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LEAVE THE CHAMPAGNE ON ICE - Ethanol emerged from a Senate floor vote with its $6 billion tax credit intact Tuesday, but the industry still faces an imminent date with the chopping block.

Harry Reid is promising another vote on ethanol's 45-cent-per-gallon tax credit by June 24, and next time the anti-ethanol movement has a better shot at collecting 60 votes.
Many Democrats, including vocal advocates of ending the tax credit, opposed the anti-ethanol amendment Tuesday after Reid asked his caucus to squash the measure in protest of the unconventional tactics Tom Coburn used last week to win it a vote on the floor. The roll call: http://1.usa.gov/jpHObz

With those procedural issues presumably cleared for the next vote, ethanol may be set to fall and fall hard. Darren Goode has the details - including compromise measures that farm-state senators are pushing to soften the blow - for Pros: http://politico.pro/lzmeEw

NEW ENERGY PLAN - The Pentagon is touting its first comprehensive energy plan to change the way it uses energy in combat. From more energy-efficient weaponry to an embrace of non-oil sources, the Defense Department hopes to reduce the high-risk situations that U.S. personnel face in a constant train of fuel convoys, as well as save money. The WSJ: http://on.wsj.com/lPuEVT

THE NUMBER THAT MATTERS MOST - In Afghanistan alone, some 3,000 U.S. troops and contractors have been killed or wounded protecting overland supply convoys, 80 percent of which are fuel shipments. (H/t Charles Hoskinson). DOD's report: http://politico.pro/iQihvg

HAPPY WEDNESDAY and welcome to Morning Energy, where your host would like to congratulate Darren Samuelsohn's beloved Cubs for being only 10 games - even with a lucky win last night - behind the Milwaukee Brewers. (As a side note to Cubs fans everywhere, nobody has ever been fatally mauled by an oat soda.) Shine sunlight on your host's wax-coated wings - and drop Thursday's best energy news - at preis@politico.com.

THE LITTLE GREEN ENGINE THAT COULD - The biodiesel industry is embarking on a multimillion-dollar nationwide outreach campaign - its first ever - intended to boost its profile after spending its formative years lurking in ethanol's long shadow. Goode has the details for Pros: http://politico.pro/jD7KCS

IS RASPUTIN NEXT? - House Republicans are renewing their attack on the White House's so-called policy "czars" with language in the fiscal 2012 financial services spending bill. The bill would ban funding for four jobs, including the senior adviser on energy and climate change. Robin Bravender has the details for Pros: http://politico.pro/k6iefx

NORQUIST CLASHES WITH SENATE GOP - Several Senate Republicans are angry over Grover Norquist's position on Tom Coburn's attempt to strip the ethanol tax break. Norquist has argued that Coburn's plan was a tax hike because it would not offset the elimination of the tax credit by cutting taxes elsewhere. But he said supporting the proposal was acceptable as long as senators also voted for a separate plan offered by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) that would cut taxes.
But several opponents of Coburn's amendment argue that Norquist was just giving political cover to senators who wanted to vote to eliminate what they see as unnecessary ethanol subsidies but not be accused of raising taxes. POLITICO's Manu Raju has the details: http://politi.co/iM9Q6A

BACK TO FIGHTING FORM - After months in which Democrats softened to Coburn for his willingness to consider tax revenue increases, Coburn's surprise move to force a vote on his ethanol amendment has him back in a familiar adversarial role. Raju again: http://politi.co/kM5xEK

COAL ASH - An Energy and Commerce subcommittee is slated to meet Thursday to mark up a measure (H.R. 1391: http://1.usa.gov/kvE46P) that would prohibit EPA from setting binding national disposal standards for coal ash and other leftovers of coal combustion.

L-JACK AND THE CLEAN AIR ACT - EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is scheduled to appear before the Senate Environment and Public Works panel this morning to tout the public health benefits of the Clean Air Act.

Republicans, led by ranking member Jim Inhofe, have been clamoring for a chance to grill the administrator on the economic consequences of her agency's pending air pollution rules, while Democrats have stacked the second panel with doctors and other experts to make their case for public health. The hearing is at 10 a.m. in Dirksen 406.

DUCKS IN A ROW - The National Taxpayers Union pushes back on EPA's public health defense today with a report criticizing the agency's favorable cost-benefit assessment. The report: http://bit.ly/mABlz4

A FAMILIAR FACE - The agency's defenders will make a pitch of their own June 21 when former White House climate chief Carol Browner makes her first high-profile appearance in her new role with the Center for American Progress to defend EPA's proposed utility MACT rule.

