With the help of Zack Colman and Ben Lefebvre, Catherine Morehouse, Josh Siegel, and Alex Guilln
Programming Note Be off Monday for Presidents Day. However, we will be back in our inboxes on Tuesday February 22.
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The White House CEQ released briefly a draft environmental justice screening document This article reveals a method for determining which communities should be prioritized in order to maximize benefits.
FERC is focusing on natural gas infrastructure todayThis could signal a shift in attitudes about whether climate justice and environmental justice should be taken into account more in future projects.
Ryan Zinke, former Interior secretary, violated ethics agreements during his time in office.A DOI watchdog was discovered. Zinke is running for Montana’s House seat.
HAPPY THURSDAYMatthew Choi, I’m your host. FTIs Steve Everley wins the trivia because he knows Hawaii is the southernmost US state. I am increasing the difficulty of today’s trivia for my inbox: France and the Netherlands share a border on which Caribbean island? Send your trivia and tips to [email protected]. Find me on Twitter @matthewchoi2018.
Check out the POLITICO Energy podcastAll the energy and environmental politics news and policy news you need, in just five seconds. Listen now and subscribe free at politico.com/energy-podcast. Today’s episode: Watchdog reveals that Trump’s former Interior Secretary was in violation of ethics rules.
ME SCOOP: ENVIRONMENTAL JAXICE SCREENING TOOLS SOFT OWING: According to a screener published by the Council on Environmental Qualitys Justice40, the White House considers 93,000,000 people in 23,400 census tracts to be disadvantaged under its Justice40 initiative. The White House’s long-awaited process for prioritizing communities to receive environmental justice benefits was described in the beta site, which was quickly removed. Activists have criticized the administration recently for its slow rollout of EJ strategy and failure to properly define who should be eligible.
The draft screener states that communities are considered to be in disadvantage if they have low incomes and are above the 90th percentile in any of the following:
- Expected agriculture, building, or population loss rate
- Diesel particulate matter exposure, traffic proximity, and volume
- Nearby hazardous waste facilities
- Asthma, diabetes, heart disease and low life expectancy
- Energy cost burden score
- Housing cost burden
- Wastewater discharge.
Other eligible criteria include high school diploma achievement, linguistic isolate, unemployment, percentage below the federal poverty level, and median house price. The number of people who qualify as disadvantaged is roughly 28 percent of the U.S. total population. President Joe Biden said that 40 percent would be directed to such communities by federal spending and actions. The complete methodology can be found here.
It is not included to mention race or ethnicity.Although environmental harms have adisproportionate impact on communities of color, administration officials have tried to invoke the difficulties of people of colour in discussing environmental justice. However linking race to EJ benefit has drawn a lot of criticism from the right. Republicans argued that environmental damage was not a race issue in a House Natural Resources hearing about the Democrats’ flagship environmental justice bill. Ranking member Garret Grimes called it a conspiracy against racism.
Brenda Mallory, Chair of CEQ, stated that the council wanted to be able to defend its methodology against any legal challenges that might arise if race is taken into consideration. She said NYTs Lisa FriedmanThe tool could still be connected to the actual on-the-ground effects that people are experiencing when they use a race-neutral criteria.
Wednesday night, a spokesperson for the White House stated in a statement that the beta would soon be made public and that CEQ would continue to modify it based on feedback. She also stated that this investment will have a profound impact on the lives of the communities it serves and could not come soon enough.
The spokesperson stated that “without doubt, race and racism have contributed to where pollution is concentrated in this country and in determining what communities have been left behind due to government investment, enforcement and help. This tool will show which communities are suffering adisproportionate share of climate risks and environmental burdens through the use of socioeconomic and environmental data.
SLOW GASToday, all eyes are on FERC to see if it changes how it decides whether natural gas infrastructure projects are approved. FERC is examining how it assesses the need for gas infrastructure projects. This includes whether greenhouse gas emissions or environmental justice should be given more weight. The agency’s guiding statement This page has not been updated since 1999.
