Preview Newsletter
PM ACC Clips Report - March 28, 2019
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(ACC Mentioned) INTERACTIVE: US February Pending Home Sales Fall 1.0%
Mar 28, 2019 | ICIS
US pending home sales dipped slightly in February following January’s rebound, with declines in the northeast and Midwest more than offsetting gains in the south and west, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on... -
(ACC Mentioned) 98% Of European Plastics Production Covered By Operation Clean Sweep
Mar 28, 2019 | Market Report Company
By Anna Larionova
Operation Clean Sweep (OCS), the international program designed to prevent plastic pellets, flakes, and powder from being lost from factory floors and winding up in lakes and oceans, is being successfully embraced by European plastics... -
Tennessee Bill Blocking Cities’ Plastic Bans Heads to Governor
Mar 28, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Chris Marr
Tennessee would block cities and counties from banning or taxing disposable food containers under legislation that’s headed to the governor’s desk. H.B. 1021 would bar local governments from regulating food and drink containers... -
Lawmakers: Plastic Bag Ban Gains Traction In Budget Talks
Mar 28, 2019 | AP (In E&E - Greenwire)
By Chris Carola and David Klepper
The ubiquitous plastic bag would be banned throughout New York state under a proposal gaining traction in state budget negotiations in Albany. State Sen. Todd Kaminsky and Assemblyman Steve Englebright, both Long Island... -
US EPA Releases Studies On Pigment Violet 29
Mar 28, 2019 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Britt E. Erickson
he US Environmental Protection Agency has released 24 studies that the agency relied on to evaluate the health risks of pigment violet 29, a colorant used in paints, plastics, and other products. The move comes after Democrats in the... -
US Congress Round-Up
Mar 28, 2019 | Chemical Watch
House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D–New Jersey) and environment subcommittee Chairman Paul Tonko (D–New York) praised the US EPA’s release of studies underlying its TSCA evaluation of pigment violet 29 as "a... -
(ACC Blog) Part II – FORMALDEHYDE: The Science, The Truth, and The Industry’s Commitment to Objective Chemical Assessments
Mar 28, 2019 | American Chemistry Matters
The following blog is a segment of a three part series regarding EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program. Part II: The Truth. Media stories, fueled by false claims, have painted a picture that EPA has concluded... https://blog.americanchemistry.com/2019/03/part-ii-formaldehyde-the-science-the-truth-and-the-industrys-commitment-to-objective-chemical-assessments/ -
(ACC Mentioned) EPA Hopes To Release Delayed IRIS Handbook ‘Soon’
Mar 28, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Lisa Martine Jenkins
The US EPA has not abandoned plans to publish its long-awaited handbook for the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) and has already begun to implement components of it, according to testimony in a recent Congressional hearing. -
US EPA Round-Up
Mar 28, 2019 | Chemical Watch
EPA formally publishes methylene chloride rule, workplace programme proposal. The EPA has published in the Federal Register its final rule prohibiting the manufacture, processing and distribution in commerce of methylene chloride for... -
Health Agency Backs Tackling Family of Fluorinated Chemicals
Mar 28, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sylvia Carignan
Thousands of fluorinated chemicals, among them two prominent compounds contaminating drinking water across the country, are best tackled as a class, a National Institutes of Health official told the Senate Environment and Public... -
US Environment Agency Lists Formaldehyde, Flame Retardants As ‘High Priority’ For Review
Mar 28, 2019 | Chemisty World
By Rebecca Trager
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it intends to review the safety of 40 chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (Tsca). The chemicals that are down for urgent assessment include... -
N.J. Sues 3 Firms Over PFAS Pollution
Mar 28, 2019 | AP (In E&E - Greenwire)
Two days after ordering them to clean up chemical contamination in various spots, New Jersey is suing three companies over pollution issues. The state Attorney General's Office filed four lawsuits yesterday against DuPont... -
Bayer Keeps Roundup Faith After Losing Second Trial on Cancer
Mar 28, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Joel Rosenblatt, Robert Burnson, and Tim Loh
Bayer AG vowed to keep defending its weedkiller Roundup after losing a second trial over claims it causes cancer, indicating that the embattled company isn’t yet ready to consider spending billions of dollars to settle thousands of... -
Man Awarded $80 Million After Jury Finds Monsanto's Weed Killer Caused His Cancer
Mar 28, 2019 | The Hill - Regulation
By Chris Mills Rodrigo
A man was awarded $80 million by a federal jury in San Francisco after jury members determined last week that Monsanto's weed-killer, Roundup, led him to develop cancer, BuzzFeed news reported. The jury found... -
EPA Announces PFAS 'Action Plan,' While Pa. and Other States Chart Their Own Courses
Mar 28, 2019 | The Legal Intelligencer
By Lindsay P. Howard and Matthew C. Wood
In a press conference on Feb. 14, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its multifaceted “action plan” outlining steps the agency is taking to protect public health and the environment from per- and... -
Offshore Drilling Could Muddy Bernhardt Nomination Hearing
Mar 28, 2019 | Politico Pro
By Ben Lefebvre and Anthony Adragna
David Bernhardt is in for a grilling on Thursday over the Trump administration's yet-to-be released plans to expand offshore drilling when he goes before a Senate committee for his nomination hearing to lead the Interior Department. -
Senate Democrats Grill Interior Pick On Past Lobbying Work
Mar 28, 2019 | AP (In the Washington Post)
By Ellen Knickmeyer
The former oil and gas lobbyist nominated to head the Interior Department declined on Thursday to commit to recusing himself from future regulatory decisions involving past clients, telling senators “you want to have your A quarterback... -
Florida Lawmakers Move to Ban Unconventional Drilling
Mar 28, 2019 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Charlie Passut
Florida lawmakers have advanced a pair of bills designed to prohibit hydraulic fracturing, which is used in unconventional drilling. -
Group Takes Oil Refinery Fight To N.D.'S High Court
Mar 28, 2019 | AP (In E&E - Greenwire)
By Blake Nicholson
An environmental group is taking its battle against an oil refinery being developed near Theodore Roosevelt National Park to the North Dakota Supreme Court. The National Parks Conservation Association argued in a filing yesterday that... -
Natural Gas Is More Popular Than Ever For Power
Mar 28, 2019 | Houston Chronicle
By L.M. Sixel
Consumption of natural gas set a new record last year, reflecting increased demand from natural gas fired power producers and bouts of extreme weather. Natural gas consumption increased 10 percent last year to 82.1 billion cubic... -
Cameron LNG OK’d for Feed Gas as U.S. Exports on Cusp of Expanding
Mar 28, 2019 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Leticia Gonzales
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports are inching another step closer for Sempra Energy’s Cameron LNG facility in Louisiana after federal regulators on Wednesday approved introducing hazardous fluids and feed gas, as well as other... -
Detroit Incinerator Will Stop Turning Waste To Energy
Mar 28, 2019 | AP (In E&E - Greenwire)
A company is shutting down operations at a Detroit incinerator that has been criticized for foul odors and other emissions. Detroit Renewable Energy Chief Executive Todd Grzech said yesterday that the Detroit Renewable Power... -
ExxonMobil To Report Plastic Pollution Spills, Shareholders Say
Mar 28, 2019 | Houston Chronicle
By Marissa Luck
Exxon's petrochemical division has several plants that produce plastic pellets, called nurdles, which are used to produce thousands of everyday plastic products. These tiny plastic pellets, which can be spilled during handling and... -
U.S. Approves Commissioning Step For Freeport LNG Texas Export Plant
Mar 28, 2019 | Reuters
By Scott DiSavino
Freeport LNG’s $13 billion Freeport liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Texas moved a step closer to entering service after federal regulators on Thursday approved a commissioning step for the plant: The U.S. Federal Energy... -
Ewire: House GOP seeks to force Green New Deal vote
Mar 28, 2019 | Inside EPA
After their Senate colleagues held a floor vote on the sweeping Green New Deal (GND) climate resolution, House Republicans are hoping to force a similar vote in an effort to fracture the Democratic caucus, though they could face an... -
The Energy 202: Democrats Try To Reset Climate Debate After Green New Deal Defeat
Mar 28, 2019 | Washington Post
By Dino Grandoni
On the heels of the Green New Deal's defeat in the Senate, Democrats tried to prove they would not give up on tackling climate change — an issue that has energized their base and that they think is a political winner for them. -
Castor Planning 'Comprehensive' Climate Policy Recommendations
Mar 28, 2019 | Politico Pro - Energy Whiteboard
By Anthony Adragna
The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis aims to produce a "comprehensive" set of policy recommendations by March 2020 to guide the development of legislation, Chairwoman Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) said after an organizational... -
News House Climate Panel Nixes Rule to ‘Show Its Work’ on Policy Cost
Mar 28, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Abby Smith
Republicans tried—and failed—to require a House select climate committee to include cost analysis alongside any policy recommendations it makes. But the back-and-forth, during the first meeting of the House Select Committee on... -
The Two Key Reasons The World Can’t Reverse Climate Emissions
Mar 28, 2019 | MIT Technology Review
By James Temple
Global energy demand and related carbon emissions both rose again in 2018, according to new figures out this week. This comes as no surprise. The analysis from the International Energy Agency is in line with other preliminary...
Industry and Association News
TSCA News
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News
Transportation and Infrastructure News
Environment News
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(ACC Mentioned) INTERACTIVE: US February Pending Home Sales Fall 1.0%
Mar 28, 2019 | ICIS
US pending home sales dipped slightly in February following January’s rebound, with declines in the northeast and Midwest more than offsetting gains in the south and west, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Thursday.
