Inside Trump's climate plan Presented by Chevron

With help from Emily Holden and Ben Lefebvre

INSIDE TRUMP'S CLIMATE PLAN: EPA's plan to undo the Obama-era climate rule for coal-burning power plants is widely expected to include a far less stringent replacement rule, but the new climate proposal would also boost states’ latitude to write their own regulations for coal plants or pave a path for seeking permission to opt out, according to POLITICO’s review of a portion of the unpublished draft and a source who reviewed other sections of the document.


The draft offers the first look at the specifics of the Trump administration's proposal to undo the Clean Power Plan since EPA released a broader notice that it would reconsider the rule in April, POLITICO's Emily Holden reports. The White House Office of Management and Budget has reviewed the draft and sent it back to EPA this week, meaning the plan will likely be unveiled in the coming days. Legal experts say a replacement rule could stall a future president from quickly writing carbon regulations.

Under the new regulation, states would be allowed to write rules to make coal power plants more efficient, enabling them to burn less coal to produce the same amount of electricity. But critics say that could be bad for the planet by making it cost-effective for companies to run those plants more often, Emily reports. According to the draft, EPA intends to argue that the Obama administration's rule illegally sought to regulate the broader power sector, beyond coal plants, and that the compliance costs would have been high and the climate benefits negligible.

Other details of the proposal include:

— State plans could be in effect before 2025

— Coal plants upgrades could avoid triggering New Source Review requirements

— EPA expects the average power plant heat rate improvement would be 1-3 percent and cost $30 to $60 per kilowatt

— Retail electricity prices could be similar or somewhat higher than if EPA repealed the Clean Power Plan

— EPA would only count the domestic benefits of curbing greenhouse gas emissions

— In comparing costs and benefits of replacing the rule, EPA assumes states would have capped emissions and would not have used interstate trading — which would have decreased the expected costs of the Clean Power Plan

WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY! I'm your host, Kelsey Tamborrino. Holland & Knight’s Beth Viola was the first to know Mount Thor, on Canada’s Baffin Island, is home to the Earth’s greatest sheer vertical drop at 4,101 feet. For today: Who were the first and only sisters to serve simultaneously in Congress? Send your tips, energy gossip and comments to [email protected], or follow us on Twitter @kelseytam, @Morning_Energy and @POLITICOPro.

OPENING WATERS: Oil and gas companies are lobbying Florida lawmakers to open up eastern portions of the Gulf of Mexico for offshore drilling, even after Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke seemingly shut the door on the prospect when he declared the state's waters “off the table” seven months ago, Pro's Ben Lefebvre reports. It's a controversial effort in a state that for decades has seen bipartisan opposition to offshore drilling.

The lobbying effort, Ben writes, is looking to potentially bring oil rigs as close as 75 miles off the coast, putting drilling 125 miles closer to Florida's beaches. And the energy lobbyists and trade associations pushing the effort think Zinke left just enough room in his previous comments to persuade lawmakers to sign on to possible compromises.

Zinke’s tweet exempting Florida and his subsequent statement that he was “removing Florida from consideration for any new oil and gas platforms” shouldn’t be read as official Interior policy, said Randall Luthi, president of the trade group National Offshore Industry Association, which is pressing for access to the waters. One lobbyist working the issue also told POLITICO that Zinke and Gov. Rick Scott were careful to "not say the entire Eastern Gulf” was off the table. Keep in mind: The state's jurisdiction only extends nine nautical miles from the shoreline. Read more here.

FOR YOUR RADAR: The Interior Department will hold its Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale today, with 77.3 million acres stretching from south Texas to the Florida-Alabama border up for grabs.

EPA CHALLENGED AUTO SAFETY ARGUMENT: An internal EPA staff memo released Tuesday shows EPA officials questioned the Trump administration’s rationale for its recent proposal to roll back Obama-era mileage standards, Pro’s Alex Guillén reports. The June 18 memo warned that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s projection that freezing fuel economy standards would save lives was “unrealistic” and “difficult to justify.” The memo specifically addressed fatalities for years 2036 to 2045 identified under an April NHTSA model. NHTSA said the freeze would save 150 lives per year over that decade, but EPA analysts said it would actually lead to 17 more fatalities each year over the Obama standards.

THEY’RE BAAACK: Senators return to town today after a brief recess, ready to tackle some National Parks legislation. The Energy and Natural Resources National Parks Subcommittee will meet this afternoon on a slate of bills related to parks, and hear from National Parks Service Deputy Director P. Daniel Smith. If you go: The legislative hearing begins at 4 p.m. in 366 Dirksen.

OHIO LNG DELIVERABLES: Tellurian LNG Vice President of Federal Affairs Majida Mourad is moonlighting as a fundraiser for Ohio gubernatorial candidate Mike DeWine, sources told ME. Mourad, whose day job involves advocating for the start-up liquefied natural gas export company in Houston, accompanied Vice President Mike Pence on Air Force Two on Tuesday to travel to a DeWine rally in Cincinnati and then to another fundraising event in Toledo, a source familiar with the planning said. DeWine’s campaign paid for Mourad’s flight, the source added. Mourad, who started divorce proceedings against Ohio Republican Rep. Mike Turner earlier this year, is “instrumental in raising money” for the DeWine campaign, the source said. Mourad is traveling “in her capacity as a supporter for the political candidate, not as a lobbyist. She’s instrumental in raising money,” the source added. A Tellurian spokesperson did not immediately reply to questions.