The U.S. LNG Industry will be greatly affected by what it decides. This is because the country plans to open new export plants this year. EIA projects that LNG export capacity by 2022 will be 14 million cubic feet per day, seven times the amount it was in 2016. Some are noticing signs that the Biden administration is slowing down new projects, at least for the moment.
Officials in the LNG industry complain that DOE is holding on to applications to expand their export facilities. They say they should have heard from DOE months ago. Sempra, Venture Global, and Magnolia are all still awaiting approvals. However, industry sources said that they have not heard anything from DOE. The reason for the delay is still unknown. Some blame the short staffing at DOE when the administration was established last year. Others are waiting to see what happens. Others blame politics.
“It is not a personnel issue. It’s a policy decision, according to an industry representative who spoke with DOE officials. They have not yet established their position on natural and LNG. They won’t grant approvals until they have determined their position on natural gas and LNG.
The DOE did not respond to questions. But it is easy to see the many reasons they might be treading cautiously. The left is under increasing pressure to stop natural gas exports. Rising domestic natural gas prices are a factor in Republican campaign rhetoric about inflation. All of this comes at the expense of the White House’s newly found geopolitical power from LNG exports, as well as its ability to soften the impact on Europe if Russia closes down its shipments.
The DOE is said to be reviewing its methods of determining whether an export project falls within the national interest. David Goldwyn, a former Obama official, told the Atlantic Council that all of this could contribute to DOEs delays.
Goldwyn said that this could put a higher bar for approval. DOE has not yet given a date or indicated that they will do it.
ZINKE ZAPPEDThe Interior Departments watchdog discovered that Ryan Zinke, former Secretary, violated ethics agreements in his dealings to Dave Lesar, then-chairman at Halliburton, regarding a Montana landdevelopment project. The IGs report confirms the 2018 POLITICOs investigation on Zinke. Their discussions revolved around a development project near land he owned through a family-run nonprofit foundation. This could have led Zinke to open a microbrewery at the site.
The Inspector General found that Zinke made false and incomplete statements about his work for the foundation. He also had extensive and detailed involvement in the 95 Karrow Project, despite previously claiming otherwise. However, the investigation did not find evidence that Zinke violated formal conflicts of interest laws or that Halliburton received favors. Zinke also had Interior staff working for the foundation. However, the inspector general didn’t find any evidence that Zinke had staff conceal their involvement in the project.
Zinke has since resigned, but the report doesn’t do the former secretary any favors as the latter runs for Montana’s House seat in the next year’s midterms. A campaign spokesperson dismissed Zinke’s damning report from the IG, saying that “only in Bidens corrupt Administration is talking to one’s neighbor regarding the town’s public meetings and the history of this land a sin.”
Raul Grijalva House Natural Resources Chair, with whom Zinke often feuded, had RequestedThe report was published in 2018. In 2018, he stated that Zinke had used federal resources for his personal gain. It is clear that ex-President Trump’s appointees didn’t see their positions at the highest levels of our government as an opportunity, but as an opportunity, to serve their personal financial interests. Ben Lefebvre has more information for Pros.
GET YOUR GOVERNMENT HANDS SAVE MY GAS TOX:Vulnerable Hill Democrats are considering removing the federal gas tax until the end of the year, notably through the midterms, as a way to lower rising prices at the pumps. The idea is dismissed by lawmakers who focus on infrastructure.
Peter DeFazio, House Transportation Chair, stated that a suspension of the gas tax would create a $26 billion gap in the Highway Trust Fund. This fund is responsible for funding a variety of transportation infrastructure projects. The $43 billion in gas taxes revenues this year is required to finance the new investments under the bipartisan Infrastructure Package. POLITICOs Tanya Snyder reports.
GOP PRESSES FOR KEYSTONE XL TOLLSenate Republicans are urging the Energy Department to produce a report on the implications of cancelling the Keystone XL Pipeline, which President Joe Biden blocked in his first day as a president. The pipeline issue has been a favorite target of Republicans, and DOE was required by the bipartisan infrastructure package to produce the report. Republicans want an estimate of the number of jobs that were lost due to the cancellation as well as its estimated cost on consumer energy prices. Signatories The letterInclude Sens. Jim Risch, Bill Cassidy and Steve Daines are among the many.
