Climate, Politics/Capitol Light©, is a service of The JBS Group and Civil Notion
 
 
Volume 1                                                    September 9, 2019                                                                     Issue 26
 
The month ahead:

Congress is back from its August recess. It appears the break did nothing to cool tensions—either between Congressional Republicans and Democrats or between Hill Democrats and Trump. If anything, inter-party relations are more acrimonious than before. It doesn’t bode well for the rest of the legislative year.

Hanging fire on the Senate’s September agenda are appropriations bills. The House has already passed ten of 12 spending bills, while the Senate has yet to introduce even one. The Senate chose to wait until after Trump and Congressional leaders settled on a budget number and agreed to raising the nation’s debt ceiling. Agreements were reached just before the summer’s recess.

Senate appropriators, however, are expecting to pick up the pace release three spending bills in the next few days—Energy-Water, Labor-Health-Human Services, and Defense.

The appetite for a government shutdown is small. A failure to make the September 30th deadline will likely result in a continuing resolution (CR). House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) has already written the Democratic caucus telling members to expect a CR through November 22nd. There’s been no sign-off by Senate Republicans on a Plan “B” CR, however, so a shutdown is not yet off the table.

Several extensions of expiring programs could become part of a CR, including a short-term reauthorization for the National Flood Insurance Program. The program is set to expire at the end of the month. It’s hard to imagine that either Trump or Congress would dare cut the program during hurricane season—especially in what is already a record year of flooding.

The House will be directing the bulk of its September attentions to conducting committee hearings on issues Trump and company would like to ignore, e.g., gun control, immigration, and climate. Mass shootings, an extraordinary emergency declaration by Trump, and CNN’s seven hours of climate-related townhall meetings have kept these issues in the spotlight.

House Democrats are keen to continue their oversight investigations of Trump and his administration. The list of investigations is likely to grow given events like #Sharpiegate, in which Trump refused to admit he made a mistake about the path of Hurricane Dorian. Vice President Pence’s stay at Trump’s Irish golf resort requiring him to commute the 180 miles by car and his Air Force 2 jetliner to his two days of meetings with Irish leaders in Dublin served-up another opportunity for the Democrats to cry “emoluments.”

                       Climate, Politics/Capitol Light©, is a service of The JBS Group and Civil Notion
 
 
Volume 1                                                    August 27, 2019                                                                           Issue 24
 
                I'm an environmentalist. I think I know more about the environment than most people.
                                Donald Trump on why he could afford to miss the G-7 session on climate.
 
There goes the neighborhood. Construction crews broke ground on a small portion of the $664 million border fence project in the Arizona desert that is funded through President Trump's national emergency declaration.

Crews plan to install 30-foot steel fencing to replace older barriers on 2 miles in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, next to the official border crossing known as the Lukeville Port of Entry.

The project is funded through the Defense Department. Use of the department's money was previously frozen by lower courts while a lawsuit proceeded. However, the Supreme Court last month cleared the way for the use of about $2.5 billion (E&E News)

• This story is part of this week’s Civil Notion. For more information on border walls and proposed climate emergency declarations go to: 911, What’s Your Climate Emergency?

Do the hustle. The Trump administration has been scrambling to stem the tide of rising anger in Farm Belt states after its decision this month to allow numerous oil refiners to mix less ethanol into their gasoline. 

Seeking to tamp down political fallout in U.S. farm states essential to his re-election, Trump has ordered federal agencies to shift course on relieving some oil refineries of requirements to use biofuel such as corn-based ethanol.

Trump and top cabinet leaders decided they wouldn’t make changes to just-issued waivers that allow small refineries to ignore the mandates but agreed to start boosting biofuel-blending quotas to make up for expected exemptions beginning in 2021. The outcome was described by four people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named before a formal announcement could be made. (Reuters and Bloomberg)

                  Climate, Politics/Capitol Light©, is a service of The JBS Group and Civil Notion.com
 
 
Volume 1                                                                      June 17, 2019                                                                Issue 9  
 

Petards were made for this. The Democratic Party may be the loser in the candidate debates as the calls for a focused debate have only grown stronger since Perez rejected Inslee's plea for a debate dedicated to the climate crisis. Dozens of DNC members are joining the call, and a group of activists protested outside the DNC's Washington, D.C., headquarters the other day, delivering a petition with more than 200,000 signatures pressing the issue.

The party's left wing is adding the climate debate issue to its grievances. Groups like Public Citizen, Women's March Global, NextGen America, and CPD Action — an arm of the Center for Popular Democracy — have joined Inslee in fighting for the debate. So have 14 other Democratic presidential candidates — including Senators (I-VT) and Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) — as well as several progressive House members.

Although Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) supports Sanders for president, he said Inslee has an opportunity to take advantage of the progressive furor around the topic. He advised Inslee to take a page from Ronald Reagan, who in 1980 sponsored a Republican primary debate himself after federal officials ruled a debate sponsored by a newspaper would be an illegal campaign contribution. (E&E News)

Republicans are being poll-asked. Republicans risk losing young voters if they don't wake up to the reality that is climate change, warned pollster Frank Luntz  .

Luntz Global Partners — the firm led by the prominent GOP consultant — distributed a memo to every Republican on Capitol Hill arguing that public climate opinion has reached a "tipping point."

The report is based on the results of an online poll and focus groups Luntz Global conducted for the Climate Leadership Council. CLC is the carbon fee and dividend advocacy group funded by numerous corporate entities, including some oil companies.

The memo, which makes a case for the CLC's proposal, comes during a changing landscape for the Capitol Hill climate debate. Republicans are increasingly acknowledging climate science and voicing support for limited solutions.

"The 'political temperature' on climate change has shifted — perhaps permanently," the memo reads. "Three in four American voters want to see the government step in to limit carbon emissions — including a majority of Republicans (55 percent)." (E&E News)

• As political deals go, this is a big one. Luntz is well-respected. Whether respected by Trumplicans may be another matter. However, his findings will certainly have an impact on the thinking of establishment Republicans—especially who are up for re-election in 2020.
• Even if Republicans aren’t willing to listen, the Democrats will. Polls like this will confirm for Democrats that climate is a vulnerable spot in Republican armor.