The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) is a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings.
“In January, pending contracts were up close to 5%, so this month’s 1% drop is not a significant concern,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR. “As a whole, these numbers indicate that a cyclical low in sales is in the past, but activity is not matching the frenzied pace of last spring.”
Year on year, February contract signings marked the fourteenth straight month of annual decreases.
Yun said he does not expect any interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve in 2019.
“That would stimulate the economy and the housing market,” he said. “But the expectation is no change at all in the current monetary policy, which will help mortgage rates stay at attractive levels.”
The housing market is a key consumer of chemicals, driving demand for a wide variety of resins and derivative products such as plastic pipe, insulation, paints and coatings, adhesives and synthetic fibres, among many others.
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) estimates that each new home built represents some $15,000 worth of chemicals and derivatives used in the structure or in the production of component materials.
https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2019/03/28/10341492/interactive-us-february-pending-home-sales-fall-10-/
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(ACC Mentioned) 98% Of European Plastics Production Covered By Operation Clean Sweep
Mar 28, 2019 | Market Report Company
By Anna Larionova
Operation Clean Sweep (OCS), the international program designed to prevent plastic pellets, flakes, and powder from being lost from factory floors and winding up in lakes and oceans, is being successfully embraced by European plastics processors, a new study shows, said Canplastics.
Following the release of its first Operation Clean Sweep report in 2017, industry association PlasticsEurope made the OCS program a top priority in 2018, setting new targets for its members as part of its Plastics 2030 Voluntary Commitment.
"The number of OCS signatories doubled in Europe in 2018, reaching up to more than 500 companies handling plastics pellets,” Karl-H. Foerster, PlasticsEurope’s executive director, said in a statement. “More than 98% of the total European plastics production have now signed up to OCS."
PlasticsEurope is also strengthening its collaboration with the entire plastics value chain. The group announced that 250 new companies signed the pledge in 2018.
"The plastics industry remains fully committed to implementing solutions to end plastic waste in the environment. Working with the value chain for the implementation of OCS is an essential part of our 2030 Voluntary Commitment. Our aim is to drive best practices in pellet management and strive towards zero pellet loss,” Foerster said, “PlasticsEurope’s objectives for 2019 are to actively contribute to global industry efforts. Together with the plastics value chain, its aim is to develop an OCS certification scheme and continue to support the implementation of the OCS program as a way to deliver its voluntary commitment."
PlasticsEurope’s full report is available at this link. Operation Clean Sweep (OCS) is a stewardship program of the U.S.-based Plastics Industry Association and the American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Division. The Canadian Plastics Industry Association is the Canadian licensee of OCS and promotes the program to the Canadian plastics value chain.
http://www.mrcplast.com/news-news_open-351007.html
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Tennessee Bill Blocking Cities’ Plastic Bans Heads to Governor
Mar 28, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Chris Marr
Tennessee would block cities and counties from banning or taxing disposable food containers under legislation that’s headed to the governor’s desk.
H.B. 1021 would bar local governments from regulating food and drink containers, as well as the contents of food or drinks sold—reserving those regulatory powers to the state. The Senate cleared the bill March 28 by a vote of 23-7.
The Republican-sponsored bill goes now to Republican Gov. Bill Lee for consideration. A spokeswoman for Lee didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg Environment’s request for comment.
If Lee signs it, Tennessee would join a handful of states that pre-empt local regulation of plastic containers. One advocate for disposable plastic regulation counts 11 states, including Florida and Mississippi, that have some form of pre-emptive plastic bag regulations.
Such plastic-use bans typically target the restaurant and retail industries, including grocery stores and big-box retailers.
Meanwhile, restrictions on single-use plastic containers, straws, and bags are spreading among Democratic-led U.S. cities and states including California.
Notably, leaders of the European Union voted March 27 to ban use of certain plastic items such as cutlery, plates, and straws by 2021 with the goal of limiting plastic pollution in the world’s oceans.
City Council members in the state’s capital, Nashville, had proposed a ban on single-use plastic shopping bags in 2018 that failed to win council approval.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/tennessee-bill-blocking-cities-plastic-bans-heads-to-governor
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Lawmakers: Plastic Bag Ban Gains Traction In Budget Talks
Mar 28, 2019 | AP (In E&E - Greenwire)
By Chris Carola and David Klepper
The ubiquitous plastic bag would be banned throughout New York state under a proposal gaining traction in state budget negotiations in Albany.
State Sen. Todd Kaminsky and Assemblyman Steve Englebright, both Long Island Democrats, said yesterday that it's past time the state followed the growing number of local governments that have banned plastic bags. They said they're hopeful the provision will be included in the budget, which faces an April 1 deadline.
"This issue has kicked around Albany way too long," said Kaminsky, chairman of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee.
But imposing a fee on paper shopping bags, as some lawmakers and advocates support, could prove to be a thornier issue. Some legislators are concerned a fee would be a tax on consumers in poorer communities. Details of a proposed fee — how much it would be, whether exemptions would be allowed — were still being discussed, Kaminsky said.
Environmental conservation advocates said New Yorkers use 23 billion plastic bags each year.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, supports a plastic bag ban and included it in his budget proposal, although he and the Legislature overturned New York City's 5-cent fee on the bags in 2017, saying there should be a statewide response.
Cuomo introduced legislation last year that would have banned plastic bags across the state, but it failed to get a vote in the Legislature.
"We're encouraged by the emerging consensus on this issue and will continue to work with the Legislature to finalize a budget that works for all New Yorkers," Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said.
The Legislature was working out the details of several proposals in Cuomo's $175 billion spending plan, including eliminating cash bail for criminal defendants and a permanent extension of the existing 2 percent cap on local property tax increases.
A proposal to impose new tolls on motorists driving south of 61st Street in Manhattan is expected to be included. The tolls, which would vary by day and time, would begin in 2021 as a way to reduce traffic congestion while also raising billions of dollars for the city's aging subway system.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/03/28/stories/1060132497
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US EPA Releases Studies On Pigment Violet 29
Mar 28, 2019 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Britt E. Erickson
he US Environmental Protection Agency has released 24 studies that the agency relied on to evaluate the health risks of pigment violet 29, a colorant used in paints, plastics, and other products. The move comes after Democrats in the US House of Representatives asked the EPA twice this year to make such studies public.
Pigment violet 29 is the first of 10 chemicals that the EPA plans to evaluate by the end of this year for risks to human health and the environment under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
The EPA released a draft risk assessment of pigment violet 29 in November, concluding that the chemical “does not present an unreasonable risk of injury to human health or the environment under the conditions of use.” The agency’s release of the 24 studies does not change that determination.
Initially, companies that conducted the studies claimed the documents as confidential business information (CBI). Since then, the companies have dropped most of those CBI claims, according to the EPA.
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY), welcomed the EPA’s release of the studies, calling it “a win for government transparency and the credibility of the TSCA program.” Environmental activists, however, raised concerns that the EPA blacked out important safety data in the studies. “At least one key study released today—on reproductive/ developmental toxicity—redacts ALL of the study data: 333 of the 430 pages are blacked out,” Richard Denison, a lead senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund, tweeted on March 22.
https://cen.acs.org/policy/chemical-regulation/US-EPA-releases-studies-pigment/97/i13
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Mar 28, 2019 | Chemical Watch
House E&C leadership welcomes EPA release of PV29 studies
House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D–New Jersey) and environment subcommittee Chairman Paul Tonko (D–New York) praised the US EPA’s release of studies underlying its TSCA evaluation of pigment violet 29 as "a win for government transparency and the credibility of the TSCA programme."
"We are pleased these documents can finally be made available to the American people, and welcome the reopening of the public comment period on this important risk evaluation," they said.
Senate Democrats probe EPA on EtO
Senators Tom Carper (D–Delaware), Tammy Duckworth (D–Illinois) and Dick Durbin (D–Illinois) have asked EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to furnish information related to the agency’s efforts to assess the health risks and potential illegal releases of ethylene oxide (EtO) in Illinois.
Their request follows news reports related to the potential for higher cancer rates coinciding with higher detected levels of EtO near a facility in the state.
ASBC: Pallone-Shimkus cosmetics bill ‘needs strengthening’
The American Sustainable Business Council, in partnership with the Safe Cosmetics Business Network, has circulated a sign-on letter calling for amendments to a discussion draft of a cosmetics reform bill backed by Congressman Pallone and John Shimkus (R–Illinois)
The business coalition has identified several areas where the bill "needs strengthening", including: requiring full fragrance, flavour and colourant ingredient disclosure to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); protecting the rights of states to pursue their own cosmetics safety legislation; expanding the breadth and depth of the bill’s safety standard; and mandating supply chain transparency.
The deadline for companies to sign on in support of the letter is 29 March.
https://chemicalwatch.com/75444/us-congress-round-up
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Mar 28, 2019 | American Chemistry Matters
The following blog is a segment of a three part series regarding EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program.
Part II: The Truth
Media stories, fueled by false claims, have painted a picture that EPA has concluded there is a link between formaldehyde exposure and leukemia, and that “industry” is trying to cover it up. The truth is that industry has consistently called for any formaldehyde assessment to use transparent, science-based standards and has diligently supported peer-reviewed published studies that improve our understanding of formaldehyde and potential human health risk.
