OVERNIGHT ENERGY: House GOP to vote on massive energy bill

A HAIL MARY: House Republicans on Thursday will vote on a laundry list of energy bills and send them to the Senate, wrapped and with a bow on top.

The point? To remind voters that the GOP isn’t happy about President Obama’s energy and climate policies, and to provide an example of what it would look like to have a Republican-controlled Senate.

{mosads}Right now, such legislation has no chance of passing in the Senate, let alone put on the floor, and Republicans know that.

But the package may strike a cord with voters, just enough to give Republicans — especially ones challenging Senate Democrats in tight races — an edge as they head back home for the final push before November.

The package includes legislation that would block the administration’s proposed carbon pollution rule for existing power plants, expand onshore and offshore drilling, and expedite permits for cross-border pipelines.

ENERGY SECURITY: Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) will release a new white paper on the potential impacts of rising energy costs on American families on Thursday. The two senators will hold a news conference to unveil the report, “Plenty at Stake: Indicators of American Energy Insecurity.”

CLIMATE CHANGE: The Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change will hold a Capitol Hill discussion about the “industrial history of denial,” which will focus on fossil fuel companies’ roles in climate change denial. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (R-Calif.), two of the task force’s co-chairmen, will moderate the event, which will include various experts on climate change.

SOLAR: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Gina McCarthy, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro and Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman will speak at an event in Washington about helping low-income families install rooftop solar panels and get job training in the solar industry. The event is hosted by solar group Grid Alternatives and Habitat for Humanity.

KEYSTONE: Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), John Hoeven (N.D.), John Thune (S.D.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and John Barrasso (Wyo.) will hold a news conference to highlight the sixth anniversary of TransCanada’s original application for a permit to build the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

Rest of Thursday’s agenda …

The House Natural Resources Committee is planning to markup 25 bills in its jurisdiction, on matters such as illegal fishing, national park naming, geothermal energy and federal land transfers.

The House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on the importance of promoting soil health in agriculture and rural areas. Lawmakers will hear from Jason Weller, chief of the Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, in addition to a panel of four stakeholder representatives.

AROUND THE WEB:

A wildfire in California’s El Dorado National Forest forced more than 2,000 people and threatened more than 1,600 homes as of Wednesday, Reuters reports.

A new study found that climate change has caused tree growth to increase by 77 percent, The Independent reports.

Property owners in Colorado are fighting local fracking bans that they say deprive them of their property rights to extract minerals, Bloomberg reports.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out Wednesday’s stories…

– Benefits of offshore drilling in Atlantic outweigh costs, study says
– Green group hires Interior official to be president
– Senators seek longer extension of Ex-Im
– Senators back ‘technology-neutral’ energy taxes
– UN wants climate summit to avoid negotiations over global pact
– Dem suggests putting climate monument on the National Mall
– Thune bill would head off potential EPA ozone rule
– Panama Canal expansion would boost transit of oil, gas exports
– McConnell blasts Obama’s energy strategy
– Report: US preparing for international challenge of crude oil export ban
– Fed study finds no water pollution from fracking

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