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/

GREEN GROUP TOPS 100 LAWSUITS AGAINST TRUMP AMID LATEST EMERGENCY ORDER: It’s been the environmental community that began the long slog of lawsuits against President Trump’s border wall two years ago, so it makes sense that one of the first legal actions against Trump’s latest wall maneuverings come from the same groups.

The Center for Biological Diversity, the group that led the charge on Saturday against Trump’s emergency order to ramp up wall construction, boasts a “Trump Lawsuit Tracker” that shows donors where they are in terms of sheer volume of court actions.

As of Monday morning, the Trump tracker reads 106 lawsuits since the president was sworn into office two years ago. That’s roughly one lawsuit per week.

“From the moment he took office, our lawyers have been working feverishly to oppose every attempt he’s made to worsen climate change, kill wildlife, endanger public health and destroy public lands,” the Center’s tracker website reads.

The group’s initial lawsuit, which was joined by other environmental organizations and even a Democratic lawmaker, argued that the administration’s initial proposed wall would harm migratory species, while cutting through a conservation area.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., now the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, joined the group in suing the the department in April 2017. The lawsuit is still pending, according to the group.

Its most recent lawsuit against Trump’s emergency order hasn’t attracted any progressive lawmakers or Democrats to join in the litigation, although most Democrats would likely agree with the argument it is making.

The Center’s lawsuit, filed Saturday in the District Court of Washington, D.C., says the president exceeded his executive authority in going against Congress, which holds the purse strings when it comes to the $6 billion needed to fund construction on the wall.

They also argue that the president made illegal use of the National Emergencies Act in using the law to fund a policy goal of his.

What the Democratic leadership says: Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted on Friday that Trump’s “unlawful” emergency declaration “does great violence to our Constitution and makes America less safe.”

The GOP said: House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has said he supports the emergency order, despite the upward climb it will likely have in the court.

“There is a national emergency along the border and the president has the right to do that,” he said in a Friday interview with CBN News. “If you listen to the experts, and that’s what this does, if you listen to the experts they need a little over 200 miles of wall — it’s not sea to shining sea — it’s in the areas where we have our biggest problems.”

 Nevertheless, there are many in the Republican Party that oppose the president’s decision, which could make it hard for Trump, especially in the Senate.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine called Trump’s decision a “mistake,” while Iowa’s Sen. Chuck Grassley mourned the decision.

“I wish he wouldn’t have done it,” Grassley said.

Welcome to Daily on Energy, written 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.  

GREENS CONFIDENT SUPREME COURT WILL RULE IN THEIR FAVOR: The Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it will take up a case brought by a Hawaiian sewage company opposing a lower court’s ruling that federal law prohibits treated sewage from being pumped into the Pacific Ocean.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had sided with environmentalist nearly a year ago when it ruled that a wastewater treatment facility on the island of Maui in Hawaii had been violating the Clean Water Act since the 1980s.

The Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility, serving West Maui, had injected 3 to 5 million gallons of treated sewage per day into groundwater, which is then dumped into the ocean.

Environmental lawyers involved in the case said they are confident the high court will rule once again in their favor as did the Ninth Circuit Court.

The county-operated sewage company argues that it injected the waste underground with permits issued to it under a separate law governing drinking water, and that the discharges into the ocean had occurred from seepage, and not direct actions by the company.  

LABEL IT ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY: The Trump administration’s new labeling rules for genetically modified foods, going into effect on Tuesday, are provoking the ire of environmental groups who say the rules favor agriculture industry interests over environmental concerns about the rising use of toxic chemicals by farmers.

The Department of Agriculture is endorsing the “motto” of the American Farm Bureau and other farm industry groups that “the customer is always wrong,” said Scott Faber of the Environmental Working Group, just one of several environmental groups that had tried to push the administration to endorse a plan for a broader, more transparent national labeling system that favors consumer awareness.

Environmentalists say strong labeling rules can be used to promote foods that don’t require as many chemical herbicides, which can pose a danger for both consumers and the environment.

Read John’s full story here.

BERNIE SANDERS PROMISES AGGRESSIVE CLIMATE AGENDA IN PRESIDENTIAL RUN: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced Monday he is running for president again, assuring that the liberal wing of the party has an outspoken advocate for action to combat climate change.

Sanders, the 2016 presidential contender, has endorsed the “Green New Deal” and plans to soon introduce his own version of the progressive plan, which aims to eliminate carbon emissions from all sectors of the economy.

Examining his record: He has previously introduced legislation that aims to shift the nation to 100 percent renewable and clean energy sources by 2050 — farther away than the 2030 target of the Green New Deal.

In 2016, he campaigned on cutting carbon pollution by 40 percent by 2030, endorsing a carbon tax to get there. Now, progressives are moving away from carbon pricing in favor of government mandates.

