>>3595162 (pb)
I agree don't mess with honor or the call of duty, the end result won't be good for them.
>>3595201 (pb)
Agreed, not to mention they can't get around him to get to President Trump or his family and staff.
Ailing chairman prompts Trump to reshuffle key energy commission
The White House announced Wednesday night that President Trump is designating Neil Chatterjee as chairman of the Federal Regulatory Commission, replacing Kevin McIntyre, who is suffering from health issues.
Chatterjee, a Republican, does not need Senate approval to become chairman, since he is already a commissioner. McIntyre, also a Republican and a Trump nominee, said that he intends to remain on FERC as a regular commissioner, but will relinquish his chairmanship. "I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to serve as chairman and for the trust and confidence you placed in me to lead FERC at such a critical time in its history," McIntyre said in a letter addressed to Trump. "And I continue to be deeply grateful for the unwavering support and encouragement I have received from you, Mr. President, and from all other corners."
McIntyre was diagnosed with a brain tumor in the summer of 2017, and had recovered after treatment, allowing him fit to be FERC chairman. But he said he recently experienced a more serious health setback, leaving him "unable to perform the duties of chairman with the level of focus that the position demands and that FERC and the American people deserve." Chatterjee, a former staffer for Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., previously served as FERC chairman on an interim basis before McIntyre was confirmed by the Senate last November. Chatterjee has chaired the last two of FERC’s monthly meetings, which McIntyre has missed. He and fellow Democratic commissioners Cheryl LaFleur and Richard Glick offered prayers and best wishes for McIntyre at last week’s meeting. “I am very sorry that Chairman Mcintyre is not able to be here today and continue to wish warm wishes for his recovery and I know that everyone here does,” LaFleur said.
FERC is already short one member after Republican commissioner Robert Powelson recently resigned. Trump has nominated Bernard McNamee, the head of the Energy Department’s Office of Policy, to fill the open seat. The reshuffling comes as FERC has a busy agenda. It is currently deliberating over whether to change how power providers are compensated as the grid transitions away from coal and nuclear power, to more natural gas and renewables. In a highly anticipated decision, FERC in January voted unanimously to reject a proposal from Energy Secretary Rick Perry to provide special payments to struggling coal and nuclear plants in the name of resilience and reliability, saying the grid faces no immediate risk without them.
McIntyre and Chatterjee both opposed the Perry plan. Chatterjee, who comes from the coal state of Kentucky like McConnell, expressed sympathy to the coal industry’s plight, but said providing subsidies would upset the balance of competitive wholesale electricity markets that reward the cheapest generation source. FERC, in rejecting Perry’s plan, directed regional transmission operators to submit information on resilience challenges in their markets. The commission is reviewing those responses and could act on its own. Trump has repeatedly pressed for action to save coal and nuclear plants, but the White House has reportedly stalled over an effort to use emergency executive authority.
Any potential action would likely come through FERC, which is independent. FERC is also currently reviewing its 1999 policy for approving pipeline projects, aiming to update it to reflect how to best manage the transport of bountiful shale natural gas to market, while balancing environmental and climate change concerns. And it is under pressure to more quickly approve liquified natural gas export projects to clear a backlog.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/ailing-chairman-prompts-trump-to-reshuffle-key-energy-commission
Trump administration approves first oil and gas drilling in Alaska's federal waters
The Interior Department on Wednesday approved what would be the first oil and gas production facility in federal waters off the coast of Alaska, part of the Trump administration’s effort to expand where the U.S. produces fossil fuels.
Energy company Hilcorp proposes to build a nine-acre artificial gravel island in shallow waters of the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean, calling it the Liberty Project. The project would be near four other oil and gas producing artificial islands in waters that the state controls. "Responsibly developing our resources, in Alaska especially, will allow us to use our energy diplomatically to aid our allies and check our adversaries," Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said. "That makes America stronger and more influential around the globe.” Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued conditional approval for the project after evaluating the potential environmental impacts, and incorporating input from the public, and from North Slope communities and tribes. Hilcorp still must obtain other permits from local, state, and federal agencies before moving forward with construction, development, and production, according to Guy Hayes, a BOEM spokesman.
BOEM's approval comes after the Trump administration in January proposed a massive offshore oil and gas drilling plan to allow it in nearly all federal waters, including sales off the Alaska coast. The plan has received bipartisan criticism, with almost all coastal governors expressing opposition to allowing drilling off their shores, especially in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans — and new parts of the eastern Gulf of Mexico — for fear of spills and harm to tourism.
Zinke has since indicated he will likely scale back the plan when he finalizes it later this year. But local politicians support drilling off Alaska’s coast. The state is heavily dependent on oil and gas revenue to support its budget. Last year, Republicans in Congress, as part of their tax reform legislation, allowed for a long-sought onshore opportunity in Alaska, opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and natural gas drilling. Republicans expect drilling in ANWR to raise $1 billion over a decade to help pay for tax reform. Democrats, however, contend that won’t happen in light of low oil prices and steep competition from natural gas, and worry drilling there would harm the ecosystem of what they describe as one of the wildest places left on earth.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/trump-administration-approves-first-oil-and-gas-drilling-in-alaskas-federal-waters
California on the fence when it comes to New York's climate lawsuit
California and other state attorneys general are on the fence when it comes to joining New York’s climate lawsuit against Exxon Mobil, despite supporting the Empire State’s multi-year climate investigation that led to the case. “We are familiar with the claims being made and look forward to talking to New York about it,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, on a call with reporters on Wednesday.
