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ACC PM 9/23
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(ACC Mentioned) Resin Sales Up from Distributors, Resellers
Sep 23, 2015 | Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
In a bit of a departure from recent trends, U.S./Canadian sales of polyethylene and polypropylene resin through distributors and resellers both are on track to grow in 2015. -
(ACC Mentioned) Distributors Turn to Mexico for Growth
| Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
The Mexican market has the attention of U.S.-based resin distributors. So far in 2015, two such firms have made deals to expand their presence in Mexico. In May, M. Holland Co. of Northbrook, Ill., formed a partnership with resin and chemical supplier Grupo Solquim of Mexico City. That partnership now operates as M. Holland Latinoamérica. -
(ACC Mentioned) ACC Publishes Safety Guidelines for Handling Automotive Lubricant
Sep 23, 2015 | Chemical Watch
The American Chemistry Council's petroleum additives safety task group has issued safe handling guideline for zinc dialkyl dithio phosphate (ZDDP) components and blends. -
Class-Action Brought Against The Honest Company
Sep 23, 2015 | Chemical Watch
A class-action lawsuit has been filed against household products firm, The Honest Company, over claims that it “deceptively and misleadingly” markets products as natural when they contain “unnatural” chemical ingredients. -
Outdoor Apparel Brands Counter PFC Report
Sep 23, 2015 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
A recent study by NGO Greenpeace has criticised the outdoor industry's efforts to eliminate the use of per- and polyfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), but major brands say that suitable alternatives are not yet ready. -
Echa's MSC Considers Next List of Chemicals for Authorisation
Sep 23, 2015 | Chemical Watch
By Philip Lightowlers
Echa took the first steps in drawing up its next recommendation for REACH authorisation, at its meeting, last week. It assessed priorities for inclusion in the REACH authorisation list of candidate list substances and presented the results to its Member State Committee. -
Sponsor of Rule-Curbing Bill Targets EPA Ozone Plan
Sep 23, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Amanda Reilly
The sponsor of legislation meant to check the executive-branch rulemaking today used U.S. EPA's proposal to tighten the Clean Air Act standard for ozone to promote the bill. -
Democrats' Energy Plan Skirts Party Fight
Sep 23, 2015 | PoliticoPro
By Elana Schor
The energy plan that Senate Democrats floated on Tuesday skirts the partisan debates on climate change, but the move won’t spare them political heat from the right or the left as the 2016 election approaches. -
Industry, States Say BLM's Record Doesn't Support Fracking Rule
Sep 23, 2015 | E&E - Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
After a month of scouring the administrative record leading to the Bureau of Land Management's newly finalized hydraulic fracturing rule, opposing sides are now relying on the paper trail to support their arguments for and against the rule. -
Obama Calls for Climate Deal that can be Ratcheted up Over Time
Sep 23, 2015 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Andrew Restuccia
President Barack Obama says in a new interview that the Paris climate negotiations will be a success if countries agree to a "serious" international commitment that can be measured, is well-defined and can be ratcheted up in the coming years. -
Clinton Catapults Pipeline Debate Back into Presidential Race
Sep 23, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Manuel Quiñones
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's announcement yesterday that she opposes the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada is catapulting the issue back into the 2016 presidential campaign. -
Pope Praises Obama on Climate, Calls for 'Serious' Action
Sep 23, 2015 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Andrew Restuccia
Pope Francis praised President Barack Obama today for taking steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and he warned that climate change "is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation." -
Pope Praises Obama's Climate Change Rule
Sep 23, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
Pope Francis on Wednesday praised the main piece of President Obama’s climate change agenda, his limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. -
Pope Praises Obama Emissions Rule, Urges Strong U.S. Action
Sep 23, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Jean Chemnick
Pope Francis endorsed U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan today in a White House Rose Garden appearance with President Obama. -
Big Players in Climate Talks Converge in the U.S. as New Pledges are Made
Sep 23, 2015 | E&E - Climatewire
By Lisa Friedman
As Pope Francis touched down on U.S. soil yesterday, Washington also prepared for key visits between President Obama and the leaders of China and India, all focused heavily on climate change and the negotiation of a new international agreement. -
US Regulators Say French Company Manipulated Gas Market
Sep 23, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
United States energy regulators are accusing French oil and natural gas giant Total of manipulating the natural gas market in the Southwest. -
Global Energy Security can be a Reality with Crude Oil Exports
Sep 23, 2015 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Guy Caruso
Discussions continue to intensify as the 60-day clock winds down for Congress to vote on the proposed Iran nuclear deal. Just recently, the Senate voted to filibuster a proposed disapproval measure and pave the way for sanctions to be lifted on Iran. -
Congress Should Look to American Wind Power for Climate Solutions
Sep 23, 2015 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Tom Kernan
World leaders and U.S. policymakers are increasingly in the market for climate solutions. A recent example is the 11 House Republicans who introduced a resolution last week calling for “improved environmental stewardship” and for conservatives to take the lead on “bringing our energy sector into the next generation.” -
Companies Still 'Struggling' to Apply Climate Change Data to Describe Risk
Sep 23, 2015 | E&E - Climatewire
By Benjamin Hulac
Major multinational companies are increasingly considering climate risks, such as water scarcity, rising sea levels and droughts, in their official corporate strategies and documents, but struggle to reconcile long-term threats with short-term investment decisions, according to a report Bank of America and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) released yesterday. -
U.N. Tool Aims to Slash Carbon Footprints with Offsets
Sep 23, 2015 | E&E - Climatewire
By Saqib Rahim
The United Nations has launched a tool that it says will let ordinary people zero out their carbon footprints with all the ease of buying online. -
(ACC Mentioned) US Chemical Distribution Threatened by Rail Safety Crisis
Sep 23, 2015 | Chemistry World
By Rebecca Trager
Chemical transport by train across the US may end on much of the nation’s rail network in January 2016, due to delays adopting new rail safety technology. -
VW Scandal Spurs Industry-Wide Watchdogging
Sep 23, 2015 | Politico
By Jennifer Scholtes
Congressional leaders are a little discombobulated this week, with their schedules disjointed by Yom Kippur, Pope Francis’ visit and schemes to get the government funded in the next seven days.
Industry News
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(ACC Mentioned) Resin Sales Up from Distributors, Resellers
Sep 23, 2015 | Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
In a bit of a departure from recent trends, U.S./Canadian sales of polyethylene and polypropylene resin through distributors and resellers both are on track to grow in 2015.
Last year — and in many recent years — PE and PP distribution sales grew while reselling sales declined. But through July 2015 — according to the American Chemistry Council — sales of high density, low density and linear low density PE, as well as PP, through reselling all are up vs. the same period in 2014.
By comparison, regional sales of HDPE, LDPE and PP via distribution are up for the period — even if the HDPE sales gain is just under 1 percent — while sales of LLDPE through that channel have taken a surprising slide.
Distributors posted seven-month gains of almost 39 percent in LDPE sales and of 14 percent in PP. The HDPE gain — as mentioned — was just under 1 percent, while the LLDPE drop was 14.5 percent, representing almost 80 million pounds.
Through July, the distribution/reselling total for all four materials in the U.S. and Canada was about 4.08 billion pounds, with reselling accounting for about 68 percent of the total. PP totals include Mexico.
In regional HDPE sales, resellers contributed 10.4 percent through July, with distributors at 6.5 percent. Resellers’ share of seven-month LDPE sales was 10.3 percent, while distributors chipped in 8.6 percent.
For LLDPE sales in the region, resellers accounted for 10.4 percent through July, with distributors handling 6.9 percent. This balance was flipped in regional PP sales, with distributors at 10.4 percent and resellers at 7.9 percent.
In general, distributors sell branded types of resin where the producer of the material has its name connected to the product. Resellers typically sell generic grades of resin without brand names.
