EPA Spending and Regulatory Policies under the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
Subcommittee hearing titled “Holding the Biden-Harris EPA Accountable for Radical Rush-to-Green Spending.”
Witness:- Sean W. O’Donnell, Inspector General, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Roundtable: Holding Big Oil Accountable for Extortion, Collusion, and Pollution
On Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. ET, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Democrats will host a roundtable discussion with expert panelists titled, “Holding Big Oil Accountable for Extortion, Collusion, and Pollution.”
A recent Federal Trade Commission complaint and multiple class action lawsuits allege that Big Oil has colluded with OPEC to pad their profits by raising energy prices for Americans. This price-gouging adds to the hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies Big Oil already receives annually through direct tax breaks and by passing along health and environmental cleanup costs to taxpayers and communities.
Meanwhile, House Republicans continue to put polluters over people, pushing additional handouts and giveaways for the fossil fuel industry, many of which mirror proposals in Trump’s Project 2025. Former President Trump also recently requested $1 billion in campaign contributions from Big Oil executives, promising to roll back environmental regulations, fast-track fossil fuel project permitting, and enhance tax breaks even further.
Roundtable panelists will discuss these issues, the impacts on American communities, and how Congress can support the American people by holding Big Oil accountable for its extortion, collusion, and pollution.
Members:- Vice Ranking Member Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.)
- Kristina Karlsson, Deputy Director of Climate Policy, Roosevelt Institute
- Alex Witt, Senior Advisor on Oil & Gas, Climate Power
- Bekah Hinojosa, Co-Founder, South Texas Environmental Justice Network
- Chris Marshall, Director, Energy & Environment Program, Accountable.US
Harris Campaign: Trump Will Sell America Out to Oil Barons
Vice President Kamala Harris at the COP 28 climate talks, 2023.
At her Tuesday campaign rally in Wisconsin, Vice President Kamala Harris said that Trump “literally promised Big Oil companies and Big Oil lobbyists he would do their bidding for $1 billion in campaign donations.”
The Harris for President campaign issued the following press release today.
The Wall Street Journal reported today that a “megawealthy coterie of oil tycoons” are “banking on promises” from Donald Trump to deliver his dangerous Project 2025 agenda that is even “more stridently pro-fossil fuel than Trump’s first administration.”
Trump already offered control of White House policy to oil barons while asking for $1 billion to his campaign.
These Big Oil donations solicited by Trump are being investigated as a “blatant quid pro quo” by Senate investigators and “make the magnates among some of Trump’s biggest donors and represent an increase from past election cycles.”
Trump promised to issue “immediate approvals” for Big Oil’s dangerous schemes while asking them to put him back in the White House.
Oil lobbyists are already drafting ready-made executive orders for Trump to sign to give them tax handouts, increase costs on Americans, and pollute our environment.
Trump has even said that he would cut “environmental agencies” and the Department of Interior, which are critical to protecting public lands and ensuring clean air and water for all Americans.
Harris for President spokesperson Joseph Costello released the following statement:
“Oil barons are salivating because climate denier Donald Trump promised to do their bidding while asking them to bankroll his run for the presidency. Trump’s promises to Big Oil would sacrifice good paying jobs that are driving an American energy and manufacturing boom, and instead give billion dollar handouts to corporations at the expense of working families and a healthy future for our children.
“Under the Biden-Harris administration, America is more energy independent than ever. Vice President Harris cast the tie breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, creating hundreds of thousands of good paying energy jobs and making the biggest climate investment in world history. But Trump promises to dismantle all this progress and sell out America’s future for his own personal gain.”
Politico Energy Summit: At a Crossroads
The future of energy faces a crossroads in 2024 as policymakers and industry leaders shape new rules, investments and technologies. Join POLITICO’s Energy Summit as we convene top voices to examine the shifting global policy environment in a year of major elections in the U.S. and around the world. POLITICO will examine how governments are writing and rewriting new rules for the energy future and America’s own role as a major exporter.
We invite you to help us take a closer look at the impact and effectiveness of major public and private investments shaping the U.S. energy sector and our global competitiveness. We will delve into policy conversation around the most promising emerging technologies poised to transform our energy mix and carbon footprint.
