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TRUMP SNUBBING UN CLIMATE EVENT, BUT GOP BACKING CLEAN ENERGY WEEK: A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, U.S. states, oil and gas industry groups, and clean energy associations will be providing counter-programming this week to make up for the Trump administration’s absence at the U.N. Climate Action Summit.
National Clean Energy Week is not deliberately timed to divert attention away from President Trump’s retreat from addressing climate change in New York (the timing is coincidental, event organizers say).
But it’s a notable juxtaposition of events.
“The juxtaposition between the absence of the Trump administration at the U.N. and increasing voices for climate action on both sides of the aisle in Washington is striking,” Nat Keohane, vice president for international climate at the Environmental Defense Fund, told Josh. Keohane is not affiliated with Clean Energy Week.
What Clean Energy Week is all about: It started three years ago, as an initiative designed to bring more attention to the consensus among businesses, states, and policymakers about the need to transition to clean energy and reduce emissions. It is backed by 14 “Steering Committee” members, with participants as diverse as the American Petroleum Institute and the American Council on Renewable Energy.
“We have a lot of members on both sides of the aisle who want to talk about the value of clean energy,” Heather Reams, executive director of the conservative Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions Forum, the main group responsible for organizing Clean Energy Week, told Josh. “That is happening regardless of what we are seeing coming out of the Trump administration.”
Contrast with the UN Climate Summit: Clean Energy Week, however, has more modest goals than what U.N. Secretary Antonio Guterres is trying to achieve at the Climate Action Summit in New York.
Guterres is pushing for countries across the world to boost their Paris agreement targets and to abandon coal and fossil fuel subsidies, with the world far away from meeting the initial goals set in 2015.
“I want to hear about how we are going to stop the increase in emissions by 2020, and dramatically reduce emissions to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century,” Guterres said ahead of the summit, which occurs Monday with nearly 60 speeches by heads of state. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping — leaders of the world’s two largest emitters — are not giving speeches. Trump however, did unexpectedly stop by the summit Monday morning to observe as India Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a speech.
Clean Energy Week, by contrast, seeks to generate discussion around clean energy, a term the organizers define broadly to include even natural gas, which emits less carbon than coal but is still a fossil fuel.
“We define clean energy as anything working to reduce emissions,” Reams said. “This is a very different approach. It seems binary to say ‘this is how it must be done.’”
Keohane commends the broad make-up of groups supporting Climate Energy Week, but said it needs to back-up dialogue with action.
“We clearly need many more of these voices in Washington and need to transition from the early dialogues in talking about this to taking action and enacting legislation,” Keohane said.
What to watch for: Clean Energy Week has programming occurring in Washington D.C. through Friday, topped by an all-day Policymakers Symposium on Thursday.
Speakers at the symposium include Republican Senators Mitt Romney of Utah and Mike Braun of Indiana, GOP Representatives Garret Graves of Louisiana and Matt Gaetz of Florida, along with Democrats Senators Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, and Representatives Paul Tonko of New York and Scott Peters of California.
There are also side events in other states. Maine on Monday became the 22nd state to formally recognize Clean Energy Week, joining Wisconsin, Maryland, Georgia, South Carolina, and more.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writer Josh Siegel (@SiegelScribe) and Abby Smith (@AbbySmithDC). 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.
TRACKING UN CLIMATE SUMMIT ANNOUNCEMENTS: Here are a few developments that have come out of the U.N. Climate Action Summit so far:
* 59 countries, according to the U.N., intend to submit plans to increase the decarbonization targets they originally set under the Paris agreement, with the aim to collectively reduce emissions by at least 45% by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
* The two-year-old Powering Past Coal Alliance expanded its membership to include 30 countries, 22 states or regions, and 31 corporations committed to stopping the building of new coal power plants beginning in 2020 and rapidly transitioning to renewable energy.
* 87 companies, worth a combined more than $2.3 trillion, have promised to cut emissions aligned with the most ambitious goal of the Paris agreement to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees celsius.
The companies belonging to this initiative, known as We Mean Business, produce annual emissions equivalent to 73 coal plants.
The membership of the group — which includes L’Oréal, Nestle, and Swiss Re — has tripled from when it started with 28 companies in July.
* A group of the world’s largest pension funds and insurers, responsible for more than $2 trillion in investments, committed to transitioning to carbon-neutral investment portfolios by 2050. The members of the Asset Owner Alliance vowed to engage with companies in which they are investing to ensure they decarbonize their business.
* The world’s biggest oil and gas companies unveiled a new initiative aiming to break down economic, technological, and policy barriers to carbon capture, utilization, and storage.
The KickStarter — from the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, which includes 13 major oil producers including BP, Chevron, Equinor, Shell, and ExxonMobil — aims to double the amount of carbon dioxide stored globally. The companies will do that in part by creating carbon capture “hubs” in five countries: the U.S., the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, and China.
GLOBAL CLEAN ENERGY SPENDING INITIATIVE IS FALLING SHORT OF GOALS: An international initiative to accelerate clean energy innovation research, development, and demonstration is falling short of its spending goals, according to a report Monday.
The U.S. is one of 24 countries, along with the European Commission, participating in the program, Mission Innovation.
Public investment in clean energy research, development, and demonstration among those members increased by $2.6 billion from 2015 to 2018, an amount far less than the $4.6 billion members have reported and less than a third of the $9 billion increase the initiative set as a goal for 2020, according to the report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.
“Despite rhetoric to the contrary, Mission Innovation members have not come close to meeting their goals. R&D investments are not increasing on pace, patent applications in clean energy continue to decline, and fossil fuel subsidies are increasing,” said ITIF Senior Policy Analyst Colin Cunliff. “To have any hope of solving climate change, Mission Innovation members need to make good on their commitment to double investment in clean energy RD&D and align their policies to support clean energy.”
