Overnight Energy: Senate confirms David Turk as deputy Energy secretary | 14 states sue Biden administration over leasing pause for public lands drilling | Regulator knocks Texas for failing to winterize power equipment

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Today: The Energy Department’s number-two gets full Senate confirmation, 14 states sue the Biden administration over its freeze on new oil and gas leases for public lands, and regulators say Texas didn’t follow decade-old recommendations on grid weatherization.

 

TURK TO DO: Senate confirms David Turk as Deputy Energy Secretary

The Senate confirmed David M. Turk as Deputy Secretary of Energy in a 98-2 vote Wednesday.

Republican Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) were the only senators to vote against Turk’s confirmation in the full Senate vote Wednesday.

Turk, who served on the National Security Council and in the State Department during the Obama administration, cleared the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in an unanimous vote earlier in the month.

Barrasso offers praise, caveats: Although the panel’s Republicans, many of whom represent energy-producing western states, have been frequently been sharply critical of the administration’s energy policies, ranking member John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) praised him in the earlier vote.

“I especially appreciate his commitment to carbon capture utilization and sequestration technology as well as the need to construct CO2 pipelines to move that captured carbon,” Barrasso said.

Read more about the vote here.

 

LEASE YOU CAN DO: 14 states sue Biden administration over leasing pause for public lands drilling

Fourteen states led by Republican attorneys general sued the Biden administration over its decision to pause the issuance of new leases on public lands and waters for oil and gas drilling. 

A group of 13 states, spearheaded by Louisiana, filed one suit on Wednesday, while Wyoming separately filed its own lawsuit. 

The lawsuits ask the court to throw out the pause on new leasing that came as a result of an executive order from President Biden.

The temporary pause, which has no end date, was issued pending “completion of a comprehensive review and reconsideration of Federal oil and gas permitting and leasing practices.”

Louisiana AG takes aim: “Biden’s Executive Orders abandon middle-class jobs at a time when America needs them most and put our energy security in the hands of foreign countries, many of whom despise America’s greatness,” Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) said in a statement. 

Read more about the lawsuit here.

 

TEX-MESS: Regulator says evidence suggests Texas ‘absolutely’ didn’t follow 2011 recommendations to winterize power equipment

The CEO of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) told Congress on Wednesday that evidence shows Texas “absolutely” did not follow recommendations by the organization and federal regulators in 2011 to winterize their equipment.

 

The winter storm in Texas led to days-long power outages and was linked to several deaths

What did the report call for?: The report recommended that “all entities responsible for the reliability of the bulk power system in the Southwest prepare for the winter season with the same sense of urgency and priority as they prepare for the summer peak season.”

Later in Wednesday’s hearing, NERC CEO James Robb raised concerns about both the lack of legal changes and enforcement in Texas. 

“The report that we put out in 2011 calls for very clear freeze protection on the generating plants,” he said. “What I understand Texas did was to put in place legislation that required weatherization but not to a specific level, and it was not an aggressively enforced standard.”

Read more about Robb’s remarks here.

 

 

GAS IN THE BANK: 60 largest banks in the world invested $3.8 trillion in fossil fuels: report

The world’s 60 biggest banks have financed the fossil fuel industry to the tune of nearly $4 trillion in the five years since the Paris climate agreement, according to a report released Wednesday a coalition of environmental organizations.

The 60 banks in question have put more than $3.8 trillion into the industry in the last five years, according to the report. Despite the economic recession induced by the coronavirus pandemic, more money went into the industry in 2020 than in 2016, according to the Indigenous Environmental Network, Rainforest Action Network, BankTrack, Oil Change International, Reclaim Finance and Sierra Club.

The report’s authors said the findings indicate that practices like carbon offsets are not sustainable to prevent irreversible climate change.

Read more about the report here.

 

ON TAP TOMORROW:

• The Interior Department will hold a virtual public forum on the federal oil and gas program
• The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing on the Biden administration’s transportation infrastructure priorities. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is slated to appear.
• The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on nuclear energy

 

WHAT WE’RE READING:

Hundreds of workers at a Tampa lead smelter have been exposed to dangerous levels of the neurotoxin, The Tampa Bay Times reports

In the Virgin Islands, a refinery tests Biden’s environmental justice commitment, The Washington Post reports

‘Buyer beware’: Ads hide PFAS cookware risks, E&E News reports

L.A. could be powered entirely by renewable energy in 25 years, USC News reports

 

ICYMI: Stories from Tuesday…

Senators eye rollback of Trump methane rule with Congressional Review Act

Senate confirms David Turk as Deputy Energy Secretary

Regulator: Evidence suggests Texas ‘absolutely’ didn’t follow recommendations to winterize power equipment

60 largest banks in the world invested $3.8 trillion in fossil fuels: report

14 states sue Biden administration over leasing pause for public lands drilling

Environmental groups: Discarded masks, gloves creating pollution problem

EPA head: ‘COVID-19 created a perfect storm for environmental justice communities’

Senate committee advances two Biden environment nominees

 

Finally, in random clicks: ONLY IN 2021: Let’s go to the hop