WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Wednesday, readers! In today’s Daily on Energy, we are covering some news coming out of Congress 🏛 today with lawmakers approving the nomination of Ho Nieh to serve on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
We also hear from MP Materials and Lithium Americas executives, whose companies have signed agreements that grant equity stakes to the United States government. 🪨💸 Meanwhile, keep reading to see what energy-related bills we are following and which have passed the House.
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.
FEDERAL NUCLEAR REGULATOR APPROVED BY SENATE IN BIPARTISAN VOTE: In a bipartisan vote early this afternoon, the Senate approved the nomination of nuclear energy veteran Ho Nieh to serve on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The details: Nieh was confirmed in a vote of 66-32, with 15 Democrats voting in favor of his nomination. This includes Senate Energy Committee ranking member Martin Heinrich of New Mexico as well as Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. Two Republican senators – Mike Crapo of Idaho and Jim Justice of West Virginia – did not vote.
Nieh has spent his entire career within the nuclear energy industry, spending at least 11 years under the Clinton and second Bush administration at the NRC. Nieh returned to the independent agency under former President Barack Obama, after serving with the International Atomic Energy Agency in between. Most recently, he served as the vice president of regulatory affairs at Southern Nuclear.
Some reaction: Nieh’s confirmation was quickly celebrated by nuclear energy industry groups, including the American Nuclear Society.
“On behalf of the 12,000 members of the American Nuclear Society, we congratulate Mr. Nieh on his confirmation to the NRC,” ANS said in a statement. “America’s nuclear safety and security interests are best served by having a full roster of commissioners with proven technical expertise and professional qualifications. America’s nuclear scientific community looks forward to working with Mr. Nieh in supporting the NRC’s mission in ensuring the safe, secure, and timely licensing of the next generation of nuclear technologies.”
CRITICAL MINERAL EXECUTIVES TESTIFY IN CONGRESS: Executives of critical mineral companies testified before the House Select Committee on China today, telling lawmakers that the United States government’s stakes in their companies are necessary to compete with China.
Lithium Americas CEO Jonathan Evans and MP Materials executive vice president of corporate affairs Matthew Sloustcher both testified before lawmakers, telling them that the partnerships between the government and its companies are necessary to compete with Chinese mineral companies due to the companies not operating in a free market.
“Free-market capitalism is the engine of our economy … but the reality is that we are not operating in a free market,” Sloustcher said. “China is both a monopoly and non-market economy.”
As part of the Trump administration’s approach to building the domestic minerals supply chain, it has partnered with both Lithium Americas and MP Materials, an unusual level of direct federal intervention in the market.
In the summer, the administration took a direct stake in MP Materials to build a rare-earth magnet supply chain by constructing the company’s second U.S. magnet facility. The federal government also acquired a 5% stake in Lithium Americas, a Canadian company developing a lithium mine and processing plant in Nevada.
However, Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota noted that the government needs to push back against China’s dominance in the market, but raised concerns about the government taking a stake in private companies, warning that it could harm free-market capitalism.
“The U.S. government has taken an equity stake, Mr. Sloustcher and Mr. Evans, in your companies, that’s not normally the first place where my mind goes to what our government should do,” Dusty said.
He added, “I am open to the idea that this bold approach that is unique to your industry … I just hope it is not an example across other industries.”
Read more by Maydeen here.
DOE EXTENDS JH CAMPBELL COAL PLANT, AGAIN: The Energy Department said it would extend the J.H. Campbell coal plant in Michigan for the third time this year to ensure energy remains available for those living in Olive, Michigan, as winter approaches.
“Because of the last administration’s dangerous energy subtraction policies targeting reliable and affordable energy sources, the United States continues to face an energy emergency,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement.
“The Trump administration will keep taking action to reverse these energy subtraction policies, lowering energy costs and minimizing the risks of blackouts. Americans deserve access to affordable, reliable and secure energy regardless of whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining, especially in dangerously cold weather,” he added.
Today’s order will keep the coal plant operating until February. The DOE emergency order marks the third extension for the coal plant, which was set to retire in May. The department has made emergency orders to keep the plant operating to meet high energy demands.
Energy prices continue to rise due to electricity demands from data centers and artificial intelligence. In the recent consumer price index, electricity prices increased by 5.1% for the year ending in September, double the rate of inflation.
INTERIOR PROPOSES NARROWING ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT RULES: The Trump administration has announced sweeping changes to the Endangered Species Act, rolling back protections for animal species and plants under the bedrock environmental law.
The details: The Department of Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service unveiled four proposed rules this morning that would restore several ESA regulations to the framework established under the first Trump administration.
