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— The Senate passed the bipartisan infrastructure deal, moving it on to the House, where Transportation Chair has Peter DeFazio dropped his demands to conference the legislation.

— Senators spent the night in a vote-a-rama on Democrats' budget resolution, which became a diorama of Republican discontent with Democrats' priorities.

— The UN's latest IPCC report issued a damning assessment on climate change, but GOP senators didn't seem too hurried to address it.

HAPPY WEDNESDAY! I’m your host, Matthew Choi. Sadly, no one got yesterday’s trivia question. The metal castanets used in Gnawa music are called “qraqebs.” For today: Who sang the lead vocals in ABBA’s “Chiquitita”? Send your tips and trivia answers to [email protected]. Find me on Twitter @matthewchoi2018.

Check out the POLITICO Energy podcast — all the energy and environmental politics and policy news you need to start your day, in just five minutes. Listen and subscribe for free at politico.com/energy-podcast. On today's episode: Reconciling the green details.

INFRASTRUCTURE ON THE MOVE: The Senate passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill yesterday, with a resounding 69 votes in favor, sending the massive investment in the nation’s grid, transport and utilities to the House. And with House Transportation Chair Peter DeFazio dropping his demands to conference the legislation with the Senate to get in some of his more progressive infrastructure priorities, Democrats are confident of its eventual passage — along with their $3.5 trillion budget resolution. Read more from Pro’s Tanya Snyder.

"We'll get it done. I’ll get both,” President Joe Biden said.

Now comes the budget resolution, which Republicans are vowing to disrupt any way they can. The Senate considered a host of amendments into the wee hours Tuesday night, including several political messaging measures designed to put Democrats on the spot over what Sen. John Neely Kennedy called their “spending-and-taxation orgy bill.”

Energy Ranking Member John Barrasso tried just such a move through an amendment banning the implementation of the Green New Deal in the budget resolution. But it ended up getting the support of Budget Chair Bernie Sanders and climate hawk Sen. Ed Markey because they said it was irrelevant to the resolution (it passed unanimously). Sen. Tom Carper’s amendment calling for action on the “crisis” of climate change later passed by a nearly party-line 51 to 48. More from Pro’s Anthony Adragna on the Green New Deal amendment here.

Other amendments from last night: Lawmakers rejected one aimed at blocking all pauses on new oil and gas leasing that targeted the Interior Department’s current freeze, which has been criticized by Republicans for months. That failed by a 49-50 vote. And senators approved an amendment from Sen. Kevin Cramer aimed at banning any sort of fracking ban by a 57 to 42 margin. Seven Democrats — Michael Bennet, Bob Casey, Martin Heinrich, John Hickenlooper, Angus King, Ben Ray Luján, Joe Manchin and Jon Tester — joined Republicans in support.

Among the other non-binding amendments taken up last night, senators:
— approved a measure by voice vote from Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) to expedite deployment of carbon capture, utilization and sequestration technologies.
— adopted an amendment by a 53-46 vote from GOP Sen. John Boozman that would prohibit USDA from denying any financing for the construction, maintenance or improvement of fossil fuel-burning power plants. Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly, Kyrsten Sinema, Manchin and Tester joined Republicans in support.
— adopted an amendment by a 51-48 vote from GOP Sen. Deb Fischer to ensure individuals making more than $100,000 can't claim a tax credit for electric vehicles, or by setting a maximum of $40,000 for eligible purchases — an element Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow called "anti-pickup truck." Kelly, Sinema and Manchin voted with Republicans, while Sen. Marsha Blackburn voted with Democrats opposing it.
— voted 66-33 to adopt a provision from Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst to stop the increased cost of beef by prohibiting any new permits or federal methane requirements on livestock.
— adopted an amendment by a 90-9 vote from GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan to prevent renewable energy projects that receive federal funds and subsidies from purchasing materials and technology produced in China.
— adopted by voice vote an amendment from Sen. Ron Wyden to prohibit federal funds from going to the purchase of materials, technology and critical minerals produced, manufactured or mined with forced labor.

