WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Wednesday, readers! We’re on day 29 of the government shutdown, with no end in sight. The prolonged funding lapse may not throw as big of a wrench into plans to pass permitting reform this year as some may have thought. Keep reading for some excerpts from Callie’s interview with permitting wonk Xan Fishman on the pathways for simplifying environmental reviews through the end of the year.
President Donald Trump continued his Asia tour today, stopping in South Korea, where he finalized yet another trade deal. While there, the president also made a surprising claim on his involvement in energy policy. Read below to find out 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.
SENATE POISED TO REVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS IN NORTH SLOPE: In line with the Trump administration’s efforts to expand oil and gas drilling in northern Alaska, the Senate is on track to vote in favor of reversing Biden-era environmental protections in the state’s National Petroleum Reserve.
The details: In a 54-46 vote, the Senate advanced a resolution of disapproval, introduced by Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan under the Congressional Review Act, to a floor vote. Only one Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted in favor.
If passed in both chambers, the resolution would nullify the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision issued by the Bureau of Land Management in 2022. This plan significantly increased environmental protections in the region, closing roughly 11 million acres to oil and gas leasing.
Sullivan likened the report, as well as other similar Biden administration regulations limiting fossil fuel development in the state, as a “frontier lockup.” He encouraged his Democratic colleagues to vote in favor of the CRA this morning, claiming it would allow for further energy production in the state, lower costs, boost jobs, and increase economic opportunity for local and native residents.
A sister bill in the House was introduced this fall by Republican Rep. Nick Begich. It has yet to be considered for a vote.
Quick reminder: For months, GOP lawmakers have been using the CRA in order to undo numerous energy, climate, and environmental regulations imposed by the Biden administration. The CRA allows Congress to bypass a filibuster and vote in a simple majority to repeal a rule.
TRUMP IN SOUTH KOREA: President Donald Trump is in South Korea, where he is attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit ahead of his highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Today, Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung finalized a trade deal that had been in the works since the summer. The agreement follows a suite of other trade deals the president has made on his weeklong trip to Asia.
Trump signed critical mineral agreements with Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Japan. The United States and South Korea did agree to work together to diversify the critical mineral supply chain through public-private partnerships in the mining and refining industries.
The deals on critical minerals have led up to Trump’s meeting with Xi, where the two leaders will be discussing trade relations between the two countries. Rare earths and critical minerals are set to become the center of discussion as China controls the majority of the global supply and has restricted exports to the U.S.
Read more about the U.S.-South Korea trade deal by the Washington Examiner’s Emily Hallas here.
TRUMP TALKS CO-LOCATING POWER PLANTS THE ‘SIZE OF MANHATTAN’: During his South Korea leg, Trump advocated for his energy policy, calling it one of the things he is “most proud of” thus far, touting one idea he claimed to have about power plants.
The details: In remarks at the APEC CEO luncheon, the president emphasized the importance of expanding energy production, saying no one could have anticipated the demand now being seen from the revolution with artificial intelligence. In order to solve the supply and demand problem for energy, Trump claimed he came up with the idea of co-locating new power with AI data centers.
“I came up with a concept when they build this massive plant, sometimes the size of Manhattan, think of that, the size of Manhattan. These plants are the big – I’ve never seen anything like it, actually,” Trump said, adding, “I let them build their own electricity-generating plants with it…They’re sort of becoming a – an electric-producing company in addition to all of the other things that they produce, including information.”
From our view: The concept of co-locating data centers and other large load facilities with power – whether that is new generation or existing – is not new. Just last fall, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under former President Joe Biden held a technical conference dedicated solely to that issue. Months prior to that, one study written by a former grid executive suggested that co-locating data centers with energy sources like nuclear would reduce the pressure of rapidly upgrading and expanding transmission.
Before and after Trump took office, companies like Google have also revealed plans to support the development of new power that could then be used to support their AI operations.
It was not immediately clear what Trump was referring to in his claim to have come up with the co-location concept, however, he could have been referring to the Department of Energy’s push to fast-track grid connection for data centers.
Last week, Energy Secretary Chris Wright directed FERC to initiate a rulemaking process to accelerate the connection of loads like data centers that have co-located power which can be curtailed or dispatched back into the grid.
You can read more about the order from Maydeen’s report last week here.
PERMITTING REFORM IN THE WAKE OF THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: While some are worried the near-monthlong government shutdown will hurt Congress’ ability to pass meaningful permitting reform this year, other policy experts remain optimistic.
Xan Fishman, vice president of the Energy Program at the Bipartisan Policy Center, sat down with Callie this morning to break down what needs to happen for permitting reform to finally reach the Resolute Desk. Congress is facing increased pressure from industry groups to pass reforms as quickly as possible, as the demand for new energy generation soars.
Electrification, increasing manufacturing, and artificial intelligence are creating a new load growth dynamic that could cause electricity prices to spike and threaten reliability if we don’t make it easier and faster to build new power and transmission lines, Fishman said.
“The longer we delay on fixing the permitting system, the more obvious it’s going to be that we have a real problem,” he said.
