiveness, employment and other areas.
The bill would delay — for at least a year — new EPA fuel emissions standards, air pollution rules for refineries and any new ozone standards while the interagency panel prepares reports and seeks comment.
A separate bill would require an increase in the amount of federal land leased for oil-and-gas drilling if there’s a drawdown of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Another GOP panel is pushing drilling even more aggressively. The House Natural Resources Committee approved GOP bills (available here) Wednesday aimed at speeding up and expanding onshore drilling on public lands.
The proposals would set a floor on the amount of acreage that must be leased for oil-and-gas drilling and other projects, limit environmental review and limit the Interior Department’s ability to withdraw or cancel leases, and also create new barriers to judicial review of energy projects, among other provisions.
They're not expected to advance in the Senate.
NEWS BITES:
Commerce to make decision on solar trade case
The Commerce Department is set to announce Thursday the preliminary determination in its investigation of whether China is flooding the U.S. market with underpriced solar panels.
The solar industry is eagerly awaiting the decision.
A group of U.S. solar panel manufacturers filed a petition with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission last year requesting that that they impose tariffs on Chinese solar imports.
The companies allege China is flooding the U.S. market with underpriced solar panels and subsidizing its solar industry in a way that violates World Trade Organization rules.
The Commerce Department said in March it will impose tariffs on Chinese solar panels imported into the United States. The department found that China is unfairly subsidizing certain solar panels.
Thursday’s decision marks the second part of the department’s investigation.
McClendon speaks
Embattled Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon will take part in a webcast Wednesday at 2 p.m. hosted by Energy Central called, "Navigating Industry Disruption, Emerging a Leader."
Salazar to speak at California monument
Interior Ken Salazar and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairwoman Nancy Sutley will speak Saturday morning at the dedication of the Fort Ord National Monument in California.
Report on oil and the trade deficit coming
The Diplomatic Council on Energy Security, part of the group Securing America’s Future Energy, will unveil a report on oil and the trade deficit Thursday morning.
Sen. Coons to speak on clean energy
Media Matters for America and Environmental Entrepreneurs will host a conference call at 9 a.m. on “why sustained support of clean energy is good for business in America." The call will feature Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and NRG Energy President David Crane.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...
Here's a quick roundup of Wednesday's E2 stories:
- House GOP's Energy Dept. loan probe could ensnare two Cabinet secretaries
- Report: Obama to press G8 nations to back oil release
- Oxfam sues SEC to force completion of Dodd-Frank oil transparency rule
- GOP lawmaker says Obama 'tone-deaf' on the toll gas prices take on business
- GOP hints it’ll part with Keystone XL pipeline to finish highway bill
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This post was updated at 9:50 a.m. on Thursday.