Adopting the budget resolution opens up the process for reconciliation, which will allow Democrats to pass their package with a simple majority. Pro's Caitlin Emma and Jennifer Scholtes break it down.

House Democrats are also getting in the game, with 186 members — nearly 85 percent of the party’s caucus — demanding leadership prioritize “stable, predictable, and long-term” clean energy tax credits in the budget package. "These incentives will play a critical role in America’s economic recovery, alleviate some of the pollution impacts that have been borne by disadvantaged communities, and help the country build back better and cleaner," wrote the lawmakers in a letter led by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Mike Levin (D-Calif.) and Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.). Anthony has more on their letter.

And for some sausage making: POLITICO’s Christopher Cadelago and Laura Barrón-López go into how the infrastructure deal plays into the White House’s political calculus both for further aisle-crossing and looking to the next election cycle. And POLITICO’s Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine offer a deep dive into the group of bipartisan senators who made the infrastructure deal happen.

NOT MUCH ALARM AMONG THE GOP: About that Carper amendment — Sen. Susan Collins was the only Republican who voted in favor of the measure calling for action on climate change. It’s a reflection of the lack of urgency among many in the party coming just one day after the UN's IPCC report that inextricably linked many of the disasters hitting the planet with human-made climate change.

“Every time it comes out, it’s another crisis,” Sen. Jim Inhofe, who has long criticized the scientific consensus around climate change. “Every time they’re wrong. I don’t know why people still take it seriously.”

The IPCC assessment, by 230 of the world’s top scientists who compounded research from over 14,000 papers, warned the fossil fuels would need to be cut in order to prevent the worst effects of climate change. But Republican senators expressed concerns over the economic impacts of drastic climate action, touting instead the development of new technologies to curb emissions. Several senators said they’d been too busy with the infrastructure bill to really dig into the study’s findings. Pro’s Ben Lefebvre and Anthony have more from their Senate GOP Tuesday.

SAVE YOUR ENERGY: Several branches of the Chamber of Commerce are urging energy lawmakers to support legislation that would create a grant program to help small businesses make energy efficiency improvements. The Main Street Efficiency Act, introduced by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), would revitalize “clean-energy sector job growth and [address] climate change, all while targeting minority and women-owned businesses, the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, write. Read the letter here. The bill also got support from the African American Mayors Association, National Association of Counties, National Black Caucus of State Legislators, National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators, National League of Cities and National Organization of Black County Officials last week.

BUYING NUKES: A bipartisan House duo wants the federal government to enter power purchase agreements with newer nuclear power plants in order to help ferry plants through the initial financial hurdles of commercialization. The bill, H.R. 4834, from Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) and Elaine Luria (D-Va.), got introduced last month. More from E&E News’ Jeremy Dillon.

EPW’S SEPTEMBER MEETING: The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee will not meet today as previously scheduled. The panel will consider several environmental nominees on Sept. 15, including four EPA nominations and three members of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. Three of the EPA nominees were meant to get a hearing last week, but Chair Tom Carper got a bit occupied managing floor debate on the bipartisan infrastructure deal.

JUDGE GIVES BIDEN TWO WEEKS ON LEASE SALE: Judge Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana has given the Biden administration until Aug. 24 to reply to the Monday filing by Louisiana and other states arguing that the Interior Department has defied his order to hold Lease Sale 257 in the Gulf of Mexico. The states will then have another seven days to respond, setting up potential action in September.

NOBLE SETTLES WATER VIOLATIONS: Noble Energy and the Department of Justice reached a $1 million settlement for a series of Clean Water Act violations that resulted in roughly 7,266 gallons of condensate and produced water gushing from one of the company’s sites into the Poudre River during a 2014 flood. The settlement requires the oil and gas exploration and production company to upgrade spill prevention measures at all of its active tank batteries in Colorado floodplains and pay the penalty into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.

