Preview Newsletter
ACC AM 12/6/17
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(ACC Mentioned) Chemical Industry Recovers from Hurricanes, October Output Up
Dec 5, 2017 | Zacks (In Nasdaq)
The global chemical industry has gotten off to a positive start in the fourth quarter with October seeing a rise in chemical production on the back of a recovery of the U.S. chemical industry from the effects of hurricanes and an upswing in the world economy, per the monthly report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC) released yesterday. -
(ACC Mentioned) China’s Blow to Recycling Boosts U.S.’s $185 Billion Plastic Bet
Dec 6, 2017 | Bloomberg
By Jack Kaskey and Ann Koh
The world’s biggest user of scrap has stopped accepting shiploads of other countries’ plastic trash as it phases in a new ban. That’s bad news for the recycling industry, as China has been a major consumer of salvaged materials it processes into resin that ends up in pipe, carpets, bottles and other cogs of modern life. -
US EPA Reports 165 PMNs Received In September
Dec 6, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Julie A Miller
The US EPA received 165 pre-manufacture notices (PMNs) in September. -
Missouri Judge Affirms $110m Verdict In Johnson & Johnson Talc Case
Dec 6, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Julie A Miller
A Missouri judge has upheld a $110m award to a Virginia woman who claimed her longtime use of Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder products caused her ovarian cancer. The judgement contradicts an October ruling in another talc case in the state. -
Canada Plans No Action On Trimelliates, DIDA
Dec 6, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Trimelliates and hexanedioic acid, diisodecyl ester (DIDA) are not harmful as defined by section 64 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (Cepa), draft screening assessments have found. -
Beuc Makes Complaint On Delayed Cosmetics EDCs Review
Dec 6, 2017 | Chemical Watch
European consumer organisation, Beuc, has filed a complaint with the EU ombudsman about the Commission’s failure to complete a review of substances with endocrine disrupting properties under the cosmetics Regulation. -
Alaska Gasline Touts More Support for LNG Project from Tokyo Gas
Dec 6, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Carolyn Davis
Alaska’s planned natural gas export project got another boost this week after Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. executed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp. (AGDC) to secure future supply. -
For Nebraska Landowners, Keystone XL Fight Isn't Cheap
Dec 6, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jillian Goodman
November is the end of harvesting season in northeast Nebraska, so on the morning of Nov. 6, 2015, Art Tanderup was out combining. -
USDOT Opts to Repeal ECP Brake Rulemaking
Dec 5, 2017 | Progressive Railroading
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) repealed a May 2015 rulemaking that would have required the installation of electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes on certain tank cars, according to U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). The USDOT had until Dec. 4 to publish a determination that the ECP rule either was justified or should be repealed. -
Cities Vow to Fill U.S. Void on Climate Change
Dec 6, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Stephen Joyce
Chicago is committing to electric cars and renewable energy as cities step up to fulfill an international climate change deal the U.S. has spurned. -
Vatican Sees Way Around Trump on Climate Change, Official Says
Dec 6, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Chiara Albanese and Flavia Rotondi
The Pope's leading adviser on climate issues has called for the European Union or China to fill the void left by the U.S. after Donald Trump's decision to pull the country out of the Paris Climate Agreement. -
Oil Firms Pledge to Plug Methane Leaks in Bid to Burnish Image
Dec 6, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy
As the Trump administration rolls back Obama-era curbs on greenhouse gas emissions, more than two dozen oil companies are uniting in a voluntary effort to pare methane leaks and better position natural gas for a clean-energy future. -
API Touts Voluntary Methane Reduction Effort But Hedges On EPA Rules
Dec 5, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Lee Logan
The oil and gas sector's main trade association, the American Petroleum Institute (API), is touting its new voluntary program for members to reduce emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane from onshore production facilities, though officials are hedging on the role of EPA rules on the issue, which the Trump administration is seeking to roll back. -
Senators Ask GAO To Probe How Trump Admin Calculates Carbon Cost
Dec 5, 2017 | E&E News PM
By Arianna Skibell
Senate Democrats asked an independent government watchdog today to examine how the Trump administration uses the social cost of carbon, the metric used to weigh the impact of greenhouse gas emissions. -
14 States Sue EPA For Overdue Ozone Designations
Dec 5, 2017 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
New York and 13 other states filed a lawsuit today to compel U.S. EPA to issue remaining attainment designations for its 2015 ground-level ozone standard. -
Obama: US Opting Out Of Paris Agreement 'A Difficult Position To Defend'
Dec 6, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Brett Samuels
Former President Barack Obama said Tuesday the country is in an “unusual time,” telling a gathering of world leaders that it’s “difficult to defend” the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accords.
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(ACC Mentioned) Chemical Industry Recovers from Hurricanes, October Output Up
Dec 5, 2017 | Zacks (In Nasdaq)
The global chemical industry has gotten off to a positive start in the fourth quarter with October seeing a rise in chemical production on the back of a recovery of the U.S. chemical industry from the effects of hurricanes and an upswing in the world economy, per the monthly report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC) released yesterday.
Positive October Readings
The chemical industry trade group said that the Global Chemical Production Regional Index (CPRI) rose 0.4% in October on a monthly comparison basis. This follows a 0.1% decline in September, affected by hurricanes. The Global CPRI, which is measured using a three-month moving average, measures chemical production volumes for 33 major nations, sub-regions and regions. It is comparable to the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) production indices.
Gains in production were witnessed across all regions in the reported month. The results were also favorable on a product basis in October. Gains were witnessed in all products barring pharmaceuticals and manufactured fibers.
The ACC also noted that the Global CPRI went up 2.7% year over year on a three-month moving average basis. Capacity utilization for the global chemical industry also recovered in the reported month and moved up 0.2 percentage points to 80.4%, up from 80.1% in October 2016.
The U.S. chemical industry also recovered from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and started the fourth quarter on a positive note with output rising in October on gains across all chemical producing regions.
The ACC said that the U.S. CPRI increased 0.3% in October on a monthly comparison basis. This follows a 0.4% and 1.2% decline in August and September, respectively, hurt by the unfavorable impacts of disruptions from hurricanes.
