On The Hill

 

On Tuesday (Aug. 11), former Vice President Joe Biden selected Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) as his running mate. Harris is the first Black woman and first Asian American woman on a major party’s presidential ticket.

 

Throughout the 2020 primary, Harris framed her environmental platform around the Green New Deal. She also expressed concern around the impact of pollution on minority communities. Harris has been a prominent proponent of environmental justice legislation on Capitol Hill.

 

Biden’s choice of Harris received praise from environmental groups. Since she was elected to the Senate in 2016, Harris co-sponsored the Green New Deal resolution, and in both 2019 and 2020 introduced versions of the Climate Equity Act, which would require the government to assess the impacts of environmental justice legislation on low-income communities. She also introduced the Environmental Justice for All Act this year.

 

Early in her presidential campaign, Harris signed the fossil fuel pledge to decline money from oil and gas companies. Her climate plan promised to hold corporations accountable for environmental harm, and she expressed support for ending fossil fuel subsidies and extraction on public lands.^[1]

 

To view Biden’s energy plan, click here.

 

 

 

Negotiations have come to a halt as White House officials and top Democrats concede that a COVID-19 relief deal is nowhere in sight. 

 

As of Thursday (Aug. 13), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows have no set plans of meeting in the coming days.

 

The Senate is in recess until Labor Day, and the House has already left for the rest of August and first two weeks in September. Leadership told lawmakers in both chambers that they will be given 24 hours notice if they need to return to Washington, D.C. for a vote.

 

 

 

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced legislation last week that would put a price on carbon and fund a variety of clean energy initiatives. S. 4484, “America’s Clean Future Fund Act,” would enact a carbon fee of $25 per metric ton that would rise $10 per year over the consumer price index, beginning after the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The bill would create a Climate Change Finance Corp., a federal agency to spur the development of clean energy and resilient infrastructure with the goal of achieving a net 100 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.^[2]

 

“We can address climate change and spur economic growth in our communities at the same time, ensuring we don’t leave anyone behind in the process,” Durbin said in a statement.

 

To view the legislation, click here.

 

Democratic Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine introduced legislation this week to extend the time the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has to address complaints from landowners in the paths of pipelines.

 

The legislation, S. 4502, would mandate FERC to increase transparency and create more opportunities for public participation in the process and ensure landowners are offered fair market value or better compensation before their land can be taken.

 

The bill would mandate public comment meetings in every location through which a pipeline passes and at every stage of the environmental review process.

 

To view the legislation, click here.

 

 

 

On Thursday (Aug. 13), Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the agency will repeal the Obama-era limits on methane pollution from new oil and gas wells.

 

The new rules narrow federal mandates on leaking and venting methane. Wheeler announced a “technical” rule change on the frequency of monitoring and repairing infrastructure, and a second that is currently being revised to target volatile organic compounds.^[3]

 

“Regulatory burdens put into place by the Obama-Biden Administration fell heavily on small and medium-sized energy businesses,” Wheeler said in a statement.

 

“Today’s regulatory changes remove redundant paperwork, align with the Clean Air Act, and allow companies the flexibility to satisfy leak-control requirements by complying with equivalent state rules,” he added.

 

Oil and gas companies have divergent views on the rollbacks. Smaller producers pushed EPA for changes, and several larger companies backed the Obama-era regulations. Opponents of the methane regulation in the oil and gas industry say the costs of plugging leaks from older equipment is too high and would force many wells to shut down.^[4]

 

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) voiced their opposition to the rollback. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) said the rollback “makes no sense” and that “there is no excuse to roll these regulations back when industry has the technology to prevent leaks.”

 

Wheeler said the changes would help oil producers struggling from the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies will now have to comply with a patchwork of state regulations rather than a federal standard.

 

To view EPA’s press release, click here.

