Overnight Energy: TransCanada asks Obama to suspend Keystone review

HITTING PAUSE: The company seeking to build the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline is asking the Obama administration to pause the process for reviewing its permit.

TransCanada Corp., which until recently repeatedly pressured President Obama to take action on the permit after seven years of delay, cited Nebraska officials’ review of Keystone’s route in asking for the pause from the State Department Monday.

The request is almost certain to push the timeline for Keystone’s review past January 2017, when Obama’s term will be over and a new a president will take office.

{mosads}The request follows TransCanada’s move in September to change its method for seeking approval in Nebraska for a process that does not involve using eminent domain and would avoid lengthy and expensive state court battles.

“We are asking State to pause its review of Keystone XL based on the fact that we have applied to the Nebraska Public Service Commission for approval of its preferred route in the state,” TransCanada President Russ Girling said in a statement late Monday.

“I note that when the status of the Nebraska pipeline route was challenged last year, the State Department found it appropriate to suspend its review until that dispute was resolved,” he said. “We feel under the current circumstances a similar suspension would be appropriate.”

Read more here.

EPA ADDS AUDI, PORSCHE TO VW EMISSIONS PROBE: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accusing Volkswagen of looking to skirt emissions testing requirements for its Audi and Porsche-brand cars, an extension of the scandal that came to light in September. 

EPA officials said Monday that Volkswagen installed software on diesel models of some 2014-2016 Audi and Porsche cars that activate required air pollution protections only during emissions tests. The software violates the Clean Air Act.

Regulators had previously accused VW of installing the so-called “defeat devices” on 482,000 diesel vehicles. The new charges, which officials warned VW about on Monday, cover an additional 10,000 vehicles.

“VW has once again failed its obligation to comply with the law that protects clean air for all Americans,” Cynthia Giles, the EPA’s top enforcement and compliance official, said in a statement. 

“All companies should be playing by the same rules. EPA, with our state, and federal partners, will continue to investigate these serious matters, to secure the benefits of the Clean Air Act, ensure a level playing field for responsible businesses, and to ensure consumers get the environmental performance they expect.”

VW had previously apologized for the defeat device scandal, and its top American executive faced a congressional panel on the matter last month. 

Read more here. 

GREENS FIGHT SENATE GOP ON WATER RULE: A coalition of environmental groups is warning the Senate against passing a pair of measures to stop the Obama administration’s new water regulation.

The groups, including the Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters and Natural Resources Defense Council sent letters to senators Friday and Monday about the pieces of legislation that would block the waters of the United States rule, which the EPA made final earlier this year.

The Senate is due to vote Tuesday on a procedural motion to debate Sen. John Barrasso’s (R-Wyo.) bill to overturn the rule and give specific instructions to rewrite it. The chamber could also vote on Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-Iowa) resolution under the Congressional Review Act to overturn the rule.

“This troubling legislation blows up the completed rulemaking and forces the agencies to go back and solicit input from stakeholders they have already consulted, consider factors they have already considered, and then propose a rule (as they have already done),” the groups said of Barrasso’s bill.

They labeled Ernst’s measure the “Dirty Water Resolution,” calling it “an extreme action” that would prevent any similar regulations in the future.

But supporters are pushing back.

On Monday, the Chamber of Commerce designated Barrasso’s bill as a “key vote” that will go into senators’ scorecards, and encouraged lawmakers to vote for it.

KEYSTONE DECISION BY 2017: The White House now says that President Obama will decide whether to approve Keystone XL by the time he leaves office in January 2017.

Press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Air Force One Monday that that is the most specific the White House will get on timing for the oil pipeline’s permit.

“Our expectation at this point is that the president will make a decision before the end of his administration on the Keystone pipeline, but when exactly that will be, I don’t know at this point,” he said.

Earnest added that the decision is possible this year, but could also be next year.

TOMORROW IN THE HILL: The Obama administration is set to finalize its new Renewable Fuel Standard levels this month, and lawmakers and industry groups want one final say. Read more in The Hill. 

ON TAP TUESDAY I: The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on energy and power will start to consider a pair of resolutions to overturn the Obama administration’s climate rule for power plants. The measures, sponsored by subpanel Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) would block implementation of the carbon dioxide limits for new and existing power plants. 

ON TAP TUESDAY II: The Senate will vote to formally start debate on a bill to overturn the EPA’s new rule defining its jurisdiction over small waterways like streams and wetlands, while giving the agency new instructions to rewrite the regulation.

Rest of Tuesday’s agenda …

Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, will talk at a Christian Science Monitor event about the final weeks leading up to the climate change pact talks in Paris. 

Two subpanels of the House Science Committee will hold a hearing on the costs and benefits of the renewable fuel standard. 

The American Petroleum Institute will host a briefing on how U.S. voters feel about certain energy policy questions a year before the 2016 elections. 

AROUND THE WEB: 

A tropical cyclone is about to hit Yemen, another side effect of a particularly strong El Nino, the Washington Post reports.

A large, floating wind farm is about to be installed off the coast of Scotland, the BBC reports. 

Goldman Sachs plans to invest $150 million in clean energy projects, Fortune reports.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out Monday’s stories …

-Dems want VW fuel economy benefits reversed 
-White House begins final review of ethanol rule 
-New York nuclear power plant to close 
-Feds: VW rigged emissions systems on Porsches, Audis too
-EPA cracking down on water pollution 
-Senate Dems: Bill coal industry for climate costs 
-China, France: Climate pact should include five-year reviews 
-Obama’s court quagmire 
-Week ahead: Lawmakers move to block EPA rules

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