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(ACC Mentioned) Distributors Turn to Mexico for Growth
| Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
The Mexican market has the attention of U.S.-based resin distributors.
So far in 2015, two such firms have made deals to expand their presence in Mexico. In May, M. Holland Co. of Northbrook, Ill., formed a partnership with resin and chemical supplier Grupo Solquim of Mexico City. That partnership now operates as M. Holland Latinoamérica.
Then in July, Osterman & Co. Inc. of Cheshire, Conn., formed a joint venture company with Industrial Mafra SA de CV, a distributor of polyethylene resin based in Morelos, Mexico. The JV will operate as Osterman Plastics de Mexico S de RL.
M. Holland Latinoamérica has almost 500 customers and an infrastructure that includes commercial reach throughout Mexico. It’s supported by warehousing, bagging lines, rail terminals, pulverizing equipment and a fleet of bulk and packaged delivery trucks.
Grupo Solquim’s primary supplier is state-owned Pemex Petroquímica SA de CV. Pemex resins now may be available to Holland customers in the United States as well. M. Holland Latinoamérica now will allow a good portion of M. Holland’s portfolio of materials from more than 20 materials firms to be sold throughout Latin America. Previously, the firm’s Latin American sales accounted for less than 10 percent of its total.
“We plan to continue to grow our presence in Mexico and other parts of Latin America,” M. Holland President and CEO Ed Holland said in a recent interview with Plastics News.
The Osterman deal is expected to help both firms grow their presence in the Mexican market. Industrial Mafra was founded in Morelos, Mexico, in 1991. The firm supplies high density, low density and linear low density PE for injection molding, blow molding and rotational molding uses.
The formation of the JV is Osterman’s third move into Latin America in the last six years. In 2009, the firm founded its Latin American Polymers unit, followed by its 2013 purchase of resin distributor Quimtec LP of San Jose, Costa Rica.
“We’re bullish about growth in Latin America,” Osterman CEO John Dwyer told PN. “With the exception of Brazil, sales there are up more than 10 percent. We’re especially optimistic about Mexico.”
Resin sales totals for the first seven months of the year from the American Chemistry Council seem to bear out that optimism. Exports of linear low density polyethylene to Mexico from the U.S. and Canada were up almost 24 percent to 467 million pounds through July.
U.S./Canadian exports of high density PE to Mexico were up 19 percent to 852 million pounds, while low density PE exports grew almost 6 percent to 226 million pounds. Sales of PP in Mexico — from U.S., Canadian and Mexican suppliers — jumped almost 12 percent to nearly 1.25 billion pounds in that seven-month period.
Mexico is drawing interest from other resin distributors as well. Avon Lake, Ohio-based PolyOne Corp. recently opened a new warehousing location in central Mexico. “Our strategy is to follow global key accounts and to go where our largest customers want us to be,” said Mark Christ, vice president for distribution.
Engineering resins distributor Chase Plastics of Clarkston, Mich., also has sellers in Mexico and is considering adding a warehouse there, President Kevin Chase said. The firm’s sales there “are growing rapidly,” he added.
Nexeo Solutions of The Woodlands, Texas, also is seeing good results in Mexico. “A big part of our growth there is the automotive footprint,” Senior Vice President of Plastics Shawn Willams said. “There’s been a lot of reshoring.”
But for other U.S.-based resin distributors, the Mexican market is old hat — or maybe old sombrero.
“Mexico might be a new market for some of our competitors who haven’t been there as much,” said Mike Pignataro, vice president of Bamberger Polymers in Jericho, N.Y. “But we’ve been there for 20 years.” Bamberger’s Mexican operations now include 11 sales reps and additional support staff.
Ravago Americas of Orlando, Fla., also has been in Mexico for 30 years, according to President James Duffy. “It’s a pretty strong market there,” he said. “Historically, it’s grown faster than the U.S. As it matures, it probably will continue to mirror the U.S. market.”
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(ACC Mentioned) ACC Publishes Safety Guidelines for Handling Automotive Lubricant
Sep 23, 2015 | Chemical Watch
The American Chemistry Council's petroleum additives safety task group has issued safe handling guideline for zinc dialkyl dithio phosphate (ZDDP) components and blends.
ZDDP, also known as ZDTP, ZDP and ZnDTP, is widely used as an anti-wear chemical component in automotive lubricating oil additives.
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Class-Action Brought Against The Honest Company
Sep 23, 2015 | Chemical Watch
A class-action lawsuit has been filed against household products firm, The Honest Company, over claims that it “deceptively and misleadingly” markets products as natural when they contain “unnatural” chemical ingredients.
Similar lawsuits over products being marketed as “natural” have been filed in recent months against Huggies diapers and wipes and Earth Friendly Products household cleaners (CW 20 August 2015).
Company co-founder Jessica Alba said that the allegations in the suit “are baseless and without merit”.
“Our formulations are made with integrity and strict standards of safety,” she added, and said that the company is “steadfast in [its] commitment to transparency and openness”.
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Outdoor Apparel Brands Counter PFC Report
Sep 23, 2015 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
A recent study by NGO Greenpeace has criticised the outdoor industry's efforts to eliminate the use of per- and polyfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), but major brands say that suitable alternatives are not yet ready.
Amid concerns of potentially toxic PFCs accumulating in the environment, many textile manufacturers have committed to moving from long-chain to short-chain PFCs, which break down more quickly (GBB July/Aug 2012).
According to the NGO, “Manufacturers claim to have made an appropriate response to the problem, by phasing out particularly harmful substances such as the long-chain PFCs (C8 and longer, including PFOA and PFOS) and replacing them with short-chain C4 to C6 PFCs.”
The study, however, found PFCs present in remote regions of the world, and said that chemicals in durable water repellent (DWR) treatments, used on outdoor gear, are leaving an “indelible footprint” on the environment.
Greenpeace says that short-chain PFC alternatives:are persistent;are used in higher quantities than long-chain PFCs in order to achieve similar performance; andcan be more volatile and mobile, and, therefore, more likely to disperse further.
According to the report, several smaller outdoor apparel manufacturers have completely phased out PFC use. However, it says that “leading outdoor companies, such as the North Face, Columbia, Patagonia, Salewa and Mammut, have shown little sense of responsibility.”
The NGO has called on these market leaders to “make a genuine and credible Detox commitment”, with near-term deadlines for phasing out all PFCs. Such a commitment, it says, “will send an important signal to the chemical industry to increase its efforts on the further development of non-hazardous alternatives.”
Patagonia has called the short-chain PFCs a “temporary solution”, and acknowledged that it “is not good enough”. But, said the company, “it's the best option we've found so far.”
Peter Hollenstein, corporate responsibility manager for Mammut, said: “There is currently no PFC-free treatment available on the market, which could guarantee a level of water, oil and dirt repellency, comparable to that of using PFCs, and which, thus, would be suitable for alpine and high-alpine use.”
According to Mr Hollenstein, current alternative DWR treatments to short-chain PFCs wear out faster and are less durable. As a result, he says, the material must either be replaced or retreated more frequently. “In our view, quality and durability provide the greatest sustainability, [which] is why we prefer PFCs to short-lived, less efficient ... alternatives."
Similar concerns on PFC-free DWRs have been cited by GoreTex manufacturer WL Gore; the company recently committed $15m to investigating alternative materials (CW 9 September 2015).
Patagonia has said that, despite feeling that they are “getting close” on developing PFC-free treatments for their water repellent finishes, they “don't feel comfortable promising a path forward that hasn't yet been identified”.
The North Face adds that in an effort to avoid “regrettable substitutions”, the company is “conducting full chemical screenings on all PFC-free treatments to ensure they don’t contain other potentially harmful chemicals.”
Many major outdoor brands also take part in the blue sign system or in the Outdoor Industry Association's Chemical Management Working Group collaborative programmes, aimed at developing safer alternatives and establishing controls for chemical use.
