| GOWDY PRESSES EPA FOR ANSWERS ON FIRST-CLASS FLIGHTS: House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) is requesting detailed answers from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt over his consistent use of first- and business-class travel on government-funded trips. In a letter addressed to Pruitt on Tuesday, the Republican congressman points out concerns over the EPA chief's reported use of a "blanket waiver" to fly first class, a method he calls prohibited. "Clearly, federal regulations prohibit a blanket waiver to fly first class except to accommodate disabilities or special needs. Instead, a waiver for each flight is required in order to fly first or business class when traveling on official government business," Gowdy wrote. Gowdy also requested details on all air travel that Pruitt has taken since being sworn in as President Trump's EPA chief last year, asking Pruitt to detail flight destinations, costs, travel companions -- including security detail -- and the official reason for his travel. The Oversight chairman also asked Pruitt to provide all documentation of individual or blanket waivers he received for his travel. Gowdy requested all of the details be provided to the committee by March 6. Gowdy announced late last month that he would retire from Congress, becoming the latest GOP chairman to opt not to seek reelection. The surprise announcement came months after he took over the helm of the Oversight panel. The South Carolina Republican, who is perhaps best known for overseeing the House Intelligence Committee investigating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's handling of the Benghazi attacks, said he would return to working in the justice system. Pruitt has made headlines in the past few months over news that he primarily uses first class and business class when flying, including on short destination flights such as between Washington, D.C., and New York City. Read more here. INTERIOR SCIENTIST RESIGNS OVER ETHICS BREACH: A head scientist at the Interior Department's U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reportedly resigned in December following concerns about the department's alleged breach of policy regarding the results of an energy study. In a letter obtained and released by Mother Jones on Wednesday, Murray Hitzman, the associate director of USGS's energy and minerals program, resigned from his role in "protest" after the department provided the results of a study he had been working on to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke days before it was made public. Hitzman in his letter called the action a "contradiction of my interpretation of U.S.G.S. fundamental science policy." The study in question was a resource assessment of the nation's petroleum reserve in Alaska. USGS led the on-shore efforts of the joint interagency assessment. According to an Interior press release in December, USGS estimated a mean of 8.7 billion barrels of oil and 25 trillion cubic feet of gas in Alaska soil. The release called it "a significant increase from the 2010 resource assessment, which estimated a mean of 1.5 billion barrels of oil." The report was released on Dec. 22. Hitzman gave his resignation six days earlier, on Dec 17. "Scientific integrity is the bedrock of the Survey and must be preserved for the Bureau to properly serve the Nation," Hitzman wrote in his letter to USGS Director William Werkheiser. He conceded that his resignation would not change the release of the data but felt he must "register" his "protest" of the action. Werkheiser, who has worked at the agency for more than 20 years, said that he disagreed with Hitzman's reasoning in regards to the study. Read more here. CRUZ RALLIES FOR ETHANOL MANDATE OVERHAUL: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Wednesday went to a massive Philadelphia oil refiner to rally its workers for changes to the federal ethanol mandate. Philadelphia Energy Solutions, the East Coast's largest refiner, filed for bankruptcy last month, blaming the costs of complying with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Cruz wants to put a cap on the costs of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), the EPA's tradeable credit system for complying with the mandate that refiners blend ethanol and other biofuels into traditional fossil fuels. "There is a win-win solution where we can fix RINs, save the jobs of the refinery workers and also allow corn farmers to sell more corn and get the government out of the way of the success of both of them," Cruz told the boisterous campaign-style rally in South Philadelphia. "We can fix this broken system, end the massive tax from the broken RINs system and at the same time allow corn farmers in a free and fair market to sell even more corn, and for them to prosper as well. The ones who will be put out of business are the speculators, who can go and speculate on something else." Philadelphia Energy Solutions doesn't have the facilities to blend biofuels into its products, so it must buy credits. Due to market trading, the credits jumped from a few cents per gallon shortly after the mandate started to as much as $1.40 last year, costing the refiner $218 million last year, more than double the cost of payroll. "It doesn't make any sense. It is nuts," Cruz said. Cruz's proposal would cap the cost at 10 cents. Read more here. ZINKE, JERRY BROWN MEET ON OFFSHORE DRILLING: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke met with California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Tuesday to hear the governor's objections to oil and natural gas drilling off the state's coast. Brown's press secretary said the two met privately in his Sacramento office. "This meeting was an opportunity to continue last month's conversation ... regarding the state's strong opposition to the federal government's decision to expand oil and gas drilling off of California's coast," spokesman Evan Westrup said in a statement. "Secretary Zinke made it clear that California's views will be taken into account." Brown has been a vocal opponent of Zinke's plan, announced last month, to consider offshore drilling along the entirety of the Pacific coast, along with the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and all around Alaska. Read more here. ON TAP THURSDAY: The annual Conservative Political Action Conference kicks off. Thursday's events include an event sponsored by the Heartland Institute on "Trump's America First Energy Plan: Restoring our Prosperity and Destroying Eco-Left Memes." AROUND THE WEB: FirstEnergy Corp. CEO Chuck Jones said their subsidiary FirstEnergy Solutions may be headed toward bankruptcy soon, Cleveland.com reports. 3M settled a lawsuit over alleged groundwater contamination with Minnesota for $850 million, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. The Tennessee Valley Authority is launching a $475 million upgrade at its Browns Ferry nuclear plant meant to boost its output, the Times Free Press reports. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check out stories from Wednesday... -Cruz rallies refinery workers for ethanol mandate change -Interior Dept. scientist resigned over alleged ethics breach: report -Gowdy presses EPA chief for answers on his first-class travel -Zinke meets with California governor on offshore drilling -OIG: Wildlife services official helped create grants that financially benefited his wife -Hundreds of mayors unite against Trump reversal of Obama-era climate plan | 
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