OVERNIGHT ENERGY: UN report adds urgency to climate fight

CLIMATE: The United Nations’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a dire report Monday calling for action to reduce climate change-causing greenhouse gas emissions while preparing for the effects, some of which are already here.

Democrats agreed that the report lends credence to what they’ve been saying for years.

“The latest IPCC report adds a tremendous sense of urgency for Congress to wake up and do everything in its power to reduce dangerous carbon pollution,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee. “It confirms that we must cut carbon pollution now to avoid lasting changes to our planet.”

{mosads}“This report is about the realities and responses of climate change, but what it really tells us is that we have a responsibility to act decisively and quickly to avoid catastrophic impacts in the future,” said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.).

“This latest report from the IPCC is yet another reminder that we must act to protect our communities from the worsening effects of climate change,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). “We have already seen so many changes here in the U.S., including rising seas, shifting fisheries, and increases in drought, flooding and wild fire.”

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) sees the report as part of a different pattern: “The IPCC report is another effort to scare people into believing in man-made global warming despite the 15-year pause in temperature increases.”

Check out E2-Wire tomorrow for more on what IPCC’s report means, or doesn’t mean, for the climate-change debate in Washington.

ON TAP TUESDAY: The House will take up a bill that would boost the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) funding for predictions and warnings on extreme weather events.

The GOP adamantly supports the legislation, blasting NOAA for spending too much on climate-change research, as opposed to weather forecasting.

While the bill doesn’t directly stop the government from studying climate change, it would “prioritize weather-related activities.”

ON TAP TUESDAY II: The Environmental and Energy Study Institute will release a report on government policies that promote alternative fuels.

The report highlights the need to transfer vehicle fleets to alternative fuels to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

Rest of Tuesday’s agenda… The Center on Global Interest will hold a discussion about the impact of Russia’s energy dependence on foreign policy decisions.

NEWS BITES:

Tax reform… Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-Mich.) is retiring, which spells doom for the tax-reform draft he proposed earlier this year — and all of the energy credits that were included in it.

Camp’s proposal sought to extend tax credits for the wind industry, but oil groups like the American Petroleum Institute were not happy about the draft.

Looks like both industries will have to go elsewhere for tax reform on Capitol Hill now.

Climate credits… California utility customers are going to receive their first “climate credit” on electric bills this week. The money is coming from the state’s cap-and-trade system on polluters.

“We pushed hard for this credit, which protects California households from having to foot the bill even as we make sure electricity rates reflect the cost of pollution in order to encourage cleaner alternatives,” said Ryan Young, legal counsel with the advocacy group The Greenlining Institute.

AROUND THE WEB:

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is featured in a new documentary that downplays the role of Massey Energy in the 2010 mine disaster that killed 29 miners, but Manchin said he was tricked into appearing in it, the Huffington Post reports.

Five people were injured Monday morning in an explosion at a liquefied natural gas facility in Oregon, the Tri-City Herald reports.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology climate scientist Kerry Emanuel responded Monday on FiveThirtyEight to Roger Pielke Jr.’s highly controversial piece that downplayed the effects of climate change on natural disasters.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out the stories that ran on E2-Wire Monday…

– GOP calls for probe of park service spending
– Governors press Congress on wind tax credit
– Over half of US crude oil produced by five states
– Chevron, Polish firm explore shale gas options amid Ukraine
– UN: Climate requires immediate action
– Week ahead: Congress mulls Obama’s energy budget

Please send tips and comments to Laura Barron-Lopez, laurab@digital-stage.thehill.com and Timothy Cama, tcama@digital-stage.thehill.com.