Hurricane Harvey weighed on U.S. chemical production during the third quarter. A sizable portion of total U.S. production capacity was hit by the storm. Harvey led to the shutdown of several chemical plants along the Gulf Coast - the epicenter of the U.S. specialty chemicals and petrochemicals industry. A number of major chemical producers had to shutter or cut back ethylene production, leading to reduced supply of this major chemical in the third quarter.
Chemical Industry in Good Health
The chemical industry is back on the growth path after being roiled by the global economic crisis. The industry has enjoyed a positive run this year, helped by an improving global economy and continued strength across major end-use markets.
The Zacks Chemicals Diversified industry has outperformed the broader market year to date. The industry has gained around 25.5% over this period, higher than S&P 500's corresponding return of 18.3%.Notwithstanding some lingering headwinds, the chemical industry's momentum is expected to continue through the rest of 2017 and into 2018, supported by continued strength across key end-use markets (such as automotive and construction) and significant shale-linked capital investment.
In particular, the prospects for the U.S. chemical industry looks bright. The American chemical industry is on course for strong growth this year and the next. The ACC envisions accelerated growth for the domestic chemical industry on the back of an improving global economy and a surge in shale-linked capital spending.
The shale gas bounty is expected to drive investment on plants and equipment in the United States. Chemical makers are ramping up investment on shale gas-linked projects to take advantage of ample natural gas supplies.
The European chemical industry is also finding traction again after staying down for a while. The business environment for the European chemical industry has improved on the back of improving global economic sentiment and a resurgent Eurozone economy.
Chemical Stocks to Consider
A few stocks that are worth considering in the chemicals space are Kronos Worldwide, Inc. KRO , Koppers Holdings Inc. KOP , Kraton Corp. KRA , The Chemours Company CC , Albemarle Corp. ALBand Celanese Corporation CE . While Kronos, Koppers and Kraton sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Chemours, Albemarle and Celanese carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here .
Kronos, Koppers and Kraton have expected earnings growth of 419.4%, 44.2% and 25.4%, respectively, for 2017. Chemours, Albemarle and Celanese have expected earnings growth of 265.2%, 24.8% and 11.5%, respectively, for the current year.
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(ACC Mentioned) China’s Blow to Recycling Boosts U.S.’s $185 Billion Plastic Bet
Dec 6, 2017 | Bloomberg
By Jack Kaskey and Ann Koh
Asian nation will stop accepting scrap imports as of Jan. 1
New-made material will fill the gap, benefiting U.S. producers
China is upending the global plastics market.
The world’s biggest user of scrap has stopped accepting shiploads of other countries’ plastic trash as it phases in a new ban. That’s bad news for the recycling industry, as China has been a major consumer of salvaged materials it processes into resin that ends up in pipe, carpets, bottles and other cogs of modern life.
China has begun buying brand new plastic to replace all the recycled scrap -- and that’s great news for U.S. chemical makers such as DowDuPont Inc., which are scrambling to find markets for millions of tons of new production amid an industry investment binge. U.S. exports of one common plastic are expected to quintuple by 2020.
“It’s a good time to be bringing on some new assets,” Mark Lashier, Chief Executive Officer of Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., said in an interview last month as he marked the opening of two polyethylene plants in Old Ocean, Texas. “If you pull recycled plastic out, that market demand is going to increase.”
China is undoing decades of effort that built a massive scrap recycling industry -- the cheapest way to produce plastic products for its growing economy. The country accounted for 51 percent of the world’s plastic scrap imports last year, with the biggest contribution coming from the U.S., according to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, an international trade group.Supply Shift
Now China is changing course, telling the World Trade Organization in July that it will stop accepting imports of used plastics and paper by Jan. 1 as the nation takes steps to clean up its industrial pollution. The China ban could shift about 2 percent of global polyethylene plastics supply from recycled to new material, Vincent Andrews, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said in a Nov. 30 report. The country has already halved its purchases of scrap polyethylene from a 2014 peak, he said.
he U.S. is the only country in a position to quickly fill the gap, said Jonas Oxgaard, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.
That’s because the U.S. has become the cheapest place in the world to make plastic, thanks to a fracking boom that’s created a glut of natural gas, the main feedstock for manufacturing. Taking advantage of low gas prices, chemical producers have invested an unprecedented $185 billion to build new capacity in the U.S., according to the American Chemistry Council, an industry group.
Natural gas prices at $3.50 per million British thermal units would be about $20 a barrel on an oil equivalent basis, Royal Dutch Shell Plc said during an investor briefing on Oct. 13. West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded at $57.40 a barrel at 5:04 p.m. Singapore time.
Exporting high-value resins to China instead of cheap scrap could help chip away at the U.S.’s $250 billion trade deficit with the nation -- a goal that has been on the top of President Donald Trump’s agenda.Two-Way Flow
“Some of the patterns of production we saw 15 years ago are starting to change quite rapidly,” said Simon Tay, chairman of the think-tank Singapore Institute of International Affairs. “The two-way flow between U.S. and China becomes much stronger.”
About 30 percent of North America’s recyclables were historically processed in China, according to Morgan Stanley’s Andrews. China is creating a void in the market for used plastic that will have a "devastating impact" on recycling worldwide, according to the recycling trade group.
So far, domestic markets for used polyethylene, PET and polypropylene remain healthy, said Brent Bell, vice president for recycling at Waste Management Inc., North America’s largest trash hauler.
Even so, some recycling programs are beginning to come under stress because China has stopped issuing licenses to import scrap plastics ahead of the Jan. 1 ban, Bernstein’s Oxgaard said. Global prices for the waste have already dropped 10 percent, said Aloke Lohia, chairman of Indorama Ventures Pcl, which buys used plastic bottles for its processing plants in Europe, Mexico and Thailand.
The U.S. West Coast appears to be hardest hit. In the area around Portland, Oregon, for instance, some recyclers are limiting the types of plastics they will accept. Waste haulers in rural parts of the state recently began steering some plastic to the trash dump because the market is drying up, said Peter Spendelow, a recycling policy analyst for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.Darkening Outlook
While at this point most of the scrap is still finding a home, “there is certainly potential for things to get a lot worse,” Spendelow said.
