Overnight Energy: Ethanol fight holds up drilling rule repeal

ETHANOL FIGHT DELAYS BILL: Several Midwestern Republicans are considering holding up a bill to reverse an Obama administration drilling rule in exchange for a vote on a piece of ethanol legislation.

The lawmakers, led by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and John Thune (R-N.D.), are pushing legislation to overturn federal policy that effectively prevents sales of gasoline with 15 percent ethanol — known as E15 — during the summer months.

The group says it will trade its votes on a resolution undoing a federal methane regulation for the ethanol vote.

“We tried to get it included in the [omnibus spending bill], unsuccessfully,” Thune said of the ethanol provision. “So we’re looking now for other vehicles and seeing … how methane fits into that picture.”

Time is running out for the methane resolution. Under the terms of the Congressional Review Act, which provides the Senate a window of 60 legislative days to overrule a regulation, the Senate has a May 11 deadline for passing the bill, Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said on Tuesday.

{mosads}Even before the ethanol issue rose to the surface, Republican supporters of the methane resolution have struggled to secure the votes they need to move it to the floor.

Two Republican senators — Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Susan Collins (Maine) — have indicated opposition to the methane bill, meaning supporters can only afford to lose one more vote before the resolution flounders.

Four others are on the fence about the bill, meaning leaders need to both shore up support for the CRA resolution and sidestep the ethanol debate by next Thursday in order to assure the bill’s passage.

Read more here.

GREENS SUE TRUMP OVER OFFSHORE DRILLING: Environmentalists are suing the Trump administration over last week’s offshore drilling executive order, saying it is illegal.

The coalition, led by environmental law firm Earthjustice, says President Trump cannot roll back drilling prohibitions that former President Barack Obama instituted in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans because they’re permanent.

The legal theory has never been tested in court before. No one has sued a previous administration for similar actions.

“We believe that Trump’s executive order asserts authority that Congress did not give him,” said Jason Rylander, an attorney with Defenders of Wildlife.

“No president before has every attempted to withdraw waters that have been reserved under that provision of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. We don’t believe that authority exists, and we believe it’s a bad idea,” he said.

Obama in December cited rarely used authority under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to block drilling in large swaths of the Arctic north of Alaska, as well as a series of undersea canyons in the Atlantic.

At the time, the Obama administration argued that the law in question gave no authority to future presidents to undo the action, and environmentalists agree.

Read more here.

Greens also sue over EPA water rule: In another lawsuit filed Wednesday, a similar coalition of environmental groups is challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s policy putting a hold on Obama’s water pollution limits from coal-fired power plants.

The Effluent Limitation Guidelines had updated a 1982 rule to limit pollutants like arsenic and cadmium from power plants into water. EPA head Scott Pruitt put it on hold last month to review it, citing litigation challenging the rule.

“These standards would have tackled the biggest source of toxic water pollution in the country, and now the Trump EPA is trying to toss them out. It’s indefensible,” Pete Harrison, an attorney for Waterkeeper Alliance, said in a statement.

“The EPA didn’t even pretend to seek public input before plowing ahead with this rollback that could allow millions of pounds of preventable toxic pollution to go into our water.”

ZINKE TO TOUR BEARS EARS: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is set to tour — on horseback — two of the national monuments his agency is assessing following an order from President Trump.

Zinke will tour the 1.35-million acre Bears Ears National Monument in Utah next Monday, the Interior Department confirmed on Wednesday. He will also visit the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument during his trip.

The two monuments bookend the review ordered by Trump last week. Under the terms of the review Zinke is to consider whether it’s appropriate to modify all large national monument designations made under the Antiquities Act between 1996 — when President Clinton designated Grand Staircase-Escalante — and 2016 — when President Obama designated Bears Ears.

The order also asks Zinke to propose potential legislative changes to the Antiquities Act as part of his review.

Read more here.     

GOVERNORS, EUROPE PUSH TRUMP ON PARIS: Twelve Democratic governors and the European Union are joining the call for Trump to keep the United States in the Paris climate agreement.

The day after news broke that the White House is leaning against staying in, due to legal concerns, the governors and Europe tried to reassure Trump on the matter.

“Given the progress our states have made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we are convinced that the United States’ goal of 26-28 percent below 2005 levels is readily achievable,” the governors wrote in a letter organized by the Georgetown University Climate Center.

“Maintaining the U.S. commitment is essential to protect our residents, and indeed, all Americans from the potentially catastrophic impacts of a changing climate,” they said.

European Union sources told multiple news outlets that they are pulling out all the stops in pushing Trump to stay in, particularly after the reports about legal concerns.

“If the biggest economy in the world dumps the whole thing … we all have to worry,” a source told Reuters. “We are reaching out at all possible levels … to try to explain why they do not need to leave the Paris agreement.”

ON TAP THURSDAY I: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Cheryl LaFleur will testify at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources hearing on the threat electromagnetic pulses pose to the electric grid.

ON TAP THURSDAY II: Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) is scheduled to speak at the United States Energy Association’s annual membership meeting.

AROUND THE WEB:

A study out of the University of California San Diego found that thiamethoxam, a common pesticide, impairs the ability of honeybees to fly, Michigan Radio reports.

Ohio lawmakers are considering a provision that could open up state parks for hydraulic fracturing, Reuters reports.

At least 21 miners died in a coal mine explosion in Iran Wednesday, the Associated Press reports.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out Wednesday’s stories …

-EPA chief: US needs coal to protect electric grid
-Greens sue Trump over offshore drilling order
-Ethanol fight complicates push to repeal Obama drilling rule
-Zinke to tour Bears Ears amid Trump monuments review

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