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Echa's MSC Considers Next List of Chemicals for Authorisation
Sep 23, 2015 | Chemical Watch
By Philip Lightowlers
Echa took the first steps in drawing up its next recommendation for REACH authorisation, at its meeting, last week. It assessed priorities for inclusion in the REACH authorisation list of candidate list substances and presented the results to its Member State Committee.
Committee chairman, Watze de Wolf, told Chemical Watch that 97 out of the 163 substances on the candidate list are included in this first prioritisation stage.
Not considered were the 58 substances, included in previous recommendations, and the eight included in the candidate list, after June 2014. A reduced list of substances, with highest priority for inclusion in the authorisation list (REACH Annex XIV), will be published in November, after the committee’s next meeting, at the end of October.
The list [which will be the seventh draft recommendation for inclusion of substances in Annex XIV] will then be issued for public consultation. Any comments received will be taken into account by the committee, before forwarding its opinion on inclusion of these substances to Echa.
The agency will then decide, which substances to recommend to the European Commission, for inclusion in Annex XIV.
Echa made its last recommendation [its sixth] to the Commission in July (CW 2 July 2015). This comprised 15 substances, including four boron compounds and seven phthalate plasticisers. The recommendation was based on the MSC opinion and comments received during the public consultation (CW 17 June 2015).
The committee also conducted an annual review of its accredited stakeholder observers. One of the five attendee seats at the committee’s meetings, which are shared by eight human health and environmental NGOs, was reallocated to animal welfare groups. Four such groups now share two seats.
Many industry observer seats were reconfirmed and one allocated to the European DIY Retailer Association (EDRA).
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Sponsor of Rule-Curbing Bill Targets EPA Ozone Plan
Sep 23, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Amanda Reilly
The sponsor of legislation meant to check the executive-branch rulemaking today used U.S. EPA's proposal to tighten the Clean Air Act standard for ozone to promote the bill.
Rep. Todd Young (R-Ind.) said the ozone proposal would hamstring manufacturing in his home state, citing industry estimates that a tighter standard would cost the U.S. economy as much as $140 billion a year.
"Hidden taxes in the form of regulations have to be made more transparent," Young said on a conference call organized by industry groups.
Young's bill -- the "Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act" -- would require congressional approval for major agency rules. The House in July easily passed the act by a vote of 243-165 (E&E Daily, July 29).
But the measure stands little chance of becoming law given that it carries a veto threat by President Obama.
Young, a conservative Republican who is running for the Senate seat of retiring Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.), said EPA's proposal to tighten the ozone standard was an example of a regulation that should be reviewed by Congress.
He said he worried that EPA's proposal struck an "improper balance" that would help the environment and public health at the expense of the economy.
EPA proposed in November to lower the national ozone standard from 75 parts per billion -- set in 2008 during the George W. Bush administration -- to between 65 and 70 ppb based on a review of public health data. Areas found to be out of compliance with the new standard would have to put in place pollution control plans.
"I've got real concerns about the impact of these sorts of regulations on communities that are already in nonattainment ... specifically lower-income communities," Young said.
Another Indiana Republican, Rep. Jackie Walorski, also today called for the enactment of the REINS Act based on the ozone proposal, citing the need for a "balance" between the environment and the economy. Both Young and Walorski earlier this summer signed onto a letter in the House calling on EPA to retain the 75 ppb standard.
"I spend most of my days battling and struggling with the overregulation of the EPA in this district. That's where I spend most of my time. It's way, way, way heavy-handed," she said. Lowering the ozone standard "would be the nail in the coffin to job creation in the state of Indiana and lead to a complete spiral."
The lawmakers said nearly all of Indiana would be named out of attainment under a 65 ppb standard. Their comments came as industry and business groups launched a statewide ad campaign against a tighter ozone standard in the Hoosier state.
EPA is poised to release its final ozone limit by an Oct. 1 court-ordered deadline; the agency is reportedly leaning toward the upper end of its proposed range.
Public health and environmental groups have called on EPA to set an even lower limit of 60 ppb on the grounds that studies have linked ozone concentrations above that level with adverse health effects.
Today, the Sierra Club pushed back against industry estimates of how many counties would be out of compliance with a tighter ozone standard. The club said that, based on 2013-15 air quality data, only 100 counties across the nation would be in nonattainment under a 70 ppb standard. An additional 214 counties would be out of compliance with a 65 ppb standard.
EPA says most areas of the country would meet a tighter standard by 2025 based on other air quality regulations that are in place.
The American Petroleum Institute, on the other hand, has circulated a map based on 2011-13 data showing that nearly the entire country, including more than 90 percent of Indiana, would be out of compliance with a 65 ppb limit.
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Democrats' Energy Plan Skirts Party Fight
Sep 23, 2015 | PoliticoPro
By Elana Schor
The energy plan that Senate Democrats floated on Tuesday skirts the partisan debates on climate change, but the move won’t spare them political heat from the right or the left as the 2016 election approaches.
For Republicans still seeking to pass a bipartisan energy package this Congress, the 437-page bill at best amounted to a preview of the amendments Democrats would push during floor debate — and at worst, what Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) called “doing part of the bidding for” Hillary Clinton by moving in the direction that her White House would go in 2017.
On the other hand, the Democratic plan’s incentives for natural gas and nuclear power through a new set of tax credits for clean electricity and fuels disappointed some in the environmental movement who want to see the president’s party take a stronger stance on climate change.
The Democratic embrace of $3.5 billion in grants for more efficient natural gas distribution, in line with a White House proposal from April, addresses “a huge issue” bycurbing methane leakage in the nation's aging distribution system, said Friends of the Earth climate director Ben Schreiber.
But the priority should be “to move off of natural gas,” he added. “Rather than investing in fossil-fuel infrastructure, we want to see a real visionary transition to renewable energy. For us, this wasn’t that.”
Most green groups, however, sought to accentuate the positive elements of a Democratic plan that encompassed elements from multiple bills previously offered by caucus members. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) championed two bills on fuel efficiency and advanced vehicles that were included in the package, while Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) saw his plan for a nationwide energy efficiency resource standard make it in, as well as five other pieces of legislation.
Natural Resources Defense Council programs director Susan Casey-Lefkowitz wrote Tuesday that the Democratic bill “complements” EPA’s emissions regulations for the power sector “by providing the tools utilities and states need to meet the plan's carbon reduction goals.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) sounded a similar note, saying the bill she backed on Tuesday "reminds people just how important efficiency is [and] can be in terms of trying to accomplish the Clean Power Plan goals set for each state."
What didn't make the cut for Democrats was a mechanism to set a price on carbon emissions that some green activists and experts say is ultimately needed if policymakers are serious about efforts to minimize the long-term negative effects of climate change. Yet the lack of binding measure to cut greenhouse gases beyond the EPA's regulations didn't stop the GOP and the oil industry from slamming the bill.
“Maintaining a world-leading economy is simply not possible without using fossil fuels,” the American Petroleum Institute’s top lobbyist, Louis Finkel, said in a statement.
Barrasso said that "a lot of this looks like the warmed-over cap-and-trade bill that they had in the past. They couldn't get it done. They're not going to get it done now."
Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) criticized Democrats' bid to replace the existing tax breaks for renewables as well as oil and gas with a trio of technology-neutral incentives for fuel, electricity and conservation. Those benefits would potentially accrue to biofuels, natural gas, nuclear, and other energy sources that enjoy bipartisan support — but generateskepticism from some corners of the environmental movement.
Even the mission of promoting more efficient energy sources means "we're still back to the government regulating CO2," Hoeven said.
And the attempt to find a middle-ground approach in setting an ambitious carbon-reduction target as national policy, without mandating a path to achieve it, did not win unified support within the caucus. The bill has 28 co-sponsors in the 46-member caucus, which includes two independents, although more Democrats may yet sign on before its formal introduction.