For decades, industry has invested tens of millions of dollars to ensure that the products of chemistry are safe for you, our communities, and the environment. Contrary to the implication that industry is trying to block chemical assessments, we remain committed to conducting scientific research and advocating for science-based regulation of the groundbreaking products that come from chemistry.
The IRIS program has a troubling history in its approach to performing scientific assessments, including releasing draft conclusions before they could be fully vetted by EPA program office scientists and other federal agency scientists. When it comes to critically important issues like public health, we should be able to rely on programs with sound, science standards and processes.
EPA’s IRIS program has been criticized for years for producing substandard reports. In fact, the initial draft assessment of formaldehyde released in 2010 was widely criticized by the scientific community, including the National Academy of Sciences, for its lack of transparent and consistent scientific standards.
If you want to know the truth about formaldehyde, read the facts:FACT: formaldehyde is naturally formed in the human body and exhaled in every breath. The IRIS program would have you believe that the normal amount of formaldehyde humans produce is dangerous and can cause cancer, despite the scientific evidence refuting that claim.FACT: safe levels of formaldehyde exposure have been recognized and implemented by international scientific organizations. Whether it’s used in a glue for the production of plywood for home construction or to make plastic for fuel system components for cars or door and window insulation for modern airliners, products made with formaldehyde provide many benefits for consumers in the form of extended use, consistent quality and improved performance and safety.FACT: there are decades of scientific data that support a safe level of formaldehyde exposure. According to these publicly-available peer-reviewed scientific articles, the low environmental levels of formaldehyde people may be exposed to are unlikely to cause negative health effects.
https://blog.americanchemistry.com/2019/03/part-ii-formaldehyde-the-science-the-truth-and-the-industrys-commitment-to-objective-chemical-assessments/
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(ACC Mentioned) EPA Hopes To Release Delayed IRIS Handbook ‘Soon’
Mar 28, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Lisa Martine Jenkins
The US EPA has not abandoned plans to publish its long-awaited handbook for the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) and has already begun to implement components of it, according to testimony in a recent Congressional hearing.
At a House of Representatives science subcommittee hearing on the EPA’s IRIS programme this week, lawmakers highlighted that a handbook to guide how the office conducts its independent toxicity reviews of substances of concern has been in the works for eight years.
But Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta of the EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) confirmed that its release remains pending.
The EPA, she testified, has a draft of the document in hand. It was reviewed last summer, and the agency is still addressing comments and determining how it will "evaluate and categorise hazard".
In the meantime, she said the EPA is "using components of the blueprint", even while the handbook has not been finalised.
And Dr Orme-Zavaleta said she has raised the issue of the document’s delay with agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler; "My hope is that we complete this soon."
IRIS disagreement continues
Meanwhile, the hearing illustrated the continued divide on the perceived value of the IRIS programme’s risk assessment process, with stakeholders weighing in on both sides of the debate in blog posts and statements.
The American Chemistry Council said the programme suffers from a "lack of transparency, productivity and inability to produce scientifically sound hazard assessments that meet EPA’s needs on a consistent basis."
And the Competitive Enterprise Institute – a thinktank which last month called for it to be scrapped entirely – said IRIS "has a long history of producing junk science."
This, said CEI’s senior fellow Angela Logomasini, contrasts with the TSCA programme, which "has some solid, statutorily mandated requirements designed to promote a rigorous scientific process."
But the Natural Resources Defense Council accused the chemicals industry and "its allies at the TSCA programme" of attacking IRIS assessments and limiting the programme’s resources.
"Under these conditions it is inevitable that chemical assessments will be weakened, regulatory safeguards will be gutted, and preventable human suffering will rise," the NRDC said.
The IRIS programme has come into the spotlight in recent weeks, amid concern that the recent TSCA designation of formaldehyde as a high priority candidate for risk evaluation means a controversial IRIS assessment of the substance will not be finalised.
A recent Government Accountability Office report, meanwhile, highlighted concern at the programme’s prioritisation of chemicals to review.
Alfredo Gomez, director of the GAO’s natural resources and environment division, testified at the hearing that IRIS has made progress in addressing certain process challenges, but it has been delayed in producing assessments by the EPA leadership.
https://chemicalwatch.com/75476/epa-hopes-to-release-delayed-iris-handbook-soon
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Mar 28, 2019 | Chemical Watch
EPA formally publishes methylene chloride rule, workplace programme proposal
The EPA has published in the Federal Register its final rule prohibiting the manufacture, processing and distribution in commerce of methylene chloride for use in consumer paint removal products.
The rule takes effect on 28 May, with a retail prohibition taking effect 180 days later.
A separate Federal Register notice has begun a consultation on a proposal to develop a workplace programme that would impose training, certification and limited access requirements for methylene chloride use in commercial coat and painting removal.
Comments on the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) will be accepted until 28 May.TSCA ‘not likely’ findings
The US EPA has issued nine TSCA 5(a)(3)(c) findings for substances subject to pre-manufacture notices (PMNs). These "not likely to present an unreasonable risk" determinations will allow the substances to come to market without restriction.
They cover:
-P-19-0009: a polymer intended to be imported in solution for use as a corrosion protective additive;
-P-18-0284: an inorganic acid, reaction products with alkyl alcohol, intended for use as a polymer composite additive;
-P-18-0278: isophthalic acid, polymer with terephthalic acid and C4 and C6 dialkyl amines, imported for use as a resin for molded automotive parts and electrical equipment;
-P-19-0025: 11-docosene, manufactured for use as a hydrophobe formulation;
-P-19-0021 and P-19-0022: confidential polymers intended for use in pigment ink;
-P-19-0002: a polyaromatic symmetrical tetracarboxylic acid manufactured for use as a chemical intermediate;
-P-18-0272: a confidential substance, generically described as metal, alkylcarboxylate oxo complexes, intended for use as a polymer composite additive;
-P-18-0169: a polymer manufactured for use as a protective coating; and
-P-17-0119: a confidential polymer imported for use as a component of industrial coatings.
https://chemicalwatch.com/75443/us-epa-round-up
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Health Agency Backs Tackling Family of Fluorinated Chemicals
Mar 28, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sylvia Carignan
Thousands of fluorinated chemicals, among them two prominent compounds contaminating drinking water across the country, are best tackled as a class, a National Institutes of Health official told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee March 28.
The speaker contrasted a group approach to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s and states’ individualized approach to regulating them.
Around 3,000 chemicals, also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, have been used to manufacture nonstick and stain-resistant coatings in clothing, fast-food wrappers, carpets, and other consumer and industrial products.
Linda Birnbaum, director of the North Carolina-based National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences—one of the 27 sub-units that comprise the broader National Institutes of Health—said the “best approach” to assess exposure to PFAS and protect public health is to look at the chemicals as a class.
Found in Mixtures
That approach is important because mixtures of several different types of the chemicals are found in individual samples, Birnbaum said.
In the past, the EPA has based its choices about whether to regulate chemicals or pesticides individually or as a group based on the number of chemical and environmental characteristics they share.
Her agency is researching “more than a hundred” chemicals in the PFAS family, she said, in partnership with the EPA.
States and the EPA have mostly relied on unenforceable guidance to address the chemicals. But some states have issued regulations for individual chemicals, most commonly for two types known as PFOA and PFOS.
PFAS compounds may cause adverse health effects at sufficient levels of exposure, including developmental harm to fetuses, testicular and kidney cancer, liver damage, immune system or thyroid effects, and changes in cholesterol, according to the EPA.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/health-agency-backs-tackling-family-of-fluorinated-chemicals
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US Environment Agency Lists Formaldehyde, Flame Retardants As ‘High Priority’ For Review
Mar 28, 2019 | Chemisty World
By Rebecca Trager
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it intends to review the safety of 40 chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (Tsca). The chemicals that are down for urgent assessment include formaldehyde and several phthalates and flame retardants.
On 20 March, the EPA identified 20 chemicals as ‘high priority’ for risk evaluation. These include formaldehyde, six phthalates, seven chlorinated solvents and four flame retardants. The agency designated another 20 as ‘low priority’ candidates for review, which it said have already been evaluated and determined to meet its ‘safer choice’ criteria.
The EPA must finalise the list by December 2019, and then those substances deemed ‘high priority’ will undergo a three-year evaluation process to determine if they present an unreasonable risk. No further review will be necessary for those chemicals determined to be a low priority.
While the EPA’s announcement represents a significant step in implementing the revamped Tsca law, health and environmental advocates are concerned that the agency might ultimately pre-empt states’ ability to take stronger action on chemicals such as formaldehyde. ‘This means that for formaldehyde and the other phthalates, flame retardants and solvents on the EPA’s list – if the EPA concludes that the uses it evaluates do not pose an unreasonable risk – states will be pre-empted from taking more protective actions,’ warned Daniel Rosenberg, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). He noted that if the EPA concludes those uses do pose an unreasonable risk, states will be pre-empted from imposing any more extensive controls than those that the agency establishes.
All of the 20 high priority candidates have been on the EPA’s Tsca work plan since 2014 so the agency could have begun to identify data gaps on these chemicals and issued testing orders to fill them shortly after the new Tsca took effect almost three years ago, according to Bob Sussman, counsel for Safer Chemicals Healthy Families. These high priority candidates have undergone some testing, but the available data is likely to be insufficient for any comprehensive risk determination, he adds.