For producers, however, China’s ban on importing scrap will boost demand for new plastics by enough to nearly absorb all the new polyethylene output coming online next year in the U.S., Andrews said in the Morgan Stanley report. The effects can already be seen in China’s increased appetite for virgin polyethylene, with imports up 19 percent this year as scrap polyethylene imports dropped 11 percent, he said.Export Explosion
U.S. exports of polyethylene plastic to Asia will reach about 5 million tons by 2020, a five-fold increase from last year, with most of it headed to the Chinese market, according to J.P. Nah, an Asia polyolefins analyst at IHS Markit consultants.
Four new U.S. plastics plants, including a project by DowDuPont’s Dow Chemical unit, will begin annual production of 3.6 million tons of polyethylene by year end, said Nick Vafiadis, a vice president at IHS Markit. More are on the way.
All the new U.S. output had been expected to push plastic prices into a slump until demand catches up. That still may happen, but much less than previously thought as the China scrap ban, Hurricane Harvey disruptions and delays in U.S. plant construction are keeping the market more in balance.
“It’s going to be a pretty shallow trough versus what we thought” earlier in the year, Vafiadis said.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-06/china-s-blow-to-recycling-boosts-u-s-s-185-billion-plastic-bet
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US EPA Reports 165 PMNs Received In September
Dec 6, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Julie A Miller
The US EPA received 165 pre-manufacture notices (PMNs) in September.
In all but 31, the name of the manufacturer or importer was withheld as confidential business information (CBI), according to a notice published in the 4 December Federal Register.
The EPA received 48 PMNs for chemicals used in drilling for oil or gas. Of these, Johnson Matthey, Inc submitted 17, while the remaining submitters' names were withheld as CBI.
Six PMNs concerned polymers for coatings and a further ten for other paint and coating additives.
The agency announced in August that it had received 42 new PMNs that month. It had 49 in July; 36 in June; 22 in May; and 58 in April.
The EPA also received 13 notices of commencement (NOCs) in September, compared with 13 in August and 20 in July. This represents a significant drop from the spring, when 115 NOCs were received in May and 152 in April.
The agency is accepting comments on the August submissions until 3 January 2018.
https://chemicalwatch.com/62251/us-epa-reports-165-pmns-received-in-september
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Missouri Judge Affirms $110m Verdict In Johnson & Johnson Talc Case
Dec 6, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Julie A Miller
A Missouri judge has upheld a $110m award to a Virginia woman who claimed her longtime use of Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder products caused her ovarian cancer. The judgement contradicts an October ruling in another talc case in the state.
At issue in the longstanding battle over talc, is whether Missouri courts have the jurisdiction to hear cases brought by plaintiffs who do not live in the state.
In the 29 November ruling, Judge Rex M Burlison held that local courts could claim jurisdiction because of the role played by Missouri-based PharmaTech in the processing, labelling, packaging and distribution of J&J’s baby powder and Shower to Shower products.
J &J has been ordered to pay more than $300m in four Missouri talc cases. And, in August, a California jury handed it its largest loss by far, ordering it to pay $417m in damages.Mistrial declaration
But the ground rules were upended in June, when the US Supreme Court ruled in Bristol-Myers Squibb v Superior Court of California that state courts have limited authority to hear claims against companies that aren't based within their jurisdiction, when the injuries did not occur there.
In light of this decision, Judge Burlison declared a mistrial in a talc case that was then underway. And in October, the Missouri court of appeals, Eastern District, ruled that the $72m verdict that had been reached in another case should not stand.
"The US Supreme Court's ruling makes it clear that the court lacks personal jurisdiction over the Johnson & Johnson defendants ... because these claims arise from alleged conduct and activity entirely outside the state of Missouri, a defect that is not remedied by the joinder of these plaintiffs' claims with those of a Missouri plaintiff," wrote the judge in the October case, Lisa Van Amburg.
The October ruling said it was too late for the plaintiffs to make other arguments for the St Louis court to hear the case.
However, in his 29 November decision, Judge Burlison disagreed. He wrote that his rulings, and those by appellate courts dismissing J&J's arguments about the plaintiffs' residency, effectively prevented them from making other jurisdictional arguments. "Fundamental fairness and due process require" the courts to allow those arguments to be made now, he said.
"This ruling confirms that even the limited evidence we've uncovered regarding PharmaTech is sufficient to meet the high standard set by the Supreme Court, and should allow us to affirm the earlier verdicts and move forward with additional trials in Missouri," said Ted Meadows, co-lead counsel in the case and a principal at the Beasley Allen Law Firm.
https://chemicalwatch.com/62265/missouri-judge-affirms-110m-verdict-in-johnson-johnson-talc-case
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Canada Plans No Action On Trimelliates, DIDA
Dec 6, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Trimelliates and hexanedioic acid, diisodecyl ester (DIDA) are not harmful as defined by section 64 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (Cepa), draft screening assessments have found.
The Canadian government's proposed conclusion would lead to the authorities taking no further action at this time under the national Chemical Management Plan (CMP).
The trimelliates assessment covers:
· 1,2,4-benzenetricarboxylic acid, tris(2-ethylhexyl) esterpropane (TEHT);
· 1,2,4-benzenetricarboxylic acid, mixed branched tridecyl and isodecyl esters (BTIT); and
· 1,2,4-benzenetricarboxylic acid, tritridecyl ester (TTDT).
TEHT is used as a plasticiser in floor coverings, building and construction materials, plastic and rubber materials, and medical devices. It is also used as a fuel additive, in adhesives and sealants used in the transportation sector, as a lubricant and lubricant additive, and in cosmetics.
BTIT is used in cosmetics in Canada.
TTDT is primarily used in cosmetics but is also present as a non-medicinal ingredient in drugs, including natural health products.
The available health information on TEHT indicates potential effects on the male reproductive system, according to the 2 December Canada Gazette notice. It said assessment of the substance was deemed adequate to apply to the other trimelliates. Public exposure – from dust and in consumer products – was determined to be below critical effect levels.DIDA
DIDA is imported for use as a plasticiser in electrical cables, as a processing aid and as an ingredient in lubricants and greases. Lubricant-type products containing it available to consumers in Canada, were identified as motor oils, power steering fluids, aerosol lubricants and lubricant products designed to stop oil leaks. In addition, the substance is present as a non-medicinal ingredient in natural health products.
Developmental toxicity was identified as the critical health issue, based on data available from the analogue di-(2-ethylhexl) adipate (DEHA), but potential exposure was considered to be below critical limits.
