OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Countries roll out 2030 Paris Accord goals amid US absence | Biden eyes new EPA picks as Nichols reportedly falls from favor | Kerry faces big job on climate, US credibility

by Rachel Frazin - 12/14/20 5:35 PM ET

HAPPY MONDAY! Welcome to Overnight Energy, The Hill’s roundup of the latest energy and environment news. Please send tips and comments to Rebecca Beitsch at rbeitsch@digital-stage.thehill.com. Follow her on Twitter: @rebeccabeitsch. Reach Rachel Frazin at rfrazin@digital-stage.thehill.com or follow her on Twitter: @RachelFrazin.

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SQUAD GOALS: China, the United Kingdom and the European Union all laid out goals to achieve greater emission reductions as part of the Paris climate accord over the weekend at what was likely the last United Nations climate summit without a U.S. presence.

The three powers all vowed to make greater emissions reductions by 2030 during the summit, which marked the fifth anniversary of the global climate accord.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to make the nation the “Saudi Arabia of wind power” as part of its goal to cut its emissions by 68 percent by 2030.

The European Union laid out its vision for reducing emissions by 50 percent by the same year.

China, which has been frequently criticized by Republicans in particular for not doing more on climate change, promised to reduce its carbon emissions by 65 percent relative to its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030.

“In meeting the climate challenge, no one can be aloof and unilateralism will get us nowhere,” President Xi Jinping told the conference by video.

And what’s the U.S. up to?

President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris accord, but President-elect Joe Biden has promised to bring the U.S. back to the agreement.

In a statement, Biden reiterated his promise to join the agreement on Day 1 of his presidency. His climate plan would put the U.S on track to reach net-zero emissions by 2050

“I’ll immediately start working with my counterparts around the world to do all that we possibly can, including by convening the leaders of major economies for a climate summit within my first 100 days in office,” he said.

At home, some Trump administration officials bashed the deal.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler noted the U.S. “didn’t receive an invitation to the U.N. climate summit” after Trump formally left the accord this November and boasted of U.S emissions reductions.

“Rejoining the Paris Climate Accord would be a disaster and put us at a strategic disadvantage — especially with China who emits far more greenhouse gases and isn’t required to reduce its emissions until at least 2030,” Wheeler wrote on Twitter.

OPENING UP THE CABINET:

Thank u, next…The Biden team is hunting for a nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after some groups expressed opposition to a favorite to get the nod, California air regulator Mary Nichols.

According to a report from The New York Times, Nichols has fallen out of favor with the transition team following a letter from a coalition of 70 environmental and social justice groups that criticized her for not doing enough to mitigate pollution impacts for low-income communities and communities of color.

The letter, sent earlier this month, said Nichols had a “bleak track record in addressing environmental racism.”

Multiple media outlets have reported a growing list of the potential future EPA administrators, including Michael Regan, currently the head of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality, and Richard Revesz, a professor and former dean at New York University School of Law.

Regan also previously worked at EPA under the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations before heading to the Environmental Defense Fund as their southeast regional director.

Revesz is an expert in environmental and regulatory law — something that could be key for an administration determined to reverse Trump-era environmental rollbacks.

The transition team did not respond to request for comment nor did the California Air Resources Board, where Nichols’ term expires at the end of the year.

Nichols has often been called the Queen of Green and is considered one of the top environmental regulators in the country.

She pushed back against the criticism in the letter, which argued that the cap and trade program California uses to control emissions allows companies to pay to pollute, saying that the revenues were largely routed to low income and minority communities.

“California is at the forefront of actions anywhere in the nation and the world to direct attention and funding to underfunded communities,” Nichols told the Times in an interview last week.

Read more here.

KERRYING ON WITH CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: Former Secretary of State John Kerry faces a major undertaking in regaining U.S. credibility on climate issues as President-elect Joe Biden’s special envoy on climate.

Kerry will take a newly formed position on the National Security Council and will be America’s face abroad as the U.S. rejoins the Paris Climate Accord on Day 1 of the new administration.

But even those who say Biden couldn’t have chosen a better lead on climate say it will be difficult for the U.S. to overcome its deficit on climate action — both in its reputation and on emissions.

Christiana Figueres, a Costa Rican diplomat and one of the chief architects of the Paris agreement, said she was “totally delighted” Kerry was appointed to the role but said the Biden team will have to make good on its promises.

“The U.S. will have to do its homework at home first — at home, first — in order to regain credibility. Yes, the Biden administration has put out their plans, but we’re going to have to see the plans being enacted, we’re going to have to see the rollbacks of the rollbacks, we’re going to have to see, as he’s already spoken about, climate change being inserted into every single department,” she said.

Kelley Kizzier, a former EU climate negotiator who now leads international efforts at the Environmental Defense Fund, said the U.S. will have to take a number of actions that “require more than the stroke of a presidential pen if we’re going to have credibility.”

“It’s a plan that requires cooperation with Congress, and I know that’s a heavy lift, but we need to start immediately. The world needs to know the U.S. is not getting a free pass on climate,” Kizzier said.

But even as the U.S. settles its affairs at home, part of the problem is the rest of the world has chugged along.

“Rejoining Paris is good but a return to the status quo from five years ago? The rest of the world has moved on,” said Sarah Millar, a climate advisor who previously worked for the United Kingdom government and in the European Parliament in Brussels.

ENERGY BILL WATCH: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Monday that a bipartisan energy bill will be included in an omnibus appropriations bill this week.

“The appropriations bill will include several important pieces of related legislation. One that doesn’t get enough attention is a bipartisan energy bill,” Schumer said on the Senate floor, apparently referencing a proposal from Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) that was stalled earlier this year.

“Earlier this year during the debate over the energy bill, Senate Democrats insisted that a provision to reduce [hydrofluorocarbons] HFCs, a very harmful greenhouse gas that is driving our climate change problem, must be included in the bill,” he added. “I’m very happy to report that we have made very good progress towards an agreement on HFC reduction. We are about to get it done, and that’s one of the biggest victories to fight global warming in a very long time.”

CLIMATE COMMITTEE, CONTINUED: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Monday that the House’s Select Committee on the Climate Crisis will continue on into the next Congress.

“The climate crisis is the existential threat of our time, jeopardizing our public health, our economy, our national security and the whole of God’s creation,” Pelosi said in a statement. “Recognizing the urgency of this crisis and its priority for House Democrats, it is a privilege to once again name Congresswoman Kathy Castor as Chair of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis for the 117th Congress.“

WHAT WE’RE READING:

Pollution, poverty and pandemic collide: A community on edge, E&E News reports

Exxon Mobil begins defense of itself, and a Big Oil future, as activists circle, CNBC reports

Mexico proposes phasing out Roundup pesticide by 2024, The Associated Press reports

ICYMI: Stories from Monday and the weekend…

Supreme Court gives New Mexico a win in water dispute with Texas

Biden eyes new EPA picks as Nichols falls from favor: report

Countries roll out 2030 Paris Accord goals amid US absence

Biden eyes Gina McCarthy as domestic ‘climate czar’: report

Progressives frustrated with representation as Biden Cabinet takes shape

Challenges persist for Biden after delayed transition start

Kerry faces big job on climate, US credibility