OVERNIGHT ENERGY: On BP spill, the gang’s all here

But this week the committee added witnesses that will really make it interesting: Representatives from BP, Deepwater Horizon drilling rig owner Transocean Ltd., and Halliburton, which performed the cement work on BP’s Macondo well that blew out.

The Interior-Coast Guard team issued a tough report last month that detailed a series of missteps by the companies that contributed to the disaster. None of the companies escaped blame, but the strongest language was reserved for BP.

{mosads}It notes, for instance, that, “cost or time saving decisions without considering contingencies and mitigation were contributing causes of the Macondo blowout.”

NEWS BITES

A sneak peek at energy-related recommendations to the ‘supercommittee’: Friday is the deadline for various House and Senate committees to offer suggestions to the bicameral supercommittee, which has been tasked with developing a package by Thanksgiving that reduces the federal deficit by at least $1.2 trillion.

Here’s a quick rundown of what to expect from the top lawmakers on energy and environment panels:

House Energy and Commerce Committee: Because Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) is a member of the supercommittee, he will not offer formal recommendations. But he has reached out to members of the Energy panel for suggestions.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the committee, plans to press the supercommittee to adopt three energy bills steered through the House by Democrats last year. The bills are aimed at making homes more energy-efficient, bolstering clean-energy exports and funding state programs for safe drinking water. Read more about Waxman’s recommendations here.

House Natural Resources Committee: Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) will recommend that the supercommittee open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and more offshore areas to oil drilling as a way to raise revenues.

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, plans to submit recommendations. But his office isn’t offering any details yet.

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee: Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and ranking member James Inhofe (R-Okla.) sent a joint letter to the supercommittee late last month outlining their recommendations. The main recommendation was “addressing the long-term solvency of the highway trust fund.”

Boxer, in a short interview with The Hill on Wednesday, said she was working with other lawmakers on additional recommendations related to clean-energy technology.

“I’m going to work with other colleagues. We’re very much concerned that the committee not ignore the impact of clean technology jobs,” she said. Boxer declined to detail her additional suggestions.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee: Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said Wednesday that he does not intend to make formal suggestions to the supercommittee.

“I think they’ve got lots of advice on the supercommittee without us trying to do it,” he said at an American Gas Association event.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), the ranking Republican on the committee, said she sent her suggestions to the committee this week.

“There are great opportunities for revenues when it comes to accessing our resources,” she told The Hill in the Capitol on Wednesday. “I encourage the supercommittee to look at revenues not only from oil and gas, but also from timber receipts. We have considerable assets and we need to access them.”

A Murkowski spokesman declined to make the lawmakers’ recommendations public.

Dems want Energy Department represented at Solyndra hearing: House Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats are pressing Republicans to invite an Energy Department witness to Friday’s hearing on the failed solar panel company Solyndra.

The hearing, which will include a Treasury Department official, is slated to delve into Treasury concerns about DOE’s early 2011 restructuring of the $535 million DOE loan guarantee, which backed up a loan from Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank.

In particular it will address whether DOE should have consulted the Justice Department before the restructuring that put investors, who agreed to pitch in an additional $75 million, ahead of the government for repayment if the company defaulted. Solyndra collapsed in late August and filed for bankruptcy in early September.

Energy and Commerce Committee ranking Democrat Henry Waxman (Calif.) wrote Wednesday to Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), who is spearheading the probe, to press for a DOE witness.

“You have invited representatives of the Department of the Treasury to testify on Friday about these emails. We believe that DOE should also be represented. DOE lawyers looked closely at the legal authority issues. To understand the communications between Treasury and DOE and DOE’s legal analysis regarding subordination, the Subcommittee should have both Department of Energy and Treasury representatives at the witness table on Friday,” states the letter to Stearns, who heads the committee’s investigations panel.

GOP committee aides did not provide immediate comment on the request.

Recently released administration emails show that some senior Treasury officials believed Justice should have been consulted on the loan restructuring and that the revision might have been illegal.

