Author: Josh Siegel, Washington Examiner

Politicians across the world are increasingly embracing “climate tariffs,” mixing combating global warming with trade policy. European leaders and Democrats running for president in the U.S. have ?oated the once unpopular prospect of taxing imports of carbon-intensive goods, and analysts say China could follow suit. “This has been seen as a rude brutalist way to…

Interior Secretary David Bernhardt is taking action to improve on a record of ethical “lapses” at the agency over recent years that has led to investigations of top staff. Bernhardt issued an order Wednesday that consolidates Interior’s ethics programs, which sprawl across 13 various departments and central headquarters. The order realigns Interior ethics programs so…

Congressional Republicans are resisting entreaties from Democrats to support a federal clean electricity mandate, widening the gulf between the two parties and showing the limits on what Republicans are willing to stomach as they shift toward saying that climate change is a problem worth addressing. Supporters view clean electricity standards as more likely to attract…

Sen. Susan Collins introduced a bipartisan bill Wednesday – backed by Colorado’s U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, a Republican – to bolster energy storage, an emerging technology geared at solving renewable energy’s most persistent problem: using it when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. The focus on energy storage fits squarely into Republicans’ ‘innovation agenda’…

The top Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are looking to engage with the Democratic majority on climate change, promoting private sector innovation as an alternative to regulation, taxes, or mandates. “I got tired of having the Democrats try to define what the Republicans were for or not for,” said Rep. Greg Walden,…

Interior Department Acting Secretary David Bernhardt faced aggressive questioning Thursday from Senate Democrats about whether he’s too ethically compromised to lead the agency permanently. And Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner defended the Colorado native, accusing Democrats of a “double standard.” “I am not claiming you are Big Oil’s guy,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, at…

The Environmental Protection Agency announced a major reorganization plan on Thursday, combining two key science offices. The agency says that the reorganization is meant to reduce bureaucracy and boost efficiency, contrary to environmentalist groups’ fears that it will try to bias the scientific process. The Washington Examiner exclusively learned of the reorganization plan for the…

The U.S. Senate confirmed Andrew Wheeler Thursday as permanent administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency even as notable centrists opposed him, a sign he could face pressure to soften his regulatory rollback agenda. Still, Wheeler — who had been serving as acting administrator — was confirmed 52 to 47, with only the votes of…

There are no new coal plants under construction or planned in the United States today, as utilities instead look to natural gas, wind, and solar. But that could change if natural gas prices rise significantly, the Trump administration argues. Steven Winberg, the Energy Department’s assistant secretary for fossil energy, told the Washington Examiner that coal…