Re: UPDATED: POLITICO's Morning Energy, presented by America’s Natural Gas Alliance: European polluters funding Senate's climate change skeptics – EPA's new truck regs due today – Murkowski racks up newspaper endorsements – Manchin: Obama's 'wrong' o

On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 8:28 AM, Scotty, Scotts Contracting  wrote:

Build Green, Scotty www.stlouisrenewableenergy.com --- On Mon, 10/25/10, Morning Energy <morningenergy@politico.com> wrote: From: Morning Energy <morningenergy@politico.com> Subject: UPDATED: POLITICO's Morning Energy, presented by America's Natural Gas Alliance: European polluters funding Senate's climate change skeptics – EPA's new truck regs due today – Murkowski racks up newspaper endorsements – Manchin: Obama's 'wrong' on climate Date: Monday, October 25, 2010, 5:41 AM POLITICO's Morning Energy By Josh Voorhees EUROPEAN TEA - BP and a handful of other large European companies are pouring cash into the campaign coffers of conservative Senate candidates who deny the existence of man-made climate change and/or oppose President Obama's energy agenda, according to a report from Climate Action Network Europe out this morning. The analysis (based on Center for Responsive Politics figures) shows that $240K of the $306K the companies have donated to Senate campaigns went to candidates who have opposed climate legislation (roughly 78 percent). Slightly more than a third of the cash, $107K, went to those who are "climate change deniers" (based on their public comments). The report notes, for comparison, that the Koch brothers have given a total of $217K to Senate campaigns during this election cycle. THE COMPANIES: BP, Lafarge, GDF-SUEZ, EON, BASF, BAYER, SOLVAY and Arcelor-Mittal. The eight firms combine to represent between 5 and 10 percent of the total CO2 emissions covered by the EU trading system, according to the report. SYSTEMATIC 'SABOTAGE' - The authors conclude that the pattern of donations shows a systematic and likely coordinated effort by the European businesses to derail U.S. climate action at a time when the companies are simultaneously lobbying against mandated emissions reductions at home by arguing that no action should be taken until the U.S. does so first. "This is essentially climate sabotage on a global scale, because the inaction in the USA is one of the main reasons of the failure to agree [on] an ambitious deal in Copenhagen," the report says. NAMES AND NUMBERS - The analysis found that the cash was "not only targeted at deniers and blockers but that the financial streams are also very strategic," for instance with large donations ($16K) heading to ENR ranking member Lisa Murkowski. Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln was the largest benefactor, bringing in a combined $47,500 from seven of the eight companies. Other recipients include: Jim DeMint ($13K), John Cornyn ($11K), John Barrasso ($10K), Mike Crapo ($10K), Roy Blunt ($9,500), Orrin Hatch ($8K), David Vitter ($7,500), Richard Burr ($7K), James Inhofe ($6K), Chuck Grassley ($5,500) and Mary Landrieu ($4,500). Read the full report here: http://politi.co/arJCTr ** 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 ** NEW TRUCK RULES DUE TODAY - The Obama administration is planning to release draft greenhouse gas emission limits and fuel economy standards for heavy trucks today, several sources told POLITICO. The proposal is expected to call for a 20 percent reduction in GHG emissions from trucks ranging from large pickups to 18-wheelers. Obama called for the new standards in May as part of a suite of joint EPA and DOT rules to curb heat-trapping emissions from the transportation sector. Heavy-duty trucks emit about 20 percent of the transportation sector's greenhouse gas emissions, making them the transportation segment's second largest contributor after light-duty vehicles. The rules will apply to trucks for model years 2014 to 2018. Some industry groups have already signaled support for the new rules, but the administration will almost certainly feel pressure from greens to finalize stricter standards. Environmentalists have called on EPA to slash the sector's emissions by about 35 percent. CAMPAIGN CORNER: MILLER'S 'MIRAGE' - Three Alaska newspapers, including the Anchorage Daily News, have endorsed Lisa Murkowski in her write-in bid for reelection. The Daily News, the state' largest paper, touted her seniority as a factor in its decision and described Democratic challenger Scott McAdams as a reasonable but inexperienced choice. Meanwhile, the paper said tea party favorite Joe Miller is "selling a mirage, in which people who think differently don't exist or don't matter." ADN: http://bit.ly/bKIgYn DEBATE RECAP - Ethics dominated last night's debate in Alaska with Miller admitting that he was docked three days' pay for violating an ethics policy while working as a local government attorney in 2008. AP: http://bit.ly/d7Fm8Y MANCHIN MONEY - Democrat Joe Manchin has raised more than $3.5 million for his Senate bid, while John Raese has loaned his campaign at least $1.4 million, according to FEC filings. But the candidates combined spending has been eclipsed by cash from political parties and outside groups. More than a dozen organizations have spent a combined $8.3 million on the race, nearly 60 percent of which has been on ads attacking Manchin or backing Raese. Charleston Gazette: http://bit.ly/aIxFzf 'WE JUST DIFFER' - Manchin was on the defensive yesterday when he was grilled by Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace on where he and the president disagree. Manchin went straight to climate: "President Obama - cap and trade - we just differ. We respectfully differ on that. He is - I believe, in my estimation, he's wrong on that issue. West Virginians basically have always been patriotic, helping this nation, supplying the energy that the nation needs. We can do it better. We've always done it better." Transcript: http://fxn.ws/9u1j9a PROP 23 FUNDING UPDATE - Valero and Tesoro, the two Texas oil companies pushing to kill California's climate law, kicked in $1 million and $500,000 respectively last Friday. The industry coalition has raised more than $10.5 million to date. Team No continues to dominate in the fundraising, passing the $30 million mark after some big donations last week from Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates ($700,000), the Nature Conservancy ($500,000) and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. ($250,000). LATEST PROP POLLING - The ballot initiative is trailing by 16 points, 48 to 32 percent, among likely voters, according to a new LA Times/USC poll. http://lat.ms/9KtDj8 LIGHTNING ROUND: -- The Coast Guard-Interior joint BP investigation has been given an extra 60 days to complete their work. NYT: http://bit.ly/arYn08 -- Soot from commercial space tourism could change global temperatures. Nature: http://bit.ly/bneno9 -- Energy Secretary Steven Chu told Google employees that "we have taken our technological leadership for granted." TechCrunch: http://tcrn.ch/dBlDR6 -- Over the weekend NPR took a look at what a GOP victory this November would mean for global warming legislation. (ME bets you can guess the answer). Listen to the 11-minute audio here: http://n.pr/dhKGU0 -- David Katz, a special assistant to Secretary Chu, was part of Obama's Sunday foursome. THIS WEEK'S ACTION: Today: The Brookings Institute holds a discussion on "Developing Clean Energy Markets: Toward China-Japan-U.S. Cooperation." Kicks off at 10 a.m. at 1775 Mass Ave. NW. Today: John Kerry gives a speech at Yale this evening on the need to pass climate change legislation. He takes the stage at 7 p.m. with Q&A to follow. Tomorrow: The Atlantic's "Green Intelligence" forum opens with a keynote from Interior deputy secretary David Hayes at 8:50 a.m. The two-day event will include speeches from Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D), Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) and White House science adviser John Holdren. Ronald Regan Building. Tomorrow: NRDC will hold a press call at 10 a.m. to discuss the expectations for Obama's upcoming trip to India in the broader context of U.S.-India cooperation on climate change and clean energy. The call will feature R.K. Pachauri, director general of TERI India and chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Tomorrow: The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies holds a pair of discussions on transportation and climate, and on what impact the midterm elections will have on the future of U.S. energy and climate policy. 11:30 a.m. at Union Station. Tomorrow: The Civil Society Institute will brief reporters at 1:30 p.m. on the latest polling data on the mindset of tea party supporters and independent voters on climate and clean energy. Wednesday: Constellation Energy holds its second annual "Public Sector Executive Energy" symposium. Participants include EPA's Blaine Collison. Starts at 8 a.m. at the U.S. Navy Memorial. Wednesday: The wind energy industry holds a policy briefing featuring FERC commissioner Cheryl LaFleur. 11:30 a.m. in the Capitol (LUNCH SERVED!) Wednesday: NRDC briefs reporters on a new ozone smog pollution report that will rank the worst-off metro areas. 1:30 p.m. Thursday: The American Gas Association holds a roundtable with EIA chief Richard Newell on the 2011 outlook for natural gas. Noon at the University Club. CHECKING THE TRAPS: SF Chron: Prop 23 threatens clean-tech start-ups. http://bit.ly/9QZ6nd WSJ: House E&C chairman emeritus John Dingell is feeling the heat in Michigan. http://bit.ly/9JXveV LAT: California high-speed rail officials have taken a series of overseas trips paid for by foreign governments hoping to land contracts with the multibillion-dollar project, but the rail agency has been unable to document the trip details as generally required by state ethics regulations. http://lat.ms/bkt77X WaPo: The last house standing on the Chesapeake Bay's Holland Island collapsed last weekend, the latest illustration of how rising tides and climate change are reshaping the bay. http://wapo.st/9UiF4S ** A message from America's Natural Gas Alliance: One solution for more abundant domestic energy is staring us in the face. Natural gas is the natural choice-now and in the future. We know we need to use cleaner, American energy. And, we have it. Today, the U.S. has more natural gas than Saudi Arabia has oil, giving us generations of this clean, domestic energy source. Natural gas supports 2.8 million American jobs, most states are now home to more than 10,000 natural gas jobs. As Congress and the Administration look for ways toward a cleaner tomorrow, the answer is right here: natural gas. Learn more at www.anga.us . And, follow us on Twitter @angaus. ** Go to Morning Energy Now >> http://www.politico.com/morningenergy ================================= 2010 Capitol News Company, LLC Morning Energy. =================================

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