OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Hold on to your coffee cup

THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY: The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that your morning cup of coffee is now at risk in the fight against climate change.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy singled out coffee, which comes from a plant that grows in equatorial regions, as threatened by climate change.

{mosads}”Now, coffee’s a temperature-sensitive crop,” McCarthy said Wednesday. “Climate change puts the world’s coffee-growing regions at risk.”

Water, sugar and cotton could also see shortages and price increases with significant changes in the climate, which the EPA argues is a result of growing greenhouse gas emissions.

Read more here.

A TURN FOR THE WORST: President Obama’s been endorsing some of the most negative rhetoric about the Keystone XL pipeline in recent months.

The comments, like calling the oil sands mining process “extraordinarily dirty” or saying the pipeline would not even provide a “nominal benefit” to U.S. consumers, has advocates on both sides of the issue thinking he’ll reject the pipeline’s permit.

It marks a shift for Obama, who previously avoided weighing in on the merits of Keystone.

But ever since the Senate started debating in earnest efforts to avoid Obama and approve Keystone themselves, the president’s been more negative about the project.

Read more here.

ON TAP THURSDAY I:

Secretary of State John Kerry will speak at the Atlantic Council about the U.S. role in international efforts to reach a United Nations agreement in December to cut greenhouse gas emissions globally. He will also discuss the general need for global action against climate change and the benefits of growing the clean power economy.

ON TAP THURSDAY II:

Exxon Mobil Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson will be the guest speaker Thursday at an Economic Club of Washington dinner. Tillerson will argue that new innovations have led to an era of energy abundance in the United States. 

Rest of Thursday’s agenda …

The Brookings Institution will hold a discussion Thursday on the United States’s upcoming leadership of the Arctic Council and generally the country’s leadership position in Arctic affairs. Robert Papp, who is coordinating the federal government’s efforts in the State Department as special envoy for the Arctic, will be the featured speaker.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars will host a screening Thursday of “Under the Dome,” the documentary about China’s air pollution that has become a viral hit within China in recent weeks. The event will also include speeches from representatives of the EPA, the China Environment Forum and others.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will wrap up its Regulatory Information Conference, the event for discussing the agency’s regulatory activities. Thursday’s events will consist only of technical sessions and tours of NRC’s operations center.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies will hold a discussion Thursday on approaches and strategies for the nuclear fuel cycle. It will feature various experts on nuclear energy and fuel.

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute will host a Capitol Hill briefing on efforts to make buildings more efficient, focusing on the latest budget request from the Energy Department’s Building Technologies Office. Roland Risser from the Energy Department will speak, along with representatives of Owens Corning and the Democrats on the House Science Committee.

NEWS BITE:

The Energy Department is trying to put to rest rumors that it’s trying to transfer the stalled Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site to the military.

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) recently visited the tunnel in the Nevada mountain that represents the only work done to date on the federal government’s proposed waste repository, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

But the Pentagon has not presented Energy with any proposals to take over the site, and “we have been informed that DTRA does not intend to make such a proposal,” John Kotek, the principal deputy assistant secretary for nuclear energy, told House members in a letter released Wednesday.

Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), chairman of the House subcommittee in charge of nuclear regulation, told the Review-Journal through a spokesman that he’s pleased with Energy’s response.

AROUND THE WEB:

At a state legislative hearing, California agencies admitted some fault for allowing the petroleum industry to dump waste into federally protected waters, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Ashley Furniture, the United States’ top furniture retailer, is removing  toxic flame retardants from its products, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Officials in India have decided to delay the data they’ll release on air quality in the Delhi area, significantly reducing its usefulness, the New York Times reports.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out Wednesday’s stories …

– GOP highlights state objections to EPA climate rule
– Sens. Portman, Shaheen renew energy efficiency push
– Obama names new head of White House environmental council
– Nuke regulator chided for safety ‘sluggishness’
– Erin Brockovich denounces latest chemical law reform bill
– Climate change threatening coffee, EPA chief warns
– EPA head calls for US leadership in climate
– Koch fighting climate research funding probe
– Obama embraces Keystone skepticism

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