POLITICO's Morning Energy, presented by America's Natural Gas Alliance: EDF'S new ad blasts Bond – Alaska Republican's private security 'arrests' reporter – California regulators look to make drivers pay for pollution

Monday, October 18, 2010 4:46 AM

POLITICO's Morning Energy
By Josh Voorhees

ME FIRST LOOK - The Environmental Defense Fund will begin running a new TV spot today blasting Sen. Kit Bond for his efforts to block U.S. EPA from writing new air pollution rules. The ads will run throughout the week in major media markets in the retiring senator's home state of Missouri.

The 30-second video makes no mention of global warming or greenhouse gases, but instead focuses on the potential health impacts of air pollution, complete with video of a young girl in a hospital bed. Watch the not-so-subtle ad here: http://bit.ly/bUUlVH

BACKGROUND - Bond is on the greens' naughty list as a result of his unsuccessful bid last month to attach an amendment to the defense bill that would have undercut EPA's ability to regulate carbon emissions and his opposition to tighter standards on mercury pollution from boilers. "While Senator Bond's efforts did not succeed, it is clear that this is the beginning of a sustained assault on the air pollution rules that protect the health of all Americans," EDF's Tony Kreindler e-mails Morning Energy.

A WARNING SHOT - "While Senator Bond is retiring, we intend this ad to be [a] message to any Member of Congress - Democrat or Republican - who might consider following his lead in the weeks and months ahead," Kreindler said.

GREENS' GREEN - LCV spent a combined $555,000 yesterday on House races in Ohio, Michigan and Nevada, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission. The cash went to Reps. John Boccieri ($250K for a pair of TV ad buys), Mark Schauer ($100K for a field program; $5K for a TV ad) and Dina Titus ($200K for a TV ad buy). (Hat tip: POLITICO's Ben Smith) http://bit.ly/aP25O9.

View some of the ads here: http://bit.ly/c1uumF

The expenditures come on the heels of last week's announcement by the group that it was adding Prop 23 to its "Dirty Dozen" list. LCV and its sister organization have spent a total of $1.2 million so far to defeat the California ballot initiative.

** A message from America's Natural Gas Alliance: When used for power generation, natural gas is twice as clean as coal when it comes to carbon emissions. It has 80% fewer NOx emissions and virtually no sulfur dioxide, particulate matter or mercury. http://bit.ly/d652Uo **

CHENEY'S 'FOG OF DISINFORMATION' - The NYT's editorial board today blasts GOP Senate candidates for disappearing "in a fog of disinformation" when it comes to addressing climate change. "The candidates are not simply rejecting solutions. ... They are re-running the strategy of denial perfected by Mr. Cheney a decade ago, repudiating years of peer-reviewed findings about global warming and creating an alternative reality in which climate change is a hoax or conspiracy." http://nyti.ms/arrTxL

POLLUTER PAYS? - Air quality regulators in California's San Joaquin Valley are proposing to charge the owners of the region's 2.7 million cars and trucks an annual fee of $10 to $24 as a way to cover federal fines that could top $30 million for exceeding federal ozone limits, the NYT reports today.

"Although the surcharge is not expected to change how much people drive or what cars or trucks they buy, air pollution experts say it is a harbinger of the future. After decades of forcing industry to clean its smokestacks, retool car and truck engines and fine-tune gasoline, regulators are exploring what they can do to force consumers to face up to the pollution they cause." http://nyti.ms/9ehwr1

LATE BREAKING - The editor of an online Alaska news site was arrested (and handcuffed) last night by Joe Miller's private security guards as the editor attempted to interview the Senate hopeful at the tail end of a public event in Anchorage, according to multiple media reports.

The Anchorage Daily News:"[Tony] Hopfinger, who was holding a small video camera, said he was attempting to draw out a statement from Miller on why he was disciplined by the Fairbanks North Star Borough when Miller worked there as a part-time attorney. After Miller walked away, Hopfinger said, he was surrounded by Miller supporters and security guards and felt threatened, so he pushed one of them away." http://bit.ly/adjcUk

The Dispatch's take, complete with slideshow: http://bit.ly/dzJzBD

SPEAKING OF ALASKA - With ENR ranking member Lisa Murkowski closing the gap on Miller in recent weeks, officials and candidates in The Last Frontier are preparing for the legal fight that is all but certain to break out over which misspellings of her name should be counted in her favor, WSJ reports today. http://bit.ly/aSthbp

HAPPENING TODAY - The Natural Resources Defense Council will release its latest polling data at noon on how a yes vote on Waxman-Markey is affecting the reelection efforts of 23 House lawmakers.

