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VOTE ON AMENDMENTS TO ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT DELAYED: Environmentalists got an Earth Day win this afternoon as House Republicans postponed a vote on a bill that would overhaul the Endangered Species Act. 

The vote: The ESA Amendments Act, introduced by House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman, was expected to see a floor vote this afternoon. 

Just after lunchtime, however, House leadership pulled the bill from consideration with no explanation. Politico did report that some Republicans from Florida had raised issues regarding the bill. 

Republicans have claimed the ESA as it stands fails to live up to its intended purpose by keeping species on endangered or threatened lists indefinitely and have attempted to amend the law for years. Democrats have continuously criticized efforts to scale back the law, saying doing so would strip protections to threatened species and lead to higher extinction rates. 

The bill: If passed, the legislation would make several significant changes to the more than 50-year-old conservation law, streamlining ESA-related permits and focusing more on species recovery. 

This includes, but is not limited to: 

• Directing the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to create a National Listing Work Plan that sets a five-year schedule for listing species and habitats,
• Eliminating the requirement to act on listing proposals within 12 months,
• Limiting what is designated as a critical habitat, 
• Loosening requirements for obtaining “take” permits, 
• And limiting judicial review periods for delisting species.

Read more from Callie here. 

EPA RELEASES EARTH DAY MESSAGE: The Environmental Protection Agency marked Earth Day with a brief, less-than-one-minute message today – more than 50 years after the first Earth Day was a catalyst in the creation of the agency. 

The details: The 43-second message was released by the EPA this morning, featuring remarks from Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi. 

“Earth Day unites all Americans in our common goal of protecting our environment and conserving it for centuries to come,” Fotouhi said. “The Trump EPA is working non-stop to power the Great American Comeback, adhere to gold standard science and reaffirm our commitment to providing clean air, land and water for all Americans.”

He affirmed the EPA’s commitment to protecting the environment and encouraged all Americans to get outside and enjoy America’s natural resources. 

The EPA’s short message appeared to be the only public remarks from the administration celebrating this year’s Earth Day. Last year, even the White House put out a release, highlighting the president’s actions regarding energy innovation, forest management, and the protection of public lands. 

Some background: The EPA’s reaffirmed commitment to protect the environment comes months after the agency proposed rules to repeal greenhouse gas emission standards and weaken air pollution regulations for fossil fuel facilities. 

In February, the EPA finalized the repeal of a Biden administration rule that required coal and oil fired power plants to use continuous air pollutant monitoring systems. 

Organizations such as the American Lung Association have warned that these rollbacks will increase pollution-based lung disease and other avoidable health problems in children and older adults. 

NEARLY HALF OF AMERICANS LIVE WITH UNHEALTHY AIR: The American Lung Association said in its annual “State of the Air” report today that 44% of Americans live in areas with unhealthy air.

That means that they live in a county that either has excess smog or exceeds certain levels of soot. 

The trend for smog is bad, according to the report: After falling for years, the share of counties with unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone pollution has risen in the past two years. 

The most smog-filled cities are all in California: Los Angeles, Visalia, and Bakersfield. 

In terms of short-term particle pollution, the worst are Fairbanks, Alaska; Eugene, Oregon; and Bakersfield. 

For long-term particle pollution, the worst are Bakersfield; Brownsville, Texas; and Eugene. 

BURGUM ADVOCATES FOR PERMITTING REFORM BEFORE CONGRESS: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has said the Trump administration is happy to do anything it can to get permitting reform across the finish line in this Congress, reforms he believes are critical to keeping America competitive on the global stage. 

The details: Burgum advocated for permitting reform during his testimony before a Senate Appropriations Committee this morning, emphasizing the importance of having a predictable permitting process for projects across administrations. 

“I see it as one of the core factors that’s reducing American competitiveness worldwide, is that we can’t get anything permitted,” Burgum said. 

“If there’s anything we can do to help, help Congress get the permitting bill over the line, I’m happy to do it,” he added, noting that the administration has already taken several actions regarding the National Environmental Policy Act and ESA to streamline permits. 

He later said any permitting reform passed through Congress should have a level of durability to it, to allow projects to stand on their own merits and avoid being “weaponized.” 

IRAN WAR AND OIL PRICE WATCH: President Donald Trump extended his ceasefire with Iran yesterday indefinitely, staving off fears that he would strike power facilities in the country once the original two-week ceasefire expired today. 

It remains unclear how long the ceasefire will last, as negotiators from the U.S. and Iran have yet to travel to Islamabad for the next round of peace talks. 

You can read more on the stalled talks from the Examiner’s defense reporter Mike Brest here. 

Tensions are still escalating, however, as Iran reportedly seized two foreign ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz earlier today. 

State-linked Tasnim News Agency reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps captured vessels that were “operative without authorization, repeatedly violating regulations, and manipulating navigation aid systems in a way that endangered maritime safety.” 

Where prices stand: Oil prices rose on the news of the vessel seizures, sending international benchmark Brent crude above the $100 line once again. Just before 3 p.m. EDT, Brent was up by 3.65% and was selling at $102.07 per barrel. U.S. crude, West Texas Intermediate, has also risen by 3.77% and was selling at $93.05 per barrel. 

Meanwhile, gasoline prices are still hovering above $4, with AAA reporting that the national average price is $4.02 per gallon. 

Warning – airfares going up: United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in an earnings call today that ticket prices would have to rise 15%-20% this summer to offset higher fuel costs. 

He said that the airline has not yet seen a drop-off in demand to the higher fees and fares already implemented, but that consumers will eventually be strained, Reuters reported. 

RUSSIA CUTS OFF OIL TO BERLIN: The supply of gas and heating fuel to the region around Berlin has been cast into doubt after Russia cut off the flow of oil from Kazakhstan through the Druzhba pipeline. 

The decision effectively cuts off the PCK refinery, northwest of Berlin, that supplies 90% of the fuels to the city and gets 20% of its supply from Kazakhstan, the Financial Times reported.  

The move appears to be an effort by Russian President Vladimir Putin to increase the pressure on Germany, which is the largest arms provider to Ukraine. 

“This is a serious, indeed dramatic, situation for the PCK refinery and the energy supply for large parts of Germany,” Christian Görke, a left-wing member of parliament, told the publication. 

He added that Putin is “exploiting the situation in the Middle East.”

Putin has spoken in recent months about cutting off more energy supplies to Europe. 

Related: Ukraine has reportedly resumed allowing Russian oil to flow through a portion of the pipeline to Europe. That will help Russia finance its war efforts against Ukraine. But it also helps unlock a $106 billion European Union loan to Ukraine, which had been held up by Hungary over the lack of oil flows. 

DOE FUNDING FOR LOUISIANA DIRECT CARBON CAPTURE PROJECT SURVIVES: The Project Cypress direct carbon capture project in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, survived a Trump Department of Energy review of green projects and is now receiving funding. 

Heirloom and Climeworks, the firms jointly managing the project, got notice today that they were receiving an initial payment of $50 million from the DOE, of a total of $600 million awarded by the Biden administration, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

The facility is one of two direct air capture projects funded by the DOE in the hopes of demonstrating the viability of pulling carbon emissions out of the air and storing them underground. The other project, in Texas, also survived the Trump DOE review, according to the WSJ. 

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