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U.S. A NET EXPORTER THANKS TO MEXICO: The United States is now exporting more natural gas than it is importing thanks to demand from Mexico, the American Gas Association’s analysis wing said Tuesday.
The U.S. is exporting 4 billion cubic feet per day to Mexico, Chris McGill, head of the trade group’s analysis arm, told reporters Tuesday morning as he discussed the outlook for the winter heating season. On top of the demand from Mexico, shipments of liquefied natural gas to Asia and elsewhere are at “more than 2 billion cubic feet per day,” he said.
And since Canada is shipping 5 billion cubic feet per day of gas to the U.S., “we are actually, today, a net exporter of natural gas,” he said.
So, imports are down and exports are up, along the lines of President Trump’s energy dominance agenda.
McGill said Trump’s regulation rollback is helping some, but he is more worried about the talks over renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, which could hurt U.S. energy exports, contrary to the energy dominance agenda.
CLEAN POWER PLAN IS HERE DESPITE REPEAL: The U.S. energy market already has reached the mix that was projected under former President Barack Obama’s climate rules for power plants, the Clean Power Plan, despite the Trump administration’s planned repeal of the plan, according to McGill.
He said projections from the Energy Information Administration still use the Clean Power Plan in analyzing future demand, but the mix of natural gas and renewables being used for the electric grid is already where the climate rules would have been at 2030. The Environmental Protection Agency last week proposed its repeal of the Clean Power Plan.
Richard Myer, an analyst with the gas association, said the Clean Power Plan is here “from market forces already.”
“It’s already pushed the power market [at] what the Clean Power Plan was supposed to be by 2030,” he said. At the same time, there is “not a lot of tension from what the administration has proposed.”
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FORMER NATIONAL PARKS EMPLOYEES BASH ZINKE MONUMENT REVIEW: More than 350 former National Park Service employees sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Tuesday opposing his review of national monuments.
Reminder: Zinke in August recommended Trump shrink or change the boundaries of six national monuments and impose management changes to four others that could reopen areas to logging, cattle grazing and commercial fishing. Trump has not acted on Zinke’s proposal.
GRASSLEY TO MEET WITH PRUITT OVER RENEWABLE FUEL STANDARD: Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is leading a group of Midwestern senators who will meet with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt Tuesday to discuss the administration’s proposal to weaken the renewable fuel standard.
GOP governors oppose RFS move: Separately, four Republican governors, Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Eric Greitens of Missouri and Dennis Daugaard of South Dakota, sent a letter to Trump Monday expressing opposition to Pruitt’s proposal to reduce the federal mandate.
‘Highly disruptive’: “Cutting the biomass-based diesel volume set a year ago is not only unnecessary, it’s highly disruptive, unprecedented and potentially catastrophic,” the governors wrote.
EPA faces a Nov. 30 deadline to issue final regulations for the federal ethanol mandate.
GINA MCCARTHY IS MISSING: A framed, painted portrait of former Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy is missing from the EPA’s hall of administrators.
McCarthy was EPA administrator during Obama’s second term in office after Lisa Jackson, Obama’s first EPA head, left in February 2013.
Jackson’s painting was finished in 2012 before she finished her term as administrator and can be seen among the paintings of other agency heads hanging on the walls on either side of a hallway inside EPA headquarters. But where is McCarthy?
Don’t wait too long: But such long waits aren’t typical for Cabinet-level secretaries. Many were commissioned and completed before agency heads, such as Jackson, had left office during the Obama administration’s first term. Her portrait and others grabbed headlines in 2012 when it was found out that tens of thousands of dollars were being spent on oil paintings of Cabinet-level secretaries. Jackson’s portrait had a price tag of $40,000.
Congress not a fan of portraits: Congress placed a temporary ban on portraits in a 2014 spending bill, but no permanent ban was enacted after the temporary prohibition ended. Proponents of the ban wanted officials to raise the funds themselves to have the painting done rather than use taxpayer dollars.
Does Gina even want one?: It isn’t certain if McCarthy wanted her portrait done. Attempts to contact the former administrator or a representative were unsuccessful. A Trump EPA spokeswoman has not responded with an official response to why McCarthy’s portrait is missing.
TRUMP KEEPS THE SPIGOT OPEN FOR CLEAN COAL: The Energy Department boosted research funding for clean coal technology Tuesday morning by announcing $26 million in financial assistance for carbon capture coal technologies.
The agency plans to select 14 projects in the coming months to receive the money and invest in key technologies that will improve the carbon capture process and commercialize the technology for clean coal plants.
Carbon capture technology aims to remove the carbon dioxide from a coal plants waste gas and then sequester it underground. The technology is seen as necessary for using coal in a carbon-constrained world that looks to deal with the effects of climate change.
Many scientists blame greenhouse gas emissions for warming the Earth’s climate, resulting in more severe weather, droughts, and flooding.
