By ERIC WOLFF 

11/30/15 10:00 AM EST

With help from Darren Goode, Kalina Oroschakoff, and Alex Guillén

ARE YOU READY FOR DECEMBERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR? The Paris Climate talks start in earnest today, and Congress has a stack of energy business, from disapproving of the EPA resolutions to fighting over EPA riders in a spending bill and on to a major energy and infrastructure bill. It's going to be a no-sleep-for-the-wicked kind of run up to the holidays, so let's get to it!

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NOUS SOMMES ARRIVÉS À PARIS: World leaders are in Paris getting down to business today, amid high security and a mood of cautious optimism. President Barack Obama, for whom Paris will be a major test, has a full day, which started with Chinese President Xi Jinping and includes an individual meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to his official schedule. In addition to face time with leaders from the largest non-U.S. carbon emitters, Obama was scheduled to meet with French President Francois Hollande and participate in the opening of COP21.

20 countries to double clean energy R&D budget: Obama launches the conference today with an announcement, along with 19 other world leaders, of a commitment to double spending on clean energy research and development over five years. Participants include Brazil, China, France, Germany, India and Saudi Arabia, among others. For the U.S., that would mean ramping up low-carbon research to $10 billion, as Pro's Andrew Restuccia reports.

Bill Gates brings billions in private sector money to the table: "A separate coalition of 28 private investors will launch on Monday ... [T]he Breakthrough Energy Coalition ... is spearheaded byBill Gates. Investors in the coalition include Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg and billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer."

Report: U.S. circulating Paris goals: The U.S. wants to eliminate the distinction between developing and developed countries in climate talks, according a negotiating document it has distributed to a few countries, the Business Standard of India reported yesterday. The "non-paper" notes a few key features the U.S. would like to see in a final Paris agreement, including allowing each nation to set its own climate target. Such late changes could be explosive after nations worked out the framework for negotiations in the months preceding the talks.

No protest needed for police and protesters to clash: While officially sanctioned climate marches in Paris were canceled due to security concerns, French police detained "scores" of protesters yesterday and today and fired tear gas into a crowd of some 200 people who responded by throwing rocks and candles, Reuters reports. At least 174 were taken into custody, and French police invoked emergency powers gained after the recent terror attacks, according to the New York Times. Outside of Paris, some 570,000 people marched at rallies in cities around the world for the Global Climate March, according to organizers. Marchers were calling for leaders to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, eliminate poverty and protect people from worsening climate impacts.

Getting creative: As part of climate action all over the world, protest group Avaaz had displayed thousands of donated shoes in place of the marchers forbidden to walk the streets of Paris. Thousands in the city also joined to form a human chain.

Fiorina was only Sunday show guest to discuss the talks: Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, interviewed on Fox News Sunday, appears to have been the only candidate on the major Sunday shows to even mention the climate talks in Paris. She called Obama “delusional” for listing climate change as a national security threat and encouraged him to give up on the Paris talks before they began. Asked whether it was "worthwhile" for Obama to attend the international summit, she said, "all those scientists who say climate change is real and manmade, they also tell us that … it would take a concerted global effort over 30 years, costing trillions of dollars. I think the likelihood of that is near zero. So, no, I don't think it's particularly productive."

Andrew will be in Paris starting tomorrow. Follow him on Twitter @andrewrestuccia for all the news, and bookmark (and refresh often), POLITICO Europe's landing page for the climate talks.

WELCOME TO MONDAY! I'm your host Eric Wolff, and despite years of high school French, it only just hit me that translating ME into MOI totally ruins the ME/me pun. Sadness. Send your tips, quips, and comments to ewolff@politico.com, or follow us on Twitter @ericwolff, @Morning_Energy, and @POLITICOPro.

RFS DAY — ETHANOL RULE EXPECTED TODAY: EPA is expected to roll out its controversial new mandates under the Renewable Fuel Standard, and you can expect anything less than the full 15 billion gallons of ethanol to poison the biofuels crowd to the rule. Due today by consent agreement with the oil and refining industries, the rule — which covers 2014-2016 after EPA fell behind in issuing the annual rule — is expected to set corn ethanol levels for next year about half a billion gallons below what Congress targeted. The oil industry says it simply cannot accommodate any more ethanol; biofuels groups say petroleum interests are only trying to protect market share. (Expect the issue to get some attention in Iowa. For a refresher, check out last week’s story from Alex Guillén and Jenny Hopkinson.)

