OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Interior chief on the road, efficiency stirrings in Senate, and more

“We would like to keep the amendments relevant to the bill,” she said. The bill to boost efficiency in buildings and factories sailed through the Energy and Natural Resources Committee earlier in May, but the path to the Senate floor remains uncertain.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Check out these stories that ran on E2-Wire on Thursday …

– Tesla CEO: ‘Reframe’ climate argument
– Senators, green groups spar over fracking
– GOP lawmakers question nuclear commission’s cost calculus
– Keep climate change out of Keystone decision, GOP warns Obama
– Lawmakers form public transit caucus
– Green billionaire Steyer plans to get involved in Massachusetts Senate race

NEWS BITES:

Hispanic Caucus backs Grijalva for top committee slot

{mosads}The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is backing Rep. Raúl Grijalva’s (D-Ariz) uphill battle to become the ranking Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee.

“As Democrats, we rightly pride ourselves on our diversity and awareness of what it means to represent Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life,” states a “Dear Colleague” letter from the caucus circulated Thursday. “Few of our colleagues understand and embody that diversity and awareness as well as Raul.”

That slot will open up if current ranking member Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) is elected to the Massachusetts Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry.

Grijalva faces very long odds against Peter Defazio (D-Ore.), who’s next in line for the ranking member slot by seniority and has support from a number of key Democrats.

But the CHC, in the letter, calls Grijalva “one of the strongest public land advocates our party has seen in a long time,” and says he is a “consensus builder” among Latino, Native American, Western, environmental and progressive communities.

Sen. Blunt keeps hold on EPA nominee

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said Thursday that he would maintain his procedural hold on Environmental Protection Agency nominee Gina McCarthy.

Blunt and McCarthy, the agency’s top air quality official, met Wednesday to discuss a Missouri levee project. He said his concerns have not yet been resolved.

“The discussion was frank and disappointing. I intend to talk to the White House more directly about who is in charge, because I’m troubled by the fact the administration doesn’t appear to understand how to manage the agencies it oversees,” Blunt said in a statement.

A Senate panel advanced McCarthy’s nomination to the floor last week on a party-line vote, foretelling a partisan fight to get her confirmed.

Blunt had imposed his hold on McCarthy’s nomination well before that vote.

He says he used the tactic to get answers about why the EPA, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Army Corps of Engineers missed a self-imposed deadline for providing an update on the levee project.

Brazil pushes offshore oil drilling

Reuters reports:

Brazil plans to sell the right to explore and develop its largest-ever oil discovery in October, putting up for auction an offshore petroleum prospect that is expected to produce about 12 billion barrels of oil over 35 years.

Click here for the whole thing.

Fracking chemical disclosure in focus

Bloomberg reports:

FracFocus, the website drillers use to disclose chemicals in hydraulic fracturing, is revamping its system next week to let regulators for the first time search and aggregate the information.

Click here for the whole thing.

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