Your daily briefing for all the top news in Energy, Technology, Finance, and Politics.
Energy
‘A non-binding charade’
USA TODAY
Sen. Jim Inhofe
This is a non-binding charade because as China’s economy grows, so will its demand for electricity. China is the largest consumer and importer of coal in the world, accounting for 50% of global consumption. Over the next decade, China is expected to bring a new coal-fired power plant online every 10 days to give its hungry economy the electricity it demands, according to the Energy Information Administration. Unlike the United States, China does not have other inexpensive energy resources. China has not had a shale revolution, and it has no known natural gas reserves. To continue to support the world’s largest economy, China will have no choice but to break its promise of hitting its emissions peak by 2030. Meanwhile, President Obama’s agreement binds the U.S. to immediate action, which he will pursue through regulations and mandates.
Green Leap Forward
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Editorial
Meaningless global warming promises are much easier than corralling weapons of mass destruction in North Korea, or convincing Beijing to fight Islamic State, or for that matter stopping Chinese cyber-attacks on U.S. military and corporate targets. Mr. Xi must have been delighted to see a U.S. President agree to make America less economically competitive in return for rhetorical bows to doing something someday about climate change.
A Major Breakthrough on Climate Change
NEW YORK TIMES
Editorial
The deal jointly announced in Beijing by President Obama and China’s president, Xi Jinping, to limit greenhouse gases well beyond their earlier pledges is both a major diplomatic breakthrough and — assuming both sides can carry out their promises — an enormously positive step in the uncertain battle against climate change.
The U.S. and China reach a landmark climate deal
WASHINGTON POST
Editorial
But more important than the details is the fact that China and the United States are finally leading on global warming, connecting the two largest pieces of an international climate puzzle that has been an ugly mess. Other nations will have confidence that they, too, will not be sacrificing in vain if and when they cut their emissions. Also, big developing countries, such as India, that have done too little should find it harder to avoid acting.
China’s climate con is another Obama scam
WASHINGTON TIMES
Editorial
Neither the Islamic State (aka ISIS), Iran’s nuclear-weapons program, Russia’s extraterritorial ambitions, nor China’s human rights violations are the subject of President Obama’s greatest foreign-policy achievement. Instead, Mr. Obama announced on Wednesday that he has persuaded China to join in a declaration of war against global warming, or climate change, or whatever they’re calling the scam this week.
In Climate Deal With China, Obama May Set 2016 Theme
NEW YORK TIMES
Coral Davenport
President Obama’s landmark agreement with China to cut greenhouse gas pollution is a bet by the president and Democrats that on the issue of climate change, American voters are far ahead of Washington’s warring factions and that the environment will be a winning cause in the 2016 presidential campaign.
Obama Faces Obstacles to Emissions Deal With China
WALL STREET JOURNAL
William Mauldin and Amy Harder
But congressional Republicans, soon to have a majority in the Senate in addition to the House, pledged to do everything they could to undo the Obama administration’s emissions targets for power plants. … A senior administration official said GOP gains in Congress mean Mr. Obama likely won’t get legislative help in achieving the goals but that Republicans are unlikely to be able to stop executive orders and environmental regulations coming from the White House. Some environmental groups said China’s pledge won’t allow its emissions to peak soon enough, while the U.S. pledge was seen as no more ambitious than its previous trajectory of regulations and targets.
China’s Environmental Goals Won’t be Hard to Hit
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Chuin-Wei Yap and Brian Spegele
In its joint climate-change announcement with the U.S. on Wednesday, China set goals it has never agreed to in a global accord, including a date for when its carbon-dioxide emissions will hit a ceiling. But the goals themselves hewed closely to the economic trajectory Beijing has charted under existing environmental policies, environmental watchdogs and analysts said.
House, Senate to vote on Keystone XL pipeline
WASHINGTON POST
Ed O’Keefe
For the first time in the six-year fight over the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, both houses of Congress will hold a vote on the proposed project, giving each side in a Louisiana Senate election a chance to boost its candidate. The two lawmakers locked in the runoff contest, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) and Rep. Bill Cassidy (R), seized control of the congressional agenda Wednesday, extracting assurances from House and Senate leaders that votes will be held to bypass President Obama’s authority and authorize construction of the pipeline.
