STAKES RAISED FOR ASIAN SOLAR IMPORTS VOTE: Lobbying has picked up ahead of the International Trade Commission’s vote tomorrow on whether to pursue an investigation into whether new tariffs should be imposed on solar imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The background: In 2022, the ITC had found that those four countries were serving as conduits for Chinese manufacturers to skirt tariffs and dump products on the U.S. market. President Joe Biden, though, ordered a two-year pause on tariffs, which ended today.
Domestic manufacturers are glad that the tariffs are going into effect. “The administration’s unprecedented tariff moratorium was a gift to the CCP and its dirty coal, forced labor solar industry,” said Michael Stumo, CEO of Coalition for a Prosperous America, which represents domestic producers.
But U.S. solar manufacturers also argue that some Chinese owned-firms have, in the intervening time, reorganized their supply chains to skirt the duties. As a response, the U.S. manufacturers are petitioning for an investigation that would lead to new antidumping and countervailing duties on the four countries.
A group of Democrats are backing the manufacturers at the ITC. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio led others in sending a comment with the commission asking for an investigation, saying that “leaving China’s cheating unaddressed puts thousands of American solar jobs and the domestic solar industry in jeopardy.”
Why it matters: The topic of solar tariffs has divided Democrats.
On the one hand, some clean energy interests and solar developers oppose tariffs on the grounds that cheap imports of solar products are necessary for getting solar panels installed across the country as fast as possible and curbing climate change. The Solar Energy Industries Association and other groups have opposed a new ITC investigation, warning it could threaten the build-out of solar energy.
On the other hand, domestic solar producers have said that cheap Chinese imports make it more difficult for them to compete. Allowing them into the country untaxed is at odds with the goals of encouraging the development of the domestic industry and protecting U.S. workers – both aims of the Inflation Reduction Act, as it has been interpreted by key negotiator Sen. Joe Manchin.
Brown and some of the other senators on the letter to the ITC also represent swing states with solar panel manufacturers. Brown represents Perrysburg’s First Solar, one of the firms in the coalition that asked for the investigation. He tweeted today that “Northwest Ohio will be the solar capital of the world, but the Chinese government is determined to stifle that growth.”
Those joining Brown and Manchin in calling for an investigation were Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Jon Tester of Montana, and Raphael Warnock of Georgia, as well as Reps. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, Jon Garamendi of California, Jared Golden of Maine, Frank Mrvan of Indiana, and Terri Sewell of Alabama.
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OPEC+ OPEN TO TWEAKING PLANS AFTER PRICES FALL: Ministers of OPEC+ nations suggested at an economic forum in St Petersburg today that they could alter their latest output agreement, a reaction to the surprising declines in oil prices this week after the group announced plans for extending production cuts.
Reuters reports that Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the group could adjust as necessary and they are “ready to react quickly to market uncertainties.”
Oil prices rose this morning, with Brent Crude up nearly 2% to close to $80, after earlier falling near 5% to start the week.
NEW YORK CITY CONGESTION PRICING DELAY FALLOUT: Gov. Kathy Hochul is facing blowback for her decision yesterday to indefinitely delay the implementation of the city’s congestion pricing plan, a policy that was decades in the making.
Some reactions:
– Sara Lind, the co-executive director of the urbanist group Open Plans, told Grist: “Canceling it is a huge mistake in terms of our approach to climate change. We need our Democratic governor to be a leader on climate change, but she’s just caving.”
– Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, told The City: “Congestion pricing is the transit trifecta — providing critical funding for transit, reducing emissions, and easing congestion. We should be staying the course.”
– Fred Krupp, the president of the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a statement that “Gov. Hochul is now jeopardizing the future of New York’s public transportation system and directly undermining some of her own climate and sustainability commitments…”
And in praise of Hochul’s decision, Michael Mulgrew, the president of the United Federation of Teachers, told the New York Times that “Governor Hochul heard the concerns of educators and ordinary New Yorkers that this plan for congestion pricing just shifts pollution, congestion and costs onto already struggling communities.”
CAPITO INTROS CRA TO CANCEL POWER PLANT RULES: Congressional Republicans have introduced Congressional Review Act resolutions to cancel the Biden Environmental Protection Agency’s new rules on power plant emissions.
The numbers: The Senate version of the resolution, introduced yesterday by Environment and Public Works Committee ranking member Shelley Moore Capito, has 44 total cosponsors: 43 Republicans plus Manchin.
The House version, introduced by Rep. Troy Balderson of Ohio, has 139 cosponsors.
WARREN AND WATERS PRESS SEC ON CLIMATE DISCLOSURES: Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who chairs the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Economic Policy, joined with House Financial Services Committee ranking member Maxine Waters to press the Securities Exchange Commission for tough enforcement of requirements for corporate disclosures of climate risks.
The two led a number of Democrats in sending a letter to SEC chairman Gary Gensler that served multiple purposes.
One is to lament that the finalized climate disclosure rule was “significantly weakened” by allowing corporations too much discretion in disclosures and omitting a requirement that they disclose Scope 3 emissions – that is, a measure that includes emissions generated in a corporation’s supply chain or in the use of its products.
The other is to call on the SEC to strictly enforce existing requirements for disclosures. Of note, the lawmakers say that the SEC should remind corporations subject to California law if they are subject to that state’s disclosure requirements, which do include Scope 3 emissions.
RUNDOWN
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