The New York Times discovers the nation’s largest oil refiner is the wizard behind the curtain of a covert vehicle emissions standard relaxation campaign. Sen. Orrin Hatch uses his farewell floor speech to call for civility and cooperation. Utah law enforcement was not included in the inner circle of negotiators on the medical cannabis bill but did have input.
Happy Thursday. A New York Times investigation into the rollback of emissions standards to allow cars to burn more gasoline revealed Marathon Petroleum at the center of a covert campaign to achieve this result. Marathon, the nation’s largest refiner, sells some 16 billion gallons of gasoline a year and wants to keep the flow at full speed. The effort to freeze emissions standards at 2020 levels rather than achieve a near doubling of those standards by 2025 is based on the campaign message that oil is no longer a scarce resource so stricter conservation efforts are obsolete. Marathon worked with others in the oil industry and the American Legislative Exchange Council to get its rollback. [NYTimes]
Topping the news: Sen. Orrin Hatch, retiring after 42 years, gave his farewell address Wednesday. He called for the Senate to lead the nation to a new era of comity and cooperation after warning that deep divides in the Senate now have thrown the institution in crisis. [Trib][DNews]
-> Inland Port critics are pressing that distribution hub’s board not to join the trucking industry in supporting the end of a truck ban on Legacy Parkway. The truck ban and 55 mph speed limit negotiated by the state and environmentalists 15 years ago are set to expire Jan. 1, 2020. [Trib]
-> The Utah Transit Authority Board approved a budget that includes a 13.3 percent increase in spending, mostly based on increased sales tax revenue from Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City. [Trib]
Tweets of the Day: From @StephenAtHome: “Advice for Michael Cohen: On first day of prison, go up to the biggest guy in the yard and offer to pay him $130,000.”
-> From @sarahmccammon: “Showing my middle schooler the Trump/Pelosi/Schumer video while we wait at the doctor’s office. ‘Is this real?’ he asks.”
-> From @senatemajldr: “I’m sad to bid farewell to a living example of the American dream at its most extraordinary. @senorrinhatch has been the longest-serving Republican Senator in our nation’s history. I wish him a peaceful and happy retirement.”
Happy Birthday: to KCPW’s Emily Means, producer extraordinaire.
And Happy Holidays: A reminder that Political Cornflakes will be taking a break for the holidays after this week. We’ll return Jan. 7.
In other news: Weber County Sheriff Terry Thompson is sounding the alarm about the legalization of medical marijuana and claims that law enforcement was cut out of the loop in creating the new legislation passed in special session. [Trib]
-> Herriman City Council called for the immediate resignation of Mayor David Watts after discussing his misuse of city funds for more than two hours Wednesday evening. [DNews][KUTV]
-> The Inland Port Authority Board hired a 6-month interim director on Wednesday, hoping Chris Conabee will help take the port to the next level. [Trib][DNews]
-> Restaurants, bars, and other members of the tourism industry said Utahns should not shy away from eating out or partying downtown based on Utah’s new, strict DUI law. [Trib][Fox13]
-> John Huber, U.S. Attorney for Utah, will not be testifying for the House Oversight Committee about a probe of Clinton Foundation spending on Thursday as the committee had previously announced. [Trib]
-> The Utah Transit Authority’s temporary director, Steve Meyer, was cut a deal Wednesday to delay his retirement while the agency seeks out a new permanent director. His part-time work will be rewarded with $106 per hour and he will be allowed to work remotely from Arizona for three months. [Trib][DNews]
-> Pat Bagley illustrates the LDS Deadpool controversy. [Trib]
Nationally: President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday for collaborating with Russians in influencing the 2016 elections. [APviaTrib][BBC][CNN][Fox][WSJ]
-> President Trump’s current personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, has been courting business abroad, potentially creating blurred lines between business and politics. [NYTimes]
-> Iranian hackers have targeted the emails of U.S. Treasury officials in charge of enforcing sanctions against Iran after the Trump administration reinstated them. [AP]
-> Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn requested that his prison sentence be shortened for misleading investigators, alleging that he was coerced into lying when he was interviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation last year. [NYTimes][Fox]
-> And in the Grinch category, the president has canceled the traditional White House holiday party for the news media, whom he often refers to as “the enemy of the people.” [FoxNews]
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-- Dan Harrie and Cara MacDonald
https://twitter.com/danattrib and Twitter.com/carammacdonald