The rollout starts by lunchtime, with at least one farm group and one biofuels group expecting a call from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack — who consults with EPA on the rule but doesn’t make the final call — after noon. The biofuels crowd is also eager to react to the rule; last week, the ethanol group Growth Energy said it will hold a call half an hour after EPA releases the rule — whenever that is. And there’s no good excuse for dodging angry calls for EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, who doesn’t head to Paris until next week.

MEANWHILE, BACK ON CAPITOL HILL: House lawmakers will use non-binding resolutions and energy infrastructure legislation to duel over the administration’s agenda in Paris. Republicans tomorrow will bring up two Senate-passed resolutions to block the Clean Power Plan, ensuring that they’ll be sent to Obama to veto shortly after he returns from Paris. Republicans also are pushing various resolutions calling for a Paris deal to be submitted to Congress for ratification, with votes on those possible as soon as this week. The Congressional Progressive Caucus today plans to counter with introduction of a nonbinding resolution backing policies to “support a transition to near zero greenhouse gas emissions [and] 100 percent clean renewable energy,” among other goals.

The House kicks off two days of debate over its energy bill Wednesday. The legislation, which most Democrats oppose, aims to bolster energy infrastructure and promote liquefied natural gas exports. Republicans are presenting it as part of their alternative vision to the one Obama will stress in Paris. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy touted support for natural gas in a Reuters column outlining the GOP message. “To this end, Congress will promote the American energy story and reject commitments based on a misguided understanding of our climate, economic progress, and our needs for tomorrow,” he wrote.

The Rules Committee meets at 5 p.m. today to set the terms for debate on the Clean Power Plan disapproval resolutions and to debate the energy bill, specifically which of the 74 amendments filed to the energy bill will see a vote. It will set the terms of the debate tomorrow. It's unclear what will make the cut and issues like the RFS tend to cause internal party splits that GOP leaders try to avoid. Among the issues jockeying for attention:

— The RFS: Rep. Ron DeSantis introduced a pair of amendments, one to repeal EPA’s renewable fuels standard and another requiring a GAO study.

— Oil Exports: Republican Rep. Joe Barton and fellow Texans, including Democrat Henry Cuellar, introduced an amendment mirroring his bill to lift the 40-year-old export ban. And Reps. Sean Duffy and Joaquin Castro filed a narrower proposal exempting Mexico from the ban and codifying the current exemption for Canada that could provide cover for Democrats facing political pressure over allowing exports.

— Cross-border permits: Texas Rep. Gene Green, one of three Democrats to vote for the broader energy bill in committee, introduced an amendment to set a deadline on permitting decisions for energy infrastructure projects, such as oil and gas pipelines, built across the U.S. border.

— Carbon emissions: California Democrat Jared Huffman offered an amendment that would require an analysis of the bill’s net effect on greenhouse gas emissions.

— Rooftop solar: Florida’s Kathy Castor is seeking a vote on her amendment to remove restrictions for rooftop solar.

This item has been updated to include the names of the Texas lawmakers who co-sponsored the oil export amendment with Rep. Joe Barton.

** A message from Sunrun: 100,000 American workers will lose their jobs if Congress doesn’t act to extend the Solar Investment Tax Credit this year. Protect American jobs. Protect energy freedom. Extend the ITC. WeAreTeamSolar.com **

DUELING OP-EDS AT 20 PACES: Republican leaders extended their campaign to undermine the climate talks in op-eds published this weekend. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, writing in the Washington Post, warned international negotiators in Paris “should proceed with caution before entering into an unattainable deal with this administration, because commitments the president makes there would rest on a house of cards of his own making.” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in Reuters said Obama “is poised to repeat his history of weak-handed negotiations on the world stage” and should be talking about natural gas development. Democratic Presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton wrote in Time.com, "Once again, the world looks to Paris — this time in hope."

DEMS GAG ON SOME SPENDING BILL RIDERS: Republicans want to use a must-pass spending bill to eliminate the EPA's carbon rules and the Clean Water Rule, but Democrats may view those provisions as unacceptable, POLITICO'S Seung Min Kim reports this morning. A stop-gap bill to keep the government running expires Dec. 11, and Republicans, led by new Speaker Paul Ryan, plan to add a long wish-list of riders to an omnibus spending bill. But Democrats are objecting to many of the riders. "There is concern Republicans are not going to back off of them,” a senior Senate Democratic aide told Seung. “Democrats are trying to be constructive, but we have said from the beginning we will not accept poison pill ideological riders and we mean that.”

