By Alex Guillén
SALE OF THE CENTURY: Now that the Obama administration has released the first major piece of its long-awaited climate action plan, the job of selling it can begin in earnest. The push to gain public support for President Barack Obama's climate plan is kicking into gear across the executive branch, with several Cabinet secretaries - and appointees below them - stumping for the plan and rolling out related announcements, sources say. Several sources with the administration say it's a more coordinated, comprehensive effort than Obama's agencies have tried before. The message: Obama is serious about climate change. Erica Martinson has the story: http://politi.co/15oygWl
W.H. MET WITH COAL, GREENS, OTHERS IN WEEK BEFORE RULE RELEASE: White House and administration officials continued to meet with outside groups about the rule up until just one week before it was released last Friday, newly posted Office of Management and Budget Records indicate. OMB reported meeting on Sept. 11 with representatives from the American Lung Association, the American Public Health Association, Trust for America's Health, the National Association of County and City Health Officials and the American Thoracic Society. The next day, officials met with representatives from Hudson Technologies, a refrigeration service firm. On Sept. 13, OMB met with an executive from Arch Coal and representatives from the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, including ERCC Director Scott Segal. And on that same day the administration met with Sierra Club representatives.
In case you were wondering: The National Association of County and City Health Officials is the group with ME's favorite acronym.
But wait, there's more: It may not always seem like it, but EPA is up to other stuff besides the rule for new power plants. Administration officials met last Monday with the Alliance for Green Heat, Woodstock Soapstone Company and Van Ness Feldman to discuss standards for new residential wood heaters, hydronic heaters, forced-air furnaces and residential masonry heaters.
NRDC LAUNCHES AD CAMPAIGN PROMOTING EPA, CLIMATE AGENDA: The NRDC is launching a six-figure TV and online ad campaign to boost support for the administration's climate change agenda and EPA's emissions rule for new power plants specifically. The TV spots, which will air over the next week in the Beltway market, features shots of extreme weather and asthmatic children. "Taking action against climate change won't just reduce extreme weather events hurting our communities, it will reduce extreme asthma attacks hurting our children," the ad says, according to a transcript. NRDC's online campaign - which included a front page "takeover" yesterday ofPOLITICO.com and continues in the D.C. area - is aimed at doubling the number of people who "like" EPA on Facebook (the figures was just under 75,000 last night). More: http://bit.ly/18SRBPE
HAPPY TUESDAY and welcome to Morning Energy, where a study concludes that Earth could probably sustain life for another 1.75 billion years or so (http://wapo.st/17XFLGX). We knew we shouldn't have signed that 2.5-billion-year lease! Send your energy news toaguillen@politico.com, and follow on Twitter @alexcguillen,@Morning_Energy and @POLITICOPro.
AIRLINE INDUSTRY LOOKING FOR GLOBAL EMISSIONS DEAL:Tuesday kicks off a two-week confab of international aviation negotiators in Montreal, where the hottest topic will be the quest for an accord on global aviation emissions that would head off a trade war between the European Union and nations including the U.S. Most in the industry seem cautiously optimistic that the 191 member nations of the International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N.-chartered standard-setting body, will be able to come to some kind of agreement. But if a deal slips away, the specter of a trade war becomes real again. Kathryn A. Wolfe previews the issues for Pros: http://politico.pro/1fvKGTF
ABOUT SHAHEEN-PORTMAN: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid yesterday officially moved for the chamber starting Wednesday to take up a continuing resolution to keep the government funded past next Monday. That means the Senate's legislative calendar for the foreseeable future is filled up, and it could take even longer to get back to the energy efficiency legislation if lawmakers immediately shift focus to the looming mid-October debt ceiling issue. Today, the Senate is scheduled to consider a judicial nomination.
WELCOME TO ENERGY INFLUENCE: Pros yesterday go the inaugural edition of Energy Influence, a periodic deep-dive into campaign finance, lobbying and other money-in-energy-politics issues written by yours truly and exclusive to Pro subscribers. Besides the items on the August activity slowdown and Rep. Nick Rahall's coal money teased in yesterday's edition of Morning Energy, subscribers also discovered who rural co-ops are giving to, which big oil company PACs took last month off and who's getting involved in Texas state races. ICYMI, more here:http://politico.pro/16Cc1fG
**A recent study shows America's oil & natural gas companies are top investors in zero- and low-greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions technologies. Between 2000 and 2012, the industry invested $81 billion in GHG mitigation; that's more than the federal government and nearly as much as all other industries combined. On Twitter @EnergyTomorrow or http://bit.ly/1aZK7BV**
API LAUNCHES 'GRASSROOTS' KEYSTONE XL EVENTS: The American Petroleum Institute is going grassroots with its newest campaign in support of the Keystone XL pipeline. The group is launching a new campaign this week with rallies and events around the country that will feature labor union members, college students, veterans and minority groups. The first event will be held in Concord, N.H. on Wednesday, with events to follow in St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Winston-Salem, Cedar Rapids, Albuquerque and Las Vegas.
