Special envoys on investment

A month into Venezuela's high-stakes political crisis, President Nicolas Maduro revealed in an Associated Press interview that his government held secret talks with the Trump administration and predicted he would survive an unprecedented global campaign to force his resignation. While harshly criticizing President Donald Trump's confrontational stance toward his socialist government, Maduro said Thursday that he holds out hope of meeting the U.S. president soon to resolve a crisis triggered by America's recognition of opponent Juan Guaido as Venezuela's rightful leader. Maduro said that during two hushed meetings in New York, his foreign minister invited the Washington-based special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, to come to visit "privately, publicly or secretly." "If he wants to meet, just tell me when, where and how and I'll be there," Maduro said without providing more details. He said both New York meetings lasted several hours. Consular officer Scarlet Salazar says she's … [Read more...] about Venezuela’s Maduro Reveals Secret Meetings With US Envoy

TEL AVIV – President Donald Trump’s long-anticipated peace plan is an effort to “think out of the box and capture the imagination and hopes of both sides for a better life,” U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman told the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. Friedman, who is one of the architects of the plan along with Trump’s senior advisor Jared Kushner and special Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt, dismissed claims that neither Israel nor the Palestinians are particularly enthusiastic about the so-called “deal of the century.”“I don’t think there is a lack of interest; I think there is exhaustion and frustration from so many previous failed efforts,” Friedman said. The Palestinian Authority’s rejection of the plan sight unseen will not stop the U.S. from unveiling it, with the ambassador saying the peace team will continue to “calibrate” matters and is “cognizant of all the factors implicated by the roll … [Read more...] about U.S. Envoy David Friedman: Trump Peace Plan ‘Out of the Box’

WASHINGTON — Jason Greenblatt is leaving as President Donald Trump’s envoy for brokering an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, senior officials told NBC News on Thursday. His departure, confirmed by the president on Twitter, is the latest sign that optimism within the Trump administration for the long-awaited plan’s prospects may be fading. Release of the plan, under development since the start of administration, has already been delayed several times, most recently until sometime after the Israeli elections on Sept. 17. Avi Berkowitz, a longtime aide to Trump senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, will replace Greenblatt in his role as special adviser for international negotiations, the administration officials said. And State Department senior adviser Brian Hook, who has spearheaded the administration’s Iran policy efforts, is expected to take on a larger role on the peace plan and work more closely with Kushner as the administration’s Iran policy … [Read more...] about Trump’s Mideast envoy leaving before peace plan is released

ENERGY AND CLIMATE DEBATEWith Congress in recess for another week, most of Washington’s attention will be focused on President Obama’s trip this week to Asia, which is likely to focus primarily on trade issues.President Obama will meet with the leaders of Japan, South Korean, Malaysia, and the Philippines during a week-long trip that begins tomorrow. While in the Philippines, the president will see a new electronic vehicle called the Comet.In other administration news, the Department of State extended indefinitely April 18 the federal interagency review period on the Keystone XL pipeline because of a Nebraska lawsuit over the pipeline route from Canada to Texas.  Eight agencies have been reviewing the State Department’s favorable January 31 final environmental impact statement; the 90-day interagency review period was scheduled to end May 1. The Nebraska Supreme Court agreed in March to take up an expedited appeal in the case, but oral arguments are not likely to … [Read more...] about Energy & Environment Law Update – April 22, 2014

Commerce Department Action on Solar Trade CaseFrom time to time the Energy and Environment Update will focus on legislative and regulatory developments facing a particular energy sector. For several years, solar arrays utilizing silicon photovoltaics have been central to driving the exponential growth of installed domestic solar capacity. However, an ongoing trade war spanning three continents and impacting the entire solar supply chain – from upstream polysilicon manufacturers to downstream installers - continues to present significant challenges as the growing number of tariffs imposed on imported solar components and systems may begin to dampen the solar industries’ incredible momentum.  A series of anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) cases brought primarily by SolarWorld in both U.S. and European courts beginning in 2012 against China, and now Taiwan, continues to demonstrate the company avails itself of every judicial forum with jurisdiction to … [Read more...] about Energy & Environmental Law Update – July 28, 2014