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GOP-ALIGNED GROUPS MAKE THE FISCAL CASE FOR A CARBON TAX ON CAPITOL HILL: The conservative group Alliance for Market Solutions is set to make the fiscal case for a carbon tax with a Capitol Hill briefing for congressional staff.

The Tuesday briefing is mostly focused on wooing Republicans who have acknowledged climate change as a problem, but haven’t committed to embracing anything more ambitious than research and development investments to promote clean energy “innovation.”

Alex Flint, executive director of Alliance for Market Solutions, hopes to make the case for a carbon tax in GOP-friendly terms. His group prefers an approach that would replace regulations with a “revenue-neutral” carbon tax, using the proceeds to reduce other taxes, such as on earnings and income.

“There is a view by some conservatives that a carbon tax is an opportunity to move to a consumption tax to reform the tax code,” Flint told me in an interview. “We are trying to broaden that conversation to recognize a carbon tax has attributes beyond its ability to address carbon pollution.”

To be sure, Flint cares about climate change, and sees a carbon tax as the most efficient way to address it.

“A carbon tax should be the conservative response to climate change,” said Flint, who previously served as staff director for Republicans on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

What’s in the briefing: Flint said 30 congressional offices, mostly Republican, have RSVP’d for Tuesday’s briefing, which will include testimonials about the benefits of a carbon tax from other conservative experts.

Dan Goldbeck of American Action Forum will focus on the cost of regulations vs. a carbon tax. The Tax Foundation’s Kyle Pomerleau will propose ideas to use carbon tax revenue to reform the tax code, while Joseph Majkut of the Niskanen Center will make the climate argument for a carbon tax.

Flint, who is moderating the conversation, said the goal of the briefing is simply to generate discussion and not seek support for any particular legislation, recognizing the prospects for action remain far-away in a divided Congress before the 2020 election.

“The conversation today among Republicans is, ‘what is the appropriate response to climate change?’ and we are in the early stages of that conversation,” Flint said.

Keeping score: Indeed, the closest thing to legislation matching the Alliance for Market Solution’s preferred carbon tax method is a bill introduced last year by former Republican Representative Carlos Curbelo of Florida. It would have imposed a tax beginning at $24 per ton of carbon dioxide in 2020 that rises 2% annually above inflation, while repealing the federal taxes on gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuels.

The legislation proposed using some of the revenues from the carbon tax to fund improvements to U.S. infrastructure, including some for flood-mitigation projects and other initiatives to protect against climate change.

The only Republican-involved carbon tax bill introduced this year, authored by Representative Francis Rooney of Florida, would return the revenue to taxpayers as monthly rebates.

That is the preferred method of another GOP-backed group, the Climate Leadership Council, which is advocating for Congress to support a carbon-tax-and dividend. Oil and gas companies have endorsed this approach .

Rooney has said he is not wed to one proposal and intends to introduce other carbon tax bills this year that would handle the revenue differently. Representative Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania is the only other congressional Republican to publicly support a carbon tax.

“This is about setting a foundation about the breadth of policy issues that can be addressed by a carbon tax,” Flint said.

Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writer Josh Siegel (@SiegelScribe). Email jsiegel@washingtonexaminer.com 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.

MILLENNIAL REPUBLICANS WANT ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE, SURVEY FINDS: Another conservative group, Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, released the results of a national survey Monday of millennial Republican voters that found over two-thirds want the party to do more to combat climate change.

About 67% of 801 GOP voters ages 18-38 who were surveyed said they believe the Republican Party needs to do more. However, fewer than half (49%) say that ignoring climate change will be harmful to the Republican Party. One-third of voters polled disagree with that view.

More than four in five, 82%, of millennial Republicans said it is very important or at least somewhat important for the U.S. to expand the use of renewable energy.

IRAN RELEASES FOOTAGE OF FORCES SEIZING BRITISH OIL TANKER: Iran released video footage of its forces seizing a British oil tanker that is now being held by the regime.

In the face of mounting tensions with the United States and the United Kingdom, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced on Friday they had taken a U.K.-flagged tanker, the Stena Impero. On Saturday, video footage of the seizure was released.