One Democrat who declined to endorse the measure is Sen. Heidi Heitkamp. The North Dakotan is "supportive of many of the general principles of the bill, particularly the provisions on increasing investment in renewables and energy efficiency," a Senate Democratic aide said, but she is focused on the bipartisan bill that Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and ranking committee Democrat Sen. Maria Cantwell drew strong support for earlier this year.
The Republicans who rapped their counterparts' climate plan on Tuesday dismissed the Democratic wish list, saying it would have little effect on efforts to win floor time for the energy committee's bipartisan product.
Murkowski spokesman Robert Dillon said the senator "is proud of the bill ... and believes it has the best chance of becoming law in this Congress.” And the chairwoman plans to corral backers for both that legislation and a separate plan to end the oil export ban while approving new offshore drilling.
The fact that Murkowski cordoned off her exports-and-drilling bill from the bipartisan package shows “both sides have priorities for which there is not yet a broad, bipartisan consensus," Dillon added.
But analysts at ClearView Energy Partners noted that the Democratic bill appeared to be more of a warning than a good omen for the Murkowski-Cantwell effort, writing Tuesday that it "seems more likely to herald the end of bipartisan cooperation than the start of successful energy policy negotiations."
"Welcome to campaign season," they wrote.
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Industry, States Say BLM's Record Doesn't Support Fracking Rule
Sep 23, 2015 | E&E - Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
After a month of scouring the administrative record leading to the Bureau of Land Management's newly finalized hydraulic fracturing rule, opposing sides are now relying on the paper trail to support their arguments for and against the rule.
Western states and industry groups that sued BLM after the rule's release in March told the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming last week that the agency's voluminous administrative record fails to adequately justify the rule's creation.
"BLM has not identified any legally supportable justifications for adopting the final rule and imposing the costs associated with the rule on private citizens and state and tribal governments," attorneys representing the Independent Petroleum Association of America and Western Energy Alliance said in a filing last week.
The industry filing is in response to a court order from Judge Scott Skavdahl, who in June declined to issue a preliminary injunction on the controversial fracking rule and instead ordered both sides to submit administrative record citations to support their arguments (EnergyWire, June 24).
BLM submitted the massive paper trail in late August on a set of nine DVDs containing more than 40,000 documents in image form. Of the nearly 1 million image files, almost half have been withheld by the agency as privileged information.
The lodging of the record prompted a flurry of citation filings last week from the agency, environmental groups defending the rule, and states and industry groups opposing the rule -- each party pointing to emails, minutes, studies and other documents as evidence supporting its arguments.
Among various technical issues, IPAA and WEA argued that the agency had not provided sufficient justification for the fracking rule, except to say the rule would address "public concern" about groundwater contamination and would help avoid "frack hits" between wells.
The industry groups countered with extensive citations from the record, in which top-level officials repeatedly trumpeted states' regulations for fracking. On frack hits, the groups say BLM has only recently begun discussing the well communication issue, so a rule that now claims to be rooted in the issue cannot move forward without a new notice-and-comment period.
"The issue of frack hits is not one that the agency raised, or that was part of discussions between stakeholders and the agency, during the rulemaking process," the filing said.
Attorneys for Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, meanwhile, parsed the administrative record for support of their argument that BLM lacks the authority to regulate fracking because the Safe Drinking Water Act and Energy Policy Act of 2005 reserve that power for states.
In their filing last week, the states point to comments submitted to BLM during the rulemaking process from oil and gas companies, industry groups, and state agencies that support that interpretation of the laws.
BLM responded with its own citations Friday, noting that the final rule's preamble included "extensive discussion" of risks and concerns motivating the new requirements for fracking on public and tribal lands and that the agency discussed the problem of frack hits early on.
The citations also refer to agency attempts to minimize regulatory overlap by providing a variance process for states and tribes with existing regulations that meet or exceed certain aspects of the federal rule.
The industry groups skewered the agency's reasoning in their own citations, arguing that BLM "must do more than simply demonstrate that there is some piece of evidence in the record that theoretically supports the final rule."
The federal court in Wyoming is now using the citations to reconsider the injunction request the states and industry filed earlier this year. A decision is expected within weeks.
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Obama Calls for Climate Deal that can be Ratcheted up Over Time
Sep 23, 2015 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Andrew Restuccia
President Barack Obama says in a new interview that the Paris climate negotiations will be a success if countries agree to a "serious" international commitment that can be measured, is well-defined and can be ratcheted up in the coming years.
But, he told Rolling Stone, "I'm less concerned about the precise number, because let's stipulate right now, whatever various country targets are, it's still going to fall short of what the science requires."
The president made clear that he wants to structure a deal in such a way that the ambition can be increased over time.
"And the key for Paris is just to make sure that everybody is locked in, saying, 'We're going to do this.' Once we get to that point, then we can turn the dials," he said.
Other highlights of the interview:
— Obama said he is worried that Russia, which is making a major play in the Arctic, "may not be as concerned about climate change as they need to be."
— He raised red flags about the potential for mass migrations that are exacerbated by climate change, explaining, "[W]hat we know from human history is that when large populations are put under severe strain, then they react badly."
— Obama said the world has made "modest" progress on tackling climate change, "but nowhere near what we need to do."
— Obama called for building consensus on climate change while understanding the complexity of the issue. "It's not enough for environmentalists who are distantly removed from an aging coal town in West Virginia to just say, 'Stop it.'"
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Clinton Catapults Pipeline Debate Back into Presidential Race
Sep 23, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Manuel Quiñones
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's announcement yesterday that she opposes the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada is catapulting the issue back into the 2016 presidential campaign.
While the years-old debate never really went away, Clinton's comments are adding a new wrinkle to the debate and shifting candidate talking points in a way that could affect the outcome of the nominating process.
Republican hopefuls immediately targeted Clinton. Once suggesting her silence on the issue was part of Clinton's weakness as a leader, the GOP is now also accusing her of opposing job creation.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, an underdog among Republican candidates, said Clinton was "wrong" on KXL. "We must stand for American jobs [and] energy independence," Jindal wrote on Twitter.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, well ahead of Jindal in the polls, said Clinton "finally says what we already knew. She favors environmental extremists over U.S. jobs."
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who has been focusing on attacking the Democratic front-runner as opposed to discussing squabbles within his own party, summed up the GOP view.
"Hillary Clinton insisted her work on Keystone at the State Department prevented her from taking a position on the pipeline, and now we know she was being blatantly dishonest," Priebus said. "[I]nstead of backing a job-creating project the American public overwhelmingly supports, Hillary Clinton has sided with extreme special interests, reinforcing how out of touch she is and that she'll say or do anything to get elected."
But those groups the GOP called "extreme special interests" cheered after Clinton's comments during a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa. They have been an increasing force in local and national campaigns.Pressure from the left
May Boeve, executive director of the group 350.org, said Clinton changing from once leaning toward favoring KXL to opposing the project "is clear proof that social movements move politics." Group founder Bill McKibben was among greens deeply disappointed with Clinton's delay in taking a position.
Billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer, head of NextGen Climate, had been less critical of Clinton's silence. Before hosting a fundraiser for Clinton earlier this year, Steyer said he expected her to oppose the pipeline.
Yesterday Steyer said, "In a clear example of people power overcoming the special interests, Hillary Clinton joined with thousands of Americans calling on President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline in favor of building an American economy powered by clean energy."
Polls have consistently shown support for Keystone XL. One conducted by Harris Interactive Inc. for the American Petroleum Institute said 67 percent of respondents backed its construction (E&ENews PM, Sept. 17).
Other polls have shown less support among Democrats, lack of knowledge about the pipeline or concern about using eminent domain to ensure its development (Greenwire, May 6).
However, analysts and politicians on all sides of the political spectrum say Clinton was more likely looking at her own poll numbers, particularly against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is also seeking the Democratic nomination for president and has long opposed KXL.