The ecological risks of all the substances were characterised as low, using the ecological risk classification of organic substances (ERC) approach.
The government has initiated a 60-day public comment period. Interested parties have until 24 January to submit comments.
https://chemicalwatch.com/62257/canada-plans-no-action-on-trimelliates-dida
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Beuc Makes Complaint On Delayed Cosmetics EDCs Review
Dec 6, 2017 | Chemical Watch
European consumer organisation, Beuc, has filed a complaint with the EU ombudsman about the Commission’s failure to complete a review of substances with endocrine disrupting properties under the cosmetics Regulation.
In its complaint, dated 30 November, the NGO calls for the European Commission to complete the review "without further delay".
Article 15(4) of the Regulation instructs the Commission to do this, when community or internationally agreed criteria for identifying such substances are available, or at the latest by 11 January 2015.
However, there have been significant hold ups and in a European Parliament Q&A session on 8 July 2016, Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska said it would complete the work and communicate its results "before end-2016".
Then, at the meeting of the working group on cosmetic products on 14 March, the Commission said a draft report on the evaluation of the Regulation regarding endocrine disruptors "was prepared in view of its adoption by the college [a team of 28 EU Commissioners] by the end of 2016". It said it is "still examining [this] and its adoption was postponed in light of the ongoing discussions on the scientific criteria for the definition" under the biocidal products Regulation (BPR) and plant protection products (PPP) Regulation.
At a further working group meeting in July, the Commission "could not provide further information", Beuc says.
On 17 November, the EU executive published its delegated Regulation setting out the criteria for identifying EDCs under the BPR. The criteria will apply from 7 June 2018. Unlike in the case of the PPP, the European Parliament and Council did not block its entry into force. The PPP proposal was vetoed in October, sending the Commission back to the drawing board.
Beuc says the ongoing discussions "do not justify" the Commission’s decision to postpone the cosmetics Regulation EDC review.
This is because the "specific formulation" of Article 15(4) of that Regulation, as well as "the absence of a legal reference" to either the PPP or the BPR, "demonstrates that the EDC review obligation exists in its own right and independent of the Commission’s obligation to develop the criteria in other sectors", it says.
Once the Commission completes this, it should, where appropriate, "propose amendments to the cosmetics Regulation to ensure a high level of consumer protection against substances with endocrine-disrupting properties".
Failure to conduct the review "may create unnecessary risks" for consumers, the NGO says, adding that the postponement "directly conflicts" with the high level of protection sought by the legislator. "Political concerns rather than legitimate scientific or technical reasons would thus appear to dictate the delay."Direct exposure
Since January 2015, Beuc says it has repeatedly raised concerns about this and adds that sufficient evidence links EDCs to a range of severe diseases and disorders, including infertility and cancer.
Cosmetics and personal care products, the NGO says, are "major direct sources" of consumer exposure to potential EDCs, including for vulnerable groups, such as:pregnant and breastfeeding women;children; andpersons with compromised immune responses.
"The failure to complete the EDC review may therefore endanger the health of millions of consumers across the EU," Beuc says.
Chemical Watch contacted the Commission for a comment but it did not respond in time for publication.
https://chemicalwatch.com/62311/beuc-makes-complaint-on-delayed-cosmetics-edcs-review
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Alaska Gasline Touts More Support for LNG Project from Tokyo Gas
Dec 6, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Carolyn Davis
Alaska’s planned natural gas export project got another boost this week after Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. executed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp. (AGDC) to secure future supply.
The tentative agreement to send liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the proposed Nikiski LNG terminal was signed Monday by Tokyo Gas President Michiaki Hirose and Alaska Gasline President Keith Meyer.
As designed, Nikiski would have liquefaction capacity of around 20 million metric tons/year. If all goes as planned, startup for commercial production would begin in the mid-2020s. AGDC last month asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to advance a review of the project.
Going forward, Tokyo Gas and ADGC plan to begin a dialogue regarding “the purchase of the LNG from the project and other businesses,” Tokyo Gas management said.
Tokyo Gas noted it has had a “good relationship” with Alaska since 1969, when it became the first Japanese buyer of LNG in Alaska’s history.
“We recognize that...2019 is the 50th anniversary of the history of relationship between the State of Alaska and Tokyo Gas,” management said. “Tokyo Gas will continue to work aggressively to realize further diversification and expansion of resources, suppliers and overseas business domains” to balance supply conditions, stable supply, affordable price and flexibility.
AGDC, owned by the state, last summer secured a memorandum of understanding to supply LNG to one of the world’s biggest LNG buyers, Korea Gas Corp. No formal agreement has been reached.
During President Trump's Asia-Pacific trade mission to China in November, state-owned Sinopec Group, the Bank of China and China Investment Corp. signed a joint development agreement to help Alaska develop the LNG export project. AGDC also recently picked up more potential backing for the LNG export project when PetroVietnam Gas signaled its support.
Late last year AGDC took over control of the project from major producers ExxonMobil Corp., BP plc and ConocoPhillips, which said the project had become uneconomic.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/112643-alaska-gasline-touts-more-support-for-lng-project-from-tokyo-gas
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For Nebraska Landowners, Keystone XL Fight Isn't Cheap
Dec 6, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jillian Goodman
November is the end of harvesting season in northeast Nebraska, so on the morning of Nov. 6, 2015, Art Tanderup was out combining. Early that day, President Barack Obama rejected TransCanada Corp.’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline, an extension of the existing Keystone system that carries heavy crude from the Alberta tar sands to refineries on the Gulf Coast. Tanderup is one of about 90 landowners in Nebraska who've refused to sign easements allowing the pipeline to be built on their property. The announcement hadn't even made it to the radio before he got a call from a New York media outlet. “I shut that combine off so fast,” he says. “I don't know whether I let out any expletives or not, but it was a good day. At that time, I really felt, this should be the end of this.”
It wasn't. In March, President Donald Trump's State Department reversed its predecessor's decision and approved Keystone XL, which left only one regulatory hurdle: approval by the Nebraska Public Service Commission (PSC). On Nov. 20, the five-member panel declined to approve TransCanada's preferred route for the XL line, instead giving the company a go-ahead to build along an alternative route, a mixed decision that may set up more years of legal and regulatory challenges.
