WHAT’S IN STORE: Congressional Republicans are planning a full-fledged attack on the Biden administration’s move to pause liquified natural gas export approvals – which has provided new fodder to critics of President Joe Biden’s energy policies before the November elections.
What’s on our radar: Following the news of the pause, Republicans across both chambers are moving on legislation to reverse course on the Biden administration’s pause. GOP Sens. Bill Cassidy, Tim Scott, and 15 other Senate Republicans introduced the Unlocking Domestic LNG Potential Act, which would take away the Department of Energy’s authority to authorize exports, and instead would place it with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The lawmakers argue repositioning the authority “depoliticizes” the export of LNG, considering that FERC is an independent and bipartisan body.
Who’s on the bill: Sens. Katie Britt (AL), Ted Budd (NC), Tom Cotton (AR), Mike Crapo (ID), Joni Ernst (IA), Bill Hagerty (TN), John Hoeven (ND), John Kennedy (LA), Markwayne Mullin (OK), Pete Ricketts (NE), Jim Risch (ID), Mike Rounds (SD), Rick Scott (FL), Thom Tillis (NC), and John Thune (SD).
A reminder: This isn’t a new bill. This was introduced by former Rep. Bill Johnson during previous sessions of Congress, and it was poised to be voted on the House floor last October. However, the bill was pulled from floor consideration during Kevin McCarthy’s speakership debacle, and was not rescheduled for a floor vote. (More on that below).
Across the chamber: The House will vote on overturning the White House’s freeze, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers told Bloomberg yesterday. The vote is expected to happen the week after next – but, House leadership is still deciding on which measures to bring to the floor. One of the bills that’s being considered is Johnson’s LNG bill.
Hearings galore: The efforts don’t just stop at legislation. E&C’s Energy, Climate, and Grid subcommittee is planning on having a hearing next Tuesday on the subject. Nancy was able to obtain a list of the witnesses. Take a look:
- Toby Z. Rice, President and CEO of EQT Corporation, the largest natural gas producer in the Appalachian Basin
- Brigham A. McCown, Senior Fellow and Director, American Energy Security Initiative, The Hudson Institute
- Eric Cormier, Senior Vice President of Entrepreneurship and Strategic Initiatives, Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance
But it’s not just Republicans who are going on the offense. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin blasted the White House for the LNG pause shortly after the news broke, calling it a “political ploy to pander to keep-it-in-the-ground climate activists.” The chairman has scheduled a hearing for next Thursday on the matter, with DOE Deputy Secretary David Turk expected to testify, Manchin told Politico‘s Josh Siegel.
The significance: You should expect a lot of rhetoric similar to Manchin’s, with both parties going after Biden for an effort they see as undermining U.S. energy security to court young, environmentalist voters during an election year. On the flipside, liberal Democrats have been praising the move – just today, a group of climate hawks, which included Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, held a press conference commending the Biden administration for the pause, arguing that it’s a win for “climate progress.”
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment writers Breanne Deppisch (@breanne_dep) and Nancy Vu (@NancyVu99). Email bdeppisch@washingtonexaminer dot com or nancy.vu@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.
CALIFORNIA COUNTIES SUE TESLA OVER HAZARDOUS WASTE: A group of 25 California counties alleged in a new lawsuit yesterday that Tesla may have violated hazardous waste management laws in as many as 101 counties across California, with actions ranging from improperly labeling the toxic waste to sending its hazardous materials to certain landfills in California that cannot accept the materials (disposal of such substances is overseen at the federal level by the EPA).
Such actions would also violate California law. If the plaintiffs succeed, the EV maker could be hit by as much as $70,000 per violation for every single day the hazardous waste was left in the improper areas.
Tesla’s been in related trouble before: In 2019, it reached a settlement with the EPA over alleged violations at its facility in Fremont. Read more on the new lawsuit here.
$25 MILLION SETTLEMENT REACHED IN FINAL FLINT CLASS ACTION SUIT: Businesses, homeowners, and other residents in Flint, Michigan, reached a $25 million settlement in a class action lawsuit today with Veolia North America, a water engineering firm accused of negligence in the city’s 2014 public water crisis, which exposed some 100,000 Flint residents—including as many as 12,000 children— to high levels of lead in their public drinking water.
Exposure to lead, a neurotoxin, can cause brain damage and damage to the nervous system, and is highly dangerous to children, per the CDC. The leaching of lead into Flint’s water also coincided with a local outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease and deaths, as the Detroit Free Press reported.
The lawsuit was filed in 2016 on behalf of some 90,000 residents, attorneys said in a statement. “Despite Flint residents raising concerns about the water’s smell, color, and taste, and even after a deadly Legionnaires disease outbreak, Veolia allegedly failed to give appropriate recommendations to the City,” they added.
The settlement acknowledged that Veolia both failed to identify corroding pipes that contributed to the water crisis and allowed the contamination to last “much longer than it should have” by failing to take certain steps to treat the water.
Today’s settlement also brings to a close the final class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Flint residents in connection to the public water crisis, which prompted the subsequent resignation of four government officials and saw nine officials indicted (though many of the charges were eventually dropped).
Combined, the settlements have resulted in payouts of more than $655 million to affected residents and businesses in the area.
OPEC KEEPS OIL OUTPUT UNCHANGED, WILL REVIEW EXTENSION IN MARCH: OPEC+ members said they will decide in March whether or not to extend voluntary oil production cuts, leaving current levels unchanged for now after their most recent ministerial meeting.
OPEC+ first announced the voluntary cuts in November. Led by Saudi Arabia, which reduced production by 1 million barrels per day, the reductions took 2.2 million bpd of oil off of global markets in an effort to push prices higher and offset a feared supply surplus in the beginning of 2024. Saudi Arabia has also said it could extend cuts beyond the first quarter of the year if necessary.
One OPEC+ source described the meeting to Reuters as “very healthy” and quick, citing what they described as “good cohesion among members.” Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak described current market conditions as “stable,” suggesting that the group could leave production levels unchanged at next month’s meeting.
RED SEA VIOLENCE PUSHES DIESEL PRICES HIGHER, WITH MORE MARKET TIGHTNESS EXPECTED: Violence in the Red Sea has pushed fuel tanker rates and diesel prices higher this week, prompting more companies to alter their routes via Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
Most recently, a Houthi attack on a Trafigura fuel tanker in the Gulf of Aden has added to concerns, pushing freight rates to a near-record high and more than doubling charter prices for oil tankers and oil product tankers, according to figures from the London-based shipbroker Gibson.
Jacob Meldgaard, the CEO of a Copenhagen-based oil tanker company that operates some 80 ships, told the Financial Times he expects tightness to increase, and has already seen a “very material” 5% uptick in global demand for tankers.
The Trafigura attack also pushed diesel prices to a three-month high, with benchmark prices for the commodity jumping 15% from mid-December. Read more here.
RUNDOWN
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