But DOE spokesman Damien LaVera disputed those claims.

“Based on a careful analysis of the terms of the restructuring, the career officials in the DOE loan program determined that the restructuring was legal and that it did not require Justice Department review,” he said Wednesday.

Poll: Majority opposes GOP efforts to block EPA air rules: A new poll shows that a majority of the public opposes efforts by Republicans to block key Environmental Protection Agency air-pollution regulations.

The poll, conducted by Hart Research Associates and GS Strategy Group for CERES, found that 88 percent of Democrats, 85 percent of Independents and 58 percent of Republicans oppose GOP efforts to block clean-air regulations.

The pollsters surveyed 1,400 people from around the country from Aug. 31 to Sept. 7. The poll specifically asked about the rules to reduce pollution that crosses state borders and limit mercury and other air toxics from power plants.

You can read more about the poll here.

Snow: Re-evaluate structure of DOE loan guarantee program: Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) called on Energy Secretary Steven Chu Wednesday to reconsider the structure of the loan guarantee program, citing the bankruptcy of a California solar panel manufacturer that received a $535 million loan guarantee in 2009.

“I have long been concerned that the program’s structure poses serious barriers to our nation’s entrepreneurs,” Snowe, the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, said in a letter to Chu.

Snowe raised similar concerns in a 2009 letter. The loan guarantee program that provided financing to Solyndra expired Sept. 30, but a separate component of the program authorized in a 2005 energy law continues.

Republicans float bill to block Grand Canyon uranium mining ban: Reps. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) introduced legislation Wednesday to prevent the Interior Department from banning new uranium mining claims on 1 million acres of land near the Grand Canyon National Park for the next 20 years.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar took emergency action in June to extend an existing ban on new uranium mining claims in the region for six months while the Interior Department mulls a plan to block mining on the land for 20 years. Salazar said the 20-year ban is the Interior Department’s “preferred alternative.”

“Uranium mining in northern Arizona can create jobs without tarnishing the splendor of the Grand Canyon, which is why many of Arizona’s federal, state, and local officials oppose this lands withdrawal,” Flake in a statement. “Banning new uranium mining claims in northern Arizona will overturn respected public lands management agreements and will certainly stymie job growth in Arizona.”

{mossecondads}Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) bashed the bill Wednesday.

“The only people who support this are mining industry lobbyists and a handful of lawmakers ready to carry their water,” Grijalva  said in a statement. “It’s cynical to tell the people of Arizona in a down economy that this bill will help them when we all know these jobs won’t be local, the profits will go out of state or overseas, and the uranium will be exported to the highest bidder.”

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) introduced similar legislation in the Senate Wednesday.

ON TAP THURSDAY

House panel to review power transmission: A House Energy and Commerce Committee panel will hear from FERC and Energy Department officials about transmission planning, siting and cost allocation.

Senate committee to probe ‘innovative’ energy practices: A panel of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee meets for a hearing about “Innovative Practices to Create Jobs and Reduce Pollution.”

House looks into the future of coal: A House Science Committee panel will hear from officials with the Energy Department, utility giant American Electric Power and others at a hearing about “Advancing Coal Research and Development for a Secure Energy Future.”

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

Here’s a quick roundup of Wednesday’s E2 stories:

— Interior issues BP, contractors violation notices for Gulf oil spill
— Treasury official who questioned Solyndra loan revamp called to testify
— Gibson Guitar hires lobby firm for fight against regulation
— White House blasts bill to override EPA coal ash rules, stops short of veto threat
— BP, Transocean officials set for Thursday grilling
— Solar industry: Extension of grant program will create jobs
— Cummings knocks ‘strange’ GOP attack on auto efficiency rules
— Report to lay groundwork for Bingaman’s ‘clean energy standard’
— Clinton: Keystone pipeline review is fair

Please send tips and comments to Ben Geman, ben.geman@digital-release.digital-release.thehill.com, and Andrew Restuccia, arestuccia@digital-release.digital-release.thehill.com.


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