PERCIASEPE OUT: Bob Perciasepe, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) deputy administrator, announced Thursday that he’s leaving in August.
His boss, EPA chief Gina McCarthy, called him “a leader who poured his heart, soul and decades of experience into the agency’s mission every day” in an email to the agency’s staff.
{mosads}Perciasepe had two separate stints at the EPA, first during the Clinton administration. He was a frequent guest on Capitol Hill, often taking up the task of defending agency rules, though very few lawmakers could pronounce his name.
His departure will come just two months after the EPA unveiled one of its most controversial rules ever, the limits on carbon pollution from power plants. EPA has spent recent weeks defending the proposal against harsh attacks, and the assaults will only keep coming.
He’ll become president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.
“I’m eager to continue that work at C2ES at such a critical time, when we have both the opportunity and obligation to forge lasting climate solutions,” Perciasepe said in a statement.
ON TAP FRIDAY I: The Center for Strategic and International Studies, the National Nuclear Security Administration, and Japan Atomic Energy Agency will hold a workshop on nuclear energy in Asia.
ON TAP FRIDAY II: The National Museum of the American Indian will host a symposium on leaders in sustainable societies. It will feature Indian leaders and other experts on sustainable communities.
NEWS BITES:
Manchin’s coal problems… Sen. Joe Manchin admitted Thursday that he may have to take his coal provision out of his bill to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank’s charter.
“We are still deciding whether it’s going to be in the bill, an amendment, what it’s going to be,” Manchin told reporters. “There is still a possibility for everything.”
Liberal Democrats pushed back against the provision, which would reverse Ex-Im restrictions that prevent financing of coal plants unless carbon capture technology is adopted.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said she has been in meetings with Democratic leadership on Manchin’s Ex-Im bill and is not a fan of his coal provision.
“I don’t support it,” Cantwell told The Hill. “We want to get the bill on the floor and then he can offer it as an amendment.”
Steyer’s fundraising woes… Billionaire Tom Steyer is far from reaching the $100 million he said his climate group would funnel into midterm elections across the country with just four months to go.
Earlier this year, Steyer committed at least $50 million of his own money to make climate change a key issue, and said he’d fundraise another $50 million from outside donors supportive of the cause.
As of July, however, Steyer’s group NextGen Climate said they have received $1.2 million to the super-PAC for midterms. All together, including their anti-Keystone XL push, NextGen has brought in $4.48 million, the group said.
They aren’t worried though. Steyer definitely has money to throw into as many elections as he sees fit, but he wants to engage more influential people on the issue.
“From day one we have made clear that in terms of the states we are targeting, there will be all the resources necessary to run the kinds of campaigns that are needed — whether others participate with NextGen Climate or not,” NextGen Climate spokesman Bobby Whithorne said in an email.
AROUND THE WEB:
The Environmental Protection Agency and North Carolina officials have hit a milestone in their cleanup of coal ash from the Dan River, and are suspending the cleanup operations, the Greensboro News-Record reports.
North Dakota’s oil and gas boom is causing a rush of men to the state, where the male population grew 14 percent in five years, and female population grew only 9 percent, the Washington Post reports.
Coca-Cola is paying expatriate employees in China a salary premium because of the country’s pollution, the Financial Review reports.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Check out Thursday’s stories…
– Oxfam threatens to sue SEC over oil, mining disclosures
– GOP senators probe lost EPA emails
– EPA awards $2.1 million for urban water projects
– NOAA: Climate change is getting worse
– CEO of Rosneft says US sanctions on company are illegal
– Senators join in EPA ‘secret science’ charge
– EPA’s No.2 leaving for climate group
– Rick Scott agrees to meet with Florida scientists on climate
– Australia repeals carbon tax
Please send tips and comments to Laura Barron-Lopez, laurab@digital-release.thehill.com, and Timothy Cama, tcama@digital-release.thehill.com.
Follow us on Twitter: @thehill @lbarronlopez @Timothy_Cama