E2-Wire

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is putting public pressure on the Interior Department to move ahead with planned regulations that will govern drilling in Arctic waters off Alaska’s northern coast.

“It is important that we have those regulations that are clearly defined in advance — well in advance, hopefully — of the [drilling] season, so that level of certainty moving forward is there,” Murkowski told top Interior Department officials at an Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday.

Murkowski is the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, as well as the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees Interior’s budget.

The Interior Department is crafting “Arctic-specific” rules that will address topics such as spill containment readiness and other areas. Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes said Tuesday that the department intends to float draft regulations by the end of the year “so that there will be clarity moving forward.”

Nine liberal advocacy organizations said on Tuesday that they plan to pull their Facebook ads for at least two weeks to protest political TV ads funded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's political advocacy group, FWD.us.

Zuckerberg's organization, which is backed by other high-profile tech executives, has funded groups responsible for running TV ads that praise lawmakers for supporting the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The ads are intended to build political support for lawmakers who will support immigration reform.

But groups including MoveOn.org, CREDO, the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and Presente said the ads are a cynical strategy that is hurting liberal causes.

A second Senate committee has expressed interest in the West, Texas, incident that killed 14 and injured 200.

Billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer may spend money to back Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) in his race for the open Massachusetts Senate seat after supporting the liberal congressman in his successful primary fight.

Here’s what an aide to Steyer told Bloomberg about whether Steyer will get involved in Markey’s general election fight against Republican Gabriel Gomez:

“[T]he short answer is: It depends. . . . When climate is on the ballot through a significant difference between candidates, and local citizens want us to help them, we’ll thoroughly consider their request. In Massachusetts, a key will be whether Mr. Gomez stands with many cold-eyed realists in the military on the growing national security threat posed by climate change and fossil fuel dependence.

A pair of Democrats is putting pressure on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for deciding against regulating methane emissions from coal mines.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) criticized EPA's April 30 decision to deny environmental law firm EarthJustice's petition to regulate the heat-trapping emissions at coal mines.

In a Tuesday letter to acting EPA Administrator Bob Perciasepe, the lawmakers said the EPA erred in choosing not to regulate the nation’s fourth-largest source of methane emissions and that its reason — financial issues — was not sufficient.

CNBC breaks down what feds are really accusing JPMorgan Chase of in its alleged power market manipulation scheme.

NASA predicted how climate change could affect global rainfall patterns. The results? Seattle is still going to be wet, writes the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said climate change — which he said contributed to recent forest fires in the state — is going to keep the state's spending tight, The Sacramento Bee reports.

Six coastal governors called on the federal government to open up more offshore waters for drilling at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, The Associated Press writes.

Bloomberg reports that "King Coal" no longer appears almighty.

Lawmakers who back natural-gas exports are trying to woo skeptical Democrats.

ON TAP TUESDAY: Newly minted Interior Secretary Sally Jewell will face Capitol Hill lawmakers for the first time since she won Senate confirmation in April.

Jewell will defend the Interior Department’s fiscal 2014 budget request before a sub-panel of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.

The 10:30 a.m. hearing will provide lawmakers a chance to ask about several hot-button topics within Interior’s jurisdiction.

They include upcoming, controversial rules to regulate the oil-and-gas development method hydraulic fracturing when it occurs on public lands.

Jewell previously faced a separate Senate committee during her nomination process, but watch E2-Wire tomorrow for coverage of Jewell’s maiden Capitol Hill voyage as secretary.

Denise Bode, the former head of wind and oil and gas industry trade groups, is now a principal with the prominent lobbying firm Cornerstone Government Affairs.

Bode recently stepped down as head of the American Wind Energy Association, and previously held top jobs with the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the American Clean Skies Foundation, a natural gas group.

“I am excited about the tax and energy practices at Cornerstone. The stage is set for action on energy, as well as tax policy,” Bode said in a statement.

A top wind trade group said Monday that it’s crafting a long-term policy plan that it plans to take to tax-writing committees in the House and the Senate.

The proposal will include “a number of scenarios or strategies,” incoming American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) CEO Tom Kiernan said at the organization’s annual conference in Chicago. AWEA officials will embark on a road show of sorts to get input from industry stakeholders before finalizing a proposal.

But a gradual phase out of a key industry tax incentive floated by AWEA in December is not necessarily the organization’s top option, Kiernan said.