The American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) began floor debate this afternoon. Also under consideration is the Republican alternative. While Democratic leaders are confident that they have the votes to pass the bill, ClimateIntel has heard from its Congressional sources that it is actually the progressive wing of the Democratic party that is proving the most recalcitrant.

Currently debate is focused around a 310-page amendment to the bill adopted by the Rules committee which deals with a wide range of issues, including the definition of biomass; the oversight of forestry and agricultural incentive programs; transmission line siting authority and changing how a renewable electricity standard operates. See an overview of the changes here.

We will update this post with any further developments in the debate.

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In an earlier post, we noted that stalled negotiations between sponsors of the American Climate and Security Act and farm-state Democrats were one of the major hurdles preventing that bill from being voted on by the full House before the end of the week. Late last night, as The Hill reports, those negotiations concluded successfully, with an amended bill and an agreement to bring it to the floor before Friday.

The text of the amended bill is here.  We will continue to update the blog with any new developments.

For further information about this topic, please contact Akin Gump.

The major climate-related news on Capitol Hill this week remains the negotiations going on within the Democratic party over the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Sponsor Rep. Harry Waxman (CA) and a group of moderate, farm state Democrats, lead by Rep. Collin Peterson (MN) continue to disagree over how to administer a program encouraging climate-friendly practices among farmers, putting plans to bring the bill to the House floor before the July 4^th recess in jeopardy.

In other House news, a Wednesday markup of a transportation authorization bill will have major climate implications. The markup, in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee headed by Rep. Jim Oberstar, will provide $500 billion in funding for the nation’s roads and transit systems, and will shift a significant percentage of funding away from highways and towards transit systems, especially high-speed rail-which will receive $50 billion. Also before the committee is a proposal which would require planners to consider the carbon footprints of the transit sector.

Finally, the House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee will markup the appropriations for the Department of Energy (DOE), the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation on Thursday at 9am in 2362-B Rayburn. The DOE budget, which ClimateIntel examined previously here, contains significant new funding for cleantech, renewable energy and climate science initiatives.

After the jump, other important hearings this week.

Read the rest of this entry »

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With two weeks until the July 4 congressional recess, discussions about how to move Chairman Waxman’s cap-and-trade legislation are still ongoing.  The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is slated to finish its mark up of the American Clean Energy and Leadership Act.  A major piece of this bill is the delicately negotiated fifteen percent renewable electricity standard for utilities.  The goal is to implement this standard by 2021 with up to a quarter of the requirement available through efficiency improvements.  While the Senate legislation is getting far less attention than the broader climate change legislation passed out of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce last month, it will likely become the center of a bicameral energy bill that might, or might not, include the cap-and trade-provisions drafted in the House.  The markup will commence on Tuesday and might continue into Wednesday.

The Senate Finance Committee will also take a close look at the tax implications of a cap-and-trade system in a hearing Tuesday morning.  The chair of the Finance Committee, Sen. Max Baucus, is also a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, so he has a stake in how the final cap-and-trade legislation is put together.  Witnesses include Gary Hufbauer, Peterson Institute for International Economics; Keith Butler, Duke Energy; Mark Price, financial products analyst, Washington National Tax.

For further information about this topic, please contact Akin Gump.

The House and Senate continue their pace to the July 4 recess.  Last week, the leadership of the House Committee on Ways and Means and Committee on Agriculture met with Speaker Pelosi to discuss reporting out their sections of the cap-and-trade legislation.  The Speaker requested that the committees finalize their mark-ups by June 16, an admittedly ambitious plan.  Overall, this week is fairly quiet in the committees of jurisdiction.  The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hear the nomination of long-time climate advocate Cathy Zoi to become the new Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).

On Tuesday, June 9, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Energy and Environment will hold a hearing on Allowance Allocation Policies In Climate Legislation: Assisting Consumers, Investing In A Clean Energy Future, And Adapting To Climate Change at 9:30 a.m. in Room 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building.  Witnesses include Thomas F. Farrell II, on behalf of the Edison Electric Institute; Rich Wells, Vice President, Energy, Dow Chemical Company; Nat Keohane, Economist, Environmental Defense Fund; Reverend Dr. Mari Castellanos, Minister for Policy Advocacy, United Church of Christ, Justice and Peace Ministries; G. Tommy Hodges, on behalf of the American Trucking Association; David Sokol, Chairman of the Board, Mid American Energy Hodings Company; and David Montgomery, Vice President, Charles River Associates.