Landrieu throws Hail Mary, GOP may score
WASHINGTON POST
Dana Milbank
Because of Senate rules, any senator could have blocked a vote on the Keystone measure when Landrieu finally made her “unanimous consent” request Wednesday evening that the Senate vote on the bill Tuesday. Republicans, naturally, didn’t object. What was more interesting was that Reid and leading liberals, including Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), were on the floor, but not a single Democrat objected. Apparently, if it takes a pipeline to transport Mary Landrieu back to the Senate, Democrats were willing to build it.
Extenders could throw wrench into drama-free lame duck
POLITICOPRO (Subscribe)
Brian Faler
Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity, Heritage Action for America and others want Republicans to capitalize on their election victory by killing some of the tax “extenders” they’ve long hated, such as a one subsidizing the wind energy industry.
Technology
Political and Public Pressure Mounts on F.C.C. Head Over Open Internet Rules
NEW YORK TIMES
Edward Wyatt
The challenge only grew after Mr. Obama spoke out, adding a more potent political element to the debate. Since those remarks, say people who met with Mr. Wheeler this week, he has been testy, defensive and a bit angry that he might be seen as a political pawn instead of as the head of an independent agency who is exercising his own judgment. Mr. Wheeler has not yet decided on how to proceed, F.C.C. officials say. But as he tries to thread the needle of politics and public policy to safeguard the openness of the Internet, he must now also face down angry Republicans in Congress and a technology industry, generally supportive of the president, that is wary of any regulations stifling the expansion of the Internet.
Obama Eager to Hammer Republicans on Net Neutrality
NATIONAL JOURNAL
Brendan Sasso
Democrats believe that defending net neutrality, the idea that all Internet traffic should be treated equally, will be a winning issue for them. Republicans are going to put up fierce resistance, warning that the rules will hurt investment in high-speed Internet networks, ultimately meaning higher prices and worse service for everyone. But Democrats believe that the public is on their side, and the fight will make it clear which party is really in favor of an open Internet.
AT&T to pause fiber spending on net neutrality uncertainty
REUTERS
Marina Lopes
AT&T Inc on Wednesday raised pressure on the U.S. telecom regulator’s work on new “net neutrality” rules, saying it would stop investing in new high-speed Internet connections in 100 U.S. cities until the Web traffic rules are settled.
Net-Neutrality Debate Splits Telecom Industry
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Drew FitzGerald
Long-haul Internet carriers Cogent Communications Holdings Inc. and Level 3 Communications Inc. joined Comptel, an association of smaller telephone companies, in praising President Obama’s support for applying Title II of the Telecommunications Act to the Internet, a move that would be controversial and heavily litigated but could give the principles of net neutrality a legal underpinning if it were to succeed. More importantly for those companies, the president suggested the commission could apply new rules to the interconnection points that link broadband providers like Comcast Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc. to the rest of the Internet.
Americans believe they live in a privacy dystopia, report finds
WASHINGTON POST
Andrea Peterson
Americans are very worried about governments and private businesses tracking their online behavior in the post-Snowden era, a new report from the Pew Research Center found, and most want to do more to protect their privacy online. Eight in 10 Americans believe the public should be concerned about the government’s monitoring of phone calls and Internet communications according to a survey conducted by the organization in January. Some 61 percent said they “would like to do more” to protect the privacy of their personal information online.
Google calls for U.S. to extend Privacy Act protections to EU citizens
WASHINGTON POST
Hayley Tsukayama
Google on Wednesday called on the federal government to allow European citizens to challenge the misuse of their data by the U.S. government in U.S. courts, a right already enjoyed by Americans in the European Union.
Finance
The Wolves of Forex
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Editorial
Many of those monetary exertions were ultimately in service of ailing banks like those that are now being fined for benefiting too much from the foreign-exchange mayhem. It’s hard to feel much sympathy for banks that enjoyed government largesse and could at least try to encourage more self-control among their staffs. But if the goal is to make the financial system safe for the little guy, governments should look at their own policies and not merely foul-mouthed forex traders.
Harry Reid wants Warren in Senate leadership
POLITICO
Manu Raju and John Bresnahan
Senate Democrats want to enlist a progressive firebrand as a member of their leadership: Elizabeth Warren. The incoming Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, is engaged in private talks with the Massachusetts freshman to create a special leadership post for the former Harvard professor, according to several people familiar with the matter. It’s unclear exactly what the new job would entail — but luring the populist liberal into leadership could inject fresh blood into a team reeling from significant midterm election losses.
Prepaid cards hit with new rules
THE HILL
Tim Devaney
“Consumers are increasingly relying on prepaid products to make purchases and access funds, but they are not guaranteed the same protections or disclosures as traditional bank accounts,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in a statement. “Our proposal would close the loopholes in this market and ensure prepaid consumers are protected whether they are swiping a card, scanning their smartphone, or sending a payment.”
