Breaking: Salazar leaving Cabinet by end of March - Keystone study will add to dire warning, activists say - Energy groups jump into Virginia gubernatorial race - Gregoire touts clean energy

With help from Erica Martinson and Darius Dixon

BREAKING: INTERIOR SECRETARY SALAZAR LEAVING CABINET BY END OF MARCH ? The Denver Post exclusively reports Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is leaving the Cabinet: ?Salazar will ... return to Colorado. ... Salazar, 57, will have served a little more than four years in Obama's Cabinet after being plucked from his beloved U.S. Senate seat. ... His decision on whether to stay on at the helm of Interior or return to Colorado ? and likely the less-glamorous but more-lucrative private sector ? has been weighing on Salazar. ... [T]he pull of family obligations ? he and his wife are primary caretakers of their 5-year-old granddaughter, who has autism and is enrolled in a special school ? was too great to commit to four more years, Salazar's office said.? The Denver Post:?http://bit.ly/WIMhIH

Someone with close ties to the secretary tells POLITICO Playbook: ?Secretary Salazar will often counsel staff that ?if you make the choice that is right for your family, everything else will fall into place.' With Salazar's return to Colorado to join his family, the president will lose a workhorse for his ?all-of the-above? energy strategy, a visionary for land conservation and a problem-solver who is much-loved by his colleagues and staff in the administration and the Senate. He has earned some time back at the ranch.?

KEYSTONE OPPONENTS SAY STUDY WILL ADD TO DIRE WARNING: Climate activists have warned for years that building the Keystone XL pipeline would be disastrous for the Earth?s future. Now they say it?s even worse than they thought.

Pipeline critics will release details Thursday of a new report indicating that the pipeline?s carbon emissions and climate impact are ?going to be much greater than previously understood,? said Daniel Kessler, spokesman for the activist group 350.org. That?s because the report takes into account the impact of petroleum coke, a waste product of the process that breaks down the carbon molecules of the thick, oil-sands-based crude oil at refineries after it has been shipped through the pipeline. Darren Goode has more for Pros: http://politico.pro/XcLQqL

HAPPY WEDNESDAY and welcome to Morning Energy, where we?re wondering what the heck happened to all those human heads we ordered from overseas (http://wapo.st/11xtFD7). Send your energy news to aguillen@politico.com, and follow on Twitter @alexcguillen, @POLITICOPro and @Morning_Energy.

ENERGY GROUPS JUMP INTO VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL RACE: Virginia?s 2013 gubernatorial race is only just beginning to heat up, but several energy companies and groups couldn?t wait to jump into the race. Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the only Republican to enter the race, filed a disclosure form covering the second half of 2012 yesterday. The list of contributions included $25,000 from CONSOL Energy (Virginia puts no limit on campaign contributions) and $10,000 each from Alpha Natural Resources and Dominion?s political action committee. Cuccinelli also picked up $2,500 from Virginia Uranium, $1,000 from the Virginia Gas Marketers Council and $1,000 from Doug Domenech, Virginia?s secretary of natural resources and a former George W. Bush-era Interior Department official. Those contributions are part of just more than $1 million Cuccinelli raised in the last six months of 2012.

But wait, there?s more: The Huffington Post notes Cuccinelli also got $50,000 from Intrust Wealth Management, ?one of many corporations under the control of the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers. The company is a subsidiary of Intrust Bank, headed by Charles Koch.? HuffPo: http://huff.to/XccfVD

What about the Democrat? Terry McAuliffe, the only Dem to enter the race, beat Cuccinelli by bringing in $1.1 million between Dec. 5, when fundraising began, and the end of 2012.

SPEAKING OF KEN CUCCINELLI: Virginia's attorney general and the state's biggest utilities want to cut out state renewable energy incentives they and environmental activists say haven't worked well. AP: ?Dominion Virginia Power and Appalachian Power would no longer be eligible to receive the bonuses called ?adders? for using sources of renewable energy or building new power plants that use fossil fuels. Incentives will still remain for nuclear and offshore wind energy, but the bonuses would be reduced.? Green groups oppose ending the incentive outright and instead seek to reform the program. AP: http://bit.ly/SFbZmu

ICYMI: EPA says its new rule for stationary engines creates more balance for emergency and remote energy needs, but some green groups complain it includes diesel pollution loopholes big enough to drive a truck through. Erica Martinson: http://politico.pro/109fO5m

GREGOIRE TOUTS CLEAN ENERGY ON WAY OUT: It?s Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire?s last day in office, and the oft-mentioned candidate to head the EPA or take another Cabinet post found room in her farewell state of the state address to mention her clean energy wins. ?We made the best decisions for clean, renewable energy now and in the future. Our base is legacy hydropower. When I took office, we produced no wind power. Today we are among the top-five wind energy producers,? she said. ?We are pioneering the smart grid and have a strong presence in the solar power supply chain. Clean, renewable energy has been our unique history for 80 years. Today, we are No. 1 in the nation in renewable energy.? Speech: http://1.usa.gov/X3SEGy

** A message from America?s Natural Gas Alliance: Can't make it to the United States Energy Association's State of the Energy Industry today? Join us at 1:55pm for a webcast of the natural gas conversation featuring ANGA CEO Regina Hopper.? Watch live at: http://bit.ly/W48MJJ **