MONUMENTAL UNREST - Utah's Republican House members and senators have introduced companion pieces of legislation that would bar the president from creating new national monuments on federal land in their state through the Antiquities Act, a law that allows the president to make the declarations without congressional approval. The bill: http://1.usa.gov/mHkaOc

RETURN OF THE W - Former President George W. Bush headlines the final day of the Edison Electric Institute's annual convention in Colorado Springs, Colo. The closing session kicks off at 10 a.m. Eastern. Details: http://bit.ly/jIzsj7
** A message from America's Natural Gas Alliance: Natural gas vehicles are driving change in your city, in your driveway and at your door. Learn more about how you can bring cleaner transportation to your community. http://bit.ly/ejQgTj **

PICKENS IN CONNECTICUT - T. Boone Pickens's Clean Energy Fuels Corp. is building three new natural gas fueling stations in Connecticut this summer, while two of the state's major taxi companies will soon each have 110 natural gas-powered cabs. The overhaul is partly funded by a $13.2 million stimulus grant that Clean Energy Fuels Corp., the taxi firms and the nonprofit Connecticut Clean Cities Future Fuels Project jointly applied for, the Connecticut Mirror reports: http://bit.ly/jvywVz

ROAD TRIPPING - When it comes to travel, lawmakers are falling miserably in the pledge to tighten their belts this session, The Daily Beast reports. Five months into the 112th Congress, travel spending is way up, the article says, with interest groups - including the oil majors, which partly funded a trip for House power players to the Gulf of Mexico - and taxpayers picking up the tab. Among the lawmakers the report calls out by name is E&C chair Fred Upton. The story: http://bit.ly/kFxD96

SPEAKING OF UPTON - His previous support for the light bulb efficiency mandate should "disqualify Upton from any position of responsibility above that requiring the operation of a mop and pail," Kurt Schlichter writes on Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment website. And for selecting Upton to chair Energy and Commerce, Schlichter argues that John Boehner and his top lieutenants should be shown the door: http://bit.ly/iwVJTl

SAVE THE WHALES - The Interior Department is asking the National Marine Fisheries Service for help in protecting dolphins, whales and other Gulf of Mexico marine mammals from the effects of underwater seismic oil and gas exploration explosions. The federal register notice: http://politico.pro/lqAiZp

ON THE INTERWEBS
OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri predicts rising oil prices and dampened economic growth if the expected supply shortfall comes later this year (http://reut.rs/jBfUOQ) even as industry experts warn that Saudi Arabia is running out of excess capacity, Reuters reports: http://reut.rs/lZ4RNp

Nine months before the Japanese tsunami sent the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant spiraling out of control, the plant had another incident when an accidental power outage triggered a steep drop in the level of cooling water, the WSJ reports: http://on.wsj.com/jPa0mW

With European nations turning away from nuclear power and U.S. nuclear measures still uncertain, Asia may be the industry's best hope for growth, the NYT reports: http://nyti.ms/mfm6Et

U.S. companies have quietly won lucrative contracts to develop Iraqi oil fields, the NYT reports: http://nyti.ms/kLMCQ8

ON THE HILL TODAY

9 a.m. - Energy and Commerce's energy and power panel marks up a pair of energy bills. H.R. 1938 (http://1.usa.gov/j8aLVL) would expedite approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, while H.R. 2054 (http://bit.ly/mdHnKI) would direct the Energy Department to partner with a pair of facilities in Kentucky and Ohio on uranium re-enrichment. Mitch McConnell and Henry Waxman have squared off over the bill: http://politico.pro/imkhSm.

Rayburn 2123.
9:30 a.m. - House appropriators meet to mark up their fiscal 2012 energy and water spending bill (summary: http://1.usa.gov/jfzv5z).

Rayburn 2359.
10 a.m. - House Natural Resources meets for a markup of more than a dozen bills, including a measure from Rep. Don Young to fund more Arctic mapping. Latest list of bills: http://bit.ly/iBsbav

Longworth 1324.
2 p.m. - ARPA-E Director Arun Majumdar and other administration officials appear before a House Science Committee panel to defend and tout the Energy Department's support for non-fossil fuel technology. Rayburn 2318.

OFF THE HILL TODAY

8 a.m. - The Ozone Transport Commission holds its annual meeting at the Marriott Wardman Park hotel. Among the scheduled speakers: EPA air chief Gina McCarthy.

8:30 a.m. - Third Way hosts a forum on tax repatriation, a key issue for oil multinationals making profits overseas. Speakers include Sen. Kay Hagan and Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers. Columbus Club, Union Station. Details: http://bit.ly/isCDIw

8:50 a.m. - White House CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley keynotes the Climate Finance North America 2011 conference in New York. Details: http://bit.ly/dVL4dj

9 a.m. - The Sierra Club unveils a plan to drastically cut oil consumption through more efficient vehicles, improved public transportation and offshore renewable energy. The event is hosted at Mott House, 122 Maryland Ave. NE.

9:30 a.m. - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission holds a briefing on the progress of the task force reviewing NRC processes and regulations in the wake of the Japanese nuclear crisis. Rockville, Md.

1 p.m. - The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars hosts an event on European energy policies in transition at the Ronald Reagan Building. Details: http://bit.ly/l0q6tb

5 p.m. - The Energy Efficiency Forum 2011 launches with the Energy Leadership Awards Ceremony. Mayflower Renaissance Hotel. Agenda: http://bit.ly/mcv32j