WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Monday, readers! We hope you enjoyed that extra hour of sleep yesterday as we all turned our clocks backward for Daylight Saving.
We are one week away from the United Nations’ annual climate change conference. This year marks the third consecutive year a U.S. president will not be attending, though the Trump administration is going a step further in choosing to not send any high-level representatives. Keep reading to find out what our European allies have to say about the decision.
Meanwhile, the European Union is facing increased pressure to soften its sustainability reporting rules set to go into effect in the coming years, with energy majors like Exxon Mobil threatening to pull their business from the region.
Plus, we have some clarity on what nuclear weapons testing the U.S. could be doing. Keep reading to see what Energy Secretary Chris Wright said yesterday on the order from the president.
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.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SKIPPING OUT ON CLIMATE CONFERENCE: President Donald Trump and his cabinet will not be attending the United Nations’ climate change conference (COP30) in Brazil next week, further emphasizing the administration’s departure from the global conversation on tackling the effects of climate change.
The details: A White House official confirmed with Callie today that the U.S. will not be sending “any high level representatives” to the conference. Last week, the Department of Energy also confirmed with Daily on Energy that the agency would not be sending any representation. The Interior Department declined to comment, saying the agency was only responding to “urgent media inquiries” amid the government shutdown.
The White House official did note that Trump continues to directly engage with leaders worldwide on energy issues, pointing to recent trade deals and peace deals.
“The Green New Scam would have killed America if President Trump had not been elected to implement his commonsense energy agenda – which is focused on utilizing the liquid gold under our feet to strengthen our grid stability and drive down costs for American families and businesses,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said. “President Trump will not jeopardize our country’s economic and national security to pursue vague climate goals that are killing other countries.”
Why it matters: Trump’s absence from the global climate conference is not a huge shock, particularly as he has continued to downplay the effects of climate change, pressured allies to walk back climate-related commitments, and called it a “scam” during the U.N. General Assembly this year.
While the European Union has insisted the world will continue to move on climate-related goals without the U.S., climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra still views the U.S. absence as damaging.
“We’re talking about the largest, the most dominant, most important geopolitical player from the whole world. It is the second largest emitter,” Hoekstra told Bloomberg over the weekend. “So if a player of that magnitude basically says, ‘Well, I’m going to leave and have it all sorted out by the rest of you,’ clearly that does damage.”
JIM BANKS TO OFFER RARE EARTHS BILL: Republican Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana said he plans to propose a bill in the coming weeks that would spur domestic supply of rare earths.
In an op-ed published on Sunday, Banks praised Trump’s efforts to build a domestic supply of rare earths in the United States, but noted that more work has to be done to reach longer-term goals. He added that in his forthcoming bill it would grant the Pentagon the authority to establish new rare earth facilities, expand stockpile, and incentivize domestic production.
Key quote: He wrote in Commonplace, a publication run by populist think tank American Compass, that “We must end our reliance on China for rare earths, because continuing to do so only endangers American lives and places our national security at greater risk. The stakes could not be higher.”
The senator’s comments come as Trump reached a truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week on China’s recent export controls on five additional rare earths. China agreed to suspend the restriction for one year. But the agreement did not address previous export restrictions placed in April on seven rare earth materials.
Plus… rare earth stocks fall: This morning stocks fell for several rare earth companies after Trump’s agreement with China regarding rare earth export controls.
MP Materials, the rare earth company that the government acquired a stake in earlier this year, was down 4.3%. Ramaco was down 4.6%, and USA Rare Earth fell 6.3%, according to Barron’s.
Trump on 60 Minutes yesterday said “I got sort of everything that we wanted. We got– no rare earth threat. That’s gone, completely gone.”
THE TRUMP MINERAL CLUB: The Trump administration is building a coalition of allies and partners to help reduce China’s dominance over the global supply of critical minerals, E&E News reports.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference today that “in the last few weeks, the United States has announced a framework for creating a club of nations to be able to trade … [and for] refining and processing critical minerals.”
Burgum, who co-leads the administration’s Energy Dominance Council, said the club began to form two weeks ago, with countries like Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, and other countries.
“We cannot advance the industries that we’re talking about without making sure that we all have access, as a group of allies, to those materials,” Burgum said.
OPEC+ TO PAUSE PRODUCTION HIKES IN 2026: OPEC+ has agreed to pause its plans to increase production in 2026, after its monthslong production hikes stoked oil glut fears.
The details: The oil-producing bloc agreed yesterday to slightly increase production again in December by 137,000 barrels per day. However, beyond next month, OPEC+ said it would pause these production increments in January, February, and March of next year.
OPEC+ said the change was “due to seasonality,” but it does also directly allay supply glut concerns, as global and domestic producers warned that lower prices brought on by increased supply could cause production plateaus.
Prices did not appear to be strongly affected by the news on Monday morning, with both international and domestic benchmarks dropping by less than 1% before rising slightly in the afternoon. Just before 2 p.m. EST, West Texas Intermediate was up by 0.48% and priced at $61.27. Similarly, Brent Crude jumped by 0.48% and was selling at $65.08.