After fighting Keystone for almost a decade, only to see it come back from the dead under Trump, the farmers and ranchers opposing the project are still optimistic it won't get built. They calculate that the prospect of further tortuous approvals ahead may be too much for TransCanada, which has also faced declining oil prices and what many analysts see as a wariness among producers to ship oil along the pipeline—and among refiners to buy it. A Nov. 16 spill of approximately 5,000 barrels of oil from the existing Keystone pipeline doesn't help. South Dakota officials may consider revoking TransCanada's permit to operate the conduit in the state, according to the Wall Street Journal. While it waits for TransCanada to make its next move, Nebraska's resistance movement is taking stock of its remaining resources—financial, social, and emotional.
Tanderup and his wife, Helen, both retired, are now living on modest pensions and the revenue from their 160-acre farm, which they inherited from Helen's parents. Although they—and their parents before them, Tanderup says—managed to eke out a living from their limited acreage, falling incomes for small farms have cut into his and Helen's bottom line. Tanderup declines to share their annual income but notes that since Helen retired in 2011, they haven't had to pay federal income tax. They still have about $12,000 tied up in a lawsuit with TransCanada over legal fees related to its attempt to use eminent domain to seize access rights from the holdout landowners. That case will come before the state Supreme Court in January.
“It's been a huge personal cost—not just money, but time,” says Rick Hammond, who's traveled Nebraska speaking out against Keystone XL since its original proposed route crossed his farm in 2008. In the course of his outreach, a neighbor whose land Hammond had rented for 15 years severed the lease because of Hammond's “outspoken opposition to the Keystone XL,” he says, quoting from memory a letter sent by the neighbor's lawyer informing him of the decision. “I'm going to keep fighting this thing, but I'm getting to the burnout stage,” he adds. “I just don't want, or need, or have the energy to take it on again.”
The environmental group Bold Nebraskaand its founder, Jane Kleeb, get most of the credit for organizing landowner resistance to the pipeline, but the Omaha-based Domina Law Group has played a key role giving them legal representation going as far back as 2012. That year the firm formed Nebraska Easement Action to advise landowners on their rights in negotiations with TransCanada after several reported having been played off against one another and threatened with eminent domain by land agents. (TransCanada called these claims “disappointing” and said it has a strict code of ethics to which all representatives of the company are required to adhere. It invited landowners to call its business ethics hotline to report specific cases of misconduct.)
Small Firms Fighting Pipeline
Years ago, Domina made the decision to handle its Keystone-related work 90 percent pro bono, says partner Brian Jorde. “Ten percent has been kicked in by landowners and others sympathetic” to the cause, including nonprofits such as Bold Nebraska and individual donors, he says. “At the end of the day, it's millions of dollars that have been necessary to this point to fight successfully.” The firm is small—only four lawyers and minimal support staff, Jorde says—with much of the work on the Keystone cases getting done on nights and weekends.
Domina is one of a coalition of firms representing the various facets of the resistance effort. Even though these also include national groups such as the Sierra Club and 350.org and the Ponca and Yankton Sioux tribes, the landowners have long been the face of that effort, and Nebraska its front line. Domina has a history of standing with farmers against corporations, including Monsanto Co. and Syngenta AG. The Sierra Club has received funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization founded by Michael Bloomberg, the ultimate owner of Bloomberg Environment.
“Frankly, if they would've had to pay the whole way, this would've been lost a long time ago,” Jorde says of the landowners resisting TransCanada. “Sometimes you've just got to stick with it and see things out that are the right thing to do.”
Whether they—or the native tribes or the environmental groups—continue to fight Keystone XL in court will depend largely on TransCanada. “We're not going to file anything until we know what TransCanada's intentions and next steps are,” said Kleeb, the founder of Bold Nebraska, the day after the PSC rendered its verdict. Three days later, on Nov. 24, TransCanada filed a motion with the PSC to amend its application with additional material concerning the alternative route (it did not ask that the commission reconsider its preferred route), followed by a motion from the landowners the next day. The PSC will hear oral arguments on the motions on Tuesday, Dec. 12, and all parties on both sides have until Dec. 20 to file an appeal with the state.
The PSC's decision to approve an alternate route leaves TransCanada with difficult decisions. The alternate route is longer than its preferred one. The company also has to obtain approval for a new pumping station from any of a handful of state agencies, including the Nebraska Energy Office, the Nebraska Power Review Board, and the Nebraska Public Power District, which Kleeb estimates could take as long as two years, as well as new easements from property owners along the new pipeline path.
Although TransCanada has consistently maintained that interest is high among companies that would potentially buy capacity on a new KL pipeline, its initial communications immediately following the ruling were ambiguous, at best. At a Nov. 28 investor meeting, Chief Executive Officer Russ Girling said the company is reviewing the decision “and its potential impacts on the cost and schedule of the project.” TransCanada representative Matthew John wrote in an email that “it's a bit too early” to answer questions about the company's plans to appeal the decision or proceed with pipeline construction.
Gavin MacFarlane, a vice president at Moody's Investors Service, wrote in an investor comment that Girling's statement “does not provide certainty that the project will ultimately be built and begin operating.” Lorne Stockman, an analyst for Oil Change International, says he would “be very, very surprised that shippers are signing on the dotted line.”
Jorde was optimistic about his clients’ odds after hearings before the PSC in August, and he remains so today. In 2011 and 2013, as well, he says, all roads seemed clear for construction. “I don't think TransCanada's ever going to build on this route,” he says. “Until the pipeline's in the ground in our state, landowners are winners.”
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=124571391&vname=dennotallissues&fn=124571391&jd=124571391
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USDOT Opts to Repeal ECP Brake Rulemaking
Dec 5, 2017 | Progressive Railroading
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) repealed a May 2015 rulemaking that would have required the installation of electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes on certain tank cars, according to U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). The USDOT had until Dec. 4 to publish a determination that the ECP rule either was justified or should be repealed.
The Federal Railroad Administration rulemaking had set a timetable for requiring ECP brakes on newer tank cars trains used to haul certain hazardous or flammable materials, such as ethanol and crude oil. ECP brakes issue electronic signals to simultaneously apply and release brakes throughout the length of a train instead of each car applying brakes individually — a system the government considers more effective in emergency situations.