The Schuyler
1001 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20005
Presenting Sponsor: Southern Company
Supporting Sponsor: Solar Energy Industries Association
Contributing Sponsors: Entergy and NextEra Energy
| 11:15 a.m. | Doors Open |
|---|---|
| Upon entry, attendees will need to show a valid form of government issued ID and copy of confirmation email. | |
| 11:45 a.m. | From the White House: A Conversation with Ali Zaidi |
| Ali Zaidi, Assistant to the President and White House National Climate Advisor Moderated by: Eugene Daniels, Playbook Co-Author & White House Correspondent | |
| Report Card on America’s Infrastructure: A Conversation with Tom Perez | |
| Tom Perez, Senior Advisor & Assistant to the President & Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, the White House Moderated by: Scott Waldman, White House & Climate Politics Reporter, E&E News | |
| Executive Conversation with Southern Company | |
| Kim Greene, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Georgia Power
Moderated by: Heidi Sommer, Vice President, Client Partnerships, POLITICO | |
| Look West: A Conversation with Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) | |
| Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Ranking Member, Fisheries, Water, & Wildlife Subcommittee, Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works
Moderated by: Josh Siegel, Energy Reporter & Host, POLITICO Energy Podcast | |
| Writing the Rules: U.S. Leadership in Global Energy Security & Climate | |
| Part One: A Conversation with Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), Chair, Clean Air, Climate, & Nuclear Safety Subcommittee, Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works Moderated by: Ryan Lizza, Playbook Co-Author & Chief Washington Correspondent
Part Two: What is the Conservative Climate Agenda? Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Co-Chair, Climate Solutions Caucus Moderated by: Emma Dumain, Congressional Climate Reporter, E&E News
Part Three: Where Wall Street is Headed (And Why it Should Matter to Washington) George Bilicic, Managing Director, Lazard Sam Mar, Senior Advisor, Arnold Ventures Regina Mayor, Global Head of Clients & Markets, KPMG Moderated by: Manuel Quiñones, Congress Editor, E&E News | |
| Elections and the Energy Landscape: Toward Renewables or a Rollback? | |
| Betamia Coronel, Senior National Organizer for Climate Justice, Center for Popular Democracy Jon Krosnick, Frederic O. Glover Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences & Professor of Communication, Political Science, Psychology and Sustainability, Stanford University Thomas J. Pyle, President, American Energy Alliance Moderated by: Charlie Mahtesian, Senior Politics Editor | |
| Executive Remarks from SEIA | |
| Abigail Ross Hopper, President & CEO, SEIA | |
| Cabinet Conversation: U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm | |
| Secretary Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Department of Energy Moderated by: Zack Colman, Climate & Energy Reporter | |
| Racing Toward Discovery: How to Speed Up the New Tech Timeline | |
| Daniel Cunningham, PhD, Deputy Director for Technology, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy Sarah Kapnick, PhD, Chief Scientist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration David Keith, Professor and Founding Faculty Director, Climate Systems Engineering Initiative, Department of the Geophysical Sciences, The University of Chicago Moderated by: Corbin Hiar, Reporter, E&E News | |
| The Watchdog: A Conversation with Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) | |
| Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ranking Member, Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee, Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works Moderated by: Kelsey Brugger, Congress Reporter, E&E News | |
| POLITICO Energy Live Episode: The Electrification of Everything | |
| Willie Phillips, Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Moderated by: Catherine Morehouse, Energy Reporter | |
| The Global Balance Sheet: A Conversation with Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo | |
| Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo, U.S. Department of Treasury Moderated by: Gavin Bade, Trade & Economics Reporter | |
| LIVE FROM TOKYO: A Virtual Conversation with U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel | |
| Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Moderated by: Kevin Baron, Editorial Director, POLITICO Live | |
| 5:15 p.m. | Reception |
| Enjoy our end-of-day networking with some light refreshments. |
EPA's Risk Management Program Rules
The Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials will hold a hearing on May 7, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. (ET) in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The title of the hearing is “EPA’s RMP Rule: Failures to Protect the American People and American Manufacturing.”
Witnesses:- Gentner Drummond, Attorney General, State of Oklahoma, testifying the rules are “openly hostile to America’s oil and gas industry”
- Jatin Shah, Senior Principal Consultant, BakerRisk
- Richard Erstad, Vice President and General Counsel, Hawkins, Inc. on behalf of the Alliance of Chemical Distributors
- James “Jim” Savage, Legislative Representative, United Steelworkers International Union
In the Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments of 1990, Congress consciously separated responsibilities at a plant using certain chemicals for activities before an accident and after an accident occurred, as well as those activities inside a plant fence line and outside of it. Section 304 of the CAA Amendments of 1990 directed Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to take the lead on protecting workers within a facility’s fence line, thinking OSHA was best equipped to handle these issues. By contrast, Congress, in section 301 of the CAA Amendments of 1990, gave the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authority to protect the environment and human health beyond the fence-line.
Section 301 of the CAA Amendment of 1990, which created CAA section 112®, was intended to prevent the “unanticipated emission of a regulated substance or other extremely hazardous substance into the ambient air from a stationary source” and to minimize the consequences of those releases. Paragraph (7) of CAA section 112® grants the EPA the authority to issue accidental release prevention, detection, and correction requirements and guidance that has manufacturers prevent and manage those accidental risks through manufacturers’ risk management program (RMP) plans.