The report also found that patent applications in clean technologies declined by 39% between 2011 to 2016, signaling a slow pace in innovation.
In addition, fossil fuel subsidies increased in 2017 and 2018 among members after declining for four consecutive years from 2012 to 2016.
LINGERING THOUGHTS FROM DEMOCRATS’ CLIMATE FORUM: Josh and Abby caught the second day of MSNBC’s climate change forum at Georgetown University on Friday, where Pete Buttigieg, Cory Booker, Steve Bullock, and Tom Steyer took the stage. Bill Weld, a Republican longshot challenging Trump, also made an appearance, declaring his support for carbon pricing while promising to not accept campaign money from oil and gas companies.
We listed major takeaways from the first day of the forum here.
Here are a few more from Day 2.
*Both Booker and Bullock talked up a usually not-so-fashionable policy that could pack a big climate punch: federal procurement.
The federal government’s purchasing power could influence markets and help boost clean energy technologies by driving down their costs and driving up demand.
Former President Barack Obama had started to use that policy lever, but Trump backed off the effort.
“One of the biggest businesses on the planet is the American government,” Booker said. If the government, for example, forced businesses who contract with it to change their policies, “it can dramatically affect what the business community does.”
Booker said under his leadership, every federal agency would have to have an aggressive climate plan, to cut its own emissions in part by buying clean.
Bullock noted new forms of concrete that can store carbon, saying the Transportation Department should be using that material in its infrastructure projects.
The Montana governor also said he would task federal agencies that oversee public lands — such as the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management — to come up with a plan to have net-zero emissions on federal lands by 2030.
“Let’s look at preserving these lands and using them as a carbon capturer, not just a carbon emitter,” Bullock said.
*Buttigieg was questioned by moderators and students about whether his $1.5 trillion climate plan devotes sufficient federal spending to the problem. His proposed spending pales in comparison to the high end of the Democratic field, with Bernie Sanders vowing to spend $16 trillion. But is money really the best way to measure the effectiveness of a plan?
Buttigieg says no.
“We have to focus on outcomes instead of incomes,” Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg touted the linchpin of his climate proposal, a carbon tax that would return the proceeds to Americans as a dividend, with lower income households receiving more, which he said would be a market-driven method to discourage the use of fossil fuels in favor of cleaner energy.
*Steyer, known for his climate advocacy before belatedly joining the race, is one of the most vocal skeptics of carbon pricing in the Democratic field. He suggested he would prefer mandates, like a clean electricity standards, to reach his goal of net-zero emissions by 2045.
Steyer, through his nonprofit NextGen America, funded ballot initiatives at the state level in November’s elections for clean electricity mandates in Arizona (which failed) and Nevada (which succeeded).
“It’s basically regulations,” Steyer said of his plan.
“I am open to a carbon fee,” he added. “But what we’ve found is setting rules for Amercian industry to abide by is the most efficient [method].”
PENTAGON SENDING ‘DEFENSIVE’ TROOPS AND MISSILES TO SAUDI ARABIA: The Pentagon is sending additional troops and missiles to Saudi Arabia in response to Iran’s attack on Saudi oil facilities.
Officials wouldn’t say how many troops the United States is providing, but the number will likely be in the hundreds.
Trump also announced new sanctions targeting Iran’s central bank Friday morning, which comes in addition to existing sanctions crimping the country’s oil exports.
WHEELER’S WEEKEND IN NYC: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler isn’t participating in climate summit events in New York City this week, but he did make the rounds at several events focused on food waste in the city over the weekend. That included a tour of a FreshDirect facility and a roundtable discussion on food waste with local EPA officials and representatives from industry like PepsiCo.
CALIFORNIA VS. TRUMP, PART 60: The Golden State filed its 60th lawsuit against the Trump administration on Friday, this time to defend its authority to set its own greenhouse gas limits for passenger cars. The lawsuit — which 22 other states and three cities also joined — came just one day after the Transportation Department and the EPA took steps to formally revoke California’s authority. The states are also expected to sue the EPA separately.
California has had the ability to set its own greenhouse gas standards for cars since the Clean Air Act was crafted in the 1970s, so long as the state gets a waiver from the EPA.
The Trump administration is peeling back that waiver and seeking to eliminate California’s authority altogether. To date, 13 states follow California’s standards — and all 13 signed onto the new lawsuit.
The Rundown
Wall Street Journal Oil companies, pushed to address climate, disagree on how
New York Times Who’s speaking at the UN climate summit? Several champions of coal.
Reuters Banks worth $47 trillion adopt new UN-backed climate principles
Houston Chronicle Modi in Houston: US energy companies eye Indian market for growth
Washington Post: How decades of L.A. smog led to California’s war with Trump over car pollution
Calendar
TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 24
10 a.m. Longworth 1324. The House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources holds a hearing on “Fossil fuel development: protecting taxpayers and eliminating industry giveaways.”
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. 4 F St NW. National Clean Energy Week Young Professionals Happy Hour.
WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 25
9:15 a.m. 406 Dirksen. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee holds a business meeting to consider the nominations of Aurelia Skipwith to be director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Katherine Lemos to be chairperson of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.
10 a.m. 366 Dirksen. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee holds a business meeting to considering various energy bills.
6 p.m. to 9 p.m. 1127 Connecticut Ave NW. National Clean Energy Week VIP Reception & Banquet.
THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 26
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. 529 14th Street Northwest 13th Floor. National Clean Energy Week Policy Makers Symposium. Keynote speakers include Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Reps. Garret Graves, R-La., Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., and more.
