NDN Blog

Historic Elections In Egypt

Egyptians go to the polls today in their very first free election. The next two-days of voting mark a truly historic occasion for the nascent democracy and for the entire region. Many names will appear on the ballot, but the top two contenders for the Presidency are Abdel Aboul Fotouh, a moderate Islamist, and Amr Moussa who is the a former Secretary General of the Arab League. Those two men debated two weeks ago - a first for the Arab world - and the New York Times did a nice job summarizing the event. While the word waits for the results, it's worth taking a moment to look over this powerful slideshow that Foreign Policy assembled. Regardless of who wins, it is incredibly inspiring to see the pictures of these candidates campaigning freely in a country so recently liberated from decades of autocracy.

 A Battle Over Law of the Sea

The Administration began the week making a big push for the Senate to ratify the Law of the Sea treaty. Senator John Kerry took to the pages of Politico, penning a lengthy defense of the convention and making the case for quick action on the treaty which has previously had support from a broad range of conservative policymakers and organizations.

It is designed to give our oil and gas companies the certainty they need to make crucial investments to secure our energy future. It puts our telecommunications companies on equal footing with foreign competitors. And it will help secure access to rare earth minerals, which we need for computers, cellphones and weapons systems that allow us to live and work day in and day out.

Republican Senator Jim DeMint, however, rounded up two dozen signatures for a letter threatening to oppose ratification. Unable to keep the GOP Senators from politicizing the issue, Sen. Kerry announced that he "would like to see this treaty stay out of the hurly-burly of presidential politics," and would be postponing a floor vote until after the elections in November.

MENA-IF Makes the Cut in the Senate

Earlier this week, we highlighted the importance of the Middle East and North Africa Incentive Fund. The MENA-IF is one of the President's flagship responses to the historic transitions now underway throughout the region, and will provide the State Department the resources and flexibility it needs to fully support these young governments and empower moderates across the Middle East. This initiative was in danger after the House GOP shortsightedly chose to abandon it in their version of the Foreign Operations bill, but we were extremely glad to see the Senate Appropriations Committee take a much more responsible course yesterday by fully funding the account. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham came out strongly in support of the $1 billion for the MENA-IF, and his voice will be important in the negotiations with the GOP-controlled House. When Congress meets in conference to ultimately decide the fate of the MENA-IF, they should keep in mind how very important it is for America to support this program as part of a long-term effort to build our wider economic ties.

The Senate made a smart decision today by fully funding the Middle East North African Incentive Fund in State/Foreign Operations Appropriated bill which passed earlier this morning.   As we've written elsewhere, this Fund is a critical tool to let our nation do what it can to support the promising transitions unfolding in the region these past 18 months.

We are particularly pleased that Republican Senator Lindsay Graham has been such a strong advocate of the Fund.  His leadership will be needed to bring other Republicans along to ensure that the Fund makes it through the full Senate, and then reinstated in conference with the House, which refused to include it in their recently passed appropriations bill.

As we watch the historic election in Egypt unfold today, it is clear that America must do more to support these transition nations struggling to find a better path for themselves and their people.  Standing up the MENA-IF is the single most important thing our nation can do this year to support the MENA transition countries.  It should be supported by legislators of both parties, and passed without delay.

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President Obama will travel to Iowa on Thursday to put pressure on Congress to quickly extend key renewable-energy tax credits.  Obama will tout the tax credits during a speech at TPI Composites, a wind turbine blade manufacturer in Newton, Iowa.  The White House has made extending the tax credits a top policy priority, including it on Obama’s to-do list for Congress. Obama’s speech will focus on extending the production tax credit for renewables and expanding the 30 percent tax credit for clean energy manufacturing.The wind industry has launched an aggressive public relations and lobbying campaign to extend the production tax credit, which provides a credit for each kilowatt-hour of electricity produced from wind.