The EPA’s new list also caused a stir on Capitol Hill. The chairman of the House energy and commerce chairman, Democrat Frank Pallone, said it ‘raises serious concerns’ that the agency is failing to prioritise evaluations of some of the most worrying chemicals. ‘Instead of addressing dangerous emerging threats like perfluorinated chemicals, which are right now contaminating the drinking water of millions of Americans, the agency is aiming to re-evaluate chemicals like formaldehyde and phthalates – whose risks have already been rigorously evaluated and documented,’ the congressman said. Furthermore, Pallone said that if the EPA concludes that those uses do pose an unreasonable risk, states will likely be stopped from imposing their own controls beyond what the EPA mandates.
Nevertheless, states do have some authority to act under their own water, air and other laws. Rosenberg said there is a waiver provision in the revised Tsca that may provide states with additional opportunities to impose restrictions in cases where they determine that action by the EPA is insufficient.
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/us-lists-formaldehyde-flame-retardents-as-high-priority-for-review/3010296.article
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N.J. Sues 3 Firms Over PFAS Pollution
Mar 28, 2019 | AP (In E&E - Greenwire)
Two days after ordering them to clean up chemical contamination in various spots, New Jersey is suing three companies over pollution issues.
The state Attorney General's Office filed four lawsuits yesterday against DuPont, Chemours and 3M.
They were among firms targeted by the state Monday to clean up contamination from chemicals used to stain-proof clothing and make nonstick cookware, called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS (E&E News PM, March 25).
Some of the firms said they are already addressing the situation and pledged cooperation with the state, while others did not comment.
The suits each focus on a manufacturing sites in Pennsville and Carneys Point Township; Sayreville; Greenwich Township; and Pompton Lakes.
Two of them focus on contamination of groundwater, surface water and other natural resources.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/03/28/stories/1060132491
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Bayer Keeps Roundup Faith After Losing Second Trial on Cancer
Mar 28, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Joel Rosenblatt, Robert Burnson, and Tim Loh
Bayer AG vowed to keep defending its weedkiller Roundup after losing a second trial over claims it causes cancer, indicating that the embattled company isn’t yet ready to consider spending billions of dollars to settle thousands of similar lawsuits.
A jury in San Francisco federal court awarded compensatory damages of $5.3 million and punitive damages of $75 million to a 70-year-old man who became ill after spraying the herbicide on his property for decades. Wednesday’s verdict follows a similar decision by a state court jury last summer, and comes as a third trial is under way in Oakland, California.
The company will continue to “vigorously defend” the herbicide, which it considers safe, Christian Hartel, a spokesman, said by phone from Bayer’s headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany. It plans to appeal the verdict and doesn’t view the ruling as a harbinger for others because each trial has different factual and legal circumstances.
Some experts disagree. “You can’t keep trying case after case after case and keep losing and say, ‘We’re not going to settle,” said Thomas G. Rohback, a trial lawyer at Axinn in New York. If Bayer continues to lose at trial, it “has to put the possibility of a settlement of these cases into the mix.”
Roundup became the German company’s leading headache after it acquired Monsanto Co. for about $63 billion last June. Bayer has lost more than 60 percent of its value since the transaction. On Thursday, its shares fell as much as 3.3 percent to 54.48 euros in Frankfurt, the lowest level in more than six years.
The case was brought by Edwin Hardeman, who used the herbicide on his large plot of land in Sonoma County, about 60 miles north of San Francisco. As with the thousands of other consumers suing Bayer, Hardeman argued his years of exposure to the chemical caused his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The jury found that there’s a defect in Roundup, that Bayer failed to warn of the product’s risks and that the company was negligent.
Some analysts have put the price of settling lawsuits over Roundup filed by more than 11,200 people in the U.S. at more than $5 billion. Rohback said Bayer may be pursuing a “long game,” based on a strategy of continuing to fight in hopes of finding some plaintiffs it can beat.
The Roundup verdict is the third-largest product liability jury award in the U.S. so far in 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The largest such verdict, for $151.8 million, was issued by an Alabama jury last month against Ford Motor Co., over an Explorer rollover accident.
Bayer won’t have the advantage in Oakland that it had in San Francisco federal court. Hardeman’s trial was split into two parts, a format that legal experts said gave the company its best chance of evening the score after it lost the first Roundup trial last summer and was ultimately ordered to pay $78.6 million in damages.
Secret Campaign
Instead, the Oakland trial will permit lawyers to present jurors at the outset with their narrative about Monsanto Co.’s secret campaign to manipulate public opinion and bury evidence of Roundup’s cancer risks.
Jurors in Hardeman’s case first sat through weeks of scientific testimony to decide whether Roundup was a “substantial factor” in causing his illness before they heard any evidence that Monsanto ghostwrote influential studies and improperly leaned on regulators. Bayer countered that scientific studies showed the herbicide is safe and argued to the jury that damning emails were taken out of context.
Hardeman sought more than $19 million in damages, including compensation for hospital bills as well as pain and suffering.
Monsanto’s Actions
His lawyers said the verdict sends a message to Monsanto that it needs to change the way it does business.
“It speaks volumes that not one Monsanto employee, past or present, came live to trial to defend Roundup’s safety or Monsanto’s actions,” Aimee Wagstaff and Jennifer Moore said in a statement.
Bayer’s adversaries in Oakland are Alva and Alberta Pilliod, a couple in their 70s who invoked a California law that gives scheduling preference to people who are ill. A school groundskeeper who won the first trial against Bayer in August relied on the same law. Bayer is appealing the August verdict, too.
If the losses keep coming, Rohback said, Bayer’s only justification for continuing to fight is if plaintiffs’ lawyers are making unrealistic demands to resolve the litigation. “At some point you’re not getting a lot of encouragement to go forward with the same approach,” he said.
The case is In re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2741, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/bayer-keeps-roundup-faith-after-losing-second-trial-on-cancer
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Man Awarded $80 Million After Jury Finds Monsanto's Weed Killer Caused His Cancer
Mar 28, 2019 | The Hill - Regulation
By Chris Mills Rodrigo
A man was awarded $80 million by a federal jury in San Francisco after jury members determined last week that Monsanto's weed-killer, Roundup, led him to develop cancer, BuzzFeed news reported.
The jury found on Wednesday that Monsanto, which manufactures the widely used weed killer, caused Edwin Hardeman, 70, harm by failing to adequately warn of the potential dangers of using the glyphosate-based herbicide.
Hardeman was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2015 after using Roundup for more than two decades.
He was reportedly given $75 million in punitive damages and about $5.8 million in compensatory damages.
Bayer, which purchased Monsanto last year, said it would appeal Wednesday's verdict.
“We are disappointed with the jury’s decision, but this verdict does not change the weight of over four decades of extensive science and the conclusions of regulators worldwide that support the safety of our glyphosate-based herbicides and that they are not carcinogenic,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement.
“The verdict in this trial has no impact on future cases and trials, as each one has its own factual and legal circumstances. Bayer will appeal this verdict,” the spokesperson added.
The company is facing lawsuits from more than 11,000 plaintiffs alleging that exposure to glyphosate-based products caused them harm.
More than 50 U.S. cities and counties have banned the chemical, citing health concerns.
The World Health Organization in 2015 classified glyphosate as a "probable human carcinogen,” and researchers have not yet definitively linked the chemical to cancer. Researchers from the University of Washington foundthat glyphosate, the world's most commonly used weed killer, increases the cancer risk of those exposed to it by 41 percent.
Guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency says the weed killer has "low toxicity for humans."
https://thehill.com/regulation/436163-man-awarded-80-million-after-jury-finds-monsantos-weed-killer-caused-his-cancer
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EPA Announces PFAS 'Action Plan,' While Pa. and Other States Chart Their Own Courses
Mar 28, 2019 | The Legal Intelligencer
By Lindsay P. Howard and Matthew C. Wood
In a press conference on Feb. 14, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its multifaceted “action plan” outlining steps the agency is taking to protect public health and the environment from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS are a group of synthetic chemicals that have been in use since around the 1940s and have numerous commercial and consumer applications. They have been used in nonstick coatings for cookware and food containers, waterproofing for fabrics and textiles, the manufacture of plastics and resins, and the formulation of firefighting foams. Their widespread use and the discovery of PFAS chemicals in various environmental media across the United States has raised interest and concerns about their potential effects on human health and the environment.
PFAS in the Environment
PFAS chemicals have been found in, among other things, groundwater (which may be used for drinking water), surface water and sediments, as well as in wildlife and human blood. Human exposure may occur through ingestion of contaminated drinking water and consumption of animals and plants in which PFAS have bioaccumulated (or that have been exposed to PFAS in the course of preparing or cooking food for consumption). Studies have shown that exposure to PFAS chemicals may have negative health consequences, which has driven the EPA and other stakeholders to better understand the chemicals, the extent of their presence in the environment, their potential health effects and the best methods for containment and cleanup.
EPA’s Action Plan
To develop its action plan, the EPA requested comments, visited with leadership and citizens of PFAS-affected communities, and hosted a PFAS National Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. in May 2018. The input from these events informed the action plan’s four primary approaches to addressing PFAS: identifying and understanding PFAS; addressing current contamination; preventing future contamination; and effective communication with the public. In connection with these approaches, the EPA developed priority, short-term (< 2 years), and long-term (> 2 years) actions.