TRUMP NOMINATES ENERGY EXPERT TO BE HEAD OF INDIAN AFFAIRS: Trump nominated a senior official from the largest native-owned energy company in Alaska to serve as the Interior Department’s assistant secretary of the Interior, Indian Affairs.
Tara Sweeney, executive vice president of external affairs for Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, was nominated late Monday night.
Sweeney served as the chairwoman of the Arctic Economic Council until May, when the U.S. term as chairman of the group of nations, called the Arctic Council, ended and FInland took the helm.
Expertise in energy: “She is an expert on energy, infrastructure, broadband, economic development, Native self-determination, and a wide range of policy issues that will come before her,” Murkowski said. “Secretary [of Interior Ryan] Zinke could not have chosen a better leader to help him fulfill the federal government’s trust responsibility, and I know Tara has the heart and drive to excel in this position.”
First native woman for the post: Interior Department said Tuesday morning that if confirmed, Sweeney, who is a member of the Native Village of Barrow and the Iñupiat Community, “would be the first Native Alaskan and only the second woman in history to hold the position.”
“Tara is a results-driven team leader and coalition builder who has an impressive combination of business acumen and service to her community,” Zinke said.
NOMINEE FOR TOP WHITE HOUSE ENVIRONMENTAL POST SENT TO SENATE: Trump also on Monday night sent to the Senate the nomination of Kathleen Hartnett White as chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
“Our bones and blood are made out of carbon,” she wrote in a June op-ed.
Her resume: White is a former chairwoman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality who works at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank that has received funding from Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, Chevron and other energy companies.
‘Nightmare scenario’: Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune called White’s selection “outrageous.” “The nomination of Kathleen Hartnett White is the nightmare scenario for anyone who wants clean air and clean water,” he said. “Her record makes clear she is completely ready and willing to sell out the health of our kids to corporate polluters.”
Republican support: But Republicans are standing by her. “President Trump needs his full team in place to ensure America has clean air, land and water,” said Sen. John Barrasso, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “Kathleen Hartnett White is an excellent choice to lead the Council of Environmental Quality at the White House. For years she served in a similar role for the state of Texas. She deserves full and fair committee consideration, followed by a Senate vote.”
ASIA ON THE PROWL FOR U.S. OIL: A number of Asian countries will be ready to begin importing more U.S. crude oil in late 2017 and early 2018.
Reuters reported that as many as 11 tankers will arrive from the U.S. next month. Another 12 are set to follow, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters Eikon and traders.
“Between November and January, there is a very big volume of U.S. crude heading to Asia,” said a Chinese trader who bought 4 million barrels of medium-sour crude oil from the U.S. that is scheduled to arrive in China in December.
CHINA EYES SAUDI OIL COMPANY AS NEXT BIG ENERGY PURCHASE: China wants to buy a big stake in Saudi Aramco once the Gulf kingdom starts selling shares of the company next year as part of its landmark initial public offering.
For Saudi Aramco, the public offering is meant to raise $100 billion. The company, which is the largest oil company in the world, is valued at about $2 trillion.
Saudi Arabia decided to make a public offering after the oil glut cut its annual in budget in half. The glut has led to low oil prices for several years.
China’s consortium: Chinese state-owned oil companies Petro China and Sinopec have proposed their offer in letters over the last few weeks. The companies are part of a state-run consortium that includes China’s sovereign wealth fund, Reuters reported, citing industry sources.
MANCHIN BACKS RICK PERRY’S PLAN TO SUBSIDIZE COAL: West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday to subsidize coal and nuclear plants, as Energy Secretary Rick Perry has proposed.
Not a surprise: Manchin represents one of the top coal-producing states, so it isn’t surprising that he is the first Democrat to publicy support Perry’s plan.
Bipartisan rejection, kind of: Conservative energy and think tank leaders and energy experts have mostly derided Perry’s plan for threatening to upset the last two decades of electricity generation, which have been marked by free competition and little intrusion by the government.
But Republican lawmakers who have spoken about the plan mostly support it, albeit tepidly. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., the chairman of the House Energy subcommittee, told Perry in a hearing last week that he would “reserve judgment.”
Democrats, until Manchin spoke out, have been uniformly opposed to the proposed rule.
ANOTHER CONSERVATIVE GROUP OPPOSES PERRY PLAN: As Manchin expressed support for Perry’s grid plan, the conservative American Action Forum joined an almost deafening chorus of opposition.
Like other conservative groups, AAF said the problem Perry is looking to solve is “real,” but “it’s not the best solution.”“The only effect of the [proposed rule] is to set an arbitrary target of on-site fuel requirements that values coal or nuclear power, regardless of if those sources are able to provide resiliency and reliability at least cost,” Philip Rossett said in an analysis issued by the group Friday. Perry’s grid plan “does not promote a policy that would necessarily achieve” a more stable electricity system, and instead would “arbitrarily value nuclear and coal power above their market rates.”