LOWER OIL PRICES WOULD MEAN LOWER DEFICIT - AEI, SAFE REPORT: Cutting U.S. petroleum consumption through alternative fuel vehicles and better fuel economy could cut the federal deficit by $492 billion in 2040, according to a new report out today commissioned by Securing America's Future Energy and conducted by the American Enterprise Institute and Keybridge Research. The paper also concludes that, had oil prices risen at the same rate as other goods from 2002 to 2012 rather than increasingly more steeply, the lower oil prices would have cut the deficit by $235 billion, via direct expenditures like less government spending on fuel and indirect expenditures such as reduced inflation. The report makes the case that cutting reliance on foreign oil would get oil prices lower. More: http://bit.ly/18mgRj8. AEI is hosting a discussion at 9:30 a.m. at 1150 17th St. NW.
SPEAKING OF FOREIGN OIL: The American Action Forum, the conservative think tank run by former Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Holtz-Eakin, has an estimate out today that the Keystone XL pipeline would push the portion of the U.S.'s oil imports that come from North America above 40 percent. AAF also says the administration's delay in considering the project's application means $7.7 billion will go to Persian Gulf suppliers rather than Canada. More:http://bit.ly/18SI4Ie
LIBERAL DEMOCRAT TO RUN AS INDEPENDENT FOR KENTUCKY SENATE: A building contractor who wants to focus on environmental issues and other liberal mainstays has dropped out of the Democratic primary race for Kentucky's Senate election next year to run as an independent. 'I want to give empowerment back to those that are impoverished, back to those who understand what the environment is experiencing right now and back to those who created the middle-class,' Marksberry says. Last week he criticized Democratic frontrunner Alison Lundergan Grimes for distancing herself from the Obama administration's climate agenda, especially how new EPA rules will affect coal. 'You may be a friend to coal,' he said at the time, 'but I like to say I'm a lover for Mother Earth.' WFPL has more on the switcheroo:http://bit.ly/1dE2Noo
OBIT: Ruth Patrick, who 'laid the scientific groundwork for modern pollution control efforts,' has died at 105 years old. Via the New York Times: "Dr. Patrick built her career around research on thousands of species of single-celled algae called diatoms, which float at the bottom of the food chain. She showed that measuring the kinds and numbers of diatoms revealed the type and extent of pollution in a body of water. Her method of measurement has been used around the world to help determine water quality. ... The eminent Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson has called Dr. Patrick the foremost authority on America's river systems and 'a pioneer environmental activist.'" NYT:http://nyti.ms/18ltmLP
HAPPENING TODAY - INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE COMMISSION LAUNCH: The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, a group made up of leaders from government and the private sector, are launching a new initiative to analyze and quantify the economic costs and benefits of combating climate change. On hand will be Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, former Mexico President Felipe Calderon and others. Info:http://bit.ly/16i2la1
QUICK HITS
- BP is again asking a federal court to halt payments from its 2010 spill settlement agreement until an administrator approves accounting and anti-fraud measures. Reuters: http://reut.rs/19ymslm
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel's next big challenge: keeping electricity bills low while still phasing out nuclear power. Bloomberg:http://bloom.bg/15noNnu
- The United Mine Workers of America has rejected a settlement offer over healthcare benefit claims made by Patriot Coal retirees, Peabody Energy says. Reuters: http://reut.rs/1bCkOFu
- The Solar Energy Industries Association has a proposal to resolve the solar trade dispute between the U.S. and China. BusinessWeek:http://buswk.co/16kM4qV
- Democrat Terry McAuliffe leads Republican Ken Cuccinelli 47-39 in the Virginia gubernatorial race, according to a Washington Post/Abt-SRBI poll: http://wapo.st/18Tg9I4
BE AN AGRICULTURE PRO: Pro Agriculture, the second of three new Pro policy areas launching this fall, will debut on Wednesday, Oct. 2 and will feature breaking news and inside analysis from our best-in-the-business reporters. To learn more about Pro Agriculture, e-mailinfo@politicopro.com or call (703) 341-4600.
THAT'S ALL FOR ME. Have a great day.
** A recent study shows America's oil & natural gas companies are top investors in zero- and low-greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions technologies. Between 2000 and 2012, the industry invested $81 billion in GHG mitigation; that's more than the federal government and nearly as much as all other industries combined. What's more, the oil & natural gas industry has invested $11 billion in domestic wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and other non-hydrocarbon resources between 2011 and 2012 - one out of every six dollars invested. These investments in non-hydrocarbon energy sources and pioneering GHG mitigation technologies not only lower carbon emissions, but create high-tech jobs and advance America's global competitiveness. Taken as a whole, these and other investments have allowed the industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 53.6 million metric tons of CO2 - equal to taking 10.8 million cars off the road. On Twitter @EnergyTomorrow or http://bit.ly/1aZK7BV **
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