With help from Annie Snider, Anthony Adragna and Gavin Bade
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On the Hill
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— As stocks and oil prices continue to tumble, new questions arise over how the slowdown in the oil patch and broader economy may weigh on the president's re-election prospects.
— Thirteen Republican senators are calling on Saudi Arabia to rethink its plans to boost oil production after rattling oil markets.
— EPA and other agencies are expanding telework policies in response to the worsening coronavirus pandemic.
WELCOME TO TUESDAY! I'm your host, Kelsey Tamborrino. Check out the POLITICO Energy podcast — all the energy and environmental politics and policy news you need to start your day, in just five minutes. Listen and subscribe for free at politico.com/energy-podcast.
Matt Giacona of the International Association of Drilling Contractors gets the win for correctly naming former President Jimmy Carter, who — born in 1924 in Georgia — was the first president to be born in a hospital. For today: What's the name of the law that Congress passed that sparked the first White House Easter Egg Roll? Send your tips, energy gossip and comments to [email protected].
Driving the Day
HOW LOW OIL PRICES COULD COST TRUMP: The economics of the coronavirus crisis could spell trouble for President Donald Trump in his bid for reelection, Pro's Ben Lefebvre, Zack Colman and Eric Wolff report. Amid the ongoing downturn in the energy industry, and as stocks continued to tumble, oil and gas producers are acting swiftly to pull back their spending and cut production. ExxonMobil, for one, said Monday evening it was looking to reduce its spending as a result of market conditions caused by COVID-19. "Based on this unprecedented environment, we are evaluating all appropriate steps to significantly reduce capital and operating expenses in the near term," said Darren Woods, Exxon chairman and CEO.
"You're talking about Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico," said Stephen Moore, an economist and distinguished visiting fellow at conservative think tank Heritage Foundation. "Those are all battleground states. This is not great timing politically for the Trump administration to see this big decline in oil."
States like Pennsylvania could become more competitive for Trump should former Vice President Joe Biden become the Democratic nominee. Rig workers would have definitely voted for Trump if his opponent had been Sen. Bernie Sanders, said Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. But Biden may be more competitive in the state.
Already, Republicans are weaponizing Biden's "no new fracking" comment at the Democratic debate on Sunday, POLITICO's Christopher Cadelago reports. The Biden campaign said the former vice president's comments during the debate were restating his policy related to public lands, where Biden calls for "banning new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters."
On the Hill
GOP SENATORS CALL ON SAUDIS TO CALM MARKETS: A host of Republican senators, including Energy Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Environment and Public Works Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), are calling on Saudi Arabia to rethink its plans to boost oil production, Pro's Anthony Adragna reports. Thirteen Republicans, led by Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), sent a letter to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on Monday urging the kingdom "to assert constructive leadership in stabilizing the world economy by calming economic anxiety in the oil and gas sector at a time when countries around the world are addressing the pandemic." Signatories of the letter are slated to meet with the Saudi Arabia ambassador to the United States later this week to further discuss their concerns.
ON TO THE SENATE: Trump officially sent to the Senate on Monday Nancy Beck's nomination for chairwoman and commissioner of the Consumer Products Safety Commission. Beck is principal deputy assistant EPA administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, was detailed to the White House's National Economic Council, and previously spent years as a top expert for the American Chemistry Council.
2020 WATCH: Despite fears of coronavirus across the nation, Arizona, Florida, Ohio and Illinois are scheduled to hold presidential primary votes today, and the latter two states will also hold votes on congressional races. Illinois voters will weigh in in the district held by Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush, the chairman of the E&C Energy subcommittee. Rush faces three challengers, including Robert Emmons Jr., who is backed by both the Sunrise Movement and 350 Action.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said late Monday the state's health department will order all polling places not to open in order to protect voters from the coronavirus pandemic, after a late request from the governor to postpone the primary was denied by a state judge. But he's not the only one calling to move the vote: The youth-led Sunrise Movement also came out in support of postponing today's primary votes. "Having to risk death or illness to vote is not a democracy," the group tweeted Monday, adding "How can we then expect people to go out and vote? We need to #PostponethePrimaries."