A BIG YEAR FOR COAL: The Energy Information Administration predicts that rebounding coal consumption this year will boost U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by 7 percent from 2020 levels. EIA is expecting a 17 percent increase in coal consumption for electricity after power plants cut their demand by 19 percent last year. The rise in coal consumption comes as the economy reopens from the pandemic and natural gas prices remain relatively high, making coal more competitive.

The rise in emissions this year will likely to put 2021 emissions at about 18.5 percent below 2005's level of nearly 6 billion tons, according to EIA data, and aren't expected to reach even pre-Covid levels. “Despite significant growth in energy-related CO2 emissions as the U.S. economy opens up, we don’t see these emissions returning to pre-pandemic levels, at least in the short term,” acting EIA Administrator Steve Nalley said in a statement.

Renewables will remain relatively steady at about 20 percent of the nation’s generation, “offset somewhat” by droughts hampering hydropower in the West. Still, EIA predicts an increase to 23 percent next year for renewables. Nuclear power will decline about 1 percent annually in 2021 and 2022 as more of the nation’s fleet retires. Alex Guillén has more on the EIA forecasts for Pros.

PFAS IS THE NEW OLD BAY: New Defense Department records obtained by the Environmental Working Group show high levels of groundwater contamination by toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” at military installations near the Chesapeake Bay, potentially affecting the estuary’s iconic fisheries. The records show PFOS levels as high as 2.2 million parts per trillion in the groundwater at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, and 234,000 parts per trillion at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s Chesapeake Bay detachment in Maryland, among other sites – levels far higher than the 400 parts per trillion trigger level that EPA had recommended under the Trump administration, although that level was later dropped in the agency’s groundwater cleanup guidance under pressure from the Pentagon. There are no federal guidelines for what constitutes a safe level of PFAS in food.

DOE SEEKS INFO ON URANIUM RESERVE: The Energy Department will publish a request for information today in the Federal Register on potential implementation of a national uranium reserve program. Lawmakers already allocated $75 million last year to DOE for such a program and the department says it's now weighing its options on acquiring natural uranium to convert into uranium hexafluoride to be stored at U.S. commercial facilities.

In considering its options, DOE "will focus on reinvigorating domestic nuclear fuel supply chain capabilities, utilizing existing facilities, and minimizing negative disruption of market mechanisms," the document said. DOE added that it expects the acquisition of natural uranium to result in new uranium production at existing domestic sites. The public will have 30 days to comment on the request, which seeks feedback on questions including what siting and environmental justice concerns should be considered in the management of any waste generated through the reserve.

IT'S LIT: DOE has also issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to undo Trump-era changes, a move that will require most common light bulbs to be more efficient. On the final day of the Obama administration, the department published a pair of final rules that said general service lamps and general service incandescent lamps should not be exempted from federal efficiency standards. Former President Donald Trump withdrew those rules before they could go into effect and DOE is now proposing to revert back to the Obama definitions, opening up a 60-day comment period.

ICYMI: Secretary of State Antony Blinken publicly announced Amos Hochstein’s appointment as senior adviser for energy security. POLITICO and Axios both reported that Hochstein was in line for the job, which includes overseeing the U.S.-German agreement on Nord Stream 2.

— Ruth Demeter is joining the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Energy Institute as senior director of policy. Demeter previously worked for Sen. John Barrasso and former Sen. John Ensign, as well as for Peabody Energy.

— "ESG Investors Question Their Own Methods After Grim Climate Report," via Bloomberg.

— "Tensions flare between Los Angeles air regulators, environmentalists," via POLITICO.

— "U.S. weighs 2050 target in bid to wean airlines off fossil fuels," via Reuters.

— “China Is Redrawing the World’s Energy Map,” via Bloomberg.

— “Exxon launches U.S. shale gas sale to kick-start stalled divestitures,” via Reuters.

THAT’S ALL FOR ME!