WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Thursday, readers!
President Donald Trump has officially ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi, leaving the post open, with reports suggesting that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin is a top candidate. 👀⚖️🌱♻️
In other news, the EPA and the Department of Health and Human Services are teaming up to address pollutants in drinking water – specifically microplastics and pharmaceuticals. The move is a step toward fulfilling the Make America Healthy Again regulatory goals.💦🚱
Meanwhile, House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans are expressing support for the Transportation Department overhaul of Biden’s fuel economy standards. Keep reading to learn more. 🚙⬇️
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
EPA AND HHS TEAM UP ON DRINKING WATER CONTAMINANTS: The Environmental Protection Agency outlined a plan to list microplastics and certain pharmaceuticals as contaminants in drinking water.
EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, along with the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced the proposal at an event today at the EPA headquarters. It would add microplastics and pharmaceuticals, such as antidepressants, as priority contaminants in the EPA’s drinking water draft of the Sixth Contaminant Candidate List.
The CCL is a list of contaminants that are known or anticipated in public water systems. It does not subject the contaminants to any regulations, but it could be used to set rules down the line.
“For too long, Americans have vocalized concerns about plastics and pharmaceuticals in their drinking water,” Zeldin said in a press release. ”That ends today.”
The agency is also including two other contaminants on the lists: polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS or “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down naturally in the environment, and disinfection byproducts, as well as 75 chemicals and nine microbes that may be found in drinking water.
Once the list is finalized, the agency will determine whether to regulate at least five contaminants from the list.
Read more about the announcement from Maydeen and Washington Examiner health reporter Gabrielle Etzel here.
BONDI OUT, ZELDIN TO DOJ? President Donald Trump has ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi, following frustrations over her leadership at the Justice Department and handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The president posted on Truth Social that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will serve as acting attorney general.
But one of the top reported candidates to succeed Bondi is Zeldin. On Tuesday, Zeldin met with Trump at the White House to discuss wildfire prevention, where they also talked about a transition, Fox News reports.
As a reminder, Zeldin has a JD from Albany Law School and was the youngest attorney in the state of New York at age 23. As a member of the House, he gained prominence for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial.
Read more about Bondi’s ousting by Washington Examiner’s Kaelan Deese here.
REPUBLICANS BACK OVERHAUL OF CAFE STANDARDS: House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, along with more than 20 Republican colleagues, said in a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy that existing Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, implemented by the Biden administration, effectively mandated electric vehicles and reduced consumer options.
“The rule instituted aggressive fuel economy targets that could only be achieved through broad vehicle electrification, made improper assumptions on vehicle electrification, expressly considered ‘dedicated automobiles,’ and allowed consideration of the fuel economy credit program in establishing fuel economy standards,” the letter reads. “All of these requirements conflict with the statute’s explicit directives.”
DOT last December proposed changing the CAFE standards, which require manufacturers to ensure their fleets meet average miles-per-gallon targetsfor cars and trucks.
The proposed rule would reduce the annual fuel-economy targets for vehicles, resulting in a fleet average fuel economy of 34.5 mpg by model year 2031, down from the 50.4 mpg envisioned under the Biden standard.
The Biden administration standards allowed automakers to improve their fleet’s fuel-economy average by manufacturing more electric vehicles and hybrids, which the Trump administration has argued amounted to an “EV mandate.”
Read more by Maydeen here.
YOUR DAILY OIL MARKET UPDATE: Oil prices were up sharply this morning after Trump sounded quite hawkish on Iran in his address last night.
WTI crude was up near 12% to close to $112 a barrel as of this early afternoon. If it closes at or above that level, it would be the highest nominal price on record apart from the run-up in prices in 2008.
Brent crude was up more than 7% to $108 a barrel.
Continental responds: Continental Resources, the oil company owned by Trump ally Harold Hamm, became the first major domestic producer to say that it will ramp up production in response to the high prices.
“Continental is increasing our capital budget, which will increase production,” CEO Doug Lawler said in a statement to Bloomberg.
Continental has operations in North Dakota, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Texas.
New pipelines to avoid the Strait of Hormuz? Gulf state oil producers are contemplating constructing new pipelines to avoid the risk of the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reports, even though such projects would be costly and take years to finish.
Saudi Arabia’s existing 746-mile East-West pipeline is transporting 7 million barrels of crude a day to the Red Sea, proving to be a lifeline for mitigating the effects of the closure of the strait.
Christopher Bush, the CEO of Cat Group, which helped build that pipeline, told the publication that “We have had enquiries about various different pipelines…. I have multiple different presentations on my desk.”
Macron dismisses the idea of opening the strait: French President Emmanuel Macron dismissed the idea of using military force to open the Strait of Hormuz, as suggested by Trump Wednesday night.
“This has never been the option that we’ve chosen and we think it’s unrealistic,” Macron said in Seoul, according to Bloomberg. “We must be able to reopen this strait because it’s strategic for energy, fertilizers, and international trade, but it can only be done in consultation with Iran.”
Trump said in his speech last night that allies should open up the strait themselves. “We will be helpful, but they should take the lead,” Trump said. He added that other countries “must take care of that passage, they must cherish it, they must grab it.”
Macron said that what is needed is a ceasefire and then negotiations to get guarantees that ships can pass through without being attacked.
RUSSIA PLANS TO SEND SECOND SHIPMENT OF FUEL TO CUBA: Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev said the country plans to send a second shipment of fuel to Cuba.
The minister said the cargo is being loaded, Reuters reports.
Russia sent its first tanker carrying 730,000 barrels to the island this week. Russia’s shipment was the first delivery of fuel to the island in three months.
Russia has expressed solidarity with Cuba, even as Trump has suggested that he would take the island. The Trump administration for the past few months has imposed a fuel blockade of Cuba, leading to an energy crisis on the island.
WORTH WATCHING – SHAREHOLDER CAMPAIGN AGAINST BP PIVOT: The green activist investor Follow This is aiming to defeat a resolution at BP’s annual meeting later this month that would set aside some of its green goals. Specifically, it would rescind decisions requiring detailed climate strategy and emissions reporting and linking climate performance to executive pay, Reuters reports.
The clash could shed light on the influence of ESG activism in the new Trump era.
RUNDOWN
Reuters Brazilian researchers remix coffee varieties to confront climate challenge
Inside Climate News Which State Leads in Battery Energy Storage? It Depends on How You Measure.
The Associated Press How we came to be: Scientists get first look at the evolution of early complex animals