 

 

 

The clean energy sector added just 3,200 jobs in July as its COVID-19 pandemic recovery stalls. Losses across the sector now sit at 500,000, about a 20 percent recovery from the worst effects of the pandemic.

 

The clean energy industry and advocates have called on Congress to help the sector in its upcoming relief package. Asks have largely focused on tax credits, including energy efficiency home improvement credits, an extension of the wind and solar production and investment tax credits, and direct pay access to the credits.^[5]

 

It remains undetermined whether any of the clean energy industry’s asks will make it into a final recovery package.

 

 

 

On Sunday (Aug. 9), presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden “pledged to protect” Alaska’s Bristol Bay from the proposed Pebble copper and gold mine if he wins in November.^[6]

 

“It is no place for a mine,” Biden said in a statement. “The Obama-Biden administration reached that conclusion when we ran a rigorous, science-based process in 2014, and it is still true today,” he added. Biden additionally said that his administration would not allow the Pebble mine to risk Alaskan culture, tradition, and jobs.

 

Democrats on the House Oversight and Reform Committee called for an investigation into the Army Corps of Engineers’ environmental review of the mine on Monday (Aug. 10).

 

“It appears that this timeline is inappropriate for a hardrock mine of this scale, complexity, and potential regional and state environmental, social, and economic impacts — especially during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic,” Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) wrote in a letter to the inspectors general of the Army and Defense Department.

 

Some Alaskan Native tribes and fishery conservation groups have criticized the environmental review and described it as “rushed.”^[7]

 

To view Maloney’s letter, click here.

 

Last week, President Trump said he would “look at both sides” of the Pebble mine.

 

“We’ve done a lot for Alaska, it’s a very special place,” said Trump. “And I’ll take a look at that. It’s interesting.”

 

 

 

^[1] Merchant, Emma Foehringer. “What the Kamala Harris VP Pick Means for Biden’s Energy and Climate Platform.” Green Tech Media, 11 Aug. 2020. https://link.edgepilot.com/s/c221389e/M13ax-0rRUG39OXDl5-2Wg?u=https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/what-the-kamala-harris-vp-pick-means-for-bidens-energy-and-climate-platform

 

^[2] Sobczyk, Nick. “Durbin gloats carbon price, clean energy legislation.” E&E Daily, 10 Aug. 2020. https://link.edgepilot.com/s/bfc08645/ZbJL8RKs6kCYs2qWBuE_8g?u=https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2020/08/10/stories/1063706313

 

^[3] Chemnick, Jean. “Wheeler in Pa. to unveil methane rollback – and help Trump.” Climatewire, 13 Aug. 2020. https://link.edgepilot.com/s/c42f702d/J992uRrQbUeUq10POnUkXQ?u=https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1063711563/search?keyword=energy%2Befficiency

 

^[4] Anchondo, Carlos. “Trump’s methane rule rollback fractures oil industry.” Energywire, 14 Aug. 2020. https://link.edgepilot.com/s/54f6475c/Qb0F2JbGQEKOyvskCrEs0w?u=https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2020/08/14/stories/1063711689

 

^[5] Dillon, Jeremy. “Clean energy job recovery stalls.” Greenwire, 12 Aug. 2020. https://link.edgepilot.com/s/d30dd378/EMxgaAdieEKhbnyw_oXg_A?u=https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1063711513/search?keyword=energy%2Befficiency

 

^[6] Marshall, James. “Biden comes out against Pebble mine.” E&E Daily, 10 Aug. 2020. https://link.edgepilot.com/s/6c10a9f7/zs2zaOEC4Uie1PukPcjwYg?u=https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2020/08/10/stories/1063707075

 

^[7] Marshall, James. “Dems calls for probe into Army Corps’ mine oversight.” E&E News PM, 10 Aug. 2020. https://link.edgepilot.com/s/ffba97c1/j1ToWX5G9k_TlDK2X_CRCQ?u=https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/stories/1063710769/search?keyword=pebble%2Bmine