"Clinton probably came to the conclusion that this was a position she basically had to take in a Democratic presidential primary, and that the small group of voters and donors who truly want the pipeline approved probably are not voting for her anyway," said Kyle Kondik, analyst with the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
"Throughout 2014 some liberals argued that a competitive primary was required to keep Clinton honest and push her to the left on certain issues," he said. "At least on this issue, mission accomplished for the left."
Sanders tweeted, "I'm glad that @HillaryClinton finally has made a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline and I welcome her opposition."
McKibben tweeted, "[I]f the question was who was first major politician to oppose [KXL], the answer would be [Sanders] in Sept. of ... 2011."
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, another Democratic hopeful, said in a statement, "I staked out positions and got things done -- even when they were politically unpopular. That's what's at stake in this election: the difference between conviction and convenience, and the gulf between actions and words."
Priebus attributed Clinton's comments to the prospect of Vice President Joe Biden considering a run. "Clearly, Hillary Clinton's rapid decline in the polls and the prospect of the Vice President entering the race caused her to change course."Timelines
Labor is one Democratic constituency that is not cheering Clinton's comments. But the movement, in general, has not been too tough against anti-KXL Democratic candidates.
The Laborers' International Union of North America, however, has been very outspoken in favor of the pipeline. It said Democrats were pushing away blue-collar workers and compared environmentalists to a green tea party movement that kills jobs.
"Unfortunately," LIUNA said, "this is what hard-working, middle-class workers have come to expect from their supposed friends, and it is because of this that there will be pause and consternation at the ballot box."
Clinton defended her views on KXL and her delay in expressing them. "I oppose it because I don't think it's in the best interest of what we need to do to combat climate change," Clinton said.
Despite the State Department's environmental review of KXL saying the project would not add significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions -- a finding environmentalists dispute -- Clinton today went further in her criticism of the pipeline.
"We shouldn't be building a pipeline dedicated to moving North America's dirtiest fuel through our communities," she said about Canadian oil sands crude, "we should be focused on what it will take to make America the clean energy superpower of the 21st century."
Clinton also floated an energy and infrastructure plan. "Building a clean, secure and affordable North American energy future is bigger than Keystone XL or any other single project," she said, "That's what I will focus on as president."
The former secretary of State, who once presided over KXL's review, had recently given the indication that she would soon make a pronouncement on KXL.
A Clinton aide said the campaign briefed the White House on her position prior to her public comments. She had also told labor leaders while discussing infrastructure issues.
"I thought this would be decided by now and therefore I could tell you whether I agreed or disagreed," Clinton said yesterday. "But it hasn't been decided, and I feel now I have a responsibility to you and other voters who ask me about it."
At least some observers have been wondering what Clinton's comments mean, if anything, to the Obama administration's 7-year-old decisionmaking on KXL.
Both opponents and supporters of the project have said they expect the president to reject the Alberta-to-Gulf pipeline but that he may wait until after the Canadian elections.
A spokesman for TransCanada Corp., the company behind KXL, said yesterday, "Our focus remains on securing a permit to build Keystone XL," and touted his views about its benefits.
Last night White House national security spokesman Ben Rhodes said in response to questions about KXL: "It might shock you to know that I believe that there's an ongoing review that the State Department is doing. And we don't have any announcements to make as it relates to Keystone."
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Pope Praises Obama on Climate, Calls for 'Serious' Action
Sep 23, 2015 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Andrew Restuccia
Pope Francis praised President Barack Obama today for taking steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and he warned that climate change "is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation."
The pope, speaking in English in front of the White House, said he is "encouraged" by the president's global warming agenda, which includes first-ever climate regulations for the country's fleet of power plants.
The pope made climate change a central part of his remarks, a signal that the issue will take center stage during his trip through the United States, and possibly during his speech to a joint session of Congress on Thursday.
He said countries "still have time to make the change needed" to tackle climate change, offering a hopeful message that "things can change."
The pope also warned of the effect that global warming has on the world's poor and vulnerable populations, calling for a "serious" response to climate change that takes into account "the millions of people living under a system which has overlooked them."
The comments appear to be intended to send a signal to those who have been reluctant to help fund poor countries' effort deal with the effects of climate change. Republicans in Congress, for example, are resisting Obama's pledge to put $3 billion over several years into the Green Climate Fund, which helps vulnerable countries adapt to the warming planet.
Invoking the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., the pope said the world hasn't done enough to solve the problem. "We can say that we have defaulted on a promissory note and now is the time to honor it," he said.
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Pope Praises Obama's Climate Change Rule
Sep 23, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
Pope Francis on Wednesday praised the main piece of President Obama’s climate change agenda, his limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
Francis mentioned the effort in a White House speech kicking off his visit to Washington, D.C., Wednesday.
“Mr. President, I find it encouraging that you are proposing an initiative for reducing air pollution,” the leader of the Catholic Church said in his speech.
“Accepting the urgency, it seems clear to me also that climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to our future generations.”
Francis’ remarks came despite predictions from Catholic leaders, experts and others that the pope would avoid wading into political fights during his first visit to the nation.
The power plant rule has been a political lightning rod, with the two parties, governors and industry groups clashing bitterly over it.
Francis devoted more of his speech at the White House to climate change than to any other topics, reflecting the priority he has put on the matter.
He wrote a major encyclical on climate change earlier this year, encouraging all people of faith to reduce greenhouse gases and take other measures to protect the environment and the poor from the effects of global warming.
Obama’s Clean Power Plan is by far his most controversial environmental regulation. Made final in August, it seeks to cut the power sector’s output of earth-warming carbon dioxide 32 percent by 2030.
Francis’ ultimate goal with the encyclical, with his mention of climate in the speech and with his general focus on the issue, is to encourage world leaders to come to a strong international pact on climate this December in Paris.
That is also one of Obama's top priorities.
“When it comes to the care of our common home, we are living at a critical moment of history,” the pontiff said. “We still have time to make the change needed to bring about a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change.”
He borrowed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to help make his case.
“To use a phrase of the Rev. Martin Luther King, we can say that we have the defaulted on our promissory note, and now is the time to honor it,” he said.
Obama also referred climate change in his speech welcoming Francis.
“You remind us that we have a sacred obligation to protect our planet — God’s magnificent gift to us,” he said. “We support your call to all world leaders to support the communities most vulnerable to a changing climate and to come together to preserve our precious world for future generations.”
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Pope Praises Obama Emissions Rule, Urges Strong U.S. Action
Sep 23, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Jean Chemnick
Pope Francis endorsed U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan today in a White House Rose Garden appearance with President Obama.
"Mr. President, I find it encouraging that you are proposing an initiative for reducing air pollution," the leader of the Roman Catholic Church said.
The pope then urged "all men and women of good will in this great nation" to consider the impact of global warming for future generations of Americans and "millions of people living under a system that has overlooked them."
"it seems clear to me also that climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to our future generation," Francis said. "When it comes to the care of our common home, we are living at a critical moment of history. We still have time to make the change needed to bring about a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change."
In his June encyclical on the environment, the pope cast climate change as a threat to the world's poor, who would suffer most from dangerous warming and scarcer resources because wealthier nations have benefited from the use of fossil fuels (Greenwire, June 18).
Francis has said this December's United Nations negotiations on climate change must yield an agreement on curbing heat-trapping emissions that also protects vulnerable people.
He called on Americans today to "support the efforts of the international community to protect the vulnerable in our world and to stimulate integral and inclusive models of development, so that our brothers and sisters everywhere may know the blessings of peace and prosperity which God wills for all his children."
Referencing a quote from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., he said, "We have defaulted on a promissory note, and now is the time to honor it."
Francis will appear tomorrow before a joint session of Congress in the House chamber, where Republicans have voted several times to defund U.S. participation in the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and to jettison funding for the United Nations' Green Climate Fund. Obama has promised $3 billion over four years for the fund, which will help poor countries cope with warming and reduce their own carbon emissions.
