Congressional Schedule After a flurry of last minute activity, the House of Representatives adjourned on December 19, and the Senate went into a "pro forma" session -- thus ending the first year of the 110th Congress. Just prior to this action, Congress passed and the President signed H.R. 6, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The bill is aimed at promoting energy efficiency, reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, and promoting research and development of carbon storage and sequestration technologies, among other things.
On January 3, the House and Senate reconvened, but Members will not return to Washington to conduct normal business until January 15 and January 22, respectively. President Bush's final State of the Union address is scheduled for Tuesday, January 22, 2008.
Treasury Issues CREB Allocations
In mid-December, the U.S. Treasury sent letters to public power utilities and others indicating whether they had secured Clean Renewable Energy Bond (CREB) allocations or not. This second round of CREB allocations was initiated in December 2006, when Congress authorized an additional $400 million in bonding authority to assist governmental entities and rural electric cooperatives in financing renewable energy projects.
If NEPPA members have renewable projects for which they applied for bond authority and have heard back from Treasury, please let us know, as this information is very helpful in our legislative efforts to extend and reform the CREB program.
APPA Announces EMRI "Grassroots Summit" on RTO Markets
APPA is in the process of developing a one-day "Grassroots Summit" for its members and other interested stakeholders in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, January 31, 2008, as part of its ongoing Electric Market Reform Initiative (EMRI). All APPA members are encouraged to attend this event. The purpose of the summit is to brief and train attendees on the EMRI grassroots and media campaign, which APPA undertook in 2007 to focus on the serious flaws in the wholesale electricity markets, particularly FERC-approved, Regional Transmission Organization-run markets.
The public relations team of Manning Selvage & Lee (MS&L), recently hired by APPA, will explain how to use items created in a "grassroots tool kit," teach individuals how best to use the resources already available to them, and provide an opportunity to share successes and ideas for the campaign. The grassroots tool kit will include items such as fact sheets, sample op-eds, letters to the editor, sample letters to Congress, an "RTO myths versus facts" document, FAQs sheet, and a sample power point presentation. MS&L representatives plan to work with attendees to provide tips on how to better advocate for reform in their area and help attendees understand how APPA and MS&L can work with them to generate awareness of the RTO accountability issue within the context of news sources and events.
If you are interested in attending the event, please contact either Joe Nipper at jnipper@appanet.org or 202-467-2931 or Sarah Tanksley at stanksley@appanet.org or 202-467-2934.
States Sue EPA over Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Vehicles; Ca. Members Request Investigation
Sixteen states, led by California, Vermont, and New York, agreed on January 2 to sue the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for blocking their state plans to limit greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. California Attorney General Jerry Brown Jr. filed the lawsuit with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit saying that EPA was "illegally" blocking California's standards curbing vehicular greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, California's law requires a reduction in vehicular emissions by 30% by 2016.
Last month, EPA denied a waiver to California, and the other states to reduce tailpipe emissions from cars, trucks, and SUVs by 23 percent by 2012 and 30 percent by 2016. EPA noted that Congress, in the recently enacted the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, had approved an increase in federal fuel efficiency standards for vehicles. The national standard would reduce tailpipe emissions, EPA noted, and was preferable to a "patchwork quilt" of individual state regulations.
The full EPA decision has not yet been published and there is no deadline for filing it, however the decision was announced in a December 19 letter to the state of California. EPA argues that states have no right to appeal until an official decision has been released. California claims that the letter is an official action and, therefore, requires an immediate response.
The Attorney General of New York, Andrew Cuomo (D) said that EPA's attempt to stop New York and other states from tackling global warming pollution from automobiles is "shameful."
Governor Jim Douglas (R) of Vermont said that the EPA decision was "absurd" and needed to be overturned. He added that he is confident of a "win" on appeal because there was no justification for not heeding current law.
Waxman, Boxer & Feinstein Call for an Investigation
On December 20, Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chairman, of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a pointed letter to EPA requesting the agency preserve and produce all documents relating to Administrator Johnson's decision to block California's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles. Shortly after the Johnson's announcement, both Waxman in his capacity as Chairman as well as Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee announced that they will further investigate how and why EPA made this decision. Waxman said, "EPA's decision ignores the law, science, and commonsense. This is a policy dictated by politics and ideology, not facts." The December 20th letter request documents be produced by late January.
In addition Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) sent a letter to the EPA Deputy Inspector General, Bill Roderick, asking for a formal investigation into how the decision was made to deny California the waver. In the letter, Feinstein said that the agency administrator has "deviated from standard Administration protocols in making this unprecedented decision."
Senate Reconfirms FERC nominees
On December 19, the Senate reconfirmed Joseph Kelliher and Jon Wellinghoff for another term at FERC. Chairman Kelliher was re-nominated for a term to last through 2012. Wellinghoff's new term will end in 2013.
The pair's confirmation was not a surprise once Wellinghoff - a Democrat - was renominated by President Bush in mid-December. Kelliher's renomination had been held since the summer as Democrats waited for their candidate to be nominated by the White House.