Daily on Energy, presented by GAIN: Trump steps up action to prevent electricity and fuel shortages as Florence approaches

.

SIGN UP! If you’d like to continue receiving Washington Examiner’s Daily on Energy newsletter, SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://newsletters.washingtonexaminer.com/newsletter/daily-on-energy/

TRUMP STEPS UP ACTION TO PREVENT ELECTRICITY AND FUEL SHORTAGES AS FLORENCE APPROACHES: The Trump administration is doing what it does best: Waiving regulations — in this case, ones that can get in the way of moving gasoline, diesel fuel, and even electricity as Hurricane Florence is about to slam into the East Coast.

For starters, the Department of Transportation told John that it is waiving federal trucking rules to ease the flow of gasoline and other fuels into the Hurricane Florence impact zone that extends from South Carolina to Maryland.

“The fuel situation is one of the first situations that goes short during an emergency,” Alex Keenan, emergency coordinator for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday.

The waiver for truck drivers is a “major” function for the Department of Transportation to help the relief effort, which will require supplies to be trucked in without placing federal limitations on drivers.

The waiver would relax the 11-hour federal limit on the amount of time a fully-licensed and insured truck driver can stay behind the wheel.

The same waiver for fuel tankers will also apply to utility trucks, he said.

Electric utility repair trucks are already moving by the hundreds into the hurricane impact area across state lines from Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Duke Energy, one of the largest utility firms in the country based in North Carolina, called in the utility crews from its affiliates in those states.

President Trump told reporters Tuesday that the utilities in the region have great capacity to deal with the storm’s impact. Trump said the hurricane would be one of the largest seen “in decades,” adding that the storm would be “tremendously big and tremendously wet — tremendous amount of water.”

Federal Emergency Management Administration chief Brock Long said his goal is to help make the jobs of electric utilities easier with whatever assistance they need to coordinate the relief response.

Long emphasized that it is not the job of the federal government to tell the power companies what to do.

A House Oversight Committee hearing in which Long was supposed to testify on last year’s hurricane response was postponed due to Hurricane Florence.

Welcome to Daily on Energy, compiled by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers John Siciliano (@JohnDSiciliano) and Josh Siegel (@SiegelScribe). Email [email protected] for tips, suggestions, calendar items and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list.  

… MEANWHILE, RICK PERRY AND EPA’S ANDY WHEELER ARE STEPPING IT UP: Environmental Protection Agency acting administrator Andrew Wheeler and Energy Secretary Rick Perry moved to temporarily ease fuel regulations for the Carolinas Tuesday evening, citing the “extreme and unusual” storm in store from Hurricane Florence.

An ‘extreme and unusual’ storm: EPA, in consultation with Perry, determined Tuesday night that the “circumstances exist” in both North Carolina and South Carolina for possible fuel supply disruptions, and ordered a temporary waiver of environmental standards for gasoline in order to ensure a steady supply.

A warning from meteorologists: Some meteorologists are warning of a “nightmare” scenario in which Hurricane Florence slows down and sits off the coast of North Carolina, bringing about a deluge of rain and hurricane-force winds for an extended period of time.

In its latest forecast, the European model — one of several top models — suggests the possibility of the storm getting stuck on or off the coast where it can retain some of its moisture and intensity, heading southwest towards the southern coast of South Carolina and Georgia. The remnants of the storm would then swing into Kentucky.

Keep the gasoline spigot open: The fuel waiver will “help ensure that an adequate supply of gasoline is available in the affected areas until normal supply to the region can be restored,” the EPA said.

Pipeline officials are watching the Colonial Pipeline, one of the East Coast’s main arteries for moving gasoline from the Gulf to Washington, D.C., which runs through the hurricane impact zone.

Wheeler also relaxed separate gasoline standards that could allow higher amounts of ethanol to be blended in the gasoline.

Too little, too late: But the summer fueling season ends on Saturday, so higher 15-percent ethanol blends will be permissible through the spring. E15 ethanol fuels are not allowed to be sold during the summer months because of their high fuel volatility.

Farmers prod the president: On Wednesday, the ethanol industry stepped up its lobbying by asking President Trump to allow the 15-percent fuel blends be sold year-round. Trump supports the idea, but there has been little movement forward to implement the plan.

