OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Keystone XL vote coming soon

MADE YOU LOOK: There will be a vote on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline next week, but not the one you think.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will vote on legislation that would approve the pipeline, not the entire chamber.

The pro-Keystone bill will likely easily pass out of committee, but getting it to the Senate floor is a whole other ballpark.

{mosads}A vote on the legislation will give Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) some political help for her reelection campaign, and possibly calm accusations from her challenger, Rep. Bill Cassidy, that her spot as chairwoman of the committee has born little fruit.

They will also hold a vote on President Obama’s nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Landrieu, and the ranking member on the committee, Sen. Lisa Murkowksi (R-Alaska), are still working on negotiations surrounding the two nominees.

Murkowski is hopeful the committee can broker an agreement with the White House to swap Norman Bay, who Obama picked to lead FERC, and the current acting chairwoman of the commission, Cheryl LaFleur.

Read more on the Keystone vote here, and the possible FERC swap here.

ON TAP FRIDAY I: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy will appear on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” Friday at 11 p.m.
 

ON TAP FRIDAY II: The American Petroleum Institute (API) will host a press conference call Friday on offshore oil and gas development. The Interior Department will soon begin developing a five-year plan for oil and gas lease sales, so API will discuss what it wants Interior to consider.

NEWS BITES:

Kim K. & KXL … Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) made an unlikely comparison Thursday, calling the Keystone XL the Kim Kardashian of carbon.

“It’s the Kim Kardashian of carbon,” Heitkamp said at a natural gas roundtable. “I don’t know why people care. It has nothing to do with carbon. It literally has nothing to do with a carbon increase in this country.”

Energy efficiency …  Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said he’s confident the bipartisan energy efficiency legislation that the Senate failed to pass last month can become law either this year or next.

Hoeven spoke extensively about a provision that he backed to repeal a mandate that all federal buildings stop using fossil fuels for power by 2020. His legislation, which Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) incorporated into their bill, would also set a new goal for energy efficiency of federal buildings.

“Our measure takes a commonsense all-of-the-above approach to the issue of energy efficiency in federal buildings,” Hoeven said at an energy efficiency forum. “I don’t think that energy-efficiency legislation would likely pass without it.”

AROUND THE WEB:

The Houston Chronicle finds that very little information is available about who the Commerce Department allows to export crude oil.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility is suing the Bureau of Land Management to get documents on how the agency handled the standoff with Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

Electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors will let anyone use its patented technology “in good faith,” the Huffington Post reports.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out Thursday’s stories…

– Senate panel sets vote on Keystone bill
– Coal state voters unlikely to back climate-friendly candidates
– Sierra Club targets 21 lawmakers for inaction on wind tax break
– Obama talks climate change with Australian PM
– Senate Dem: Greatest threat to energy security is transportation
– EPA’s McCarthy: Efficiency is key to power plant carbon rules
– Ford reduces claimed miles per gallon on six models
– Dem: Obama rule will ‘drive a stake through the heart of coal’
– Oil industry launches new recruiting campaign
– Green group launches $175K ad campaign backing climate rule
– Rep. Cassidy presses Landrieu to reject FERC nominee
– States study fracking regs to stop earthquakes
– House Dem files bill to create oil ‘barrel tax’
– Canadian officials pressure US on Keystone
– Australian PM may clash with Obama on climate during visit
– Cyber threats put energy sector on red alert

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