Also on Tuesday, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection will hold a hearing at 10 a.m. in Room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building titled “It’s Too Easy Being Green: Defining Fair Green Marketing Practices.”  Witnesses include James Kohm, Director, Enforcement Division, Federal Trade Commission; M. Scot Case, Vice President, TerraChoice, Executive Director, EcoLogo Program, Urvashi Rangan, Ph.D., Director, Technical Policy, Consumers Union; Dara O’ Rourke, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of California Berkeley, Co-Founder, GoodGuide; and Scott P. Cooper, Vice President, Government Relations, American National Standards Institute.

Then on Thursday, June 11, the House Agriculture Committee will conduct a hearing on the climate bill (H.R. 2454) at 2 p.m. in Room 1300 of the Longworth House Office Building.  The committee is one of eight committees that will have a say on the climate bill.

For further information about this topic, please contact Akin Gump.

This is the second post in a two-part series reviewing recent congressional efforts to encourage development of the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) industry in the US.  The first post addressed the House Climate Bill, H.R. 2545, that recently cleared the House Energy and Commerce Committee.  This post focuses on two recently introduced Senate bills, the Department of Energy (DOE) Carbon Capture and Sequestration Program Amendments Act of 2009, S.1013, and the Responsible Use of Coal Act, S. 1134.  Both offer additional perspectives on policy approaches to promote CCS.   

In the Senate

While all eyes have been on the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the recent push to send The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES), H.R. 2545, to the House floor, the Senate also has introduced several alternative (or complementary) bills to promote the development of the US CCS industry.  Two recently introduced Senate bills offer interesting counterpoints to the CCS provisions contained in the ACES.  These bills, combined with a recent Senate Hearing on CCS, suggest that Congress is developing an awareness of the range of legal and policy issues that could influence the future of CCS and the US coal industry.

                S. 1013

On May 7, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced S. 1013, the Department of Energy (DOE) Carbon Capture and Sequestration Program Amendments Act of 2009.  The 14-page bill would build on the existing federal carbon capture and storage research development program by providing technical and financial assistance for up to 10 different CCS projects, with a goal of demonstrating the capability for sites to capture and store at least 1 million tons of carbon dioxide each year from industrial sources.  DOE would provide the funding through competitively-awarded, cooperative agreements.  The agreements would be subject to all applicable regulatory requirements, as well as additional financial assurance and post-injection closure and monitoring requirements.  Most notably, and unlike other measures under consideration, the bill would authorize DOE to enter into long-term liability indemnification agreements for selected projects, assume title to CCS sites for long-term stewardship efforts and charge fees to cover the cost of the long-term liability protection.  The challenge of managing risk and long-term liability at CCS projects with a thousand-year storage life was avoided previously, so the Bingaman bill provides an important starting point for addressing this issue.

                S. 1134

On May 21, Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) introduced the Responsible Use of Coal Act, S. 1134, which would authorize $3.8 billion for additional CCS and related clean coal research and development cost-share projects, including-

• $1.45 billion for a CCS demonstration program

• $420 million to support research into improved carbon capture technology

• $820 million for research into geological storage for enhanced oil and natural gas recovery and carbon sequestration
• $1.12 billion for advanced clean coal power technologies.

Technically and economically feasible CCS is essential given the extent to which electricity generation in the U.S. comes from coal, especially in the face of future climate legislation (or EPA-driven climate regulations).  Senator Casey’s bill would provide additional research and development to expedite CCS development.

                May 14 Hearings

Beyond the pending bills themselves, a recent hearing on CCS in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee offered constructive dialogue on the challenges and requirements to support widespread commercialization of CCS technologies.  The hearing brought together a mix of federal, state, industry and public interest witnesses.  Some notable points raised during the hearing included the below.