E&C REPUBLICANS ENTER NUCLEAR VENTING ISSUE: Nearly two dozen Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans have officially thrown themselves into the growing regulatory tussle over a potential NRC requirement that certain plants have filtered venting systems. E&C Chairman Fred Upton, plus 20 colleagues, told NRC chief Allison Macfarlane that they recognize the difficulty of processing the lengthy list of post-Fukushima safety recommendations but said ?a piecemeal approach of deciding the filtered vent issue in isolation, while potentially eroding the adequate protection standard, is in our opinion not appropriate.? In November, NRC staff recommended that new venting systems, which could help plant operators avert the build-up of explosive hydrogen gas, be installed for boiling water reactors with Mark I and Mark II containment systems. But E&C Republicans also seized on a letter from an NRC advisory committee that criticized the staff?s cost-benefit analysis and aired concerns about the potential for unintended consequences. The letter: http://1.usa.gov/SGzV8Z

SPEAKING OF POST-FUKUSHIMA RECOMMENDATIONS: NRC staff members are meeting with representatives from the industry today to continue their regular discussions about the post-Fukushima safety recommendations. Several issues are on the agenda, including filtered vents, emergency preparedness as well as seismic and flooding issues. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. at NRC HQ in Rockville, Md., and via teleconference. http://1.usa.gov/ZVuuAq

ALPHABET SOUP: The U.S. Energy Association hosts its ninth annual state of the energy industry forum. Participating industry group chiefs include Jack Gerard of the American Petroleum Institute, Dave McCurdy of the American Gas Association, Regina Hopper of America's Natural Gas Alliance, Skip Hovath of the Natural Gas Supply Association, Don Santa of the Interstate Gas Association of America, Hal Quinn of the National Mining Association, John Shelk of the Electric Power Supply Association, Rhone Resch of the Solar Energy Industries Association, Marv Fertel of the Nuclear Energy Institute and Tom Kuhn of the Edison Electric Institute. Noon at the National Press Club: http://bit.ly/VGZfqi

HARRISON: WATCH FOR FRACKING INVESTIGATIONS, LITIGATION: Fracking is a growing area ripe for big government investigations, says Todd Harrison, the former chief counsel on the House Energy and Commerce Committee who led the Solyndra investigation. ?All of a sudden we have this abundance of natural gas in the United States, and it's affecting how we look at our energy sources,? Harrison, who left in October to rejoin Patton Boggs, tells the Blog of Legal Times. ?There has been a lot of uproar about fracking recently. We think the government is going to try in some way, shape or form to regulate fracking. There will be investigations as to whether people will be violating those regulations. There is also going to be civil litigation that goes along with this boom.? BLT: http://bit.ly/UO6bSV

SUNGEVITY BRINGS IN MORE FINANCING: Solar designer and installer Sungevity has pulled in $125 million in equity and project financing to support projects in states including Arizona, California, Delaware and New Jersey, the company will announce today. ?We believe this new funding will take us into the next phase of growth and allow us to deliver on our mission of building the world?s most energized network of customers who power their lives with sunshine,? CEO Andrew Birch said.

AEP MEDIA CHIEF RETIRING: American Electric Power top spokesman Pat Hemlepp is retiring next week after 18 years with the utility, he wrote in an email to colleagues yesterday. It?s time for ?some heavy-duty loafing, spending time on my photography (http://www.pathemlepp.com), traveling with my wife and hitting the gym in the middle of the day instead of 5:30 in the morning,? he wrote.

ON EPA?S CALENDAR: EPA?s Office of Inspector General has released its fiscal year 2013 annual plan, which details numerous planned assignments over the course of the year. Upcoming investigations of interest include flare emissions and control; assessing EPA?s efforts to keep pipes from leaking methane emissions; evaluating EPA research on human subjects; human exposure from lead smelters; evaluation of EPA?s National Environmental Policy Act reviews; and disaster relief funding, in particular working with the Hurricane Sandy Fraud Taskforce. The plan: http://1.usa.gov/UpqfNk

OPINION: Former Clinton climate aide Paul Bledsoe writes: ?Of all the president?s oft-stated second-term priorities, addressing climate change seems the most profoundly challenging, even overwhelming. Yet a series of recent developments, especially a sharp decline in U.S. emissions, increasing domestic impacts related to climate change, and growing emissions from developing countries, provide him crucial opportunities to make progress.? http://politi.co/TZsnfv

QUICK HITS

? The House Armed Services Committee is "closely monitoring" the ongoing sale of battery maker A123 to the Chinese firm Wanxiang. Washington Free Beacon: http://bit.ly/XBk6y8

? Jon Huntsman stands by his views on climate change. BuzzFeed: http://bit.ly/UoQJ1e

? Sen. Lisa Murkowski says the debt ceiling shouldn't be used for political leverage for spending cuts: http://politi.co/V20Kl9

? Five demonstrators were arrested yesterday at Enbridge pipeline hearings in Vancouver. The Province: http://bit.ly/13Bn75J

? Lisa Jackson talks achievements with the Times-Picayune: http://bit.ly/X3Qzug

THAT?S ALL FOR ME. Try to keep your head.

** A message from America's Natural Gas Alliance: We believe in a clean energy future. Natural gas is a cleaner energy choice and a key partner to solar and wind technologies. From California to Florida, natural gas facilities are working with renewable energy to ensure steady, affordable and cleaner energy choices for communities across our nation. Because it is an abundant and affordable energy source available right here in America, natural gas can help make the promise of cleaner energy a reality in more American communities. Natural gas is smarter power today. Visit anga.us to learn more. **

Source: http://feeds.politico.com/click.phdo?i=2687f227fc9756de2fd515939267c618

Mia Love wall street journal us map Electoral Map concede Obama Acceptance Speech Prop 30