Sanders has grown more aggressive since then, and has recently been referring to climate change has “the great crisis facing our planet.”

He has joined a few other liberal presidential contenders in pledging to reject money from fossil fuel interests during the campaign, a major marker for progressive environmental groups.

AMY KLOBUCHAR DOWNPLAYS ‘ASPIRATIONAL’ GREEN NEW DEAL: Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., declined to fully commit to the Green New Deal on Monday, calling the progressive plan to fight climate change “so important” but “aspirational” to actually achieve.

Klobuchar, a 2020 presidential candidate, said during a CNN town hall in New Hampshire that “we can get close” to achieving the Green New Deal’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, but that she doesn’t “think we’re going to get rid of entire industries in the U.S.” to do it.

“We need to get this debate going, and this is put out there as an aspiration in that something we need to move toward,” she said. “Do I think we can cross every ‘T’ and dot every ‘I’ in 10 years? Actually, I think that would be very difficult to do.”

Other Democratic senators running for president have offered more full-throated support for the Green New Deal.

Klobuchar has outlined a more moderate agenda that would include rejoining the Paris climate agreement, reinstating the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan limiting emissions from power plants, keeping higher fuel economy standards targeting pollution from transportation, and promoting green jobs in a potential infrastructure bill.

HOUSE DEMOCRAT TO INTRO BILL MAKING CLIMATE CHANGE A NATIONAL EMERGENCY: Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon said Friday he intends to introduce a resolution declaring climate change a national emergency.

Blumenauer, who has endorsed the Green New Deal and is active on environmental and renewable energy issues, circulated a letter to colleagues Friday seeking support for a resolution that would declare the “sense of Congress” that climate change is a national emergency.

Blumenauer’s resolution would swipe Trump for declaring a national emergency Friday to build a border wall and address what the congressman called a “manufactured crisis.”

CARBON TAX AND DIVIDEND SUPPORT GROWS AMONG ECONOMISTS: More than 3,300 economists have signed onto a statement endorsing a federal carbon tax, one that would distribute the revenue as a rebate to American households and backed by the Climate Leadership Council, a group led by two former Republican secretaries of state — James Baker III and George Shultz.

The statement supporting the plan was first released last month, originally including more than 40 signatories including the top economic advisers to Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

Former Federal Reserve chairmen Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke, first appointed by Republicans, and Paul Volcker and Janet Yellen, first appointed by Democrats, also signed the statement. The economists view the the so-called carbon-tax-and-dividend model as “the most cost-effective lever to reduce carbon emissions at the scale and speed that is necessary.”

The model has the backing of U.S. energy companies, including ConocoPhillips and Exxon. Each recently donated money to Americans for Carbon Dividends, an advocacy organization backing the concept.

IRAN’S OIL EXPORTS RISING IN 2019 DESPITE SANCTIONS: Iran’s oil exports are rising despite sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.

Iran’s exports are averaging 1.25 million barrels per day in February, Reuters reported Tuesday, and were between 1.1 and 1.3 million barrels per day in January, higher than expected. In December, Iran’s exports were below 1 million barrels per day.  

The increase in exports is likely due to waivers the Trump administration granted to some of Iran’s biggest oil buyers

After promising a zero-tolerance approach to cutting off oil supplied from Iran, the Trump administration blinked at the prospect of higher oil and gas prices, and granted exemptions in November, to eight countries, including China, India, and South Korea. The exemptions are temporary, and to re-evaluated in May.

AMAZON AIMS FOR NET ZERO CARBON EMISSIONS IN SHIPMENTS: Online retail giant Amazon set a goal Monday to make half its shipments using net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.

Amazon says it hopes to achieve the goal by using more electric vans and biofuels for aviation in delivery. It also aims to push suppliers to use reusable packaging for items. And it strives to grow the share of its energy obtained from its “network of solar and wind farms.”

RUNDOWN

Reuters Republican backlash against Trump EPA pick fueled by ‘biofuel reset’

Wall Street Journal OPEC officials say US sanctions against its chief won’t derail plans

Bloomberg Manitoba offers Trudeau an olive branch in carbon tax battle

Axios Shell leads big oil in clean energy shift

SPONSOR MESSAGE: 
Separating Fact from Fiction – GAIN Launches Fact Checker Site
The spread of misinformation about energy infrastructure projects is unfortunately not a new phenomenon. The GAIN Coalition recently launched a new website dedicated to countering targeted attacks of coordinated disinformation campaigns by so-called environmental activists. Through fact checking and original reporting, GAINFactChecker.org will provide straightforward, evidence-based analysis in order to increase the public’s knowledge and understanding of pipeline infrastructure.