The developed world collectively has pledged to provide $100 billion a year in public and private funding for poor nations beginning in 2020 as part of the larger deal on emissions.
Providing that money and compensation for loss and damage from man-made warming are likely to be flashpoints during discussions between developed and developing nations at U.N. talks in Paris in December. Some environmental advocates say the United States should do more. And a coalition of faith groups this month called on the U.S. to pledge $5 billion a year in international climate aid between 2020 and 2025 (Greenwire, Sept. 10).
But that pledge would require the cooperation of Congress, and Republican lawmakers have said they plan to use the power of the purse to frustrate any international climate deal that might bind the United States. The Clean Power Plan for slashing emissions from the U.S. power sector is also a hot-button legislative issue this fall, and Republican leaders are preparing a bid to veto it using the Congressional Review Act.
Obama in his remarks welcoming Francis made a brief reference to climate change.
"You remind us that we have a sacred obligation to protect our planet, God's magnificent gift to us," he told the pope. "We support your call to all world leaders to support the communities most vulnerable to a changing climate."
Francis' remarks gave some hint of the issues he plans to address later in his visit, including immigration and family issues. He referred to himself as a son of immigrants -- his father moved to Argentina from Italy. And he noted that he will visit the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia this weekend "to celebrate and support the institutions of marriage and family."
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Big Players in Climate Talks Converge in the U.S. as New Pledges are Made
Sep 23, 2015 | E&E - Climatewire
By Lisa Friedman
As Pope Francis touched down on U.S. soil yesterday, Washington also prepared for key visits between President Obama and the leaders of China and India, all focused heavily on climate change and the negotiation of a new international agreement.
At least a half-dozen key countries are expected this week to announce new greenhouse gas emissions targets that will make up the spine of the new accord that could be reached in Paris in December. Those plans -- likely from India, Brazil, South Africa and a number of Latin American countries -- are to be unveiled by the U.N. General Assembly opening in New York this weekend.
India's is the most hotly anticipated. Several analysts said yesterday that there is almost no chance India will propose a year by which its carbon pollution will peak -- as China has done -- but there are several signs that the government will boost its already-ambitious renewable energy target.
Speaking at the opening of the U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue yesterday, Secretary of State John Kerry praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's current goal of expanding solar power to 100 gigawatts by 2022.
"I want to express support for Prime Minister Modi's plan to help India's economy become more reliant on renewable sources of power. And it is absolutely critical in the end on pure economic terms, but it's also smart politically, because a recent survey reported that 73 percent of Indians view climate change as the most pressing global concern," Kerry said.
U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres, who was in New York ahead of the General Assembly meeting, noted that India's formal plan is not yet official but offered early praise.
"What we hear is that they are actually making a huge, huge step forward with respect to their ambitions of renewable energy target within their mix," Figueres said.India prepares a big step toward renewables.
"They're stepping up to 40 percent renewable energy. That means 350 gigawatts of renewable energy, mostly solar and wind, in their energy mix by 2030. That is a sizable step," she said.
Analysts and environmental activists also offered cautious high marks. Neil Bhatiya, a policy associate at the Century Foundation, said reports of a higher renewables target, along with a reported heftier import tax on fossil fuels, are a "fairly ambitious proposal, given India's economic circumstances and efforts to rapidly reduce poverty."
Anjali Jaiswal, who directs the Natural Resources Defense Council's India program, said she expects to see the government double the 20 to 25 percent below 2005 energy intensity target it offered up at the 2009 climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark.
An anticipated long-term emissions intensity target of 40 to 45 percent, she said, means India's emissions would grow three times as high from 2005 levels, but its economy would grow sevenfold. "So it's a significant step," she said.
Jake Schmidt, director of international programs at NRDC, also praised India and other major developing countries for stepping forward to cut carbon alongside the United States and other industrialized nations. He said the collective planned carbon cuts will make a serious dent in rising emissions but also acknowledged they won't add up to enough to avoid a dangerous rise in global temperatures.
"We won't be done in Paris, but we'll lay the foundation for a strong international effort on climate change," he said.Obama to meet with President Xi
White House officials said helping to lay that foundation is also going to be a key element of Obama's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday.
"The climate commitment that came out of last year's state visit is a direct indication of how sustained engagement can yield results in which the U.S. and China, again, are cooperating not just bilaterally but setting an example and helping provide momentum to global effort," White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said in a call with reporters.
"The U.S.-China cooperation on climate change, which will be a focus of this summit, as well, is absolutely essential to achieving an ambitious agreement in Paris, when the nations of the world will come together to try to deal with climate change," Rhodes said. "As the two biggest emitters, our ability to work together is what unlocks the possibility of reaching that type of agreement."
Schmidt said he hopes to see Obama and Xi make progress on making their respective targets a reality. The United States has pledged to cut carbon 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, while China has vowed to peak emissions by 2030.
"There's only so many times you can agree to big peak targets, so I don't expect anything will have that same headline," he said of this week's meeting. But, Schmidt said, "I think what those two countries have to do is continue to both show each other and the world that they're actually doing things at home to reduce emissions."
French Ambassador for Climate Change Laurence Tubiana said she sees Paris as a tipping point for global climate action.
"It's a starting line," she said.
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US Regulators Say French Company Manipulated Gas Market
Sep 23, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
United States energy regulators are accusing French oil and natural gas giant Total of manipulating the natural gas market in the Southwest.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released a notice Tuesday saying that traders with Total deliberately made losing, or “uneconomic” trades between 2009 and 2012 at least 38 times in order to affect index prices.
FERC did not threaten any fines or penalties for the alleged actions.
Total told Reuters that its traders did not commit any of the market manipulating trades that FERC alleged, and that it is cooperating fully with the investigation.
The agency has cracked down in recent years on what it calls “loss leader” trading, in which traders try to reduce prices in one market with plans to benefit in other markets.
It has made similar accusations against JPMorgan Chase & Co, Barclays PLC and BP PLC.
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Global Energy Security can be a Reality with Crude Oil Exports
Sep 23, 2015 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Guy Caruso
Discussions continue to intensify as the 60-day clock winds down for Congress to vote on the proposed Iran nuclear deal. Just recently, the Senate voted to filibuster a proposed disapproval measure and pave the way for sanctions to be lifted on Iran. But regardless of the outcome, one issue that has emerged during the debate is current U.S. energy export policy. While energy exports and a nuclear agreement aren’t usually in the same discussion, this controversial deal brings to light the fact that the United States could potentially be the only major energy producing country that curbs the exportation of our abundant resources, specifically domestically produced crude oil.
As a leader in global affairs, it seems unbelievable that the U.S. would perpetuate a policy that limits free trade and removes a strong diplomatic tool from our arsenal. The global energy security benefits of lifting our decades-old energy trade restrictions on crude oil exports is often overlooked in the discussion of the economic benefits: increased gross domestic product (GDP), lower gas prices and job growth. But they are equally important.
Enacted some 40 years ago to guard against fluctuations in the global oil markets, the renaissance of American energy production over the past decade has rendered the export ban obsolete. The U.S. must now consider crude oil exports as a strategy to increase our national security by bolstering domestic economic growth, enabling a stable energy supply to our friends and allies, and curbing the power of those who would use energy as a political weapon.
Bolstering U.S. national security and generating a healthy economy are not dichotomous goals. As a nation, we wouldn’t be in our current position as a global authority without a booming economy. The significant economic benefits that our nation and local and state economies would reap from a strong energy production sector contribute heavily to our national security. A recent ICF International study found that U.S. GDP could reach $38 billion as soon as 2020 if the ban were lifted.
