The Trump administration approved the final permit, a 30-year easement under Lake Oahe in North Dakota, to allow the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, whose reservation sits less than a mile from the pipeline route, vowed to fight the decision in court. The tribe objects to the pipeline's path running through sacred lands and so close to the source of the tribe's drinking water, fearing that any spill would poison their drinking water and water downstream. Environmentalists and other activists gathered last year to protest the pipeline in North Dakota and around the country, and national protests are ongoing. Additionally, the cities of Seattle, WA, and Davis, CA, moved to cut ties with Wells Fargo, in part because of the bank's status as a financier of the pipeline.

A group of Republicans led by former Secretaries of State James Baker III and George Schultz and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, met with senior White House officials to pitch a carbon tax. Their proposal, released by the Climate Leadership Council, would substitute a carbon tax for Obama climate regulations (i.e., Clean Power Plan) by setting an initial fee of $40 per ton of carbon dioxide released, rising annually at 2 percent above inflation. Revenues from the tax (which are estimated to raise $200 to $300 billion a year) would be rebated back to consumers through quarterly dividends. Drafters estimate that the average family of four would initially receive $2,000 annually in dividends, which would increase as the fee increases. Under the tax, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are expected to decrease 28 percent by 2025 below a 2005 baseline.

The proposal has been touted as "quintessentially conservative," as it replaces regulations with a market-based solution and sends money directly to taxpayers instead of toward new government programs. But reception to the proposal has been mixed. The White House had no comment on the carbon tax meeting. Democrats voiced support for a carbon tax, while most congressional Republicans voiced opposition.

The Senate floor vote to confirm Scott Pruitt as Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected next week. A New York Times story this week portrayed Pruitt as using available legal tools to pare back EPA's power and reach if confirmed as Administrator. It is expected that Pruitt would seek to undo the Clean Power Plan and replace it with a new rule that is less ambitious and friendlier to industry, such as requiring fossil fuel-based power plants to install energy-efficient technologies that will slightly reduce emissions. Opponents to Pruitt's nomination have been calling Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and Dean Heller (R-NV) with hopes of defeating his confirmation.

Continuing their use of the Congressional Review Act, on Tuesday, the House voted to nullify a Department of Interior rule intended to increase transparency and public input on the use of public lands. In addition, the Senate is expected to vote this week on the House-passed bill halting the Department of Interior's "methane waste" rule, aimed at curbing methane flaring and venting on federal lands, a practice that speeds climate change and wastes approximately a billion dollars of revenue every year. Supporters of the rule have been calling Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Dean Heller (R-NV), and Joe Manchin (D-WV).

This week, four lawmakers joined the bipartisan House Climate Solutions Caucus. Those new members are: Reps. David Reichert (R-WA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Don Bacon (R-NE) and Charlie Crist (D-FL). The group, also known as the "Noah's Ark" caucus because it requires members to join in bipartisan pairs, has 24 members evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. The group seeks to educate members on economically-viable options, and to explore policy solutions.

Action Items

  • CALL Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Dean Heller (R-NV) to let them know you oppose Scott Pruitt for EPA Administrator. See talking points here.
  • CALL Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Dean Heller (R-NV), and Joe Manchin (D-WV) to voice your opposition to the rollback of the Department of Interior's "methane waste" rule.


- Energy and Environment Policy Working Group, RISE Stronger

Have comments or something to add? Contact the RISE Energy & Environment Policy Working Group at [email protected]