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BIDEN’S LATEST CLIMATE PUSH: The Biden administration unveiled two new climate-focused initiatives yesterday that, on their face, aren’t controversial but show how President Joe Biden is seeking to make climate change a priority of every federal agency.
During a trip to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s headquarters, Biden announced it would direct $1 billion to help state, local, and tribal governments prepare for weather disasters made more extreme by climate change. That level of funding is double what FEMA offered last year.
“We all know that these storms are coming, and we’re going to be prepared. We have to be ready,” Biden said, pointing to 2020’s intense hurricane season with the most named storms on record.
Also yesterday, NASA announced it would create a new Earth System Observatory, dedicated to research missions that will help improve understanding of climate change and its effects.
The Biden administration’s “response to climate change matches the magnitude of the threat: a whole of government, all hands-on-deck approach to meet this moment,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a statement.
Nelson added the new Earth System Observatory will expand on NASA’s satellite observations and research over the past three decades, “providing the world with an unprecedented understanding of our Earth’s climate system, arming us with next-generation data critical to mitigating climate change, and protecting our communities in the face of natural disasters.”
Putting these announcements in context: Unlike other sweeping climate actions from the Biden administration, neither of these announcements were met with much criticism. In fact, many Republican lawmakers have generally expressed support for increased funding to help protect states and cities from natural disasters.
The new initiatives from FEMA and NASA are also lower-stakes politically than other Biden climate policies, such as the executive order Biden signed last week to incorporate climate change in agencies’ financial decisions and the clean electricity requirements Biden has proposed as part of his infrastructure plan.
Nonetheless, the announcements show the Biden administration is searching every pocket of the federal government for ways to bolster efforts to curb climate change. Biden isn’t keeping his climate initiatives largely concentrated at a few federal agencies, as the Obama administration did — an approach that is welcome news to environmental activists but has Republicans wary of new mandates and climate bureaucracy.
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WHITMER’S BATTLE TO SHUT DOWN OIL PIPELINE: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is fighting to shut down a crude oil pipeline in a battle that has long been waged in Michigan but is gaining attention nationally as environmental activists ramp up pressure on fossil fuel infrastructure across the country.
Whitmer had ordered the 645-mile Line 5 pipeline operated by Canadian energy company Enbridge to shut down by May 12, citing risks that the pipeline could leak or spill oil any day. Enbridge’s Line 5, which carries up to 540,000 barrels per day of crude oil and natural gas liquids, runs under the Straits of Mackinac connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
Enbridge is defying the shutdown order, however, saying the pipeline hasn’t leaked once in its more than 65 years of operation. After the Colonial Pipeline hack and shutdown led to gasoline shortages along the East Coast, the company and its allies are saying the United States must keep the pipeline running to preserve energy security.
Currently, the state and Enbridge are duking it out in court, fighting over whether litigation to force the Canadian company to shutter the pipeline should be heard in state or federal court.
The Biden administration, for its part, has steered away from this pipeline fight so far, although some activists are pressing Biden to state opposition to Line 5, citing his decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline.
Get up to speed on the Line 5 fight in Abby’s story posted this morning.
SEC’S LEE ADDRESSES CLIMATE DISCLOSURE ‘MISCONCEPTIONS’: Allison Herren Lee, a commissioner and former acting chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, is dispelling several arguments critics of climate change disclosures use to argue the commission can’t require companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risk.
Some critics of climate disclosures have said the SEC cannot require companies to disclose emissions information unless the agency can demonstrate it is material, or substantially relevant to a company’s bottom line. Lee said this claim is “legally incorrect, historically unsupported, and inconsistent with the needs of modern investors.”
Other critics say any climate information that is material to investors would already be reported by companies under other SEC requirements.
“This is simply not true, and reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the securities laws,” Lee said yesterday during an event hosted by the American Institute of CPAs & the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, and the Center for Audit Quality.
“The bottom line is that absent a duty to disclose, the importance or materiality of information alone simply does not mandate its disclosure,” she added.
Biden’s team is moving on climate disclosures: Lee’s remarks come as the SEC is weighing how to establish a framework for climate change disclosures, which would likely require public companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions and the physical risks they face from climate change.
Last week, Biden signed an executive order strongly encouraging federal agencies to improve climate disclosures and outlining steps for agencies across the federal government to incorporate climate change into their financial decision making.
“There are a lot of companies and organizations that have been helping to lead the way when it comes to understanding climate risks and voluntarily disclosing them, but it simply isn’t enough,” White House national climate adviser Gina McCarthy said last week. “This cannot be voluntary. This cannot be optional. The stakes are simply too high.”
EXXON’S LAST MINUTE CONCESSION AHEAD OF KEY PROXY VOTE: U.S. oil and gas giant ExxonMobil is promising that it will add a director to its board with “climate experience,” a possible concession ahead of a crucial shareholder vote tomorrow on a proposal from activist investors for the company to install four new independent board members.
At its annual meeting tomorrow, shareholders will vote whether to replace some of Exxon’s current slate of 12 directors with four candidates nominated by activist hedge fund Engine No.1, who would seek to push the oil giant to invest in clean energy and move off fossil fuels more quickly.
In a SEC filing dated May 23, Exxon leadership pledges to install two new members within a year, including one with climate experience.
Climate activists interpreted Exxon’s filing to be a compromise counter-offer intended to persuade large investors such as BlackRock and Vanguard to oppose the board members offered by Engine No. 1.