Read more from Callie here.
TC ENERGY COMPLETES $700M NATURAL GAS PROJECT: Canadian natural gas infrastructure firm TC Energy announced today that it has officially completed its $700 million Wisconsin Reliability Project, a natural gas pipeline initiative spanning the Badger State.
The project, which started construction in 2024, replaced roughly 51 miles of aging pipelines across Wisconsin and parts of northern Illinois. It also included upgrades to compression facilities – which increase pressure on gas to ensure continuous flow – and upgraded several meter stations. The entire project formally entered commercial service on Saturday.
All of these upgrades generated roughly $1.1 billion in economic output and are expected to reduce around 30,000 metric tons of annual greenhouse gasses, TC Energy said Monday.
Key quote: “I was born and raised in Wisconsin and I know reliable energy fuels everything—from our farms, factories and businesses to the communities that keep our neighbors working,” said Jon Draeger, Vice President of U.S. Projects at TC Energy. “The Wisconsin Reliability Project connects our state to the energy it needs while creating well-paying jobs for local workers and generating millions in tax revenue that supports our schools and communities for generations to come.”
EXXON WARNS OF LEAVING EUROPE OVER CLIMATE RULES: The chief executive of Exxon Mobil is warning that the company may pull its business out of Europe if the European Union fails to dramatically soften its ESG rules set to take effect in 2027.
Quick reminder: The EU is facing increased pressure to weaken its Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which will require some companies to provide reports on ESG effects and establish liability for ESG violations. It is intended to limit harm to the environment and human rights throughout the EU and non-EU supply chains. It would fine companies that fail to comply with the regulations 5% of their global net turnover.
The details: Exxon CEO Darren Woods is escalating his own pressure on Europe to roll back the rule, telling Reuters from Abu Dhabi that it would have “disastrous consequences.”
“If we can’t be a successful company in Europe, and more importantly, if they start to try to take their harmful legislation and enforce that all around the world where we do business, it becomes impossible to stay there,” Woods told the outlet.
Woods was joined in his threat to leave the EU by QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi, who also serves as Qatar’s Energy Minister.
CHRIS WRIGHT CLARIFIES PROPOSED NUCLEAR WEAPONS TESTING: The nuclear weapons testing ordered by Trump last week will not involve any explosions of any kind, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said over the weekend.
The details: Wright told Fox News on Sunday that the tests being discussed will likely only be “systems tests.” These do not involve any nuclear explosions but are rather “noncritical explosions,” Wright explained. He added that the tests would likely involve all other parts of a nuclear weapon that build up to a nuclear explosion.
“The testing that we’ll be doing is on new systems,” Wright said. “And again, these will be non-nuclear explosions. These are just developing these sophisticated systems so that our replacement nuclear weapons are even better than the ones they were before. They’re reliable in all circumstances, under all conditions, and they deliver the performance they were designed for.”
Read more from the Examiner’s David Zimmerman here.
ICYMI – DOE PROVIDES COAL OPERATIONS MILLIONS FOR AGING PLANTS: The Energy Department announced on Friday that it would offer $100 million to coal plant owners to restore facilities as part of an effort to boost the coal industry.
The DOE said it seeks applications for projects that will design, test, and demonstrate ways to upgrade existing coal plants to improve efficiency, reliability, and affordability. The Trump administration has taken steps to boost the coal industry.
Key quote: Wright said, “President Trump has ended the war on American coal and is restoring common sense energy policies that put Americans first. These projects will help keep America’s coal plants operating and ensure the United States has the reliable and affordable power it needs to keep the lights on and power our future.”
A LOOK AHEAD
Nov. 4 Election Day.
Nov. 4 Advanced Energy United is holding a webinar titled “Mending the Regulatory Gap: Smarter Transmission Spending for Stronger Grid.”
Nov. 4 Draslovka and Widehall are hosting a pop-up in Washington D.C. exploring the intersections of critical minerals and crypto.
Nov. 4 – 6 Grid Action is partnering with Conservative Energy Network for a fly-in this week on Capitol Hill where dozens of utility and transmission developer executives will advocate for transmission policy reform.
Nov. 5 Callie Patteson will be moderating a panel discussion hosted by Mulberry Industries titled “The Reshoring Renaissance: Renewing Domestic Manufacturing for Stronger Future,” featuring opening remarks from Republican Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia and Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland.
Nov. 5 The Henry L. Stimson Center is holding a program to discuss the environmental challenges facing Antarctica and intersections with national and global security.
Nov. 5 The Canada Clean Fuels and Carbon Markets Summit 2025 will be held in Calgary.
Nov. 6 The Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors is holding a public session and quarterly meeting in Oxford, Mississippi.
Nov. 6 – 7 The Sixth Partnership for Transatlantic Energy Cooperation ministerial will be held in Athens, Greece, featuring remarks from Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
Nov. 7 The Center for the National Interest is holding an event co-sponsored by Third Way exploring how U.S. allies can advance nuclear development.
Nov. 9 The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ 2025 annual meeting and education conference begins.
RUNDOWN
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