IN FULL BLOOM: Officials from EPA, the Interior Department and the Army Corps of Engineers today will tour areas affected by toxic algae blooms in southwestern Florida, with Rep. Francis Rooney as their guide. The Florida Republican has called on Trump to issue a major disaster declaration for the state over the harmful algae blooms.

What’s at stake? The algae blooms have caused widespread deaths among aquatic animals and left millions of fish rotting along beaches, harming the state’s economy. The crisis has taken hold of the state’s high-profile Senate and gubernatorial races — and just this week Scott declared a state of emergency for the nine-month-old “red tide” algae bloom.

CHICAGO TRUMP TOWER SUED FOR WATER VIOLATIONS: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced a lawsuit Tuesday against Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago, alleging it has violated environmental laws by dumping millions of gallons of water in the Chicago River daily without first conducting studies on the impact to the river’s fish, as federally mandated. The suit also alleges the hotel has released the water without an updated National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit.

“We are disappointed that the Illinois Attorney General would choose to file this suit considering such items are generally handled at the administrative level,” a spokesperson for the Trump Organization said in a statement. “One can only conclude that this decision was motivated by politics.”

PERRY HEADS TO MEXICO: Energy Secretary Rick Perry travels to Mexico City today to attend the 2018 FIRST Global Challenge — a yearly international STEM-related robotics challenge. Perry will also meet with Mexican government officials to discuss bilateral energy partnerships between the two countries.

SOUND BITE: Perry sought to defend the Trump administration’s plan to rescue economically struggling coal and nuclear plants during his tour of Colorado’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory on Tuesday, though he may have made his job a little tougher. "The government's been picking winners and losers since government was created,” Perry said, according to Bloomberg’s Catherine Traywick. “... Use the right kind of technical people to help you decide where to invest and pick the winners, pick them right. Government's going to continue to do that."

— Greens pounced on the remarks: Jonathan Levenshus, of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, released a statement calling Perry’s comment a “ridiculously hypocritical statement,” pointing to his 2010 book in which he wrote Americans were “fed up” with the “government picking winners and losers based on circumstance and luck with no real benefit to the economy.”

ON THE MOVE: Margaret Schneider, the Bureau of Land Management’s assistant director of business, fiscal and information resources management, started Monday as acting deputy director of operations, replacing Richard Cardinale, BLM spokesperson Heather Feeney confirmed to ME. Cardinale “completed his two-month acting assignment” and will “return to the Department of the Interior's Office of Chief Information Officer as the Business Operations Division Director,” Feeney said. He will remain in the position until a permanent selection is made. Schneider previously served as deputy director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and at EPA.

HOW SCIENCE FARES: More than 80 percent of federal scientists within EPA say consideration of political interests within the agency obstructs its ability to make science-based decisions, according to a new survey from the Union of Concerned Scientists and Iowa State University’s Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology. The anonymous survey, which was released Tuesday, fielded responses from around 5,000 government scientists across 16 agencies. Many scientists reported science is under pressure under the Trump administration, with close to 80 percent of respondents reporting that the scientific workforce is shrinking through retirements, buyouts and hiring freezes. Respondents also reported censorship of their work, especially related to climate change.

FUEL FOR THOUGHT: The Sunrise Movement and 350 Action today will protest the Democratic National Committee’s recently passed resolution that they say reverses a ban on accepting donations from fossil fuel companies. The groups will hold a sit-in at the DNC’s Washington headquarters at 11 a.m., calling for a recommitment to ban fossil fuel money and for the party to endorse a “Green New Deal.”

MAIL CALL! The National Wildlife Federation, joined by a coalition of more than 50 other groups, will urge Congress in a letter today to reauthorize and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The conservation program is set to expire at the end of September.

GREENS WEIGH IN: Environmental groups, including the Environmental Defense Fund and Environmental Law and Policy Center, submitted comments in opposition to EPA’s proposed cost-benefit analysis rule. “Despite the tremendous record of success demonstrated by EPA safeguards, and the enormous benefits they provide for the health and well-being of the American public, the current administration has relentlessly sought to undermine and dismantle these life-saving protections,” the comments say.

LCV LAUNCHES ANTI-KAVANAUGH ADS: The League of Conservation Voters is putting $200,000 into a newly launched initiative opposing Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, highlighting his record in environmental cases. With an emphasis on Nevada, Maine and Alaska, LCV will launch both digital ads and a grass-roots campaign to encourage the public to tell their senators to reject Kavanaugh. See the first digital ad here.

QUICK HITS

— “SunPower pivots to ‘solar energy services’ upon exiting utility-scale development,” GreenTech Media.

— “Acting EPA Chief Andrew Wheeler vows to offer regulatory ‘certainty’ to Iowans,” Des Moines Register.

— “Brazil: Bolsonaro threatens to quit Paris climate deal,” Climate Home News.

— “Seattle judge dismisses young activists’ climate lawsuit,” The Associated Press.

— “Warming affects blazes, but not everywhere or every time,” E&E News.

THAT'S ALL FOR ME!

Follow us on Twitter Matt Daily @dailym1



Kelsey Tamborrino @kelseytam



Anthony Adragna @anthonyadragna



Gavin Bade @gavinbade



Zack Colman @zcolman



Alex Guillen @alexcguillen



Ben Lefebvre @bjlefebvre



Annie Snider @annelizabeth18



Eric Wolff @ericwolff