E2-Wire

Climate advocates have increasingly embraced natural gas because it produces far fewer greenhouse gas emissions when burned than coal.

But as this Bloomberg story makes clear, development of one energy source can have consequences for another.

The piece notes that bountiful gas supplies and lower prices are helping Syncrude -- the biggest player in Alberta’s oil sands -- expand its operations.

Earlier this week, we noted that the White House is defending EPA climate rules by alleging that scuttling them would hurt struggling automakers.

Here’s a nice example:

The Department of Transportation is warning that a Senate bid to block planned EPA greenhouse gas regulations would have “profoundly adverse effects” on the economy, the environment, and car companies.

A Feb. 19 letter from a DoT official to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), obtained by The Hill, looks at the repercussions of Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) resolution to nullify EPA’s “endangerment finding.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, echoing the fears of Utah lawmakers, is warning the White House against limiting energy development by designating large tracts of western lands as national monuments.

A Feb. 22 Chamber letter to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel says the American Antiquities Act, which provides executive authority for the designations, was not meant for large areas.

“The Act was designed to protect small areas of land and specific items of archeological, scientific, or historic importance,” the letter states.

My colleagues Bob Cusack and J.T. Rushing interviewed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) yesterday. Once a hero to advocates of a carbon cap, McCain has been critical of the administration’s efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions since the election.

Bob and J.T. asked McCain about whether his stance on climate change had changed, and this is what he said:

"During the campaign, I said, 'Look, the only way we're going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and eliminate, over time, our dependency on foreign oil is nuclear power. I said it over and over and over again. So what did this administration just do? They say, 'We're for nuclear power, but we're shutting down Yucca Mountain,' in which we invested $16 billion. They keep saying, 'Yes, we're for nuclear power,' but the rhetoric is contradicted by their actions. So I cannot engage in serious contemplation, serious discussion, until nuclear power is a viable option. It is not viable when you announce the only place you can store is closing, and they're not recycling. So it's a non-starter."

The administration is shutting down Yucca Mountain, as Obama pledged to do during the campaign. But in other ways, the administration has supported the industry. Its budget request, for example, seeks to triple the amount of loan guarantees to build new reactors.

President Barack Obama said yesterday that he still supported putting a price on carbon dioxide emissions, telling a group of CEOs that energy and climate legislation was a critical component of a healthy economy.

He’s not the only Democrat who thinks a climate bill could still pass this year, even if the parties seem irrevocably split on this and other issues. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) told the International Trading Emissions Association Wednesday that finding agreement on climate legislation may not be likely but it is possible.

According to Bloomberg: “While the cap-and-trade legislation was ‘pretty much dead’ at the end of 2009, Obama has ‘breathed fresh life into it,’ Carper said.” 

Read more...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) supports the Vermont Senate's vote today to close the state's sole nuclear reactor in 2012.

Here's a statement released by his office:

“When Vermont Yankee was built, the promise and expectation was that the plant would operate for 40 years and shut down. Today the Vermont Senate reconfirmed that long-established understanding. I agree with the Senate’s decision.

"This is a moment of tremendous opportunity for Vermont to become a world leader in the transformation to a cleaner, smarter and safer energy future. Along with aggressive efforts to achieve even greater energy efficiency, we also can take better advantage of our natural resources to develop sustainable technologies such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass.  And as we move forward, I believe we also can create thousands of new, good-paying jobs in Vermont."

Republicans on Tuesday reshuffled their ranking member slots on two panels of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) is now the top Republican on the Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee. He replaces Rep. George Radanovich (R-Calif.).

Radanovich is not seeking reelection. He explained in a statement Wednesday that he is stepping down from the ranking member slot in order to focus on issues most vital to his Central Valley district.

Disgraced money manager Bernie Madoff will help stop the Securities and Exchange Commission from working on climate change – if Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) gets his way.

Barrasso introduced a bill Wednesday to block the SEC’s January decision that forces corporate disclosure of climate-related risks and opportunities in filings with regulators.

The conservative senator believes the SEC is straying from its mission. Barrasso says Exhibit A is the SEC’s failure to catch Madoff’s Ponzi scheme that cost investors billions of dollars.

The nuclear energy industry has had plenty to celebrate recently. President Barack Obama said the country needed to build new reactors to meet the challenges of climate change in his State of the Union address, and then his administration requested Congress triple the amount of loan guarantees to help finance the plants.

But as Associated Press reports today, the industry still faces some political challenges.

The Vermont Senate voted Wednesday to block the state's only nuclear plant from operating after 2012. The AP reports that, "Vermont is the only state in the country with a law giving its Legislature a say over a nuclear plant's relicensing."

An arm of the group called Repower America launched ads in Indiana, Missouri, Maine and Arkansas this month.