A provision in the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act directed the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) to analyze the rule and reevaluate ECP braking results. In a report issued in October, NAS officials said the approach used to mandate ECP brakes over other technologies was incomplete and unconvincing, said Thune — who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation — in a press release. NAS officials also could not conclude that ECP brakes' emergency performance was superior to other braking systems, he said.
Moreover, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study released in October 2016 found the UDOT's justification for the rulemaking lacked transparency, said Thune. The FAST Act had required the GAO to conduct an independent evidence-based evaluation of ECP brakes.
"Repealing this rule puts sound science and careful study by the independent National Academies of Sciences and Government Accountability Office over flawed guesswork the [USDOT] used in 2015," said Thune. "While new technologies offer potential improvement to railroad safety, regulators have a responsibility to fairly evaluate effectiveness and avoid arbitrarily mandating new requirements."
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) had lobbied to repeal the rulemaking. AAR officials believe the widespread use of ECP brakes would not provide any meaningful safety benefits compared with existing braking systems, and that the brakes would impose very high costs on railroads for minimal safety benefits.http://www.progressiverailroading.com/federal_legislation_regulation/news/USDOT-opts-to-repeal-ECP-brake-rulemaking--53394
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Cities Vow to Fill U.S. Void on Climate Change
Dec 6, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Stephen Joyce
Chicago is committing to electric cars and renewable energy as cities step up to fulfill an international climate change deal the U.S. has spurned.
“It's better to have a national government that is setting the standard rather than a bunch of individual [city] standards,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) told Bloomberg Environment in an interview. “That said, as of now, yes, the leadership mantle on environmental sustainable policies is back at the city level.”
Cities will have to be the chief drivers of national climate policies in the absence of leadership from the Trump administration, according to more than 50 mayors who met in Chicago Dec. 5 to sign a pledge to reduce their emissions.
“Global carbon emissions and global temperatures are still on the rise: 2015 was the warmest year on record until 2016 became the warmest on record,” former President Barack Obama, who addressed the mayors who gathered to sign the climate agreement, said. “And what that tells us is that climate is changing faster than our efforts to address it.”
Paris Targets Included
The Chicago Climate Charter commits signatory cities from around the world to achieving the emissions reductions contained in the Paris Agreement on climate change reached in 2015, despite President Donald Trump's announcement that the U.S. will leave the deal. The agreement entered into force Nov. 4, 2016.
The agreement requires the cities to track and publicly report city emissions, advocate for greater local authority and flexibility to take aggressive action on climate, and incorporate the realities of climate change and its impacts into local infrastructure and energy planning.
The agreement will allow Chicago to build on programs it has already started, Chris Wheat, Chicago's chief sustainability officer, told Bloomberg Environment.
Chicago is pursuing policies that will require large buildings to track and disclose their energy consumption, put more electric cars in the city's fleet, power all municipal buildings with renewable energy, and expand the environmental protection unit within the city's Department of Public Health.
Mayors ‘Have to Lead’
Signing mayors said cities have little choice but to take the initiative to enhance environmental protections in the face of Trump administration rollbacks, even though the federal government will have to provide funding.
“Mayors across the country, the governors across this country, have to lead. We are stuck with that, at least for a couple more years,” Jackie Biskupski (D), mayor of Salt Lake City, said at the conference.
Emanuel agreed. “Where there is no EPA to police the polluters, we'll police the polluters,” he said.
“I would prefer the federal government as a partner. But in a case where there is an absence of leadership, we'll step in and use all the tools of authority to do exactly what we need to do, whether it's on environment policy or climate change,” Emanuel said.
The need for greater cooperation among cities is evident by the environmental challenges they face, Steve Adler (D), mayor of Austin, Texas, said during the charter's signing ceremony. The flooding of waterways, infrastructure deficiencies, and land use are regional environmental challenges, he said.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=124571379&vname=dennotallissues&fn=124571379&jd=124571379
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Vatican Sees Way Around Trump on Climate Change, Official Says
Dec 6, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Chiara Albanese and Flavia Rotondi
The Pope's leading adviser on climate issues has called for the European Union or China to fill the void left by the U.S. after Donald Trump's decision to pull the country out of the Paris Climate Agreement.
“America has pulled out, but other nations can step in,” Cardinal Peter Turkson, who led the drafting of Pope Francis's 2015 encyclical letter on climate change and the environment, said during an interview in Rome with Bloomberg TV. “We have other big nations, the EU is there, China is there. They can also step in.”
U.S. President Donald Trump said last June that he would withdraw his country from the Paris Climate Agreement, alleging it was damaging to American workers. The U.S. is the only one of 195 signatories to have withdrawn from the accord. The move was widely criticized by European countries and by Pope Francis, who warned against the negative impact it would have on the planet.
America First
The Vatican, which has diplomatic relations with over 180 countries and has permanent observer status at the United Nations, has strongly backed the Paris Agreement. The Pope has made defense of the environment one of the main issues of his papacy, backing scientists who attribute climate change mainly to human activities.
“America First. America can be first, only you have to ask the question of who must be number two?” Turkson said. “What does it take for one to be first and for another one to be number two?”
The U.S. process to exit the agreement started during the summer and will take years to become fully effective, with the country unable to formally exit the accord until November 2020, after the next presidential election. Meanwhile, the U.S. will continue to participate in international climate negotiations, Trump has said.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=124571395&vname=dennotallissues&fn=124571395&jd=124571395
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Oil Firms Pledge to Plug Methane Leaks in Bid to Burnish Image
Dec 6, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy
As the Trump administration rolls back Obama-era curbs on greenhouse gas emissions, more than two dozen oil companies are uniting in a voluntary effort to pare methane leaks and better position natural gas for a clean-energy future.
As part of the new initiative, dubbed “the Environmental Partnership,” ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and 23 other oil and gas companies have signed agreements committing to phase out certain leak-prone devices and take other steps to keep methane from being released into the atmosphere.
The effort, coordinated by the industry's top trade group, the American Petroleum Institute, follows a series of separate announcements by major oil companies committing to rein in the potent greenhouse gas. It also comes as oil companies seek to burnish their image and boost the clean energy profile of gas to make it more attractive for foreign buyers seeking lower-carbon sources of electricity.