TAX EXTENDER DEAL STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS: Congress is inching toward a $700 billion deal to extend a wide variety of tax breaks. On the list: A five-year phase-out of the wind production tax credit, which is presently expired. But hurdles remain high on getting a deal, as Tax Pro Bernie Becker reports.

ALSO ON THE CONGRESSIONAL DOCKET THIS WEEK: The Paris climate talks make their lone appearance on the week's hearing schedule tomorrow when the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee will discuss the "pitfalls of unilateral negotiations." That same day the four remaining FERC commissioners will testify before a subcommittee of House Energy and Commerce Committee. On Thursday, Energy and Commerce will hold a hearing on the nuclear waste fund, while at the same time Space, Science, and Technology will discuss legislation on nuclear energy innovation. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will consider the Well Control rule on Tuesday, but otherwise Senate committees do not appear to be focused on energy-related issues.

CARBON TAX IT, BÉBÉ: Former Energy Secretary Stephen Chu and former Secretary of State George Schultz were among a bipartisan group of luminaries signing a letter asking climate negotiators in Paris to settle on a carbon tax. "This single policy change ... offers greater potential to combat global warming than any other policy, with minimal regulatory and enforcement costs."

If it's not a climate tax, it's pap: Earlier this weekend Columbia University climate scientist James Hansen issued a letter scorning any non-carbon tax policy: "The danger is that Paris will lay a Kyoto. That is the easy way out. Each country promises to do better, but there is no global carbon fee ... In that case President Obama will have sold our children, and theirs, down the river." He also calls the administration's touting of U.S.-China cooperation on carbon capture research "unadulterated 100% pure bull***t" in the eight-page letter.

STATES LAY OUT CHALLENGE TO CARBON RULE FOR NEW PLANTS: North Dakota, the lead state challenging EPA’s carbon rule for new power plants, on Friday outlined its five major arguments against the rule, none of them a surprise to those following the development of the rule. Topping the list is the charge that the rule relies in part of carbon capture technology, which the state says has "not been adequately demonstrated and are not achievable.” North Dakota also argues that the CCS facilities EPA relied on in writing the rule won't work in all places; that it should have created a separate category for lignite coal, a type of coal that North Dakota relies on heavily and is generally burned at the same place it is mined; that the rule "creates an unconstitutional taking of property interests"; and that it violates the Energy Policy Act of 2005, apparently a reference to arguments that some CCS facilities cited by EPA received federal funding and thus should not be eligible as a basis for the rule.

THREE STATES JOIN OZONE LAWSUIT: Kentucky, Utah and Wisconsin have asked to join the lawsuit over EPA's new ozone standard brought by five other states. The states argue that the new standard will "stifle — and in some cases eliminate" growth in key local industries like iron and steel production, pharmaceuticals, breweries, shipbuilding and printing and packaging.

EPA WATCHDOG DOES NOT HOWL ALONE: The EPA Inspector General Arthur Elkins has at times struggled to gain access to the records he needs to adequately do his job. Turns out he's not alone, the New York Times reported over the weekend. Many new restrictions came into play after the Justice Department issued rules limiting what its IG could access, "Agencies facing investigations are now sometimes relying on the Justice Department’s opinion as justification for denying records — even records that are not specifically covered in the opinion, officials said."

ALL KIC 8462852 GOT WAS ROCKS: Remember that distant star that seemed to have some huge structure that had to have been built by intelligent aliens? The one structure some people thought might be a huge solar array? It's not. It's just comets. Ain't it always comets?

QUICK HITS

— How Binding Can an International Climate Agreement Get?, National Journal: http://bit.ly/1NX3vwV

— OPEC Is Ready to Rumble Over Saudi Output, WSJ: http://on.wsj.com/1RfPnEp

— New power cell taps into "blue-green" power source, GizMag: http://bit.ly/1OpcN9y

— Dubai To Make Rooftop Solar Mandatory By 2030, Forbes: http://onforb.es/1LH8MXC
THAT'S ALL FOR ME!

Read more: http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-energy/2015/11/morning-energy-wolff-211492#ixzz3szOZ4rmi