GROUPS CALL FOR CLEAN ENERGY INNOVATION FUNDING: More than 50 organizations, including ThirdWay, ClearPath Action, Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, called on Congress to dramatically increase funding for clean energy innovation, "prioritizing increases where they will have the biggest climate impact."
Around the Agencies
PERRY FILES LAND: American Oversight released the last batch of anticipated records related to former Energy Secretary Rick Perry but the bulk appear to just be documents showing airline flights, Ubers and hotel records related to his trip to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's inauguration in May 2019. The batch also includes records from other DOE officials, including then-chief of staff Brian McCormack, Theodore Garrish and Samuel Buchan. However, they shed little light on what the officials did once they arrived in Ukraine.
DoD DETAILS PFAS CONTAMINATION: The Defense Department has quietly announced a more than 60 percent increase in the number of sites where it has known or suspected contamination from toxic "forever chemicals" that have been used for decades in military firefighting foam. In a draft report released Friday, the department disclosed 651 sites that are slated for testing, up from 401 in a 2018 report to Congress. Based on the larger scale of the contamination, which defense officials have been hinting at for months, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment Maureen Sullivan testified last week that she now estimates the bill for cleanup will come to roughly $3 billion.
FORMER OFFICIALS CALL FOWL: Former communications officials at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service called on the Interior Department's internal watchdog to investigate "potential ethical and procedural violations" stemming from a FWS press release, Pro's Alex Guillén reports. The Jan. 30 release in question announced a proposed rule to limit Migratory Bird Treaty Act enforcement to the intentional take of protected birds and included supportive statements from Republican officials and industry groups.
In their letter to the DOI inspector general and released by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the 10 retired officials called it "a bizarre and unacceptable departure from the past practices of the Interior Department under both Republican and Democratic Administrations." They also noted that by including the section "without any contrary opinions, the agency gives the impression that it has already made its decision in favor of the proposed regulation." Interior spokesperson Conner Swanson said the department stands by the news release.
WORK FROM HOME: Agencies across the Trump administration are telling employees to offer "maximum telework flexibilities" following guidance from OMB encouraging agencies to do so. EPA on Monday expanded its telework options and unscheduled leave to workers nationwide amid the coronavirus outbreak, as Alex reports, and Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said last night employees across DOE will practice "social distancing" and move to "maximum telework flexibilities."
NRC DINGS DUKE ENERGY FOR FALSIFYING FIRE INSPECTIONS: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it came to a settlement with Duke Energy last week over safety violations at the Robinson nuclear power plant in South Carolina. The agency said that in 2017, it found that employees failed to perform fire inspections on required areas and then "deliberately signed logs indicating they had completed the rounds and fire watches." The company agreed to retraining and other corrective actions through the NRC's alternative dispute resolution process and said it would implement the changes at its five other nuclear plants.
Beyond the Beltway
SOLAR ADDS CAPACITY GAINS IN 2019: Solar energy made up 40 percent of all new U.S. electricity generating capacity added last year — more than any other source of electricity, according to a new U.S. Solar Market Insight 2019 Year-in-Review report released today by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie. The U.S. solar market installed 13.3 gigawatts of solar PV, a 23 percent increase from 2018 and marking its second-largest year on record, according to the report. The new year-in-review analysis also found that cumulative operating PV capacity in the U.S. now exceeds 76 GW, up from just 1 GW at the end of 2009.
CANADA COURT POSTPONES CARBON TAX CHALLENGES: The Supreme Court of Canada postponed two legal challenges of its federal carbon tax until June "to protect participants in the justice system and to reduce the spread of Covid-19," according to a statement Monday evening. Pro Canada's Maura Forrest reports that both Saskatchewan and Ontario are fighting the federal carbon tax imposed in the provinces last year, and their appeals were set to be heard by the court next week.
The Grid
— "RuPaul has a fracking empire on his Wyoming ranch," via Gizmodo.
— "Owners of Pa.'s Beaver Valley nuclear power station will keep it open because of state’s climate plan," via StateImpact Pennsylvania.
— "Oil giants set health checks for critical staff, work-from-home rules," via Reuters.
— "Coronavirus: Water district employee tests positive, CEO and other leaders self-quarantine," via The Mercury News.
— "Watchdog raises concerns over Trump energy regulator," via The Hill.
THAT'S ALL FOR ME!
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