EPA’S CLIMATE PROPOSAL LEADS WEEK OF ‘BARREN’ REGS: The American Action Forum issued a report Monday showing that the second week of October saw “yet another barren week in terms of new regulatory costs.”
“The administration’s updated regulatory impact analysis claims that repealing the seminal Obama-era rule could save $33 billion by 2030. This measure likely has a long procedural and legal road ahead of it before it can become final, but it certainly represents one of the – if not the – boldest deregulatory actions under this administration,” the group said.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK SUPPORTS BILLIONS IN OIL, GAS PROJECTS: The U.S. Export-Import Bank financed nearly $6 billion in fossil fuel projects between 2013 and 2015, with about 86 percent of the funds supporting oil and natural gas projects.
This makes the bank the third-largest export credit supporter of fossil fuels, according to a new report from Friends of the Earth U.S. and Oil Change International.
What the bank does: The Export-Import Bank is a federal agency that provides loan guarantees to American companies selling to foreign customers. Conservatives view it as an engine of corporate cronyism by meddling in free markets and have waged a long campaign against it.
Trump boosts bank: Trump derided the bank on the campaign trail but changed course as president, concluding it helps U.S. exporters compete globally. Trump has sought to project global power through energy exports, spurred by a shale gas drilling boom, and aims to move toward the goal of energy independence long promised by presidents.
GULF SPILL MAY BE LARGEST SINCE DEEPWATER HORIZON: Last week’s spill of as much as 9,350 barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico may be the largest in the U.S. since the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010. Data from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement shows the spill is the largest in at least seven years, Bloomberg reports.
What happened: The spill was about 40 miles off the coast of Venice, La., at the Delta House floating production facility. LLOG Exploration Co., the operator of the facility, said the spill was caused by a fracture in a flowline jumper, which is a short pipeline used to connect nearby subsea structures.
Federal agency probes cause: The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the federal agency that regulates offshore energy and mineral extraction, will investigate the spill, the agency said. A five-member panel of inspectors, engineers and accident investigators will issue a report that will contain findings, make recommendations and identify any potential violations for consideration by enforcement staff.
RUNDOWN
Washington Post Desperate Puerto Ricans line up for water at a Superfund waste site
New York Times Boom in liquefied natural gas is shaking up the global energy world
Times-Picayune There’s little oil and gas production left in Lake Pontchartrain. It’s why many didn’t know until explosion
Reuters Oil builds on gains as Iraq, U.S.-Iran tension raises risks
Washington Post Trump has taken longer to name a science adviser than any president in modern history
Wall Street Journal An old fracking hotspot, the Haynesville Shale, makes a comeback
Associated Press Austrailia rejects clean energy target for cheaper power
Calendar
TUESDAY, OCT. 17
All day, Denver, Electric Utility Consultants Inc. holds the Renewable Energy PPAs conference at The Curtis. The conference will cover areas such as development process, basics of project finance, project risks, financeability issues in power purchase agreements (ppas), and project structure. PPAs are a popular means for companies to secure long-term electricity rights from large wind and solar farms.
10times.com/renewable-energy-ppas
7:30 am-12:45 p.m., 14th and F streets NW. The American Association of Blacks in Energy holds its Energy Policy Summit.
aabe.org/index.php?component=news&id=957
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 18
10 a.m., 406 Dirksen. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a business meeting to vote on: Michael Dourson to be assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention of the Environmental Protection Agency; William Wehrum to be assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation of the EPA; Matthew Leopold to be assistant administrator for the Office of General Counsel of the EPA; David Ross to be assistant administrator for the Office of Water of the EPA; Paul Trombino III to be administrator for the Federal Highway Administration of the Department of Transportation; Jeff Baran to be a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
THURSDAY, OCT. 19
8 a.m., 700 Aliceanna St., Baltimore. The American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources holds its 25th Fall Conference, beginning, Oct. 19-20.
shop.americanbar.org/ebus/ABAEventsCalendar/EventDetails.aspx?productId=26699787
8:30 a.m., 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The Woodrow Wilson Center’s Global Sustainability and Resilience Program, the Munich Re Foundation, the UN University-Institute for Environment and Human Security, and the International Center for Climate Change and Development hold the 2017 Resilience Academy Capstone Conference, Oct. 19-20.
5 p.m., 918 F St. NW. The Department of Energy and the Nuclear Energy Institute host the Millennial Nuclear Caucus at the National Union Building.
eventbrite.com/e/millennial-nuclear-caucus-tickets-38813112063
FRIDAY, OCT. 20
10:30 a.m., 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The Brookings Institution holds a discussion on “Can Trump’s ambitious deregulatory agenda succeed?”
