The Energy 202: Energy lobbyists prepare for Biden, despite Trump’s refusal to concede

Over the last several days, representatives from manufacturers, coal-mining companies, oil producers and other industries have congratulated the president-elect on his victory – and signaled they are interested in helping shape Biden’s plans to tackle climate change. 

“There’s likely to be a difference between what the campaign proposal was and what we see in legislation,” said Marty Durbin, president of the Global Energy Institute at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the nation’s largest business lobbying groups.  

Many trade groups have spent the past four years cheering on the Trump administration for rolling back more than 125 environmental rules and policies that made it harder for them to do business.

But they believe they can persuade Biden, a centrist Democrat who often seeks compromise over confrontation, that the goods and services they produce are necessary for a healthy economy. 

The National Mining Association noted in its congratulatory statement for Biden, for example, that the minerals the industry mines are used in solar panels and electric vehicles — two things Biden wants to see more of during his time in office.

The trade group, which represents both coal and ore mining firms, has worked closely with Trump and other Republicans over the past four years, repealing a rule protecting streams from mining pollution and hosting a meeting at Trump International Hotel in Washington during his first year in office.

But Rich Nolan, NMA’s president, said in an interview his industry can work with any administration. “To be clear, we’re not a Democrat or Republican party, we are the party of mining,” he said. 

During one of the several “Infrastructure Weeks” under Trump, the American Trucking Associations helped bring big rigs to the White House lawn. That 2017 meeting led to memorable pictures of Trump sitting in a semi. But it never culminated into sweeping infrastructure legislation the president promised.

Now Chris Spear, head of the trucking trade group, is hopeful that Biden’s win makes passing an elusive infrastructure bill more likely. “Trucking’s story speaks to all of America, not one specific political party,” he said.

Durbin, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce executive, said it will fight Biden on parts of his climate proposal, including plans to restrict oil and gas drilling on public lands and waters. But he is also “absolutely” prepared to push normally stingy Senate Republicans to boost infrastructure spending that could give the Chamber’s members more business with the government. 

“You may see something very soon calling on every member of Congress and senator to make a commitment to getting something done on infrastructure as quickly as possible,” Durbin said, noting he agrees with Biden on the need to update the electric grid to accommodate solar and wind energy and harden roads and other structures for rising seas and other climate effects.

Biden and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) have worked which each other for decades. But it’s not yet clear Biden’s win will make congressional Republicans more willing to cooperate with Democrats. On Monday, McConnell backed Trump’s efforts to contest his loss to Biden, despite the lack of evidence of significant fraud in voting.

Mike Sommers, the head of the American Petroleum Institute, hopes that Biden eases tensions with China so that his organization’s members can sell liquefied natural gas across the Pacific. “Despite, I think, a theme that the industry has been benefited by the Trump administration, on the trade side we would hope for a partner in the Biden administration,” said Sommers, who was once an aide to former Republican House speaker John A. Boehner.

Nolan, the mining executive, said Biden is already on the record stressing the need for mineral production to keep pace with China. “The Chinese are way ahead of us, setting a price and driving the market. We got to get ahead of this. People get it.” 

The road to the White House went through mining communities in Arizona, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania, Nolan said, and his team of policy wonks engaged Biden and Kamala Harris, now the vice president-elect, when they visited those states. “When those candidates are on the road they pay attention and that’s an opportunity for us to engage at the grass roots level.” 

Trump had an open-door policy that gave mining companies a voice. He also provided relief from taxes and regulation that increased their revenue. That was very different from the Obama approach, Nolan said, and miners will fight to protect what they have. 

“I think in the case of vice president Biden, he’s a very different man” from Obama. “You give him the benefit of the doubt. His platform is ‘Build Back Better,’ including with mining. We’re committed with working with him to do that.” 

Darryl Fears contributed to this report.

Michael Kuperberg, a climate scientist who had been executive director of the U.S. Global Change Research Program since July 2015, was “told Friday evening to return to his previous position as a scientist at the Energy Department,” our colleagues Jason Samenow, Andrew Freedman and Juliet Eilperin report.

That program produces the U.S. government’s definitive reports on climate change, documenting its impacts nationwide down to a local level. Kuperberg directed the office during the fourth edition of the climate report, which angered the White House because its warnings about dire consequences from climate change conflicted with the president’s message downplaying the threat. 

Kuperberg’s removal could clear the way for the administration to install someone whose climate views align more closely with Trump’s. It’s possible the job could go to climate contrarian David Legates, who was recently appointed to a top position at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — though Biden can quickly reverse that decision once in office.

Susan Bodine, the Trump appointee, “didn’t directly address” Biden’s victory at the virtual Federalist Society event on Monday, Bloomberg Law reports. But she said “last week’s election did not indicate a mandate to radically change the direction of EPA.”

Bodine, who serves as the assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance, warned that future EPA officials should not overestimate their power. “I don’t think the courts are going to allow the next administration to exceed their statutory authority to regulate,” Bodine said.

“Two coalitions of groups filed formal notices over the past several days that they plan to sue the U.S. Interior Department in federal court unless protections are restored. The notices are required as a precursor to lawsuits brought under the Endangered Species Act,” the Associated Press reports.

Last week the Trump administration stripped protections for gray wolves in most of the U.S., raising the possibility that wolf hunts could resume in some states. While populations have recovered after the wolves were nearly driven to extinction, they remain absent from much of their historical territory.

“The season has already featured 28 named storms, including a dozen that have made landfall in the United States. Now, meteorologists are tracking a pair of systems that could both be named in the days ahead,” our colleague Matthew Cappucci writes.

One of the disturbances is likely to remain out at sea, but another system could threaten the western Caribbean.

Meanwhile, closer ashore, Tropical Storm Eta brought flooding and 65 mile per hour winds to parts of South Florida on Sunday. The storm, which devastated Central America last week when it made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, is now in the Gulf of Mexico. It could make a second landfall in northwest Florida later this week. 

“Several of the storms this year have undergone rapid intensification, which is linked to warming ocean waters from human-caused climate change. Meanwhile, the link between climate change and the number of storms is less clear, with some studies showing future seasons may have fewer but stronger storms,” Cappucci writes.

“New research indicates that snow cover across the U.S. Northeast is declining as a result of climate change, and that by 2100 as much as 59 percent of the region will not accumulate any snow. The study also found that the transition period from winter to spring — known as the vernal window, or more commonly, mud season — is likely to occur earlier and last longer, with major impacts on rivers and forested ecosystems,” Yale E360 reports.

The new research, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, finds that the lack of snowmelt flowing into rivers and ecosystems could impact fish migration and plants and result in droughts and reduced water storage.