“Mr. President, the circumstances have changed since you first began considering these issues, and biofuel producers and farmers are suffering,” a letter sent Wednesday by the ethanol industry and farm groups read. “Thousands of biofuel manufacturing and farming jobs in America’s Heartland are now at risk due to the EPA’s recent mismanagement of the [renewable fuel program] and inexplicable delay in removing the de facto summertime ban on E15.”

OPEC BOOSTING OIL PRODUCTION AHEAD OF TRUMP’S IRAN SANCTIONS: OPEC is fulfilling its promise to boost oil production ahead of U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil output that enter into effect in November.

The oil cartel said it pumped an extra 278,000 barrels a day in August, driven by more production from Libya, Iraq, and Nigeria, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

OPEC said output from Saudi Arabia, the group’s largest member, rose 38,000 barrels per day last month.

Why Trump is smiling: The group’s growing output is welcome news to Trump, who had lobbied OPEC on Twitter to raise production to cover for his administration’s attempt to cut off Iran’s oil exports, fearful of high oil and gas prices ahead of the midterm elections.

The pressure campaign worked, with OPEC, and non-member Russia, collectively agreeing this summer to boost oil production by 1 million barrels per day, overturning a prior production cut agreement because prices had fallen too much.

But don’t celebrate yet: That may not be enough to offset Iran’s lost oil.

Global oil prices on Wednesday neared their highest level this year, approaching $80 per barrel, after a fall in U.S. crude supply and the prospect of losses from Iran.

Russian energy minister Alexander Novak warned the U.S. Wednesday about the risk of being too tough on Iran.

“This is a huge uncertainty on the market – how countries, which buy almost 2 million barrels per day of Iranian oil, will act. The situation should be closely watched, the right decisions should be taken,” he said, according to Reuters.

EIA SAYS U.S. NOW THE WORLD’S LARGEST OIL PRODUCER: A new federal report from the Energy Information Administration shows the U.S. has surpassed both Saudi Arabia and Russia as the largest oil producer in the world.

The EIA said its estimates are “preliminary,” but that the U.S. “likely” surpassed Russia and Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest crude oil producer earlier in the year.

In February, U.S. crude oil production exceeded that of Saudi Arabia for the first time in more than two decades, it reported. In June and August, the United States surpassed Russia in crude oil production for the first time since February 1999.

OIL PRICES SURGE AMID SANCTIONS AND HURRICANE FLORENCE: The international benchmark for oil is hovering around $80 per barrel on Wednesday in response to both sanction concerns and the approaching hurricane.

The $80 mark was achieved by the Brent crude oil standard, which is a 2.2 percent increase from just days ago.

West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark price for crude oil, rose to $69 per barrel, a 2.5 percent increase. The futures price for reformulated gasoline for October delivery rose by around two percent.

Stay tuned for the Energy Department’s Week in Petroleum analysis at 1 p.m.

CLIMATE SKEPTICS TO HIT BACK AT JERRY BROWN: Climate change skeptics from the the Heartland Institute will be pushing back against California Gov. Jerry Brown as he opens his global climate summit Wednesday, putting on their own counter-conference in Oakland. It’s a meager showing compared to the support Brown is receiving internationally for moving ahead on the Paris climate change accord. Heartland will be hosting two panel discussions with its own scientists and climate policy experts at the office of the Independent Institute in Oakland, as Gov. Brown’s Global Climate Action Summit is held across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Countering calls for carbon cap: “The Global Climate Action Summit perfectly illustrates the hollow nature of calls for government restrictions on carbon dioxide,” said James Taylor, a Heartland Institute senior fellow. “An extensive lineup of leftist activists will be making yet another attempt to grow government and restriction human liberty, this time in the name of saving the planet.”

‘Expose’ the ‘leftist agenda’: He said their counter conference, Sept. 13-14, will seek to present “the facts and logic” to  “expose the foolishness and harmfulness of this leftist agenda.”