The EPA originally issued the RMP regulations in two stages: the list of hazardous substances and quantities in 1994 and the risk management requirements in 1996.10 Subsequently, and until 2017, the EPA modified the original RMP rules five times (twice in 1999, twice in 2000, and once in 2004).
On January 13, 2017, the EPA published amendments to the RMP rule (82 FR 4594). The 2017 amendments rule was prompted by E.O. 13650, “Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security,” which directed the EPA (and several other Federal agencies) to, among other things, modernize policies, regulations, and standards to enhance safety and security in chemical facilities. The 2017 amendments rule contained various new provisions applicable to RMP-regulated facilities. The 2017 amendments rule addressed prevention program elements for natural hazards, incident investigation root cause analysis, and third-party compliance audits; emergency response coordination with local responders (including emergency response exercises); and availability of information to the public. The EPA received three petitions for reconsideration of the 2017 amendments rule under CAA section 307(d)(7)(B). In December 2019, the EPA finalized revisions to the RMP regulations to reconsider the rule changes made in January 2017 (“2019 reconsideration rule”). The 2019 reconsideration rule rescinded certain information disclosure provisions of the 2017 amendments rule, removed safer technologies and alternative analysis (STAA) requirements added by the 2017 amendments rule, and modified some other provisions of the 2017 amendments rule. The rule changes made by the 2019 are the current RMP regulations until May 10, 2024. There are petitions for judicial review of both the 2017 amendments rule and the 2019 reconsideration rule. The 2019 reconsideration rule challenges are being held in abeyance. EPA has requested that the Court allow this to occur until the resolution of any legal challenges to 2024 RMP rule amendments or 30 days after the deadline to file such challenges if no challenges are filed. The case against the 2017 amendments rule is in abeyance pending resolution of the 2019 reconsideration rule case. As a result of the EPA review, on March 11, 2024, the EPA promulgated final regulations amending its RMP regulations. The revisions, which are scheduled to become effective on May 10, 2024, include several changes to the accident prevention program requirements for natural hazards, power loss, and STAA, as well as enhancements to the emergency response requirements, expansion of public availability of chemical hazard information, third-party audit and record-keeping requirements, and mandatory employee rights and participation.
Hydrogen Hype's Physics Problem
The Biden administration is spending billions on the National Clean Hydrogen Strategy, even recently celebrating Hydrogen Day on October 8 (because hydrogen’s atomic weight is 1.008) to “mark a symbolic opportunity to celebrate hydrogen—clean hydrogen, specifically—and the crucial role this element plays in supporting a robust, equitable clean energy future for all Americans.”
“There’s a lot to like about hydrogen as a fuel source, climate journalists such as David Gelles gush.
The only problem is that “clean hydrogen,” also known as “green hydrogen”—that is, hydrogen gas generated using renewable electricity—isn’t particularly “clean” or “green,” although it’s less polluting than “gray” and “blue” hydrogen, produced from natural gas.
Unfortunately, even “green” hydrogen is a powerful greenhouse pollutant.
As an important paper from Environmental Defense Fund scientists Ilissa Ocko and Steven Hamburg explains, hydrogen is unavoidably leaky, because it’s such a small molecule, and like methane, has a high short-term warming effect. In fact, one of hydrogen’s main warming effects is to increase the atmospheric lifetime of methane. Methane breaks down in contact with the hydroxyl (OH) radical formed when ultraviolet light interacts with ozone (O₃) and water vapor (H₂O). Hydroxyl also reacts with hydrogen molecules (H₂), so significant hydrogen pollution means atmospheric methane doesn’t break down. Thus, Ocko and Hamburg find:
Hydrogen’s 100-year greenhouse warming potential (GWP) is twice as high as previously thought, and its 20-year GWP is 3 times higher than its 100-year GWP. Hydrogen’s maximum GWP occurs around 7 years after the initial pulse of emissions, with a range of 25 to 60 based on uncertainties, and a central estimate of 40.
In short, “green” hydrogen isn’t.