One of the EPA’s priority actions is to propose a drinking water regulatory determination for PFOA and PFOS—two of the more common PFAS chemicals. This regulatory determination is the first step in determining whether to establish maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for these chemicals under the Safe Water Drinking Act (SWDA). Although EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler anticipates completion of this first step in 2019, promulgation of MCLs will require additional regulatory steps, and is not guaranteed. In addition to its currently available enforcement mechanisms, the EPA is also in the process of defining PFOA and PFOS as “hazardous substances” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) in order to increase the agency’s investigation, cleanup and cost recovery authority with respect to the chemicals.
Many of the EPA’s priority, short-, and long-term actions focus on collecting and disseminating information and data toward specific goals. For example, the EPA would like to better understand toxicity and health impacts of PFAS chemicals on humans, develop new analytical methods for detecting PFAS chemicals in drinking water and other environmental media (e.g., soil, sediment and air), identify additional sources of PFAS in the environment, and improve current and advance new investigative and remedial guidance. The EPA has committed to communicate its findings on these issues to the public.
State Responses
Even if the EPA accomplishes its goals in accordance with the general schedule set forth in the action plan, many of the agency’s actions will take years to implement. Moreover, despite the EPA’s recent actions, many states have long believed that the EPA has been moving too slowly to address their concerns about PFAS chemicals and have already implemented their own PFAS-related agendas. For example, earlier this month, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) established interim specific groundwater quality standards (ISGWQS) for PFOA and PFOS at 10 parts per trillion (ppt), which is substantially lower than the EPA’s current Health Advisory Limit (HAL) of 70 ppt combined. Other states are similarly taking aggressive regulatory action to address PFAS in the environment.
Pennsylvania PFAS Action Team
Pennsylvania has also moved to address PFAS contamination at the state level. In September 2018, Gov. Tom Wolf issued an executive order establishing a PFAS action team made up of leaders from multiple commonwealth agencies. Among other things, Wolf tasked the action team with identifying impacted sites and protecting drinking water, developing response protocols, gathering and sharing information and exploring funding for remediation efforts. As of this writing, almost 20 sites across the commonwealth are being investigated for PFAS contamination. In a contemporaneous letter to Wheeler, Wolf also urged the EPA to expeditiously set protective MCLs for PFOA and PFOS and “expand its analytical and regulatory focus beyond drinking water to encompass PFAS reductions across all media.”
PADEP subsequently held a public meeting in November 2018, to educate residents about PFAS, featuring presentations by PFAS experts and opportunities for public comment (a follow-up meeting is planned, but as yet unscheduled). In an apparent response to the EPA’s action plan—which some critics claimed indicated the EPA’s lack of commitment to establishing MCLs for PFOA and PFOS—PADEP appears to be gathering resources to begin the process of establishing its own MCL, a first for the commonwealth.
Impacts to Site Remediation Programs
Cleaning up historic contamination at old industrial properties can be an expensive and time-consuming process. With the increased attention now being given to new and emerging contaminants like PFAS, the site remediation process will no doubt become even more complicated. For example, for sites that are currently being evaluated for cleanup, the lead agency may add PFAS to the list of chemicals that need to be investigated, even if the investigation is already well on its way. Moreover, for sites that have previously been investigated and cleaned up, the lead agency could compel further investigation of PFAS chemicals. Another concern is that agencies may compel action before adequate tools to evaluate, treat, and clean up PFAS are developed. Alternatively, agencies may delay providing parties with regulatory closure at remediation sites as they attempt to come up to speed on the science and incorporate it into their regulatory schemes. All of these scenarios could be costly and time consuming for parties involved in investigations and cleanups.
Litigation
Aside from regulatory concerns, many companies may face threats of lawsuits by parties allegedly injured by PFAS. In one recent complaint filed in February 2019, (Ridgewood Water v. The 3M Company, BER-L-001447-19, N.J. Super. Ct. Law Div.), Ridgewood Water (a public drinking water provider), alleged that 3M and multiple other defendants (including 50 Doe defendants) involved in the manufacture and use of PFAS chemicals contaminated Ridgewood’s wells. The plaintiff alleged the contamination forced it to take some wells out of service and incur costs to develop treatment plans for others. Ridgewood brought causes of action for strict products liability for defective design; 2strict products liability for failure to warn; negligence; and trespass; and is seeking investigation and cleanup costs, compensatory damages for past and future injuries, punitive damages, and attorney fees and costs. We expect to see similar complaints filed in the future.
Conclusion
The regulatory developments concerning PFAS chemicals discussed here are already having significant impacts on stakeholders. Despite the recent release of the EPA’s action plan, it remains to be seen whether and how quickly the agency takes action toward further regulating PFAS chemicals. In the meantime, it is clear that Pennsylvania and other states will proceed with their own action plans, leaving the regulated community with a patchwork of potentially inconsistent and confusing requirements and standards across the country.
Babst Calland Clements & Zomnir will continue to track the EPA’s and the states’ dynamic plans to identify, regulate and respond to PFAS in our communities.
https://www.law.com/thelegalintelligencer/2019/03/28/epa-announces-its-pfas-action-plan-while-pa-and-other-states-chart-their-own-courses/?slreturn=20190228125545
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Offshore Drilling Could Muddy Bernhardt Nomination Hearing
Mar 28, 2019 | Politico Pro
By Ben Lefebvre and Anthony Adragna
David Bernhardt is in for a grilling on Thursday over the Trump administration's yet-to-be released plans to expand offshore drilling when he goes before a Senate committee for his nomination hearing to lead the Interior Department.
Bernhardt, who took the helm at Interior on an acting basis in early January when Ryan Zinke departed amid ethics issues, will also face tough questions about whether he's violated conflict of interest rules by weighing in on policies linked to his previous work lobbying on California water issues and for the oil and gas industry.
But it is whether the agency intends to open the waters off the East and West Coasts, Alaska and Florida to new oil and gas drilling that has stirred worries among Republicans from coastal states. Zinke had indicated the new plan would be unveiled in the fall of 2018, although that target has slipped amid pushback from several governors, including Republicans who fear new drilling will hurt their fishing and tourism industries.
“I’m sure that those questions will come up in the hearing this week,” Committee Chair Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said of the drilling plan to POLITICO. “We’ll see the degree to which that will create an issue.”
Despite the slipping timeline for the offshore drilling plan, which was first proposed over a year ago, Interior has said it was not slow-walking the final version. The plan is still under review by staff at BOEM, Interior Assistant Secretary Joe Balash told POLITICO last week, adding that the draft “hasn’t made it to my desk, so if it hasn’t made it to my desk it’s not about to be released.”
So far, there's no sign the Republican caucus is wavering in its support for President Donald Trump's pick. Bernhardt isn't expected to get a rough time from the GOP lawmakers on the Energy and Natural Resources committee that will hold Thursday's hearing. None of them hail from the states along the East Coast, where Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has already sought to issue permits for seismic testing to assess the oil and gas potential.
There are concerns among other Republicans in Senate, however, including Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Thom Tillis (N.C.), both of whom are expected to face competitive 2020 races. Collins has repeatedly opposed drilling off Maine’s coast and sponsored legislation that would permanently bar it. Tillis appears to have softened his support for offshore drilling after using his first Senate floor speech in 2015 to loudly advocate for it. He requested additional information on the administration’s plans in February.
Other Republicans are also being closely watched, including Sen. Lindsey Graham(S.C.), who said last year any drilling off of South Carolina should be done only with with the state's approval, and Sen. David Perdue (Ga.), who called for putting drilling near Georgia on the “back burner." Both are up for reelection in 2020.
Opposition among Florida's lawmakers to drilling off state's shores was rock solid: Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott sent a letter to Bernhardt urging the exclusion of all offshore waters of Florida from the drilling plan, as did the state’s entire congressional delegation.
Bernhardt has few prospects for supporters among Senate Democrats. Along with all Republicans, five members of the Democratic caucus backed him to be deputy secretary in July 2017 but just three remain, and one of them, Sen. Michael Bennet(D-Colo.), says he’ll oppose Bernhardt’s promotion.
That leaves Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Angus King (I-Maine) as the lone remaining Democratic caucus members who backed Bernhardt previously. An aide to Manchin said he goes into the process undecided while King’s office did not respond to request for comment.
Missteps by Zinke last year, including a meeting with then-Florida Gov. Scott that, gave Democrats an opening to charge that the administration was playing favorites — and trying to boost Scott in his race to unseat former Sen. Bill Nelson.
“It’s an issue that the previous secretary had made political,” Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) told POLITICO. “I think we will probably raise the issue.”
Berhardt may have participated in Zinke's communications with Scott ahead of that January 2018 meeting where Zinke promised to exclude Florida's coastline from the drilling plan. According to emails the conservation group Western Values Project received from via a Freedom of Information Act Request, the then-deputy secretary was scheduled to have a phone call and an in-person meeting with people in Scott’s office in late 2017, ahead of Zinke’s meeting with the then-governor.
Bernhardt was scheduled to meet on Oct. 31 with Scott’s then-chief of staff Jackie Schutz and Christine Diaz, Scott’s former D.C. liaison, according to the emails. An October 12 email notes Bernhardt was to “likely want to join the call” the following day with Schutz and Scott’s “energy folks” scheduled “to follow up on a conversation [Zinke] had with the Governor yesterday.”
An Interior spokesperson said the calls and visit were part of a “meet and greet” with Bernhardt and Scott’s office but declined to elaborate. Diaz did not return calls. A spokesperson for Scott did not offer comment. Interior has not responded to repeated requests to make Bernhardt available for an interview.