Debts Canceled by Bankruptcy Still Mar Consumer Credit Scores
NEW YORK TIMES
Jessica Silver-Greenberg
Tens of thousands of Americans who went through bankruptcy are still haunted by debts long after — sometimes as long as a decade after — federal judges have extinguished the bills in court. The problem, state and federal officials suspect, is that some of the nation’s biggest banks ignore bankruptcy court discharges, which render the debts void. Paying no heed to the courts, the banks keep the debts alive on credit reports, essentially forcing borrowers to make payments on bills that they do not legally owe.
U.S. Cracks Down on Debt Brokers Who Exposed Consumers’ Financial Details
NEW YORK TIMES
Natasha Singer
As part of a multiyear government crackdown on scams that target people in financial distress, a federal court in Washington has ordered two consumer debt brokers to notify more than 70,000 people that they may be at risk for identity or debt fraud after the companies posted financial details and other personal information about them online.
Politics
The best last choice
POLITICO
Edward-Isaac Dovere and Josh Gerstein
Lynch wasn’t Obama’s first choice. He wanted Kathy Ruemmler, his former White House counsel, to replace Holder. Ruemmler, Obama felt, could help him tackle the sentencing reform and maybe even closing Guantanamo Bay that he wants to do before he leaves office. Privately, he’d tell people that he wasn’t concerned about the inevitable confirmation fight over someone who, as White House counsel, advised Obama on some of the administration’s most controversial decisions. She could survive it, he’d say. But his aides had visions of Ruemmler ducking questions from Republican senators by claiming presidential privilege, followed by Republicans unspooling of all the quotes from people like Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) explaining why that had been precisely why they’d voted against another former White House counsel, Alberto Gonzales, for attorney general in 2005.
In Control, Republican Lawmakers See Budget as Way to Push Agenda
NEW YORK TIMES
Jonathan Weisman
Next year, House Republicans will try again to transform Medicare and Medicaid, repeal the Affordable Care Act, shrink domestic spending and substantially cut the highest tax rates through the budget process. Then they will leave it to the new Senate Republican majority to decide how far to press the party’s small-government vision, senior House aides said this week.
Congress Returns After 6 Weeks Away, but Immediate Actions Are Few
NEW YORK TIMES
Ashley Parker and Jeremy W. Peters
“I’m a little shocked that the only thing we’re talking about are nominations this week for judges, and then we’re leaving,” said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican. “I expect in January we will actually work five days a week and we’ll actually have a different schedule, so hopefully we’ll be more productive.” Mr. Cornyn promised that under Republican majority rule next year, the Senate would run differently: “It’s going to be like the Age of Aquarius — peace, love, and understanding,” he said with a laugh. Senate Democrats did move to advance a major piece of legislation that would restructure the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program and require the agency to disclose more about what data it collects.
New GOP Push to Block Immigration Action by Obama
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Laura Meckler and Kristina Peterson
Now, some Republicans are pushing for Congress to make a move before Mr. Obama does. More than 50 House lawmakers have signed a letter saying that language barring the president from acting alone should be attached to legislation needed to keep the government operating after Dec. 11, when its current funding expires. Others in the party, including GOP leaders, are wary of forcing a budget showdown with the president over the issue, saying voters are eager for politicians to work together.
GOP’s anti-Obamacare push gains new momentum in wake of Gruber video
WASHINGTON POST
Robert Costa and Jose A. DelReal
The Republican Party’s ardent campaign against President Obama’s health-care law gained new momentum Wednesday as lawmakers reacted angrily to assertions by an architect of the policy that it was crafted in a deliberately deceptive way in order to pass Congress. On both sides of the Capitol, leading conservatives said they may call economist Jonathan Gruber to testify about his remarks, which were made last year and surfaced this week in a video on social media.
Postal workers to protest plant closings and service reductions
WASHINGTON POST
Josh Hicks
Postal workers on Friday plan to protest nationwide against proposed plant closings and declining service standards that have led to slower mail delivery throughout the country.
A potential fresh start for U.S. foreign policy
WASHINGTON POST
George Will
Barack Obama’s coming request for Congress to “right-size and update” the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) against terrorism will be constitutionally fastidious and will catalyze a debate that will illuminate Republican fissures. They, however, are signs of a healthy development — the reappearance of foreign policy heterodoxy in Republican ranks.