However, Becerra hedged when asked whether he would be joining the lawsuit, stating that California must still see if it has the legal basis to join. “Each state has its own laws, and we have to make sure that we can apply the facts that can be marshaled in a way that we have for our particular state,” he said. “So, we’re going to take a close look at what New York has done.”
Exxon and other oil and gas companies have successfully fended off separate climate lawsuits brought by local and city governments in California and New York. Becerra's predecessor and now senator, Kamala Harris, had been part of a coalition of Democratic attorneys general investigating Exxon Mobil over news stories that said it kept climate research it did 40 years ago from its investors. The company argues adamantly against the claims. Becerra was joined on the call by Illinois Democratic Attorney General Lisa Madigan to discuss joint comments they are filing on Friday against the Trump administration’s clean car regulations and rollback of Obama-era fuel efficiency rules.
As for the Exxon lawsuit, Madigan explained that New York used a securities fraud law, the Martin Act, of which Illinois does not have the equivalent, making it difficult for her to join the lawsuit even if she wanted. “I don’t have the same authority because I don’t have a Martin Act like they have in New York,” she said. That decision would have to come from the Illinois secretary of state under the state’s laws and procedures. New York sued Exxon earlier on Wednesday, arguing that it defrauded investors by not “factoring the risk of increasing climate change regulation into its business decisions," said New York Democratic Attorney General Barbara Underwood. She explained that Exxon “built a facade to deceive investors into believing that the company was managing the risks of climate change regulation to its business when, in fact, it was intentionally and systematically underestimating or ignoring them, contrary to its public representations.”
Exxon spokesman Scott Silvestri called the allegations "baseless" and "a product of closed-door lobbying by special interests, political opportunism and the attorney general’s inability to admit that a three-year investigation has uncovered no wrongdoing."
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/california-on-the-fence-when-it-comes-to-new-yorks-climate-lawsuit
I believe there is no question about that! Truthfully those are hard shoes to fill.
All federal facilities at heightened alert levels after bomb scares: DHS
All federal facilities are on heightened alert for suspicious activity and have enhanced security procedures following a set of bomb scares across the country Wednesday, said Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Nielsen also said the department is actively communicating with the National Network of Fusion Centers, which accept and process information provided by state and local agencies on criminal or terror-related issues then presents it to DHS as a threat overview. "I condemn these cowardly acts in the strongest possible terms. Americans will not tolerate these types of threats, and we will not be intimidated," Nielsen said in a statement released Wednesday evening.
Top Democratic officials, including former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, were mailed suspicious packages that arrived Wednesday morning. Packages were addressed to former Attorney General Eric Holder, former CIA Director John Brennan, billionaire and liberal donor George Soros, Rep. Maxine Waters of California, and Sen. Kamala Harris of California. Former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida received a package at her office, which was used as the return address. The packages sent to Obama, Clinton, Brennan, Holder, and Soros all contained bombs. The two others resemble those items but have not been confirmed by the FBI as containing explosives. None of the packages mailed to officials across the country detonated.
The FBI has launched a national investigation — at President Trump's command — to determine who was behind the attacks. “DHS and the U.S. Secret Service are closely coordinating with the FBI on the active investigation and are working with state and local law enforcement to provide updates on the evolving situation,” Nielsen said. In addition, CNN’s New York office in Manhattan was also sent mail that was later determined to contain a pipe bomb. Federal officials have not arrested anyone connected to the crime as of Wednesday evening.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/all-federal-facilities-at-heightened-alert-levels-after-bomb-scares-dhs
Seem like New York is interested in reviving it using their state's laws to do so. So they want to be the lead and have other states follow. Seems like it would be heard in New York.
KEK,,, Awesome!
Sarah Sanders responds to CNN president: 'You chose to attack and divide
The White House said on Wednesday that CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker was attempting to “attack and divide” with the statement castigating President Trump for his rhetoric toward the media. “Trump asked Americans 'to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the USA' Yet you chose to attack and divide. America should unite against all political violence,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted Wednesday evening.
.@realDonaldTrump asked Americans “to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the USA” Yet you chose to attack and divide. America should unite against all political violence. https://t.co/Dlo3xwHyKi— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) October 25, 2018
Sanders' statement came just moments after Trump concluded a campaign rally in Mosinee, Wis., in which he asked the media to "set a civil tone." Zucker put out his statement Wednesday after a pipe bomb was delivered to CNN offices in New York and the facility had to be evacuated. "There is a total and complete lack of understanding at the White House about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media,” Zucker said, adding that both Trump and Sanders need to understand that their words have consequences. Statement from CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker: pic.twitter.com/OXyIT6oSLT — CNN Communications (@CNNPR) October 24, 2018
Several Republican pundits and politicians have said that they need to see the same sort of reaction they are witnessing Wednesday from Democrats when Republicans are attacked. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Wednesday that he feels the push-back on violence he is seeing from Democrats needs to be the same when the other side of the aisle is being attacked. Scalise was shot last year at a GOP congressional baseball practice in a politically motivated attack.
This week, several prominent Democrats, including billionaire donor George Soros, former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and members of Congress have been targeted with suspicious packages or have found “potentially explosive devices” at their homes or offices.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/sarah-sanders-responds-to-cnn-president-you-chose-to-attack-and-divide