A spokesperson for the DOE stated that the agency was making progress with the report but did not give a time frame.
The pipeline would have created a majority of temporary construction jobs. However, the pipeline would have created only 50 permanent jobs. The Washington Post fact checker found.
CASSIDY BLOCKS EPA NoMS:The Louisiana Republican is also voicing dissatisfaction at EPA, holding up nominations until his state obtains permits for carbon sequestration wells. Cassidy’s office disclosed that he spoke to Michael Regan, EPA administrator, Wednesday about advancing Louisiana projects. He said that he would support EPAs desire for lower emissions and a healthier environment. Cassidy’s announcement comes after Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming. Nominated Bidens EPA candidates are stuckLast month, protested against the agency’s handling state coal interests.
JUDGE WONT REMOVE CASAC WORK FOR NOWOn Wednesday, a federal judge declined to stop the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee of the EPA from meeting next week in order to finalize its work. Recommendation to strengthen the particulate matter standards. Two former members of the advisory committee were among those Regan took it out last yearThey claim that the Science Advisory Board and CASAC reconstituted are unbalanced partly because they were not reselected.
But Judge Timothy Kelly from the U.S. District Court in D.C. is a Trump appointee It was found that the challengersKelly could not show that they would suffer irreparable harm in the short term. Kelly wrote that the connection between the Committees upcoming meetings, and any final EPA rulemaking was too weak to warrant preliminary relief.
What about the other shoe?Kelly stated that he anticipates “promptly resolving” larger claims of imbalance, though he suggested it might not be in EPA’s favor. Kelly stated that he can direct EPA to dissolve the committee and reorganize it lawfully. This gives the challengers another chance and allows them to offer advice on PM standards. If the Committee meets next week and makes recommendations to the EPA Administrator it runs the risk of having to start over. Any order to reconstitute CASAC or start its review process again could delay EPA’s rulemaking.
MUNICH CONFERENCEThe Munich Security Conference in Germany will see the gathering of Western powers. In the U.S. delegation, John Kerry, President’s Climate Envoy, and Antony Blinken, Secretary of State, will be there. The Russian military buildup at the Ukrainian border and its implications for energy and climate will be the dominant theme of this year’s Davos for Defense. Kerry will engage his counterparts in discussions about the nexus of the climate crisis and global safety and will encourage them to fulfill and reinforce their climate commitments, according the State Department.
Russia will, however, continue to play its part on its own turf and not take any action. Wednesday’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov laughed and claimed that Russia could find alternative markets for its energy industry if Western sanctions were applied. He also stated that if these restrictions are applied, then price increases should largely offset them. Reuters reports.
IRANIAN DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE SLOW TRACK The afternoon after Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Foreign Minister, saw a reversal in crude oil prices. Announced negotiatorsWe were just days away from a decision about a renewed Iranian nuclear agreement that could allow the Islamic Republic to be freed from sanctions.
The Iranians aren’t letting their hopes down. Hossein Amirabdollahian, the country’s Foreign Minister The Financial TimesHe wants the negotiating countries and parliamentary bodies to issue a statement supporting a nuclear deal as a safeguard for a future head (read: a future Republican President) from bowing out like Trump.
According to him, Iran’s public opinion cannot accept as a principle the words of a head state, let alone the United States’, because of the US withdrawal from the JCPOA.
Similar read: Saudis Snub U.S. Oil Prices Near $100. Stick to Russian Pact During Ukraine Crisis, via The Wall Street Journal.
California Energy Commission recommends 6M heat pump units, via POLITICOs Colby Bermel.
Democrats climate plan languishes. Private investment in excess of $100 billion is put on hold, via The Washington Post.
Months after Divesting Ro Khannas Spouse Trades Fossil Fuels & Defense Stocks, via Sludge.
THAT’S IT!