“Producers have to think about the world outside the United States, and they have to think about the world after Donald Trump—and both of those things matter when it comes to making an investment with a 15-, 20- or 50-year life” said Kevin Book, managing director of ClearView Energy Partners LLC. “For producers to credibly sell natural gas as a clean fuel into a greening world, they have to credibly show emissions-reduction technologies.“
Methane, the main ingredient in natural gas, has been shown to warm the atmosphere 84 times more than carbon dioxide when measured over two decades. Oil companies have been selling gas around the world as a low-carbon alternative to coal, which produces twice as many carbon dioxide emissions when burned to generate electricity.
But that sales pitch is undermined when methane leaks from wells and pipelines. And the Trump administration's efforts to loosen emission-cutting requirements could worsen the situation. Under President Trump, the Environmental Protection Agency has halted writing another methane regulation for new and modified wells, and the Interior Department is planning changes to a separate Obama-era rule that applied on public land.
Erik Milito, an API group director, said the initiative is “robust” but flexible, designed to encourage companies to collaborate and share data from the field. The participating energy companies—representing at least 26 percent of U.S. gas production—commit to take “tangible steps” to address methane emissions and in exchange are free to use the initiative's green-and-blue emblem on websites and in other material.
“Companies are signing agreements and they're reporting the actual progress they are making,” Milito said. “This is not an initiative where we are talking about what can be done; this is an initiative where companies have agreed and signed agreements to actually take the action and follow it up with reports.“
Companies in the API initiative have agreed to seek out and repair methane leaks at tens of thousands of sites located in every major U.S. gas and oil basin, with detection required at least once every two years. That is less frequent than the twice-annual timetable the Interior Department imposed under a regulation last year, and the standard in some states.
Pneumatic Controllers
The companies also are committing to phase out high-bleed pneumatic controllers that release gas as part of their normal operation. Analysts say it's one of the most cost-effective emission control technologies industry can employ, with replacement devices potentially paying for themselves after just six months—one reason some 25,000 have already been swapped out across the U.S.
Participants will provide information on their efforts annually to API, with the trade group releasing an annual report using aggregated information. That may fall short of the transparency some environmentalists and shareholders have been demanding. Oil companies have been under increasing pressure from shareholders and local communities where they operate to address the issue.
Voluntary methane-reduction programs should embody leading practices for controlling emissions and be backed by robust transparency, said Matt Watson, associate vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund's climate and energy program.
“If you're going to put forward a voluntary program as part of the solution here—and it can never be the full solution—those emission reductions need to be verifiable,” Watson said.
The new effort also departs from some recent methane-cutting commitments that have set a more robust “near-zero” emissions target. When eight major oil companies, including BP Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Statoil Asa, pledged on Nov. 22 to cut methane emissions, they also said they would support “sound” regulations governing the issue.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=124571393&vname=dennotallissues&fn=124571393&jd=124571393
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API Touts Voluntary Methane Reduction Effort But Hedges On EPA Rules
Dec 5, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Lee Logan
The oil and gas sector's main trade association, the American Petroleum Institute (API), is touting its new voluntary program for members to reduce emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane from onshore production facilities, though officials are hedging on the role of EPA rules on the issue, which the Trump administration is seeking to roll back.
Environmentalists, while noting that the industry is acknowledging the importance of reducing methane, are nevertheless criticizing the program for a lack of ambition, its absence of numeric targets and for being “opaque” in terms of what it will require from companies and how it will report its progress.
The program, known as the Environmental Partnership, generally targets three sources: equipment leaks, high-bleed pneumatic devices and liquids unloading.
During a Dec. 5 press call to announce the new program, representatives of API and two major oil and gas companies said the goal of the new effort is to demonstrate the industry's commitment to environmental protection and not necessarily to preempt future EPA methane rules for existing sources in the sector.
One official said firms support “smart” regulation that is based on science and can adopt to technological innovations. “This is not anti-regulation,” said Greg Guidry, a top executive with Shell's unconventional operations. “This is doing what we need to do to protect the environment.”
But another official on the call declined to say whether the industry would advocate for EPA rules that mirror the requirements of the voluntary program. The program is “designed to learn about what's happening in the field,” said Erik Milito, director of API's upstream and industry operations group, who added that rules might be “overly prescriptive.”
He cited the issue of high-bleed pneumatic controllers, which the program aims to replace with low- or no-bleed equipment at participating companies within five years. There might be “no need” for regulations on this issue, Milito said, if industry is “effectively addressing this through a voluntary program.”
In addition to targeting high-bleed pneumatics, API's voluntary program also seeks to reduce methane emissions through leak detection and repair (LDAR) efforts and liquids unloading processes.
API said that 26 companies have committed to participate and that it expects most to implement all three areas of the program. Implementation will begin in 2018 and the group pledges to issue annual reports on its progress. The program lacks emission reduction targets or goals.
In response to a question about how the voluntary program compares with current EPA methane rules for the sector, Milito said there is no “overlap” with those rules, though he said there might be some overlap with certain state regulations.
EPA's current rules are “prospective” and only impose requirements on new or modified facilities, Guidry said, while the API program also targets some existing facilities. “There's a heck of a lot more existing [operations] than there are facilities being built,” he said, noting that API's program doesn't distinguish between new or existing equipment.
However, API has been a critic of EPA's rules, known as the methane new source performance standards (NSPS), which the Obama administration finalized in June 2016. Recently, the group floated several legal strategies for the Trump EPA to delay implementation of key requirements in that rule for two years.
In response to those comments, EPA in a pair of November notices suggested it might extend relevant compliance deadlines in the rule in lieu of staying the standards -- an approach suggested by API.
'Lack of Ambition'
Several aspects of the program are drawing criticism from environmental groups, aside from the baseline issue that the industry is acknowledging the importance of reducing methane, which is a far more potent GHG than carbon dioxide and is credited with driving significant short-term global warming.
Of the 26 participating companies, “several of them are already leaders” in reducing methane, says Matt Watson, vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund's (EDF) climate and energy program. “For some of them, they're new faces and that's good.”
However, he says, “this program isn't going to move the needle. It's most notable for its opaqueness and lack of ambition.”
Regarding the LDAR requirements, for example, Watson says that it appears companies can “pick and choose” which sites they want to cover while still receiving credit for participating. While companies representing a quarter of U.S. oil and gas production are participating, he says, “who knows how much of their operations they're going to include?”