NRDC has a new study by  Anthony Swift which says that the pipeline's impact on gasoline prices is"one of the most misunderstood issues surrounding the proposed Keystone XL," adding that when TransCanada originally proposed the pipeline, they pitched it as a way to increase the cost of oil in the United States, providing increased revenue for Canadian producers. Since then, proponents of the pipeline in the United States have pitched it as a means of decreasing U.S. gasoline prices.  Swift's study examined these two conflicting claims, and findings suggest that the former is the true one. According to Mr. Swift, "Our study has found that Keystone XL is likely to both decrease the amount of gasoline in U.S. refineries for domestic markets and increase the cost of producing it, leading to even higher prices at the pump".  The result in the immediate to short term will be a decline in gasoline production and an increase in diesel, according to the report.  Other findings in the report include that the pipeline will increase the price of crude oil in the Midwest and Rocky Mountains by over $20 a barrel, increasing the cost of Canadian tar sands by as much as $27 billion annually. These higher crude oil costs are expected to lead to deteriorating financial conditions in Rocky Mountain and Midwestern refineries, which could in turn result in decreased production. That's because if Midwestern refineries are forced to pay a higher price for oil, as East Coast refineries already do, they will be forced to respond by reducing their production and further decreasing U.S. gasoline supplies, according to the report.

Your Daily Border Bulletin is up! Stories featured in today's Border Bulletin are as follows:

Senate Bill To Create Visa's to Encourage New Talent - In the Senate a bi-partisan group of law makers have introduced legislation which would create two new visas to encourage immigrants skilled in science, technology, engineering, and math to remain in the country.

Gutierrez Could Support 'Watered-Down' Dream Act - Immigration Reform champion Luis Gutierrez has indicated that he would support Marco Rubios DREAM Act even if there was no pathway to citizenship in the legislation.

Supreme court rules for government on immigrants' residence The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the length of lawful residence in the United States by immigrant parents cannot be considered by the federal government in deciding whether their children should be deported.

Driving the day: A new Washington Post - ABC News poll shows Americans are split between President Obama and Governor Romney when it comes to managing the economy.

The Chamber of Commerce plans to spend $50 million - or more - on this election.

In policy news, a bipartisan group of Senators - including Mark Warner, Chris Coons and Jerry Moran - launched Startup Act 2.0.  

Details below:

Startup Act 2.0 creates new opportunities for America-educated, entrepreneurial immigrants to remain in the U.S. where their talent and ideas can fuel growth and create American jobs. The bill also alleviates regulatory burdens that make it more difficult for businesses to expand and create jobs. Finally, Startup Act 2.0 makes changes to the tax code to encourage investment in startup companies.

What is the role of government in energy innovation?

The Senate Appropriations committee will meet this afternoon to mark-up the State /Foreign Operations bill. This legislation determines the annual funding for not only the State Department, but the vast majority of non-defense foreign policy funding. One of the most important issues they take up will be the fate of the Middle East and North Africa Incentive Fund, or MENA-IF. This $770 million program was requested in the State Department's budget and designed to provide a flexible, region-wide tool for the U.S. to empower moderates and support the nascent democratic transitions throughout the region. This type of effort will be essential for any new American Middle East strategy that seeks to promote long-term growth and stability. House Republicans, in their version of the legislation, chose not to include the program. They offered no substitute model for economic engagement with these countries, deciding instead to simply take their ball and go home.  The GOP has spent the last decade leading the U.S. into wars that resulted in trillions of dollars being spent and thousands of lives being lost. Now, as the Obama Administration draws down troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and historic democratic movements have developed organically, those same war-hawks are crying foul over any attempt to pivot to a constructive strategy designed to support this new Middle East.

Simon Rosenberg released a statement yesterday calling for the Senate to fully fund the MENA-IF:

At a time when the people of North Africa and the Middle East are struggling with such dignity to improve their societies, it is essential the government of the United States make a clear statement of support for their efforts by funding this initiative.  If Republicans leaders are unhappy with the current MENA-IF, they should propose amendments or an alternative approach rather than rejecting the entire initiative.  Simply refusing to support the Fund will send a terrible signal to the people of this region working to bring about the next stage of these historic transitions already underway.

As Senate appropriators meet to determine whether or not to fund, modify, or walk away from this program, they should be well aware that the world is watching. Will they support the U.S. diplomats on the ground seeking to build moderate civil society in this new Middle East, or will they abandon them and give America's enemies a chance to fill the void? 