Democrats are pushing more information before the Senate makes its decision on Bernhardt. Seventeen members of the caucus requested clarity before today's hearing,
“The American people deserve to know your plan for the Outer Continental Shelf before the Senate votes on your nomination,” the Democrats wrote.
Before joining the Trump administration, Berhardt worked for Brownstein as an energy lobbyist after a stint in the office of former Colorado Republican Rep. Scott McInnis. He first joined Interior under the George W. Bush administration, rising to become solicitor before joining Brownstein in June 2009.
Bernhardt’s supporters have said his experience at Interior and working with industry give him a depth of knowledge on energy matters.
“I know his reputation, that he’s a really smart guy,” said Western Energy Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma. "He comes to the job with lot of experience in public land issues.“
Environmental and conservation groups have criticized Bernhardt’s nomination, saying his extensive oil and gas lobbying work creates too many potential conflicts of interest to oversee an agency in charge of a fifth of the U.S. landscape.
“Bernhardt has the most conflicts of any Trump nominee,” said Kate Kelly, public lands director at Center for American Progress, a liberal group that has analyzed his financial disclosure forms and compared them to those filed by other senior White House staff. “His list of clients is so clearly stacked with extractive industries, rather than any semblance of balanced land management.”
Another possible other source of scrutiny in the confirmation battle will be donations Bernhardt’s former employer, Brownstein, has made to senators of both parties, some of whom will have a direct say whether his nomination will go to the full Senate for a vote.
Brownstein employees and the firm's Political Action Committee donated more than $960,000 over the past six years to the campaigns of currently sitting senators via its political action committee and donations from individual employees, according to campaign finance documents first reviewed by MapLight, a nonprofit that focuses on money in politics. The PAC and Brownstein and its employees donated another $560,000 to the national Democratic and Republican senate campaign committees, according to a POLITICO review of the campaign data.
Nearly $240,000 went to the campaigns of senators on the Energy and Natural Resources committee who will vote whether to send Bernhardt’s nomination to the full senate, according to the data. A quarter of those donations were for Sen. Cory Gardner, the Colorado Republican who has been a strong supporter of Bernhardt and who received donations worth $3,600 from Bernhardt directly.
Campaign committees for Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), another committee member, received $24,200 from Brownstein, including $4,000 from Bernhardt.
The fact that most of the money came from Brownstein employees and the company PAC doesn’t shield Bernhardt from concerns that it‘s another form of influence over lawmakers, said Laura Peterson, investigator at Project for Government Oversight, a nonprofit that focus on good governance issues.
“Bernhardt's portfolio was a really big part of their business,” Peterson said. The donations “are not only influencing the outcome of his confirmation, they’re influencing potential outcomes for his former clients.“
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/energy/article/2019/03/offshore-drilling-could-muddy-bernhardt-nomination-hearing-1292468
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Senate Democrats Grill Interior Pick On Past Lobbying Work
Mar 28, 2019 | AP (In the Washington Post)
By Ellen Knickmeyer
The former oil and gas lobbyist nominated to head the Interior Department declined on Thursday to commit to recusing himself from future regulatory decisions involving past clients, telling senators “you want to have your A quarterback on the team.”
David Bernhardt appeared before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which was considering his nomination as Interior secretary. Bernhardt, a Washington veteran who has worked previously at Interior and more recently as a lobbyist, has been serving as the department’s acting secretary since Ryan Zinke resigned in December amid ethics allegations.
Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said Bernhardt’s past lobbying work for clients in energy, agriculture and other businesses made it impossible for the nominee to impartially decide a host of regulatory matters dealing with the public resources under Interior’s control.
“I think you are so conflicted,” Wyden said. “You’re either going to have to disqualify yourself from so many matters I don’t know how you’re going to spend your day” or violate ethical standards by not recusing himself from decisions on clients.
Asked by Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, if he would take himself out of regulatory dealings involving past clients when a one-year mandatory recusal period ends, Bernhardt pushed back.
“I have a really particular skillset” for the job, Bernhardt said. “I’m basically handcuffed if I am recusing myself. And I don’t think that really is the best strategy.”
“I’m actually pretty good at going up against these guys,” he said, referring to industry interests. “And I would say you want to have your A quarterback on the team.”
Sen. Cory Gardner, a Colorado Republican, defended Bernhardt, saying his past work for industries and previous stints as a senior staffer at Interior gave him valuable experience.
And Committee Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski said government ethics officials had approved Bernhardt’s plans for handling any conflicts of interest.
“He has proven his ability to head the department,” said Murkowski, an Alaska Republican.
Wyden also cited Interior documents recently made public under the federal Freedom of Information Act that he said showed Bernhardt’s agency suppressed internal findings about the harm that recent Interior decisions on pesticides would have on endangered species.
“You’ve meddled with the science, you’ve inserted yourself in the scientific process,” Wyden said.
Bernhardt responded that he made those decisions in accordance with advice from the department’s lawyers.
Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, asked the nominee about President Donald Trump’s drive to open federal waters to potential oil and gas development and about coastal states’ broad objections to that.
He said that if he votes for Bernhardt and Interior then moves to open up the offshore waters, “I don’t believe I can go home again.”
King asked Bernhardt to commit to making the wishes of coastal states “a major consideration” in any decision.
“Absolutely,” Bernhardt said.
Unlike Zinke, who won headlines by riding a horse to Interior on his first day on the job and appeared to welcome the spotlight thereafter, Bernhardt is seen as a low-key but skilled insider, capable of carrying out Trump’s business-friendly regulatory mandate in ways that could stand up to court challenges later by environmental groups.
Scores of conservation groups and other nonprofit organizations have spoken out against his confirmation, citing his previous lobbying work.
Government ethics codes for the executive branch were “designed to stop precisely these types of conflicts of interest: lobbying the government on an issue one day, then joining the government the next and continuing the effort desired by the previous client,” Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for governance advocacy group Public Citizen, said in a statement.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/senators-consider-ex-oil-and-gas-lobbyist-to-head-interior/2019/03/28/8c4ef5c8-516b-11e9-bdb7-44f948cc0605_story.html?utm_term=.0c417df43772
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Florida Lawmakers Move to Ban Unconventional Drilling
Mar 28, 2019 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Charlie Passut
Florida lawmakers have advanced a pair of bills designed to prohibit hydraulic fracturing, which is used in unconventional drilling.
Subscription required for full text.
https://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/117855-florida-lawmakers-move-to-ban-unconventional-drilling
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Group Takes Oil Refinery Fight To N.D.'S High Court
Mar 28, 2019 | AP (In E&E - Greenwire)
By Blake Nicholson
An environmental group is taking its battle against an oil refinery being developed near Theodore Roosevelt National Park to the North Dakota Supreme Court.
The National Parks Conservation Association argued in a filing yesterday that an air quality permit issued by the state Health Department for the $800 million Davis Refinery and upheld by a state judge violates the federal Clean Air Act.
The Health Department after a two-year review determined the refinery will not be a major source of pollution that will harm the park just 3 miles away. The permit the agency issued in June 2018 cleared the way for construction to begin. Meridian Energy Group began site work last summer and plans to resume construction this spring, with the goal of having the refinery fully operational by mid-2021.
State District Judge Dann Greenwood ruled in January that the Health Department had effectively supported its position. Greenwood refused to declare the permit invalid and send the case back to the agency for a more rigorous review. The NPCA wants the Supreme Court to overrule him.
"Although the underlying permit contains a requirement for the Davis Refinery to keep monthly logs of its actual emissions ... the permit contains no requirement that the Davis Refinery install monitors to actually collect this data," association attorney Derrick Braaten said.
The group fears that pollution from the refinery will mar the park's scenery and erode air quality for wildlife and visitors. The park is North Dakota's top tourist attraction, drawing more than 700,000 people annually.
"With the decision to appeal, NPCA is fighting to protect the park that has inspired generations of conservationists," Stephanie Kodish, clean air program director for the association, said in a statement.
Roosevelt ranched in the region in the 1880s and is still revered by many for his advocacy of land and wildlife conservation.
Meridian maintains that the facility will be "the cleanest refinery on the planet" thanks to modern technology and will be a model for future refineries. The company in a statement yesterday said it does not comment on pending litigation.
State Air Quality Director Terry O'Clair said he had not had a chance to review the appeal, but that "we're confident in the permit that was issued."
Meridian in late January obtained a needed state water permit. It still faces a separate state court battle related to the refinery's location. Two other environmental groups are challenging a decision by North Dakota regulators who concluded they were barred by state law from wading into the dispute over the site.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/03/28/stories/1060132489
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Natural Gas Is More Popular Than Ever For Power
Mar 28, 2019 | Houston Chronicle
By L.M. Sixel
Consumption of natural gas set a new record last year, reflecting increased demand from natural gas fired power producers and bouts of extreme weather.
Natural gas consumption increased 10 percent last year to 82.1 billion cubic feet per day, the Department of Energy reported.
Electric power producers accounted for 35 percent of the natural gas consumption last year, representing 29.1 billion cubic feet per day. New natural gas generator capacity continues to replace less efficient coal-fired power plants. The U.S. added about 14.5 gigawatts of natural gas capacity last year while retiring nearly 13 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity.
Last winter's bitter cold days followed by record setting heat during the summer also drove demand for natural gas, the dominant source for space heating and increasingly, air conditioning.