Exxon’s charm offensive not working? So far, the country’s three largest pension funds — the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the New York State Common Retirement Fund — have vowed to oppose Exxon’s current board.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is expected to vote for three of Engine No. 1’s four board candidates, Reuters reported this morning.
Engine No. 1 has argued that Exxon’s strategy of doubling-down on investments in its core oil and gas business has not produced strong financial results.
Exxon late last year made new commitments setting short-term targets for reducing emissions and beginning to publish data on the use of its products, and also back-tracked on a plan to substantially increase spending on oil and gas production.
But it is focusing clean energy investments on areas supplementing its oil and gas business, such as carbon capture and hydrogen, rather than spending on renewables as European majors are doing.
FEDERAL SCIENTIST PROTESTS OVER CLIMATE SKEPTIC INVITE: Ben Santer, a long-time atmospheric scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is ending his affiliation with the lab over its invitation for Steven Koonin to give a seminar this week.
Koonin, who has long raised questions about mainstream climate science, published a book earlier this month suggesting that much of the widely accepted science about warming global temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions contribution is “misleading.”
In addition, Koonin, a professor at New York University, promoted the idea of holding a “red-team, blue-team” exercise to test climate scientific conclusions — a proposal the Trump EPA strongly considered but ultimately abandoned.
Santer, in a statement posted yesterday by the Union of Concerned Scientists, said Koonin is “not an authoritative voice on climate science” and the decision to invite him to speak at the lab won’t help it “attract and retain the best and brightest climate scientists.” Santer said he raised his concerns with management at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, which didn’t adequately address them.
“It is simply untrue that Prof. Koonin is confronting climate scientists with unpleasant facts they ignored or failed to understand,” Santer wrote. “The climate science community treats uncertainties in an open and transparent way. It has done so for decades.”
CLIMATE ACTIVISTS CLOSING PUSH ON INFRASTRUCTURE…IT’S GO TIME: The group Climate Power is launching a seven-figure ad campaign over the next two weeks urging Congress to pass an infrastructure package that invests heavily in clean energy and electric vehicles. The ads will air in D.C., on national cable, and online.
“The time has come to turn plans into action and invest in clean energy solutions like manufacturing electric vehicles in the U.S.,” said Climate Power executive director Lori Lodes.
Negotiations at an impasse: The push comes as bipartisan talks between the White House and Senate Republicans over infrastructure are collapsing, according to reports this morning by Politico and Punchbowl News.
Climate activists have urged Biden and Democrats to move on from negotiations and act alone using reconciliation, since Republicans are not interested in significant clean energy provisions, especially electric vehicle funding.
The White House’s latest $1.7 trillion offer costs $500 billion less than the original version of Biden’s plan, but it still proposes to extend renewable energy tax, provide point-of-sale rebates for electric cars, and include a clean electricity standard requiring utilities to purchase increasing amounts of carbon-free power.
Republicans plan to submit a counterproposal this week, but Democrats are facing pressure to forge ahead soon if the two sides can’t reach a deal.
GRANHOLM MAKES PITCH IN HOUSTON: Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm will travel to Houston, Texas on Friday to tout Biden’s infrastructure proposal and its investments to “build a clean energy economy, save consumers money, and reduce the health impacts of pollution,” the Energy Department announced this morning.
Granholm is likely to plug the administration’s increased focus on climate resilience, tying her pitch to Hurricane Harvey devastating Houston in 2017, along with environmental justice, since the city is home to dozens of oil refineries.
ALL THAT POWER: The U.S. will consume more electricity this summer as the economy recovers from the pandemic, the Energy Information Administration said in a note this morning.
U.S. retail sales of electricity will rise 1.5% compared to last summer, with most of the growth coming from the commercial and industrial sectors.
But residential power consumption is set to decline 0.9% this summer, EIA projects, as homes and apartments use less air conditioning because of milder weather forecasted.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions has named Nat Keohane as its new president.
Keohane joins C2ES from the Environmental Defense Fund, where he was senior vice president for climate. He was previously an energy and environment aide to former President Barack Obama. Keohane replaces Bob Perciasepe, who will stay at C2ES as a senior advisor after being president for seven years.
The Rundown
Bloomberg After blackouts, Texas moves to make power plants weatherize
Reuters Biden looks abroad for electric vehicle metals, in blow to U.S. miners
E&E News Interior OKs Trump-era drilling leases despite Biden freeze
Los Angeles Times Another summer of California power outages poses threat to Newsom as he faces recall
Calendar
TUESDAY | MAY 25
11:30 a.m. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee will hold a virtual hearing on the drinking water provisions of the CLEAN Future Act.
WEDNESDAY | MAY 26
9:45 a.m. 301 Russell. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a business meeting to consider the 2021 surface transportation reauthorization bill and the nominations of Shannon Estenoz to be assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, Radhika Fox to be EPA’s assistant administrator for water, and Michal Freedhoff to be the EPA’s assistant administrator for chemical safety.
10 a.m. 366 Dirksen. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a subcommittee hearing on the state of the national park system.
1 p.m. The United States Energy Association will hold a program briefing with the Clean Hydrogen Future Coalition.
THURSDAY | MAY 27
10 a.m. 419 Dirksen. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a business meeting to consider the nominations of Robert Anderson to be solicitor of the Interior Department, Shannon Estenoz to be assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks and Tanya Trujillo, to be an assistant secretary of the Interior for water and science.