Additionally, sharing our crude oil with other nations will actually increase geopolitical relations with our allies. In an op-ed for Foreign Policy Magazine, Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) captured perfectly the importance of ending our country’s self-imposed exile to strengthen energy security. They wrote, “The benefits to global security of allowing oil shipments to our trading partners are obvious and indisputable. Our friends in Asia, eager to comply with Western sanctions against Iran, would have a new alternative source for their energy needs. European allies, struggling to diversify away from Russia, would be able to receive U.S. domestic oil almost immediately.”
In fact, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are each more than 90 percent dependent on energy imports according to recent paper by the American Council for Capital Formation. These important allies would have little choice but to consider Iranian oil imports to meet their domestic energy needs if the United States refuses to export its abundant supplies of crude oil. By allowing U.S. energy exports, we can step up as a global energy leader to better support and protect our allies while at the same time strengthening our own economic security.
America’s success is structured on the principles of free trade and individual opportunity. Those values are the strongest tool we have to carry our message of hope to people around the world. We should not be afraid to leverage our physical resources to demonstrate such ideals. In doing so, we will offer a helping hand to our allies – all while creating opportunity here at home.
There’s growing support in both chambers of Congress for ending this misplaced ban on exporting crude oil, including recent passage of a bill by the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the possibility of a full House vote in the coming weeks. It’s time for a similar sense of urgency in the Senate, and for more members to join the likes of Murkowski and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), in the effort to repeal a law preventing the United States from achieving true energy security.
Caruso, senior adviser in the Energy and National Security program at CSIS, served as administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) from July 2002 to September 2008. The views expressed are his own.
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Congress Should Look to American Wind Power for Climate Solutions
Sep 23, 2015 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Tom Kernan
World leaders and U.S. policymakers are increasingly in the market for climate solutions. A recent example is the 11 House Republicans who introduced a resolution last week calling for “improved environmental stewardship” and for conservatives to take the lead on “bringing our energy sector into the next generation.”
They will quickly find wind energy is one of the biggest, fastest, cheapest ways the U.S. can cut carbon pollution today and that the value American wind power generates is growing.
The U.S. Department of Energy recently reported that the cost of American wind power has dropped by 66 percent in the last six years. American ingenuity and innovation advancing wind turbine technology are responsible for this impressive decline. Longer blades and lighter materials being manufactured at over 500 factories in 43 states allows this new homegrown industry to more efficiently tap into some of the best wind resources in the world.
Since adding more wind energy to the U.S. electricity mix displaces more expensive, more polluting sources of energy, wind is one of the best ways to conserve our environment and cut costs for American families and businesses.
Wind power saved consumers $1 billion over just two days across the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic states during the 2014 “Polar Vortex” event. By supplying 35 percent of the U.S. electricity supply by 2050 wind can save consumers $14 billion a year according to the U.S. Department of Energy and produce cumulative savings on their electric bills of $149 billion.
Zero-emission wind power also helps avoid 26 million cars’ worth of carbon emissions a year and reduced electric sector carbon emissions by over five percent in 2014. Those emission savings can grow an additional 16 percent by 2030 by diversifying our energy mix with more wind.
Carbon-cutting and cost-cutting aren’t the only benefits of growing wind; we can boost our economy and build greater U.S. energy independence too.
Wind already supports well-paying jobs across all 50 states and the wind industry has injected over $100 billion dollars of private investment in the U.S. economy since 2008.
The U.S. is number one in the world in wind energy production and wind supplies more than 25 percent of the electricity generated in Iowa and South Dakota. An updated version of a Bush-administration era report released in March this year says wind could quadruple to supply 20 percent of U.S. electricity by 2030.
One of the best ways any member of Congress can support American wind power is to state their support for an extension of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credit (ITC) this year.
Just last week, over 2,000 business voices stated their support for Congress to pass tax extenders this year, which includes an extension of the PTC and ITC, stating a failure to extend these provisions “will inject instability and uncertainty into the economy and weaken confidence in the employment marketplace.” In the letter groups ranging from McDonald’s and Macy’s said “acting promptly on this matter will provide important predictability necessary for economic growth.”
About any one on Wall Street would tell you, stable, predictable policy is critical in order to grow a business. And while Congress hasn’t always been the best at providing businesses with policy certainty, the PTC, first introduced by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in 1992, has made possible the efficiencies, domestic manufacturing and high tech innovations of our modern wind industry.
While the renewable energy tax incentives have bipartisan support for a wide range of reasons, including energy diversity, rural economic development and domestic manufacturing growth, I encourage policymakers to understand that federal tax incentives are also a proven, performance-based and business-friendly way to drive down clean energy costs for consumers and thereby lower the risks associated with our nation’s climate challenge.
We urge all other Members of Congress to extend the renewable energy Production Tax Credit and Investment Tax Credit this year so we can continue lowering the cost of clean energy while allowing our economy and environment to thrive.
Kiernan is CEO of the American Wind Energy Association.
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Companies Still 'Struggling' to Apply Climate Change Data to Describe Risk
Sep 23, 2015 | E&E - Climatewire
By Benjamin Hulac
Major multinational companies are increasingly considering climate risks, such as water scarcity, rising sea levels and droughts, in their official corporate strategies and documents, but struggle to reconcile long-term threats with short-term investment decisions, according to a report Bank of America and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) released yesterday.
Eighty of the companies surveyed said they incorporate physical climate change impacts in their risk management protocols, up from 77 in 2013, when C2ES published the most recent version of the study.
In this year's report, 39 companies said they've completed "vulnerability assessments," up from 28 in 2013, and 38 others said they are currently conducting such an assessment.
"Major companies are recognizing and reporting climate risk," said Janet Peace, one of the report authors. Of the companies the report examines, one group is highly specific about its climate risk, reporting its concerns in granular detail, while the other portion illustrates to the public and its shareholders the climate hazards it faces in broad, general terms, Peace said.
And though there is more information than ever about climate change and its effects, "companies are still struggling to glean that data," she said, calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission to provide guidelines and "streamline climate risk reporting."Finding the weakest corporate links
Across the board, more firms are viewing doing more work to scrutinize what they stand to lose due to global warming: More firms are using climate modeling, calling climate change a near-term concern to their bottom line, and pursuing partnerships with cities and other businesses, the report said.
Rising oceans and seas, more common and harsher heat waves, spates of intense rain and flooding, punishing droughts, and other intense storms endanger supply chains and physical assets, said Katy Maher, the report's other author.
"You are only as resilient as your weakest link, so it is important to identify where that link is," one company told the authors anonymously. Another interviewee complained climate risk was conceptually "too general" and not "particularly useful" on its own.
"We heard many times that companies see climate change as a 'threat multiplier,'" or a factor that compounds other perils, Peace said on a call.
To Bob Perciasepe, C2ES president and former deputy administrator of U.S. EPA, the private sector can't crack the climate challenge alone.
"Governments and companies must take action to reduce the emissions contributing to climate change," Perciasepe said in a statement. "But climate change is already imposing real costs on companies and communities, and they'll need to work together to increase resilience."Water scarcity, an understated risk
The authors of the report, a review of the Standard & Poor's Global 100 Index -- a pool of 100 of the biggest companies worldwide, including Apple Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp., General Electric Co., Nestle SA, Microsoft Corp. and Pfizer Inc. -- assembled what they learned from interviews and annual financial documents, the companies' sustainability reports, and statements to CDP, a climate disclosure nonprofit.
Roberta Barbieri, global environmental director for Diageo PLC, the $66 billion alcoholic beverage operation that owns brands like Baileys, Guinness and Johnnie Walker, said her company is working to mitigate and adapt to the caustic impacts of a warmer world.
"We're looking to reduce our dependence, and ultimately eliminate our dependence, on fossil fuels," she said, outlining the firm's plan to halve its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2020, from a 2007 baseline.
According to a Diageo evaluation, 45 of the company's production sites, many of which are in Africa and India, are potentially "water-stressed." Those sites generates more than a third of the company's packaged volume, the report said, making water scarcity a financial red flag.