• Lowering Cost of CCS Operation:  Current estimates indicate that CCS increases the cost of electricity generated in new pulverized facilities by 80% and in advanced gasification facilities by 35%.  DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy hopes to reduce these costs to 30 percent and 10 percent, respectively.  Along with the capital costs of installing CCS equipment, the cost of CCS system operation is a major economic barrier to widespread adoption of CCS on both new and existing electric facilities.
• CO2 Transportation Infrastructure Needs:  DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy is sponsoring a study by the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB) and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) to evaluate the legal and regulatory feasibility of developing a pipeline infrastructure in the U.S. dedicated to the transport and storage of CO2.  As ClimateIntel noted in its earlier post, developing a network of CO2 transport pipelines is necessary to implement CCS technology in areas with limited access to nearby geological storage capacity.  The original Waxman-Markey Discussion Draft provided for such a pipeline study.  The revised Waxman Markey Bill, H.2454, removed that provision, perhaps as a result of DOE’s commitment to support the study. 
• Clarifying Subsurface Property Rights:  Federal, state and private witnesses addressed the need for state or federal officials to develop a workable scheme for allocating property rights for pore space, the tiny spaces in and between subsurface rocks that can store oil, water or injected CO2.  Currently, subsurface property rights are handled on a state-by-state basis.  States with significant oil, gas or mineral extraction tend to have more established rules governing allocation of subsurface rights.  Even there, however, existing property rights are not always suited to address injection rights rather than extraction rights.  This patchwork property right structure could impede the development of future geological sequestration storage sites on a national scale.
• Long-Term Liability and Moral Hazard.  Hearing witnesses agreed that managing long-term liability at CCS sites was a key policy issue in any CCS regulatory framework.  In the short-term, the government may need to take a larger role in helping the CCS industry estimate and hedge against uncertain long-term risks and risk management costs.  Parties generally agreed that what may make sense for early movers may not make sense once the CCS industry (and the supporting private-sector risks management tools) have evolved. 

Notably, the draft bills and the related hearing discussions in the Senate address many of the specific issues ClimateIntel identified as deficiencies in the final Climate Bill awaiting action on the House floor.  If the Senate and House can find a way to merge some of the ideas that currently reside in the various bills and testimony between the two chambers, Congress could be on its way to developing a fairly comprehensive package of CCS legislation that advances the interests of both coal and climate advocates.

For further information about this topic, please contact Akin Gump.

Congress comes back from its Memorial Day recess this week with two very important steps towards the new Administration’s energy policy completed.  Before the break the House Energy and Commerce Committee reported an economy-wide, cap-and-trade bill, and the Senate Energy Committee found enough votes to create a new renewable energy standard.  This week will be quieter by comparison.  The most noteworthy action might be behind the scenes as various House committees fight over jurisdiction over the climate change bill.  In the past week both Chairman Rangel, in Ways and Means, and Chairman Peterson, in Agriculture, have stated that they will take a hard look at the bill, and will likely have their committees create their own stamp on its language.

Additionally, this week the House and Senate will take on more budget and nominee hearings, a long with other minor hearings.  On Wednesday, June 3, the House Science and Technology Committee will conduct a markup of the National Climate Service bill at 2 p.m. in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

For further information about this topic, please contact Akin Gump.

All eyes will be on the House Energy and Commerce Committee where Chairman Waxman will begin the mark up of the American Clean Energy and Security Act.  After weeks of negotiations with fellow Democrats on his committee, Chairman Waxman released a revised draft of the legislation on Friday.  The revamped bill would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17% from 2005 levels by 2020, create a 20% renewable electricity standard by 2020 and establish the first economy-wide, cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gasses at the national level.  Republicans, who did not participate in the negotiations, will likely oppose the reporting of the bill unanimously (Rep. Bono-Mack (R-CA) seems to be the only possible cross-over vote).  Democrats could lose as many as four votes, though that would not endanger its approval by the committee.  Republican Ranking Member Joe Barton (R-TX) has threatened to use parliamentary tactics to delay the bill’s approval.  Republicans are also threatening to offer hundreds of amendments to peel off wavering Democrats.  Assuming approval by the committee, the bill must still wind its way through numerous other committees with concurrent jurisdiction before proceeding to a vote on the House floor.

On Tuesday, May 19, starting at 9 a.m., the Senate Environment & Public Works committee will hold a hearing in Room 409 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building on “Business Opportunities and Climate Policy.”  Executives from Dupont, Trinity Industries, Sapphire Energy, Lange-Stegman, Coulomb Technologies, Inc., Hydro Green Energy, Imbue Technology Solutions, Inc. (ImbuTec) and BASF will testify.  That afternoon the Senate Foreign Relations committee will conduct a hearing on green global economic recovery at 2:15 p.m. in Room 419 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building.  A witness list is not available.