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved a Policy Statement describing how the Commission intends to advise EPA on the reliability impacts of EPA’s Utility Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (Utility MATS), which were issued in December 2011.  The Utility MATS rule requires existing electric generating units (EGUs) to come into compliance by early 2015, with the possibility of a one-year extension.  EPA has also indicated that it will allow any EGU that is critical to the reliability of the power grid to request an Administrative Order allowing it to operate for an additional year.  The Policy Statement outlines a process by which FERC will receive copies of AO requests and supporting information, review the impacts of Utility MATS on FERC-approved reliability standards, and advise EPA on individual AO requests. 

Ian Rowlnds has a interesting article in Smart Grid News on smart grid roadmaps.  Rowlands believes that these roadmaps need to look beyond the electricity sector and says many of the smart grid roadmaps being created today are prematurely limiting a broader discussion of the integration of smart grids with other resource, infrastructure and commodity systems in the future.  Viewed collectively, the roadmaps that have appeared to date point to some key defining characteristics with respect to a smart grid future:

•   Technologies to facilitate deployment of diverse electricity generation sources, including renewables, and energy storage facilities

•   Technologies to enable customer engagement with the smart grid 

•   Electrification of transportation

•   Electrification of space and water conditioning

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko is stepping down, effective upon the confirmation of his successor, according to a statement from Jaczko released today.  Effectively, the Nuclear Industry won a year long battle to oust Jaczko.  Gregory Jaczko's staunch ally Senate Majority Harry Reid plus tepid support from the Administration, was not nearly enough to stop months of  bureaucratic knife-wielding by the other four industry-backed members of the five-person panel.  The industry effort was spearheaded by Democratic Commissioner Bill Magwood. Magwood, led a similar coup against Terry Lash during the Clinton Administration at the Department of Energy before replacing Lash.  Magwood's ally at the time was Alex Flint, then a GOP Senate staffer for Senator Domenic who took the lead on nuclear policy. He's now the top lobbyist for the nuclear industry -- whose criticism of Jaczko coincided with Magwood's dramatic assault.  We just have to pray that the U.S. sees no nuclear accidents during Magwood tenure.

An editorial in the Washington Post on May 19 was  optimistic about Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman's proposed Clean Energy Standard. The proposal would require that utilities derive a defined portion of their electricity from technologies that emit fewer greenhouse emissions than coal,  Critically, any electricity technology — wind, solar, natural gas, nuclear or something entirely new — can get credit, scaled in accordance to the improvement it offers. This clean electricity mandate would ramp up over time, requiring that 54 percent of electricity in 2025 come from such sources and 84 percent in 2035. If this sounds familiar, it’s because many states have similar policies in place.  The plan would slash coal use, boosting natural gas, nuclear and renewables. Total U.S. energy- related carbon emissions would decline to 80 percent of the 2005 level by 2035, the Energy Information Administration estimates.  In spite of the costs, the Washington Post is supportive of this by sayint that a clean electricity standard could hold the most political appeal of any big approach to carbon cutting. It is harder to construe as a tax increase, and it explicitly benefits GOP favorites, such as natural gas and nuclear energy, as well as Democratic ones, such as solar and wind energy. 

Your Daily Border Bulletin is up! Stories featured in this weeks border bulletin are as follows:

Will Population Shifts Alter Immigration Debate? Population changes and various research indicate that the great flow primarily of Hispanic undocumented immigrants, which lasted at least two decades, ended several years ago, the question is will this new reality shift the debate over immigration reform?

Alabama Gets Strict Immigration Law A day after calling a special session and urging the Alabama Legislature to change the state's immigration enforcement law than the modest ones they had passed, Gov. Robert Bentley on Friday signed the bill into law anyway.

Undocumented Immigrants are Coming Out of the Shadows From California to Georgia to New York, children of families who live here illegally are “coming out” — marching behind banners that say “undocumented and unafraid,” staging sit-ins in federal offices, and getting arrested in the most defiant ways — in front of the Alabama Capitol, outside federal immigration courts and detention centers, in Maricopa County, Ariz., home of the sworn enemy of illegal immigrants, Sheriff Joe Arpaio.