"A lack of water is a material risk wherever we operate," Barbieri said.
"The vast majority [of companies surveyed] did identify water as a key concern," Peace said.
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U.N. Tool Aims to Slash Carbon Footprints with Offsets
Sep 23, 2015 | E&E - Climatewire
By Saqib Rahim
The United Nations has launched a tool that it says will let ordinary people zero out their carbon footprints with all the ease of buying online.
The tool, unveiled yesterday at U.N. offices in New York, lets businesses and individuals buy carbon offsets from projects around the world that, according to the U.N. program that oversees them, are reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
"I don't want to hear any more arguments about 'climate neutrality is impossible,'" said Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. "No, frankly, all of us will have the resources to be able to do this. Bottom line: no excuses not to be climate-neutral now."
She said she has already bought offsets for herself and her whole family for their lives through 2015.
The new site, called Climate Neutral Now, currently offers only seven projects. Yesterday, offsets were available for between $2.40 and $3.50 per metric ton.
Eventually, the United Nations hopes shoppers will be able to buy offsets from geothermal, solar, transportation and forest projects around the world -- categories that are empty for the moment.
One project, a 15-megawatt group of wind turbines in south India, was offering $2.50 per metric ton. The turbines have been running since the middle of last decade, and they claim to offset about 33,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent each year.
"An equivalent amount of grid electricity would have come from fossil fuel dominated power sources in absence of project activity," one of the project documents reads.
All the projects on the site come from the Clean Development Mechanism, a sometimes-embattled policy that was established by the Kyoto Protocol.
The CDM was designed to induce carbon-cutting projects around the world. But at times, critics have charged it with funding projects that would have happened anyway. Others have questioned the environmental legitimacy and transparency of projects (ClimateWire, Aug. 23, 2013).
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(ACC Mentioned) US Chemical Distribution Threatened by Rail Safety Crisis
Sep 23, 2015 | Chemistry World
By Rebecca Trager
Chemical transport by train across the US may end on much of the nation’s rail network in January 2016, due to delays adopting new rail safety technology. The Association of American Railroads, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and others have said that rail firms won’t be able to meet the deadline to install safety features to prevent collisions, and now the American Chemistry Council (ACC) is sounding the alarm.
Cal Dooley, president and chief executive of the ACC, said the US is facing an ‘unprecedented shutdown’ of rail freight services. If Congress fails to act swiftly to extend the deadline for implementing positive train control (PTC), a GPS-based system designed to prevent train collisions and derailments, it will ‘send a shock wave’ through the nation’s economy.
In a statement, Dooley noted that most major rail firms have said they will shut down large portions of their lines unless the deadline is extended. ‘A transportation shutdown of this magnitude would have cascading impacts that would threaten the nation’s food, energy and water supplies, as well as manufacturing, construction and nearly every other sector of the US economy,’ he said.
In 2008, Congress mandated that freight railroad lines carrying passengers and certain hazardous materials implement the new PTC technology, in response to several fatal rail accidents between 2002 and 2008. About 20 out of 29 US rail firms estimate that they won’t be able to implement PTC until one to five years after the end-of-year deadline, and three of the others have no estimated completion date, according toanalysis by the congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO). Of the remaining six rail firms, one was exempted from installing PTC as speeds are limited on its tracks, while four commuter rail firms and a small freight one did expect to have PTC operational on their tracks by the deadline. Frozen chemicals
The Union Pacific Railroad Company, has warned that without an extension of the PTC deadline ‘neither passenger traffic nor chemicals Americans need and use every day, such as chlorine for drinking water, will move on the Union Pacific system by the end of 2015’.
Railway operators have spent around $6 billion (£3.9 billion) in total on PTC research, development and implementation thus far, but technological problems and design issues have hindered efforts. They note that PTC is not off-the-shelf technology, and after the mandate passed in 2008, railroads had to first design and then test the system. The railroads say they have also been hit with regulatory and supplier delays.
If Congress doesn’t extend the PTC deadline, rail firms worry that they’ll be left open to being sued. Any accident involving trains carrying commuters or products identified as having toxic inhalation hazards (TIH) after 31 December deadline would expose them to huge liabilities, as PTC wouldn’t be fully operational by then.
TIH shipper associations have reportedly expressed concerned that it will be impossible to ship and receive these chemicals by rail once the deadline passes.
CSX, a US rail freight firm, said that it transported more than 17,000 carloads of TIH chemicals in 2014. Without the certainty of a PTC extension in the very near future, CSX said it will need to begin preparing by 1 November at the latest to suspend all TIH traffic and have all its TIH cars off the tracks by 31 December.
If rail services to carry certain hazardous chemicals are restricted, industry representatives say that chemical manufacturers and distributors would be badly hit and as a result workers could be idled. Hazardous chemicals and other freight, as well as commuters, would be pushed back onto congested roads in large cities like New York, Chicago and Boston.Serious consequences
Sarah Feinberg, the current acting administrator of the FRA, told a Senate hearing on 17 September that was held to consider making her post permanent, that the consequences of railways suspending services would be serious. ‘I think it would lead to significant congestion, and that does also lead to safety impacts,’ Feinberg said. For example, she emphasised her concern that TIH products would likely move by truck over highways if they could no longer be transported by rail.
Feinberg stressed that Congress has the authority to extend the deadline for adding the new safety features. In July, the Senate passed a transportation reauthorisation bill that would allow railways to delay PTC implementation until 2018. However, the House of Representatives has not yet approved any mechanism for railways to postpone PTC implementation.
If the current deadline remains in place, and railways choose to operate in violation of the law, Feinberg said the FRA will issue fines and will likely impose additional requirements to raise the safety bar. ‘We believe the fines will be significant,’ she warned, noting that each violation carries a maximum fine of $25,000 per day, and choosing to operate into the new year without having implemented PTC would likely constitute multiple violations.
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VW Scandal Spurs Industry-Wide Watchdogging
Sep 23, 2015 | Politico
By Jennifer Scholtes
Congressional leaders are a little discombobulated this week, with their schedules disjointed by Yom Kippur, Pope Francis’ visit and schemes to get the government funded in the next seven days. So lawmakers in charge of environmental and transportation issues have yet to schedule hearings or say exactly how they plan to oversee the punishment process for Volkswagen’s allegedly massive and blatant campaign to fake out emissions tests. But policymakers are making clear they’ll look at this VW scandal as part of a larger trend in auto-industry deception, dredging up their grievances with both automakers and federal regulators over deadly GM ignition switch defects and shrapnel-spraying Takata airbags.
Beyond Volkswagen: “With the deception that occurred at GM, with the deception that has occurred with Takata airbags — I mean, this is an outrage. And enough is enough,” the Senate Commerce Committee’s top Democrat, Bill Nelson, told our Lauren Gardner on Tuesday. “And I’m going to be at the forefront demanding accountability of these automobile executives.” Taking to the Senate floor (http://bit.ly/1L51bbJ) to rail on Volkswagen some more, the senator again brought up GM and Takata, asking why U.S. regulators are not “dropping the hammer on corporations and corporate executives that are purposely deceiving the American people about faulty automobile products that cause the loss of lives and property.”
‘Fit the crime’: Sen. Richard Blumenthal is also comparing the VW scandal to GM’s efforts to hide information about its defective ignition switches. "I want a penetrating investigation to uncover potential lying to the government, which is criminal, and public disclosure of how VW put and engaged in this effort to deceive and mislead,” Blumenthal told Lauren. “I thought the penalties on GM were egregiously inadequate, so I’m hopeful that the penalties will fit the crime.” The senator even issued a public statement (http://politico.pro/1YAay7i) blasting the fact that VW faces a much harsher punishment than its Detroit-based competitor got – though he made clear that he isn’t advocating for Volkswagen to get lesser penalties.
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