One of the rules would strip blanket environmental protections added under former President Joe Biden for newly designated threatened species. Instead, it proposes requiring species-specific protections.
Another rule would tweak language regarding listing, delisting and critical habitat determinations. It would specifically require a two-step process for designating unoccupied habitats, further clarify the phrases “foreseeable future,” and provide more flexibility for determining when a critical habitat designation is “not prudent.”
You can find descriptions of all four proposed rules here.
Some reaction: Environmentalists and climate hawks have lambasted the proposed changes, with the Sierra Club saying it could “bring imminent harm” to threatened species.
“These regulations attempt to undermine implementation of one of America’s bedrock environmental laws, and they could seal the fate of animals that, without these protections, would disappear from the earth,” Sierra Club Executive Director Loren Blackford said.
Meanwhile, House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman commended the rules, calling the proposal “commonsense.”
“They will ensure federal wildlife agencies get a truer picture of local environmental and economic conditions when making critical habitat designations, clarify delisting and permitting standards, and return the ESA to its original purpose,” the Arkansas Republican said.
MASSACHUSETTS BACKTRACKS ON BILL THAT WOULD SLASH CLIMATE GOALS: Massachusetts lawmakers are no longer rushing to vote on legislation that critics say would scale back the state’s efforts to tackle climate change and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
The details: Democratic state Rep. Mark Cusack, who introduced the bill earlier this month, had been pushing for the state House of Representatives to vote on the legislation by today, before the legislature leaves for an extended holiday break.
House budget chief Aaron Michlewitz said earlier this week that more conversations need to take place about the specifics of the bill’s text, particularly over whether it would or could weaken Massachusetts’ 2030 climate goals, according to the Commonwealth Beacon.
Michlewitz said the bill is “still something that we’re working on,” adding that he did not foresee the legislature tackling it before the end of the week.
“I do think that we still have some work to do on this bill, and I think that that’s been very clear,” Michlewitz added.
The bill: As we touched on in Daily on Energy last Friday, the measure would significantly weaken the state’s 2030 climate goals, which are to halve greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade, compared to 1990. The bill’s current text would make these targets no longer enforceable, but rather more “advisory in nature,” and the state would be granted “immunity” if it fails to reach those emissions limits.
It also calls for the capping of the state’s budget for its energy efficiency program, better known as Mass Save. The program’s budget was already approved by the Department of Public Utilities at around $4.5 billion. Cusack’s bill recommends capping the budget at $4 billion.
ICYMI – HOUSE VOTES TO UNDO BIDEN-ERA DRILLING & MINING CURBS IN ALASKA AND WYOMING: Late last night, the House voted in favor of rolling back environmental restrictions on drilling and mining in northern Alaska and Wyoming imposed by the Biden administration, which Republicans claim threaten fossil fuel development and energy dominance in both states.
House Republicans advanced three resolutions of congressional disapproval in a series of votes, using the Congressional Review Act, a legislative process that allows the majority to bypass a filibuster and vote in a simple majority to undo a regulation.
Boosting coal: Votes kicked off a resolution that would undo restrictions blocking further coal leasing in Buffalo, Wyoming. The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Harriet Hageman, passed in a 214-212 vote with one Republican voting against.
If passed in the Senate, the resolution would reverse a rule established by the Biden administration’s Bureau of Land Management which prohibited new coal leasing in the 800,000 acres of surface lands and 4.7 million acres of subsurface federal mineral estate in Campbell, Johnson, and Sheridan Counties in north-central Wyoming.
Opening Alaska: In a 217-209 vote, the House voted in favor of nullifying the Biden-era restrictions on oil and gas leasing in ANWR’s Coastal Plain. Three Democrats voted in favor of the resolution while one Republican voted against.
Congress first authorized drilling in ANWR in 2017, though little movement has been seen since. During his first administration, Trump approved nine lease sales in the region. The Biden administration suspended seven of these, while two were canceled by bidding companies.
Headed to the president’s desk: S.J. Res. 80 also passed in a 216-209 vote, with three Democrats voting in favor of the measure, while one Republican voted against. This resolution passed in the Senate last month and will nullify the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision issued under Biden. The management plan blocked oil and gas development from roughly 11 million acres of the region.
Read more from Callie and Maydeen on the measures here.
RUNDOWN
Washington Post One of America’s most dangerous volcanoes will soon power homes
New York Times Trump admin backs cruise industry bid to sink Hawaii climate tax
Bloomberg Preparing for a Riskier World Is Becoming a Bigger Part of Climate Talks