CARLOS CURBELO’S BEHIND THE SCENES EFFORT ON MOVING CARBON TAX BILL: In his home district as well as in Washington, Rep. Carlos Curbelo is lobbying fellow Republicans to support his carbon tax bill, trying to build momentum where there has been none.

When he became the first Republican in nearly a decade to introduce national carbon pricing legislation to combat climate change two months ago, conservative groups vowed to quickly kill the effort. But Curbelo, undaunted, has been pushing the 42 other Republicans who belong to the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus he co-chairs to support his bill, and has enjoyed some modest successes despite the existing GOP consensus against the idea.

Republicans are signaling support, kind of: Two other Republicans, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Francis Rooney of Florida, have co-sponsored the bill. Only one of a half dozen Republicans of the caucus contacted by Josh ruled out supporting the carbon tax bill, though none are likely to sign on before the midterm elections, and others have suggested they are open to the idea.

Environmental groups are on board too: Curbelo, a centrist, who is facing re-election in a blue district, engaged in salesmanship Tuesday while meeting with friendly local professors and environmental groups in his South Florida home office, located unassumingly on the second floor of a strip mall that offers mobile phones, haircuts, and dry cleaning services.

He told the group that he is seeking a senator to introduce a version of his carbon tax bill in the upper chamber — singling out Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. as a potential partner — and planning to hit the road next year, if re-elected, to travel to Republican and Democratic districts across the country to sell the legislation.

“One of my big goals is to figure how we can work together to socialize this idea to help people understand it better,” Curbelo told participants in his roundtable meeting, which Josh sat in on. “Any time you talk about a new tax, a lot of people get concerned. We wanted to allay those concerns by replacing an outdated regressive tax with an equitable consumption tax that captures the entire economy.”

Colleagues have ‘great things’ to say: Many economists say a carbon emissions tax is the most cost-effective way to fight climate change, and thus could appeal to some Republicans.

“Of course he is trying to get me on that [carbon tax] bill, and I am looking at it and considering it,” Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, a member of the Climate Solutions Caucus, told Josh. “Carlos does the introducing and I get to go to my district and talk to them about it and find out how they feel about it. There are some great things in that bill.”

That’s not all: Read the rest of Josh’s story on the ground in Florida here.

TRUMP’S ROLLBACK OF METHANE RULES IS ‘HORRIBLE,’ CURBELO SAYS: Curbelo also had something to say about the Trump administration’s move Tuesday to roll back Obama-era regulations targeting methane leaks from oil and gas drillers and fracking operations, calling the proposal “horrible.”

EPA’s methane emissions rules were part of the Obama administration’s climate agenda, which targeted methane as a short-lived greenhouse gas that is more potent than carbon dioxide.

Set back for progress on plugging leaks: “That’s just horrible,” Curbelo told Josh. “I have been very disappointed in how this administration has mishandled methane. We have made a lot of progress of taking care of flaring and leaks.”

What’s in a rule: EPA’s plan would soften a 2016 rule that required oil and gas drillers to inspect for leaks every six months, and to repair leaks within 30 days.

The proposed rule would permit drillers to do inspections every year, and give them 60 days to make repairs.

The proposal would also allow companies operating in states with weaker methane standards to follow those instead of federal rules.

MORE REACTION TO EPA’S METHANE REPEAL: The oil industry is welcoming the EPA’s rollback of the Obama methane standard for oil and natural gas operations, while Democrats pushed back against the move as the wrong direction for the nation.

Cost is key: “We welcome EPA’s efforts to get this right and the proposed changes could ensure that the rule is based on best engineering practices and cost-effective,” said Howard Feldman, the American Petroleum Institute’s senior regulatory affairs director.

The background: Emissions have been falling for decades: Feldman points out that the industry has reduced methane emissions 14 percent since 1990, while increasing well production by 50 percent. Methane is a short-lived, yet very potent, greenhouse gas, which is blamed for raising the temperature of the Earth.

Going against commonsense: Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, blasted the EPA’s proposal.

“Unfortunately, rolling back commonsense environmental and health protections to benefit polluters and ignoring sound science is the norm in the Trump Administration,” Carper said.

Echoing environmental groups: “This is just another attempt by EPA to weaken the common-sense requirements for operators to look for, and repair, leaks in their operations,” said Darin Schroeder, Clean Air Task Force’s associate attorney.