On Thursday, May 21, the House Small Business Committee will hold a hearing on “Heroes of Small Business” to hear testimony from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on regulatory issues impacting the domestic biofuels industry.  Representatives from the renewables industry and family farmers will testify in the hearing scheduled for 10 a.m. in Room 2360 of the Rayburn House Office Building.  Also that morning the House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on low-carbon fuels at 10:30 a.m. in Room 1300 of the Longworth House Office Building.

For further information about this topic, please contact Akin Gump.

This week, as with the last few weeks, all attention is trained on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where Chairman Henry Waxman continues trying to cobble together a majority to move his cap-and-trade legislation out of the committee.  From all indications, the fragile negotiations are moving towards a conclusion.  Oil patch Democrats want more allowances for their hometown industries.  Congressmen from coal country want to see greater funding for carbon capture, a less ambitious renewable energy standard (RES) and even less reductions by 2020.  It is likely that the entire Republican side of the committee dais will oppose the bill, and, with close to a dozen members on the Democratic side wary of a bill that can’t be sold back home, the task of moving a bill by Memorial Day is difficult but not impossible.

With the frenzy of negotiations in the House and multiple budget hearings on Capitol Hill, there are only two climate-related hearings slated for this week.  On Wednesday, May 13 the House Science and Technology Subcommittee will conduct a markup of the National Climate Service Act of 2009 in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building at 10 a.m.  On Thursday, May 14 the Energy and Natural Resources Committee will conduct a hearing in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Building at 2:30 p.m. to receive testimony on S. 1013, the Department of Energy (DOE) Carbon Capture and Sequestration Program Amendments Act of 2009.  The first panel of witnesses includes Dr. Victor K. Der, Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of Fossil Energy, U.S. DOE; Dr. Kit Batten , Science Advisor, Office of the Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior; and The Honorable Thomas E. Lubnau, II , State Representative from Wyoming, House District 31.  The second panel of witnesses includes Mr. John Tombari, Vice President, Schlumberger Carbon Services; Mr. Karl R. Moor , Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Southern Company; Mr. Scott Anderson , Senior Policy Adviser, Environmental Defense Fund; and Ms. Chiara Trabucchi, Principal, Industrial Economics, Inc.

For further information about this topic, please contact Akin Gump.

This week the House Energy and Commerce Committee will continue to work towards a compromise to gain a majority of votes to have a mark-up of the Waxman-Markey climate change draft bill.  Once done, one can expect a mark up either in the Environment and Energy Subcommittee or at the full committee level.  In the interim, several hearings related to climate change are scheduled this week on Capitol Hill.

Tuesday, May 5

The House Science and Technology Committee will hold a hearing on “Expanding Climate Services at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): Developing the National Climate Service” at 10 a.m. in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building.  Nine witnesses will testify.

The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will hold a hearing on “The Global Implications of a Warming Arctic” at 2:15 p.m. in Room 419 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.  Witnesses include The Honorable Lisa Murkowski (R-AK); The Honorable Mark Begich (D-AK); David Carlson, Director, International Polar Year International Program Office; Scott Borgerson, Visiting Fellow, Ocean Governance Council on Foreign Relations; Lawson Brigham, Chair, Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment Arctic Council; Lisa Speer, Oceans Program Director, Natural Resources Defense Council; and Mead Treadwell, Chair, US Arctic Research Commission.

Wednesday, May 6

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a Full Committee Business Meeting: to consider legislation on siting of interstate electric transmission facilities, energy finance, and nuclear energy at 10 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.  Also that day, the Senate Appropriations Committee has a hearing scheduled to review the range of innovative, non-geologic applications for the beneficial reuse of carbon dioxide from coal and other fossil fuel facilities.  Witnesses include Scott Klara, National Energy Technology Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy; Jeff Mush, Utah State University, Executive Director, Center for Biofuels, USU Energy Laboratory; Brent R. Constantz, Chief Executive Officer, Calera Corporation; and Marjorie L. Tatro, Director of Fuel and Water Systems, Sandia National Laboratories.  The hearing will take place at 9 a.m. in Room 192 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

At 11 a.m. in Room 1300 of the Longworth House Office Building, the House Agriculture Committee will commence a hearing on the renewable fuels standard.  Witnesses have not been announced.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

The Senate Finance Committee will hold a 10 a.m. hearing on “Auctioning under Cap and Trade:  Design, Participation and Distribution of Revenues” in Room 215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.  Witnesses will be released prior to the hearing.  That afternoon the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to receive testimony on net metering and distributed generation at 2:30 p.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Office Building.

For further information about this topic, please contact Akin Gump.