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Natural-gas-is-more-popular-than-ever-for-power-13718710.php?cmpid=ffpower
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Cameron LNG OK’d for Feed Gas as U.S. Exports on Cusp of Expanding
Mar 28, 2019 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Leticia Gonzales
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports are inching another step closer for Sempra Energy’s Cameron LNG facility in Louisiana after federal regulators on Wednesday approved introducing hazardous fluids and feed gas, as well as other commissioning activities, at Train 1.
Subscription required for full text.
https://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/117856-cameron-lng-okd-for-feed-gas-as-us-exports-on-cusp-of-expanding
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Detroit Incinerator Will Stop Turning Waste To Energy
Mar 28, 2019 | AP (In E&E - Greenwire)
A company is shutting down operations at a Detroit incinerator that has been criticized for foul odors and other emissions.
Detroit Renewable Energy Chief Executive Todd Grzech said yesterday that the Detroit Renewable Power facility northeast of downtown will stop converting waste to energy.
The company was under a 2014 consent judgment with the state to upgrade the incinerator to manage odors. Groups have lobbied for the plant's closure. Mayor Mike Duggan said yesterday that his preference is that the site never again be home to a waste incinerator.
Trash burned at the incinerator created electricity and steam used by homes and buildings in and around downtown. Grzech said the company will focus more on the underground steam system's operations, which now will be fueled solely by natural gas.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/03/28/stories/1060132485
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ExxonMobil To Report Plastic Pollution Spills, Shareholders Say
Mar 28, 2019 | Houston Chronicle
By Marissa Luck
Exxon's petrochemical division has several plants that produce plastic pellets, called nurdles, which are used to produce thousands of everyday plastic products. These tiny plastic pellets, which can be spilled during handling and transportation and swept into waterways, are estimated to be the second largest direct source of microplastic pollution to the ocean by weight.
The shareholder group As You Sow filed a proposed shareholder resolution in January with several major petrochemical producers, including Exxon, Dow Chemical, Phillips 66 and Chevron, asking for annual reporting on spills and measures taken to prevent and clean up spills.
Exxon appears to be the first one that caved to the pressure. Under a deal struck with As You Sow, Exxon will begin providing details about whether any spills occurred, specifics about how it is monitoring for spills and how it is managing pellets. It will also describe how the company assesses the effectiveness of pellet loss prevention measures. The company apparently did not have any spills though in 2018, according to As You Sow.
"We are pleased that ExxonMobil has agreed to do public reporting on plastic pellet spills and management," said Conrad MacKerron, senior vice president at As You Sow in a statement. "It is important for all industry players to establish similar transparency so stakeholders can get a realistic view of the size and scope of this problem. We hope the other companies we are engaged with will follow its lead."
After the agreement was reached, As You Sow withdrew its shareholder proposal March 22 after the Irving oil major agreed to start reporting its plastic pellet management, according to SEC documents. An Exxon spokesman declined to comment beyond what was said in the SEC documents acknowledging the withdrawal of the shareholder proposal.
Many petrochemical companies are involved in a program called Operation Clean Sweep that aims to promote best practices for pellet management and containment to prevent pellet spills. But As You Sow has criticized the group because it doesn't require companies to publicly report spills or plastic management methods.
The tiny pellets, the size of fish eggs, make their way onto shorelines, beaches and break up into smaller pieces that animals can mistake as food. Plastic pollution impacts 260 species, causing fatalities from ingestion, entanglement, suffocation and drowning, according to As You Sow.
The other shareholder proposals filed with Chevron, Phillips 66 and Dow Chemical will likely be voted on during shareholder meetings this spring.
As You Sow last year was involved in successful efforts to push Starbucks to ditch plastic straws and pressure KraftHeinz, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and others to commit to increase the use of recycled packaging in their products.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/ExxonMobil-to-report-plastic-pollution-spills-13723319.php
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U.S. Approves Commissioning Step For Freeport LNG Texas Export Plant
Mar 28, 2019 | Reuters
By Scott DiSavino
Freeport LNG’s $13 billion Freeport liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Texas moved a step closer to entering service after federal regulators on Thursday approved a commissioning step for the plant:
* The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Freeport’s request to introduce hazardous fluids to commission the liquefaction flare pilot system, a step in the process LNG terminals go through as they prepare for service.
* The first train at Freeport is expected to enter commercial service in the third quarter, according to U.S. engineering firm McDermott International Inc, which is building the plant, and U.S. pipeline company Williams Cos Inc, which is building a pipe to connect the plant to the interstate gas system.
* McDermott said it expects Train 2 to enter service in the first quarter of 2020 and Train 3 in the second quarter of 2020.
* Officials at Freeport, the privately-held developer of the project, were not immediately available for comment.
* Energy traders noted LNG terminals usually start producing LNG a couple months before entering commercial service.
* Each train at Freeport will have the capacity to produce about 5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG or around 0.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of natural gas. One billion cubic feet is enough gas to supply about five million U.S. homes for a day.
* Freeport has 20-year contracts to sell LNG to Japanese gas company Osaka Gas Co Ltd and JERA - an alliance between Japanese power companies Tokyo Electric Power Co Holdings Inc and Chubu Electric Power Co Inc - from Train 1, British oil major BP Plc from Train 2 and Chinese chemicals company ENN Ecological Holding Co and South Korean energy company SK E&S from Train 3.
* Freeport also has a three-year deal to sell 0.5 MTPA of LNG to multinational commodity trading firm Trafigura Group Pte Ltd starting in July 2020.
* In addition, Freeport is developing a fourth 5-MTPA liquefaction train at the facility and could make a final investment decision on the train in the second quarter of 2019 with the plant entering service in 2023 or 2024.
* Freeport has said it is working on a 20-year deal to sell 2.2 MTPA of LNG to a unit of Japanese trading firm Sumitomo Corp from Train 4.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-freeport-lng/us-approves-commissioning-step-for-freeport-lng-texas-export-plant-idUSKCN1R924Q
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Ewire: House GOP seeks to force Green New Deal vote
Mar 28, 2019 | Inside EPA
After their Senate colleagues held a floor vote on the sweeping Green New Deal (GND) climate resolution, House Republicans are hoping to force a similar vote in an effort to fracture the Democratic caucus, though they could face an uphill battle given their minority status in that chamber.
CNN reports that Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) is planning to file a discharge petition in late April. If the petition were to garner a majority of House members, it would require the GND resolution to come to the floor for a vote.
But Hice would need at least 20 Democrats to join the full GOP caucus, and the article notes that Democrats are “expected to dismiss it as a political stunt.”
As Inside EPA's Doug Obey reported, Democratic senators largely adopted that tactic, with even sponsors of the resolution voting “present” to protest the March 26 Senate vote. Only four members of that caucus joined with Republicans to vote against the resolution.
GOP lawmakers are branding the GND as radical and “socialist,” and are highlighting in the issue in an attempt to divide Democrats.
But environmentalists and their allies in Congress argue that the Republican focus on the GND could backfire because it is only increasing the political salience of climate change and putting a spotlight on their own reluctance to support any carbon controls.
“Republicans continue to ignore climate change at their political peril. They will pay a price at the ballot box in 2020,” said Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), the GND's primary sponsor in the Senate.
Along those lines, a March 18-25 NBC News poll found that 51 percent of respondents back the GND, while 42 percent are opposed, though as Axios notes, the poll asked about the issue in a “very broad-brush way.”
Sean McElwee of the liberal think tank Data for Progress offers a more nuanced take in a New York Times op-ed, writing that various components of the proposal are quite popular among the public, though the proposal is facing “an aggressive and one-sided onslaught from the right with very little by way of response.”
“Though many components of the Green New Deal are popular, the Republican propaganda machine has already reshaped the narrative,” he argues. “Democrats should not be afraid to embrace it, and Republicans who mess with it -- despite the temporary success of their aggressive tactics -- will do so at their own risk.”
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/ewire-house-gop-seeks-force-green-new-deal-vote
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The Energy 202: Democrats Try To Reset Climate Debate After Green New Deal Defeat
Mar 28, 2019 | Washington Post
By Dino Grandoni
On the heels of the Green New Deal's defeat in the Senate, Democrats tried to prove they would not give up on tackling climate change — an issue that has energized their base and that they think is a political winner for them.
Even though the nonbinding resolution to drastically curb climate-warming emissions over the next 10 years will not move forward, Democrats sought to put the onus back on Republicans. They renewed calls for the White House and Republican lawmakers to start taking seriously what they, and much of the scientific community, see as a crisis that could imperil future generations.
Senate Democrats, most of whom voted “present” on the vote they decried as a “sham” forced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), came back Wednesday to announce they would form a "Special Committee on the Climate Crisis" -- made up only of Democrats.
The panel will be composed of 10 Democrats, with Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) leading it. While the group will be not a formal committee in the GOP-led chamber, it will still meet, call in experts to testify and even issue a report in July 2020 on the costs of inaction.
Schatz acknowledged the move was unusual for a party in the minority, but insisted these are “unusual times” given “the total unwillingness of Senate Republicans to take this issue seriously.”
“We just made the judgment that the planet can't wait,” he added. “Waiting around for Mitch McConnell to change his mind on climate seems reckless.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), took things a step further by introducing a bill aimed at stopping the United States from withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement that President Barack Obama's administration brokered in 2015.
But the GOP did not show any signs of relinquishing its campaign against the Green New Deal spearheaded by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) that would that would dramatically reshape the economy, and continued using it as a cudgel against Democrats in an effort to label them as socialists.