It’s a matter of faith too: A coalition of faith-based groups also came out against the methane rule rollback. “All faith traditions share a sacred calling to care for the earth and to care for those who are most vulnerable in our communities,” said Reverend Susan Hendershot, president of Interfaith Power & Light. The group describes itself as mobilizing a religious response to global warming in congregations through the promotion of energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. Hendershot called the proposal “unethical and immoral.”

NATURAL GAS-FIRED POWER WILL PUSH CO2 EMISSIONS UP, SAYS EIA: The Energy Department says that natural gas-fired electricity will push up carbon dioxide emissions by 2.3 percent by the end of 2018, compared to the 0.9 percent decline seen last year.

Weather is the reason for the rise in greenhouse gases: “The increase largely reflects higher natural gas consumption because of a colder winter and a warmer summer than in 2017,” the Energy Information Administration says in its monthly short-term forecast issued on Tuesday.

But what goes up, must come down: Emissions are projected to fall once again by 0.9 percent in 2019, the agency said, explaining that energy-related carbon dioxide emissions “are sensitive to changes in weather, economic growth, energy prices, and fuel mix.”

One of the other factors in cutting emissions is the loss of older coal-fired power plants.

Coal’s continued decline: EIA says U.S. coal production will decline by 1 percent by the end of 2018, despite the 10 percent increase in coal exports.

“The production decrease is largely attributable to a forecast decline of 2% in domestic coal consumption in 2018,” which points to the continued decline in coal-based electricity, according to the agency said.

The cuts keep coming: EIA’s latest forecast shows coal production continuing its decline by 2 percent in 2019, “because coal exports and coal consumption are both forecast to decrease.”

EIA’s forecast shows electricity generation from coal averaging at around 28 percent in 2018 and 27 percent in 2019, which is a fall from 30 percent in 2017.

Meanwhile, natural gas-fired electricity generation is set to rise from 32 percent in 2017 to 34 percent in 2018. And to even greater heights to 35 percent in 2019.

MARYLAND BECOMES THE THIRD STATE COMMITTING TO PHASE OUT HFCS: Maryland became the third state Wednesday committing to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, refrigerants used in cooling systems that are considered more potent than other greenhouse gases such as carbon and methane.

The Maryland Department of the Environment said it will develop regulations to stop the use of HFCs in foam products and refrigeration, joining California and New York, states that have also vowed to halt use of the pollutant.

“This is an important and necessary step in our ongoing efforts to reach Maryland’s greenhouse gas reduction goals,” said Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican.

States act while Trump is undecided: The action by states comes as the Trump administration is weighing whether to support an international agreement limiting HFC emissions, and formally submitting it to the Senate for approval.

World nations, led by the U.S. under the Obama administration, agreed in October 2016 to the Kigali Amendment of the Montreal Protocol, which would phase out HFC emissions.

Supporters of the agreement have tried to appeal to the climate-skeptic Trump by noting how it has backing from U.S. businesses, including the air conditioning and refrigeration industries.

RUNDOWN

New York Times They defied Trump on climate change. Now, it’s their moment of truth

Washington Post Category 6? Climate change may cause more hurricanes to rapidly intensify

Bloomberg Meet the Shalennials: CEOs under 40 making millions in Texas oil

Reuters China’s steel heartland tests mills’ mettle with new smog-busting plan

Axios Carbon removal group rebrands as tech gains steam

SPONSOR MESSAGE: Interested in learning more about pipelines and the important role they play in the energy industry? Check out this clip on the pipeline routing process and community input.


Image

Calendar

WEDNESDAY | September 12

All day, San Francisco, Ca. California holds the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, Sept. 12-14.

THURSDAY | September 13

10 a.m., 366 of the Dirksen. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee holds a hearing to examine the role of U.S. liquefied natural gas in meeting European energy demand.

10 a.m., 406 Dirksen. The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works holds a hearing titled, “Advanced Nuclear Technology: Safety and Associated Benefits of Licensing Accident Tolerant Fuels for Commercial Nuclear Reactors.”

Related Content

Related Content