The ship's owners said in a statement Friday the ship had been “approached by unidentified small crafts and a helicopter during transit of the Strait of Hormuz while the vessel was in international waters.”

British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said his country is not considering military options , but warned there would be consequences for the provocation.

“We are absolutely clear that if this situation is not resolved quickly there will be serious consequences,” Hunt said. “We are not looking at military options. We are looking at a diplomatic way to resolve this situation, but we are very clear that it must be resolved.”

The news of the detained ship came just a day after the U.S. says it “destroyed” an Iranian drone .

Oil prices increased Monday after Iran’s seizure of the British oil tanker, with Brent crude, the global benchmark, rising 0.7% to nearly $63 a barrel. It is the latest of several attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, a 21-mile-wide waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea that accounts for 30% of the world's sea-traded oil.

TRUMP TO TALK ENERGY WITH PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan meets with President Trump at the White House on Monday to discuss counterterrorism, defense, energy, trade, and other issues. It’s Khan’s first visit to Washington, and both sides seem to be hoping for a reset in the chilly relations between the two countries.

Energy looks to be a potential area of cooperation, said a senior Trump administration official, according to a readout of a call with reporters on Friday.

The U.S. is "looking at opportunities, such as the possibility of a reverse trade mission for Pakistan on LNG supply and natural gas infrastructure,” the official said.

The administration also wants to increase private sector investment in Pakistan’s energy sector.

The official said U.S. companies like General Electric are incorporating their technologies on wind, hydro, gas, and steam projects throughout Pakistan.

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION MAKES PROGRESS ON REVIEW OF ADVANCED REACTOR DESIGN: NuScale Power announced Monday that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has finished the second and third phases of review for the company’s small modular nuclear reactor design six weeks ahead of schedule.

NuScale, an Oregon-based nuclear technology firm, is hoping to be the first company in recent decades to obtain a license to operate a new reactor design in the U.S. for commercial use. The company said in a press release that the nuclear commission is on track to finish its review by September 2020.

“Completing Phases 2 and 3 of the NRC’s design review certification process is a critical milestone for our company and the advanced nuclear industry,” said NuScale Chairman and CEO John Hopkins.

Advanced reactors are seen as key to improving the fortunes of nuclear energy, which emits no carbon, giving it a level of bipartisan support for its potential to help combat climate change

The smaller advanced reactors, still in the development phase, are supposed to be cheaper to operate and safer because they produce less waste.

A group of utilities in six Western states, which would be the company’s first customer, hopes to connect 12 of the NuScale reactors together for use in Idaho to create a 600-megawatt power plant slated for operation by the mid-2020s.

PHILADELPHIA ENERGY SOLUTIONS FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY AFTER REFINERY FIRE: Philadelphia Energy Solutions filed for bankruptcy Sunday, a month after an explosion and fire at a refinery it owns that is the largest on the East Coast.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. It’s the second time the company has filed for bankruptcy in less than two years, according to Reuters . It was forced to file for bankruptcy protection two years ago due to the high price of ethanol credits it is required to purchase to meet federal Renewable Fuel Standard.

Philadelphia Energy Solutions announced this month that it will close its large refinery in the state because the damage from the refinery explosion was so severe. The firm said it would seek to sell the plant, offering an unclear timeline on restarting it, if ever. The fire is under investigation by a number of federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Rundown

Bloomberg Millions of barrels of Iranian oil are piled up in China’s ports

New York Times California, wary of more wildfires, is paying for them already

E&E News As temperatures soar during heat wave, so does C02

Washington Post EPA’s watchdog is scrutinizing ethics practices of agency’s former air policy chief

Calendar

TUESDAY | July 23

10 a.m., 366 Dirksen. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee holds a hearing to examine the United States’ interests in the Freely Associated States.

WEDNESDAY | July 24

10 a.m., 120 Cannon. House Budget Committee holds a hearing focused on the costs of climate change.

WEDNESDAY | July 24

10 a.m., 2123 Rayburn. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change holds a hearing on “Building America’s Clean Future: Pathways to Decarbonize the Economy.”

THURSDAY | July 25