And Senate Republicans had earlier this week blocked a resolution from Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday to formally create a bipartisan climate panel, arguing that there are committees in Congress to address environmental issues such as climate change.
“Democrats seem to think that adding a layer of bureaucracy is an answer to every problem,” said Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.). “That's the same instinct that gave us the Green New Deal.”
Even so, Schumer threatened to use whatever “leverage” his party had in the minority, such as filibusters, to address the causes and effects of climate change given that “this is such a crisis,” he said. “We're looking for any way we can move it forward.”
Schumer hoped to include climate-related measures within other bills, including for infrastructure, taxes and the federal budget.
Like Schumer, Pelosi called the introduction of her bill on the Paris accord “only step one” for House Democrats on climate change. Using her new power in the majority, she has impaneled her own select climate committee after Republicans disbanded a similar one when they were in control of the chamber. Pelosi introduces Climate Action Now Act
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democratic lawmakers on March 27 introduced the Climate Action Now act to combat climate change. (Reuters)
Under the Paris agreement, nations voluntarily set targets for reductions on greenhouse gas emissions. The agreement is still popular with Democrats, with Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), head of the select climate committee, calling it a “breakthrough” when introducing the bill with Pelosi. ADVERTISING
The bill, which stands a good chance of passing the House but not the Senate, would prevent the federal government from spending any money toward the withdrawal, which President Trump promised to do only a few months into his term. It would also compel Trump come up with a plan for meeting the United States' Paris targets.
The earliest opportunity Trump has to make the withdrawal official is November 2020, when he is up for reelection.
Yet House Republicans are still looking to find ways to divide Democrats on the Green New Deal.
GOP representatives, including House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (La.), said Wednesday they plan to use a parliamentary maneuver to bring the Green New Deal to the floor of the House, too. Like in the Senate, the move is designed force House Democrats to take a stance for or against the bill.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2019/03/28/the-energy-202-democrats-try-resetting-climate-debate-after-green-new-deal-defeat/5c9b98121b326b0f7f38f288/?utm_term=.bba7640cdef2
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Castor Planning 'Comprehensive' Climate Policy Recommendations
Mar 28, 2019 | Politico Pro - Energy Whiteboard
By Anthony Adragna
The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis aims to produce a "comprehensive" set of policy recommendations by March 2020 to guide the development of legislation, Chairwoman Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) said after an organizational meeting today.
Castor said the committee would hold its first official hearing next week, and she hoped Republicans would come to the table to back solutions to the problem.
“We’ve got to do things in a bipartisan way if they’re going to be lasting and meaningful and we’re going to get laws passed eventually,” Castor told reporters after the meeting.
Ranking member Garret Graves (R-La.) said he hoped the panel’s work would “reset” the debate over how to address climate change and expressed a desire for “more science” to guide its efforts.
"We may find ourselves in the same place perhaps for different reasons, but in the same place," Graves said at the meeting.
The committee approved its rules by voice vote after rejecting several GOP amendments that would have required the final report to quantify how its recommendations would affect local economies, sea-level rise and global greenhouse gas emissions.
Democrats argued it was premature to constrain what must be included in the report and that all members would be allowed to offer dissenting views, if they wished.
“All of these things are important conversations to have. As we move forward, we will be talking about all these issues and how they affect our local economies,” Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) “I don’t want to limit us to telling us what we have consider or not to consider.”
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard/2019/03/castor-planning-comprehensive-climate-policy-recommendations-2966987
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News House Climate Panel Nixes Rule to ‘Show Its Work’ on Policy Cost
Mar 28, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Abby Smith
Republicans tried—and failed—to require a House select climate committee to include cost analysis alongside any policy recommendations it makes.
But the back-and-forth, during the first meeting of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, were the opening shots in a fight likely to persist between Republicans and Democrats on the panel over the cost of climate policies versus the cost of inaction on climate change.
The panel is tasked with making policy and other recommendations related to climate change by March 31, 2020.
Four of the panel’s six Republican members, including ranking member Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), offered amendments to the committee’s rules to require analysis paired with any committee recommendations that quantified the economic impacts of potential solutions or the specific impact those policies would have on sea level rise and worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.
“I’m concerned we’re going to go out there and throw everything at the wall without having some kind of measures. This needs to be foundational,” Graves said. “What happens if we go out there and destroy economies [or] do things that actually have an adverse impact on the very objectives we’re trying to achieve?”
All panel Democrats at the meeting opposed the Republican amendments on economic analysis. Democrats also defeated an amendment offered by Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) that would require one field hearing held by the panel’s Republicans for every two field hearings held by Democrats.
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), who is the chair of the select committee, and others among the panel’s nine Democrats suggested adding a specific metric to the committee’s rules was premature and could restrict the panel’s work.
The panel’s rules allow for any member to submit additional views and analysis if they feel their views aren’t reflected in final policy recommendations, Castor repeatedly reminded her Republican colleagues.
‘Economic Hoops’Nonetheless, Castor told reporters after the meeting that questions of how policies would impact the economy, jobs, greenhouse gas emissions, and other metrics the Republicans suggested would be at the fore of the panel’s work.
“We’ve got to do things in a bipartisan way if they’re going to be lasting and meaningful and we’re going to get laws passed eventually,” she said.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) suggested working with Graves outside of the committee on legislation that would provide for the type of analysis Republicans were requesting, so long as it also looked “on both sides of the ledger” to include the cost of not acting on climate change.
“Let’s not burden this committee with specific economic hoops to jump through,” Huffman said. “Let’s do this separately and do this right.”
Republicans, though, suggested the committee wouldn’t be doing its job if it didn’t look at the economic impacts of the climate solutions it recommends. And if each member can submit their own reports and analysis as additional views, it could devolve into a partisan battle with little progress, they said.
“It puts us back in our corners,” Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) said. He added there’s a “big difference” between members filing reports they receive from think tanks on either side of the aisle and the committee “taking ownership” of such analysis.
“Let’s follow the advice of every math teacher I’ve ever had and let’s show our work,” Armstrong added.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/house-climate-panel-nixes-rule-to-show-its-work-on-policy-cost
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The Two Key Reasons The World Can’t Reverse Climate Emissions
Mar 28, 2019 | MIT Technology Review
By James Temple
Global energy demand and related carbon emissions both rose again in 2018, according to new figures out this week.
This comes as no surprise. The analysis from the International Energy Agency is in line with other preliminary reports from other organizations. But it raises an awkward question: if renewables are growing and the prices of solar, wind, and batteries are falling, why is the world’s climate pollution still going up?
The first answer is the growing global economy, which pushed energy demand up by 2.3% last year, the IEA says. A contributing factor was that more energy was needed for extra heating and cooling in regions hit by unusually severe cold snaps and heatwaves. These were at least partly driven by our shifting climate. All of that drove increases in generation from coal and natural gas, both of which spew greenhouse gases that warm the planet.
Ultimately, those fossil fuel increases outpaced sharp improvements in solar and wind generation, both of which climbed by double digits in 2018. Even nuclear generation grew at modest levels, rising 3.3%, mainly due to new turbines in China and four reactors that went back online in Japan, according to the IEA.
But figures deeper in the report highlight a systemic issue that’s preventing us from driving down emissions in a consistent way.
From 2000 to 2018, while the portion of global electricity generation from solar and wind grew by 7%, nuclear declined by the same percentage. Meanwhile, coal only dipped by 1% over that time, while natural gas, which emits just more than half as much carbon dioxide, climbed from 18% to 23%.
In other words, the share of worldwide generation that renewables has claimed largely came at the expense of another source of carbon-free power, rather than by eating deeply into fossil fuels. Once you add that to the increasing use of natural gas and coal use to fuel economic growth, it’s no surprise that the world still isn’t making a real dent in energy emissions, decades after the threat of climate change became clear.
“If you’re replacing one zero carbon source with another, you’re not really changing the carbon intensity of electricity,” says Nikos Tsafos, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, who highlighted this issue on Twitter. So while “certain data points say we’re making tremendous progress … if you flip the perspective a bit, you find, ‘Oh, we’re not really moving the dial here.’”
It’s clear we need nuclear power to help produce a greater proportion of carbon-free energy. But many nuclear power stations around the world are due for retirement or are already being decommissioned. Meanwhile, no new capacity is coming online thanks to tougher regulations and safety concerns intensified by Japan’s Fukushima disaster in 2011, as well as steep development costs (see: “Meltdown of Toshiba’s nuclear business dooms new construction in the US”). In particular, nuclear has struggled to compete against the dirt cheap costs of natural gas, which accounted for almost 45% of the increase in energy demand last year, according to the IEA report.
But despite the public distaste for nuclear, it has a critical advantage over other clean sources. It generates electricity that doesn’t fluctuate depending on the time or day or weather conditions, so it can help to balance out intermittent wind and solar generation, without requiring vast amounts of expensive storage or transmission upgrades to the grid. A next generation of plants that are cheaper, safer, and easier to build might also help assuage a skeptical public’s fears.
Most models from the UN’s climate research body call for a substantial uptick in nuclear power. Under the IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario, which lays out a path to achieve a stable climate and universal energy access, the world would need to add 17 gigawatts of nuclear capacity every year, nearly doubling our current fleet by 2040.
As things stand, the world’s retiring plants will remove around 200 gigawatts by 2040. That will make it nearly impossible to reach those targets unless companies and policymakers decide to extend the life of those facilities, or get busy building many more.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/613236/the-two-key-reasons-the-world-cant-reverse-climate-emissions/
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