The week ahead: Obama to map out election-year energy agenda
The biggest proposal floated in last year’s speech, a “clean energy standard” that would require 80 percent of U.S. power to come from low-carbon sources by 2035, never made headway on Capitol Hill.
Check out E2Wire Tuesday evening for the latest on the speech and its reception on Capitol Hill.
Regardless of what Obama says, look for Republicans to keep hammering him for rejecting the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans have scheduled a Wednesday hearing on Keystone. Kerri-Ann Jones, the State Department’s assistant secretary for Oceans and International Environment and Scientific Affairs, will testify.
The hearing will also explore Rep. Lee Terry’s (R-Neb.) bill that would hand the review of TransCanada Corp.’s proposed pipeline — which would ship oil sands from Alberta, Canada, to Gulf Coast refineries — to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
FERC, under Terry’s plan, would be tasked with issuing a permit and have little discretion to reject the project.
Some other events to watch …
On Monday, the federal Energy Information Administration will unveil its closely watched 2012 Annual Energy Outlook, a forecast of energy production and consumption trends through 2035.
Also Monday, the World Resources Institute will host Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) for a discussion on the state of the Clean Air Act.
On Tuesday, Jonathan Pershing, the State Department’s deputy special envoy for climate change, will speak at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and “provide an update on the latest round of climate negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,” according to an advisory.
Also Tuesday, a House Science, Space and Technology Committee panel will examine the Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, which seeks to foster breakthroughs in cutting-edge technologies.
The Energy Security Leadership Council — a group of CEOs and retired military brass — will hold a press briefing Tuesday to discuss a report titled “Congestion in America: A Growing Challenge to U.S. Energy Security.”
The group is seeking to influence lawmakers crafting the next big multiyear transportation bill.
“This report focuses on the challenge of U.S. oil dependence, the dynamics of worsening road congestion in America’s cities, and identifies a range of options available to policymakers to improve traveler mobility, and reduce wasted time and fuel,” an advisory states.
On Thursday, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace will host a World Bank official for a discussion of a bank report on low-carbon transportation.
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