Additionally, the program does not require companies to begin LDAR programs until mid 2019, he notes, and several sources indicate that companies would have to complete leak inspections only once every two years.
That is much less frequent than the twice-per-year requirement in the NSPS and Bureau of Land Management rules targeting existing sources on federal lands, as well as quarterly inspection requirements in rules issued by leading states. “Once every other year is remarkably unimpressive,” he says.
He adds that the program says it will report how many sites companies monitor, and how many leaks are fixed, meaning it is unclear if it will report on how many emissions are cut, which types of equipment are fixed and how many leaks are not repaired. Further, most data would be aggregated, so it is impossible to know “which companies are doing what.”
Regarding the program's pledge to replace all high-bleed pneumatics, Watson notes that issue has one of the fastest “payback periods of any methane mitigation strategy” because it results in significant amounts of captured gas that can be re-sold. “If that had been the goal eight years ago, it would have been commendable,” he says, noting that a significant number of such equipment has already been replaced.
And the program is vague on what will be required for liquids unloading -- in which operators remove water or oil that has accumulated in a natural gas well. The program says that firms will monitor the liquids unloading process and close all wellhead vents to the atmosphere, with certain exceptions.
“It's good that they will have somebody on site, and then what?” Watson says.
He notes that EDF has endorsed several recent industry announcements on methane, including an “impressive program” unveiled by ExxonMobil's natural gas subsidiary XTO Energy, as well as a group of companies that recently set a goal of “near-zero” methane emissions.
He contrasts those industry methane announcements with API's “scorched earth approach to trying to tear down federal methane rules.”
“Industry leadership can be an important and critical part of the puzzle” on addressing methane emissions from the sector, he adds. “It's just that this program falls so short that it's hard to take seriously.”
Similarly, a statement from the Sierra Club charges that API's program is “nothing but a cynical ploy for public goodwill” while the trade group supports the Trump EPA's efforts to roll back the NSPS.
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/api-touts-voluntary-methane-reduction-effort-hedges-epa-rules
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Senators Ask GAO To Probe How Trump Admin Calculates Carbon Cost
Dec 5, 2017 | E&E News PM
By Arianna Skibell
Senate Democrats asked an independent government watchdog today to examine how the Trump administration uses the social cost of carbon, the metric used to weigh the impact of greenhouse gas emissions.
While most economists price around $40 for every ton of heat-trapping gas emitted, U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt lowered the number to $1 per ton, a calculation being used to repeal President Obama's Clean Power Plan.
President Trump earlier this year disbanded an interagency working group charged with calculating the metric.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) led a group of six senators asking the Government Accountability Office to examine states' and other countries' social cost of carbon, which serves as justification for calculating the cost and benefit of regulations affecting carbon emissions.
In a letter, the seven senators also asked GAO to look at what reasoning has been used to support various discount rates and the extent to which each is based on evolving factors like interest rates and economic growth rates.
"Various statutes, executive orders, and guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) direct federal agencies to analyze the benefits and costs of proposed regulations," they wrote. "These regulatory impact analyses can also provide affected entities, agencies, Congress, and the public with important information about the potential effects of new regulations."
The letter was also signed by Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein of California.
Since Trump's election, Republican lawmakers have been taking shots at the social cost of carbon.
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Republicans this year urged EPA officials looking at regulations to repeal to pay particular attention to those that rely on either the social cost of carbon or co-benefits to justify the cost burdens on the economy (E&E Daily, May 16).
And House Republican appropriators tried to ban the Department of Energy from using the social cost of carbon calculation in rulemaking through the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee's spending bill last July (E&E News PM, July 11).
https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2017/12/05/stories/1060068165
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14 States Sue EPA For Overdue Ozone Designations
Dec 5, 2017 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
New York and 13 other states filed a lawsuit today to compel U.S. EPA to issue remaining attainment designations for its 2015 ground-level ozone standard.
The designations were legally due at the beginning of October.
While EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt last month effectively declared about 85 percent of counties in compliance with the 70-parts-per-billion standard, he hasn't made designations for New York City; Sacramento, Calif.; and other parts of the country where ozone pollution is "a particular problem," the suit said.
Like a similar lawsuit brought yesterday by a coalition of public health and environmental groups, the states' complaint asks a judge to require Pruitt to make the remaining designations by a fixed date. Both suits were filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (Greenwire, Dec. 5).
All 14 states either have Democratic governors or attorneys general; the District of Columbia is also a plaintiff.
https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2017/12/05/stories/1060068167
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Obama: US Opting Out Of Paris Agreement 'A Difficult Position To Defend'
Dec 6, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Brett Samuels
Former President Barack Obama said Tuesday the country is in an “unusual time,” telling a gathering of world leaders that it’s “difficult to defend” the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accords.
“Obviously we’re in an unusual time when the United States is now the only nation on earth that does not belong to the Paris agreement. And that’s a difficult position to defend,” Obama said, according to The Chicago Tribune.
“But the good news is that the Paris agreement was never going to solve the climate crisis on its own. It was going to be up to all of us,” he continued.
Obama spoke for about 15 minutes at the North American Climate Summit in Chicago, which was hosted by his former chief of staff and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D).
Obama is also scheduled to speak Tuesday at a closed-door event at the Economic Club of Chicago.
Obama did not mention President Trump by name, but urged officials in attendance to continue efforts to combat climate change, regardless of the current administration’s position.
The former president cited a string of recent hurricanes that slammed Puerto Rico, Florida and Texas, noting that “more than two months later they are still struggling to recover.”
Obama told the audience that American voters should “make it a prerequisite” to vote for elected officials who say they are paying attention to global warming.
The Trump administration has made multiple decisions to end or reverse Obama-era policies focused on combatting climate change.
In October, the Trump administration moved to repeal an Obama-era climate change rule aimed at limiting carbon emissions.
Trump announced in June that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris agreement, an Obama-era deal that amounts to the first global effort to lower carbon emissions.
Syria signed onto the deal last month, making the United States the only nation not supporting it.
The Trump administration recently said it is disbanding an interagency panel created to help explore the ways cities can deal with the effects of climate change.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/363425-obama-us-opting-out-of-paris-agreement-a-difficult-position-to
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