Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) is calling on lawmakers to hold a hearing on a leak discovered earlier this month in the Trans Alaska Pipeline System that caused major oil companies to cut output.

Flow of oil through the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, which carries about 15 percent of domestically produced oil, was halted Jan. 8 after a small leak was found. After a new piece of pipe was installed this past weekend, the pipeline was restarted Monday.

The leak spooked lawmakers, who subsequently raised concerns about the aging pipeline and a future leak’s impact on production and oil prices.

The National Association of Manufacturers said Tuesday that greenhouse gas regulations should fall victim to the new White House regulatory review policy, a sign that business groups may use the initiative as a tool for battling climate rules.

Aric Newhouse, a top official with the trade group, singled out the Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse rules and a separate plan for reducing other pollutants from industrial boilers.

“This is an opportunity for the President to demonstrate results by eliminating unnecessary regulations already in the pipeline or delaying poorly thought-out proposals that are costing jobs,” said Newhouse, the group’s senior vice president for government relations and policy.

“For example, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposals — from regulating greenhouse gases to the Boiler MACT [Maximum Achievable Control Technology] rule — are a real threat to America’s job creators,” he added in a statement.

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who announced Tuesday that he won’t seek reelection in 2012, said energy will be a top priority during his remaining time in Congress.

The senator, in a statement Tuesday, said his five top priorities will include reducing “America’s dependence on foreign energy.”

Conrad is a strong ethanol backer who also tried to craft a wider compromise energy package in 2008. Conrad and Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) created the bipartisan “Gang of 10” senators — which later grew — that summer.

Under a new regulatory framework unveiled Tuesday, the Obama administration will subject upcoming climate change rules to additional analysis to ensure they are not overly burdensome to the business community, a senior administration official said.

President Obama signed an executive order Tuesday requiring a government-wide review of all existing rules and laying out new standards for pending regulations. Under the framework, all rules must be cost-effective, transparent, science-based and not unduly burdensome.

A senior administration official said Tuesday that the regulatory framework will apply to upcoming climate change rules, which industry and business groups have said will result in significant economic harm.

A left-leaning watchdog group is fearful that President Obama’s new regulatory review initiative will weaken public health and environmental protections.

Rena Steinzor of the Center for Progressive Reform, citing Obama’s Wall Street Journal op-ed announcing the plan, said Obama “embraces a frame for the coming discussion about the role of regulation in society that is right out of the Republican hymnal.”

Her statement on the center's website Tuesday notes Obama’s claims that some regulations have stifled innovation and jobs, and noted his pledge to review “outdated” rules that stifle jobs and “make our economy less competitive.”

“By casting the discussion in those terms, the President swallows the GOP’s frame for the debate hook, line, and sinker,” writes Steinzor, the group’s president and a professor of law at the University of Maryland.

As the White House prepares for Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit this week, the shuttering of a solar power plant in Massachusetts is taking on new significance.

Evergreen Solar is packing up and moving to China, and the company says it’s because the United States hasn’t offered consistent incentives for renewable energy.

“Evergreen Solar says it has no choice but to produce in China instead. And with the Massachusetts plant go 800 jobs. But worker Andrew Koenigsberg doesn't blame his bosses. He blames Congress,” the radio program "Marketplace" reports.

President Obama argued Tuesday his administration's major environmental regulations do not impose undue economic burdens on the country.

In an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, Obama preemptively defended his administration's environmental regulations, but also announced he will sign an executive order instructing agencies to review the economic implications of current federal rules.

“Despite a lot of heated rhetoric, our efforts over the past two years to modernize our regulations have led to smarter — and in some cases tougher — rules to protect our health, safety and environment. Yet according to current estimates of their economic impact, the benefits of these regulations exceed their costs by billions of dollars,” Obama said.

Welcome back to OVERNIGHT ENERGY, E2’s daily roundup of the energy news you need to know and a look ahead to tomorrow's action. Please send tips and comments to Ben Geman, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and Andrew Restuccia, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view i.

STATE OF PLAY: Energy Secretary, Chinese officials to highlight energy deals

U.S. and Chinese energy officials, amid trade tensions between the two powers, will stress collaboration Tuesday ahead of President Hu Jintao’s formal state visit.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and his Chinese counterparts will mark the “next milestones” of the joint U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center, which President Obama and Hu announced in 2009, according to a DOE advisory.

Chu and the Chinese officials will also oversee the signings of commercial agreements between energy companies from the two nations.

A leak in a section of pipe discovered earlier this month in the Trans Alaska Pipeline System has been repaired, and the operator of the pipeline is preparing to restart the flow of oil Monday.

The flow of oil through the system, the largest in Alaska, was halted Jan. 8 after a small leak was discovered in a section of the pipe. Lawmakers, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), have raised concerns about the incident's effect on oil prices.

Alyeska, the operator of the pipeline, temporarily restarted the flow of oil last week in order to keep the line from freezing in the sub-zero temperatures of Alaska’s North Slope.