Regulating Small Offshore Energy Producers
Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Supply Chains hearing: “Energy Independence: How Burdensome Regulations are Crushing Small Offshore Energy Producers”
Chair: Wesley Hunt (R-Texas)
Witnesses:- Mike Minarovic, Chief Executive Officer, Arena Energy, LLC
- Paul Danos, Chairman of the Board, National Ocean Industries Association
- Alex Epstein, President, Center for Industrial Progress
- Kathleen Nisbet Moncy, Chief Operating Officer, Goose Point Oyster
July Open Meeting
Commission meeting are held in Commission Meeting Room (Room 2C) at FERC Headquarters, 888 First St. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426
| Meeting agenda | ||
|---|---|---|
| Item No. | Docket No. | Company |
| ADMINISTRATIVE | ||
| A-1 | AD23-1-000 | Agency Administrative Matters |
| A-2 | AD23-2-000 | Customer Matters, Reliability, Security and Market Operations |
| ELECTRIC | ||
| E-1 | RM22-14-000 | Improvements to Generator Interconnection Procedures and Agreements |
| E-2 | RM22-19-001 | Incentives for AdvancedCybersecurity Investment |
| E-3 | ER22-2355-000 | GridLiance Heartland LLC |
| E-4 | ER22-2354-000 | GridLiance High Plains LLC |
| E-5 | ER22-2353-000 | Florida Power & Light Company |
| E-6 | ER22-2466-000 | Cube Yadkin Transmission LLC |
| E-7 | ER22-2358-001 | Versant Power |
| E-8 | ER22-2304-000 | Nevada Power Company |
| E-9 | ER22-2307-000 | Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power Company |
| E-10 | ER21-2592-000 | Pacific Gas and Electric Company |
| ER21-2592-001 | ||
| EL23-24-000 (not consolidated) | CXA La Paloma, LLC v. California Independent System Operator Corporation | |
| E-11 | EL23-69-000 | Secure-the-Grid Coalition |
| E-12 | EL23-43-000 | arGo Partners GP LLC |
| E-13 | EL23-41-000 | arGo Partners GP LLC |
| E-14 | ER23-729-001 | PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. |
| EL23-19-001 | ||
| HYDRO | ||
| H-1 | P-2290-124 | Southern California Edison Company |
| H-2 | P-14634-007 | New England Hydropower Company, LLC |
| CERTIFICATES | ||
| C-1 | CP22-25-000 | Venture Global Calcasieu Pass, LLC |
| C-2 | CP20-55-000 | Port Arthur LNG Phase II, LLC and PALNG Common Facilities Company, LLC |
| C-3 | CP22-2-000 | Gas Transmission Northwest LLC |
| C-4 | CP22-494-000 | Boardwalk Storage Company, LLC |
| C-5 | CP22-15-000 | Texas Eastern Transmission, LP |
| C-6 | CP22-466-000 | WBI Energy Transmission, Inc. |
| C-7 | CP22-138-000 | Northern Natural Gas Company |
| C-8 | CP22-461-000 | Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC |
Public Hearing on EPA's Proposed Carbon Pollution Standards for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants, Day One
EPA will hold a virtual public hearing on June 13, 14 and 15, 2023, to provide the public the opportunity to present comments and information regarding the Agency’s proposal for carbon pollution standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants.
Hearing dates- Tuesday, June 13, 2023, 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM Eastern Time
- Wednesday, June 14, 2023, 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM Eastern Time
- Thursday, June 15, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM Eastern Time
Register to speak by visiting this link
Registration closes June 6, 2023. Each speaker will have 4 minutes to speak.
Those who wish to listen but not speak at the hearing do not need to register. A link to view the hearing will be available here before the hearing begins.
EPA considers all comments equally, whether submitted in writing to the docket, or given orally at a public hearing. EPA will take written comment on the proposal until July 24, 2023.
Background:
EPA is proposing Clean Air Act standards and guidelines to limit emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel-fired power plants based on cost-effective and available control technologies. The proposals would set limits for new gas-fired combustion turbines, existing coal, oil and gas-fired steam generating units, and certain existing gas-fired combustion turbines.
Consistent with EPA’s traditional approach to establishing pollution standards for power plants under section 111 of the Clean Air Act, the proposed standards are based on technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration/storage, low-GHG hydrogen co-firing, and natural gas co-firing, which can be applied directly to power plants that use fossil fuels to generate electricity.
As laid out in section 111 of the Clean Air Act, the proposed new source performance standards and emission guidelines reflect the application of the best system of emission reduction that, taking into account costs, energy requirements, and other statutory factors, is adequately demonstrated for the purpose of improving the emissions performance of the covered electric generating units.
The Reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program: FEMA’s Perspective
Hearing on the reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program.
Witness:- David Maurstad, Assistant Administrator, Federal Insurance Directorate, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Floods are the most common, most expensive, and most deadly natural disaster that communities across the United States experience. Reports reveal approximately 90 percent of all U.S. natural disasters also involve flooding from any number of sources, including inland flooding, flash floods, and flooding from seasonal storms.
While such events have long been a concern, recent experiences have shown that flooding has become both more frequent and severe. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) 50+ year old National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is by far the nation’s leading provider of flood insurance coverage, has experienced two of its top five, four of its top ten, and ten of its top 20 costliest flood events all in the last decade alone.
Previously, the NFIP dealt with only two $1+ billion flood events prior to its most costly flood, which was Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Since then, the NFIP has experienced eight $1+ billion flood events.
The NFIP’s last formal 5-year reauthorization expired at the end of September 2017. Since then, the NFIP has been subject to three brief lapses and 25 short-term extensions, nearly all of which have been enacted as a part of the congressional appropriations process and not through legislation initiated by the Financial Services Committee.