The list: Jerry McNerney (Calif.-11); Betsy Markey (Colo.-4); Alan Boyd (Fla.-2); Suzanne Kosmas (Fla.-24); Alan Grayson (Fla.-8); Leonard Boswell (Iowa-3); Debbie Halvorsen (Ill.-11); Phil Hare (Ill.-17); Frank Kratovil (Md.-1); Mark Schauer (Mich.-7); Carol Shea-Porter (N.H.-1); Harry Teague (N.M.-2); Dina Titus (N.V.-3); John Hall (N.Y.-19); Steve Driehaus (Ohio-1); Mary Jo Kilroy (Ohio-15); John Boccieri (Ohio-16); Zack Space (Ohio-18); Paul Kanjorski (Pa.-11); Patrick Murphy (Pa.-8); John Spratt (S.C.-5); Tom Perriello (Va.-5) and Steve Kagan (Wisc.-8).

ALSO TODAY - GridWeek 2010 kicks off this morning at D.C.'s Walter E. Washington Convention Center with a keynote from Commerce Secretary Gary Locke at 8:30 a.m. From there, participants can choose one of three tracks for the opening day, including discussions on global grid activity and industry collaboration. But those novices who don't know a CBL from a CPP have no need to worry: There is also a three-part primer for beginners (Ballroom B).

AND TOMORROW - Ford Motor Co. and Microsoft are hosting a discussion Tuesday entitled, "Charged Up: Is America Ready for Electric Vehicles?" (ME SPOILER: Ford plans to have a trio of its plug-in models on hand for test drives, so we're pretty sure what the panel's answer is going to be.) The two-hour discussion will feature: David Sandalow, DOE assistant secretary for policy; Sue Cischke, Ford's environmental group vice president; and Mark Duvall, electric transportation director at the Electric Power Research Institute. 10 a.m. in The Newseum's Knight Studio.

EPA HOMECOMING - The Environmental Law Institute holds a forum tomorrow to discuss EPA's "future role using 20th century law." The panel includes a number of EPA alumni, including: former general counsels Jonathan Cannon and Ann Klee, and former deputy administrator Hank Habicht. Current deputy administrator Bob Perciasepe is also expected to be on hand. 3:30 p.m. at the Omni Hotel. 2500 Calvert St. NW.

LIGHTNING ROUND:
--The Project on Government Oversight is using the release of an e-mail between Steven Henke, then of BLM, and the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association to question the decision by government ethics officials to allow Henke to leave his job as an oil and gas regulator to become head of the trade group. http://bit.ly/ajIX3R

--EPA chief Lisa Jackson spent her weekend touring low-income neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay area as part of her "environmental justice" tour. LAT: http://lat.ms/95bVrn

--Starting next season, NASCAR will use a new E15 racing fuel. http://bit.ly/bRWDUk

--NYT separates "myth from fact" about the soon-to-be-released Chevy Volt. http://nyti.ms/aRB4FW

THE WEEK AHEAD:

Tuesday: The Clean Diesel conference kicks off at the Washington Convention Center. The two-day event officially begins with a welcome luncheon at 11:30 a.m., where a TBD U.S. EPA official is slated to give the keynote.

Wednesday: The National Capital Planning Commission will hold a discussion on how federal agencies are meeting new greenhouse gas emissions requirements. Participants include: White House Council on Environmental Quality's Michelle Moore. 401 Ninth St. NW. 6 p.m.

Thursday: The Environmental and Energy Study Institute holds a briefing on the low-carbon lessons that can be learned from Nordic countries. 9 a.m. in the Capitol.

Thursday: Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack will give a speech on his agency's progress toward reaching the Renewable Fuels Standard (36 billion gallons). National Press Club. 9: 30 a.m.

CHECKING THE TRAPS:

Bloomberg - BP has agreed to sell assets in Venezuela and Vietnam to its Russian joint venture TNK-BP for $1.8 billion. http://bit.ly/b36A6e

WSJ - In Israel, Texas-based Noble Energy Inc. and other oil companies are set to start drilling what executives are hailing as one of the world's most promising natural-gas prospects in years. http://bit.ly/bhWN26

LAT - A number of lawmakers are looking to remove wolves from the nation's endangered species list. http://lat.ms/9J12TD

WaPo - The American chestnut tree is ready for a comeback. http://wapo.st/9p7fWK

AND FINALLY - We leave you with a dispatch from POLITICO's Darren Samuelsohn, who apparently is always on the clock. Darren was on his way home Saturday evening from a reporting trip to California when he spotted a pair of "energy heavyweights" on board his final leg from O'Hare to D.C.

"David Sandalow, DOE's assistant secretary of energy for policy & international affairs, said he was on the final leg of his return trip from Shanghai, where he had been attending energy bilaterals with President Barack Obama's top science adviser, John Holdren. By sheer coincidence, Howard Gruenspecht, deputy director of the Energy Information Administration, was a few rows back. He said he was connecting from Calgary."

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