There is real bipartisan support for permitting reform, with at least five Democrats signing onto Republican Rep. Bruce Westerman’s proposal (also known as the SPEED Act) to reform and simplify the National Environmental Policy Act. With this momentum, Fishman said, the House is likely to pass a bill this calendar year, allowing the Senate to take action sometime in the winter/spring. And in his view, the shutdown shouldn’t impact that too much, saying “we’ll be able to get back to normal business,” once it ends.
“It feels to me like the next action is probably going to be at the House Natural Resources Committee doing a markup on the SPEED Act,” Fishman said, adding that while that markup may be initially delayed with the shutdown, these quieter weeks have allowed the committee to further review all the feedback on the initial draft and create a stronger revised proposal.
“I’m still optimistic on that front,” he said. “And then I think once you know that bill goes to the House, then it’s going to be the Senate’s turn.”
NET-ZERO OUT OF REACH, WOOD MACKENZIE WARNS: As demand for energy continues to soar, Wood Mackenzie is now forecasting that the goal of hitting net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 is now out of reach.
The details: In the research firm’s Energy Transition Outlook report for 2025-2026, its analysts estimated that not a single G7 country is on track to meet previously set emissions reduction goals for 2030. This, combined with mounting geopolitical tensions and rising demand, means the world may not hit net-zero until after 2060.
To hit the target, Wood Mackenzie estimated, there needs to be significantly greater investment in the clean energy sector: roughly $4.3 trillion annually over the next 35 years. While the U.S. federal government is taking steps to stymie renewable energy growth, the firm remains confident that renewables like wind and solar will continue to grow on a global scale, with solar alone doubling by 2030 and overtaking gas in 2033 and then coal in 2034.
“The energy system is becoming more complex, interconnected, and, volatile,” Prakash Sharma, vice president and head of scenarios and technologies at Wood Mackenzie, said in a statement. “As power demand surges due to the expansion of technologies such as AI and electrification, what was once a mostly aspirational shift towards decarbonization is now facing the hard trade-offs of scale, system integration, capital allocation and geopolitics.”
HURRICANE MELISSA UPDATE: Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica yesterday as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes of the year, raising the death toll to over 30 people and causing extensive damage.
The storm made landfall yesterday in New Hope, Jamaica, around 1 p.m. Eastern Time as a Category 5 hurricane, bringing in winds of up to 185 mph. People in Jamaica this morning woke up to an extensive amount of destruction. The New York Times provided some photos and videos of the damage in Jamaica here.
The hurricane moved its way into Cuba this morning as a Category 2 hurricane as it heads toward the Bahamas. Eastern Cuba is expected to see rainfall totals of 10 to 20 inches with sustained winds of 100 mph.
There are at least 32 deaths related to the hurricane, across Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.
Forecast accuracy: CNN’s Andrew Freedman reported that, despite cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Hurricane Center’s forecasts for Hurricane Melissa have been significantly accurate.
Freedman noted that the NHC predicted three days in advance that Melissa would intensify before it even became a hurricane. It also predicted 36 hours ahead of time that the hurricane would become a Category 5 storm.
He added that NHC was able to predict four days before it made landfall that the eye of the storm would hit western Jamaica as a Category 4 hurricane. The forecast track was off by 13 miles, which Freedman said was well below the average error range for a four-day forecast.
Freedman said the use of artificial intelligence, specifically Google’s DeepMind model, could have helped NHC make fairly accurate predictions for the hurricane.
DOE ANNOUNCES LOAN FOR INDIANA COAL-POWERED FERTILIZER FACILITY: The Department of Energy announced it will provide a $1.5 billion loan to Wabash Valley Resources, LLC, to help finance a coal and ammonia fertilizer facility in West Terre Haute, Indiana.
As part of the project, it plans to restart and repurpose a coal gasification plant that has been inactive since 2016. The plant will help to produce 500,000 metric tons of anhydrous ammonia each year by using coal from a southern Indiana mine and petcoke as feedstock. The plant will help to produce ammonia fertilizers used by farmers to help provide crops with nitrogen.
Key quote: Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, “For too long, America has been dependent on foreign sources of fertilizer.”
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are changing that by putting America first, relying on American coal, American workers, and American innovation to power our farms and feed our families,” Wright said.
ICYMI – TRUMP WALKS BACK PUSH TO SELL OIL AND GAS LEASES ON EAST COAST: The Trump administration is no longer considering selling offshore oil and gas leases for areas along the East Coast, according to a Bloomberg report.
The details: People familiar with the matter confirmed to the outlet that the White House had been close to offering the leases, having drafted plans for sales in the Atlantic along the entire East Coast. The draft reportedly included leases for tracts in waters off the coast of New England and the Carolinas.
Currently no offshore oil and gas drilling takes place off the Atlantic coast, and efforts to expand under Trump’s first administration also failed.
The proposal is reportedly currently being drafted by the Interior Department and could very well be refined again before it is publicly released, sources told the outlet.
This draft proposal has been swiftly opposed by environmentalists, as well as Republican stakeholders who worry that drilling could negatively affect tourism along the Eastern Seaboard, according to Bloomberg.
Key quote: “Our coastal communities depend on healthy oceans for economic security and their cherished way of life,” Joseph Gordon of the conservation group Ocean said in a statement obtained by Politico. “If this is the plan, the Trump administration must go back to the drawing board. There’s too much at stake to risk more horrific oil spills that will haunt our coastlines for generations to come.”
RUNDOWN
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