Overnight Energy: Jill Stein faces arrest after pipeline protest

JILL FOUGHT THE LAW: Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and her running mate are facing arrest Wednesday over charges stemming from an anti-pipeline protest in North Dakota.

Law enforcement officers cited videos showing Stein and Ajamu Baraka allegedly spray-painting construction equipment related to the Dakota Access pipeline while trespassing at a protest Tuesday.

{mosads}The Morton County, North Dakota, sheriff’s department filed misdemeanor charges against both candidates Wednesday for criminal trespassing and criminal mischief, the Bismarck Tribune reported.

Stein said she and Baraka were engaged in “civil disobedience” against the controversial pipeline, whose construction, they contend, is harming American Indian burial grounds and water sources.

“I hope the North Dakota authorities press charges against the real vandalism taking place at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation: the bulldozing of sacred burial sites and the unleashing of vicious attack dogs,” she said in a statement.

“I hope they take action against the Dakota Access Pipeline company that is endangering drinking water not only for the Standing Rock Sioux, but for millions of people downstream of the reservation who depend on the Missouri River.”

Read more here.

OIL RESERVE NEEDS MODERNIZATION, FEDS SAY: The Department of Energy says the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) needs a major modernization initiative.

In a Wednesday report commissioned last year by Congress, the department said the reserve is at risk of not being able to fulfill its purpose of protecting the country from major oil disruptions.

“Most of the critical infrastructure for moving crude within the SPR has exceeded its serviceable life, increasing maintenance costs and decreasing system reliability,” the report stated.

The Energy Department also concluded that the 695 million barrel stockpile could be drawn down to 530 million barrels and still be effective.

The department is asking Congress for $375.4 million to upgrade infrastructure for the reserve.

Read more here.

GOLD KING A SUPERFUND SITE: The Gold King Mine is one of the country’s latest Superfund sites, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Wednesday.

The agency included Colorado’s Bonita Peak Mining District, which includes the Gold King Mine, on its list of contaminated areas potentially due for federally funded clean-up efforts.

The decision opens the door to EPA-backed clean-up and revitalization efforts for Colorado’s Animas River, which has suffered through “decades” of mine waste contamination above and beyond last year’s Gold King Mine incident.

Even so, that spill — when a team of EPA contractors accidentally dumped 3 million gallons of toxic sludge into the Animas River — has meant new scrutiny of abandoned mining sites in the state. According to the EPA’s Wednesday announcement, Colorado has identified heavy metal issues in the Animas River since 1998, and 32 sites in Bonita Peak produce up to 5.4 million gallons of mining waste a day.

Read more here.

EPA ISSUES NEW SMOG RULE: The EPA on Wednesday updated an agency rule designed to reduce smog-forming pollution that crosses state lines in the eastern United States.

The updated Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) restricts power plant emissions of nitrogen oxide that contribute to downwind smog problems. The five-year-old CSAPR rule covers 22 states, and the EPA says the new standard will reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 20 percent next year, from 2015 levels.

“Today’s update builds on the decades of success under the Clean Air Act that has led to significant cuts in nitrogen oxide emissions from upwind states that affect their downwind neighbors,” Janet McCabe, the acting assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, said in a statement.

The rule is designed to limit nitrogen oxide emissions that are produced in one state but have the potential to then travel across state lines and develop into smog, or ozone. The EPA sets limits on surface-level ozone and has a “good neighbor” provision to help states that struggle with smog caused by emissions from other states.

Tomorrow in The Hill … Retired miners are pressuring Congress to rescue a troubled pension fund that tens of thousands of them rely on. They say that the federal government promised decades ago to make sure that they have retirement benefits. Read about the latest progress on the legislation and more tomorrow.

ON TAP THURSDAY I: Members of the joint House and Senate energy bill conference committee will meet for the first time. Here’s our refresher on where things stand with the energy bill.

ON TAP THURSDAY II: The House Natural Resources Committee will mark up four bills.

Rest of Thursday’s agenda …

A House Foreign Affairs Committee panel will hold a hearing on energy demand in Asia.

Two House panels will hold a joint hearing on energy issues in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and other Obama administration officials will speak at the GreenGov 2016 symposium.  

Join The Hill on Wednesday, September 14 for “Preparing for the Next Disaster: A Policy Discussion on Community Resilience,” featuring Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), and Timothy W. Manning, Deputy Administrator for Protection and National Preparedness at FEMA. Topics of discussion include preparedness efforts to increase community resilience and the role of federal, state & local government in pre-disaster mitigation. RSVP here.

AROUND THE WEB:

The commissioners of Bradford County, Pa., are planning a public relations battle against the Marcellus Shale Coalition over its lobbying on natural gas royalties, StateImpact Pennsylvania reports.

A Texas oil company has found 3 billion barrels of oil and 75 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under the state’s Permian Basin, the Houston Chronicle reports.

Officials charged in connection with the Flint water crisis won’t go to court until next year, the Detroit News reports.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out Wednesday’s stories…

-EPA names Gold King Mine a Superfund site
-Oil stockpile system needs upgrades, Obama admin says
-Energy groups push for renewal of tax credits
-Feds loosen protections for humpback whales
-Jill Stein charged over pipeline protest
-Flint funding up in the air
-Congress ready for final stretch on 800-page energy reform bill

Please send tips and comments to Timothy Cama, tcama@digital-stage.thehill.com; and Devin Henry, dhenry@digital-stage.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @Timothy_Cama, @dhenry, @thehill