WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Wednesday, readers! We are tracking House negotiations over permitting reform today, as a clean energy group has pulled its support for Rep. Bruce Westerman’s SPEED Act following the inclusion of an amendment that would give the Trump administration leeway to block offshore wind projects 🏛️.
Meanwhile, Callie is back at Three Mile Island ☢️, where she’ll sit down with Energy Secretary Chris Wright – stay tuned for 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.
CLEAN ENERGY GROUP PULLS SUPPORT FROM SPEED ACT: American Clean Power is withdrawing its support for the House permitting reform bill after hardline conservatives added a provision allowing the Trump administration to continue to block offshore wind development.
Republican leadership struck a deal to include changes demanded by conservatives meant to give the Trump administration leeway in its efforts so far to limit offshore wind.
Frank Macchiarola, chief advocacy officer of ACP, told Maydeen that the change is a “poison pill,” adding it “essentially eviscerates the bipartisan certainty language.”
House Natural Resources Committee chairman Bruce Westerman’s bill, the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act, better known as the SPEED Act, would reform the National Environmental Policy Act to speed up the permitting process for energy projects.
“We appreciate the efforts that Chairman Westerman has taken in addressing permitting reform in a thoughtful and meaningful way. But the changes that were made in the Rules Committee, we think, harm our industry. They harm America’s future energy security, and we just can’t support them,” Macchiarola added.
The Trump administration has temporarily halted offshore projects in New York and Rhode Island, as well as other projects that have not yet started construction.
The bill has gained support from a range of groups like fossil fuel trade associations, manufacturing groups, and even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The SPEED ACT is set to be voted on tomorrow.
TRUMP ESCALATION WITH VENEZUELA MOVES MARKETS: The Trump administration’s rapid escalation of hostile rhetoric toward Venezuela has finally moved oil markets, albeit only marginally.
Oil prices were up this morning after President Donald Trump’s announcement last night that he was ordering a blockade on sanctioned oil tankers moving in or out of Venezuela. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 2% to $60 by the afternoon on the news.
The rhetoric: One noteworthy aspect of Trump’s comment was his reference to “all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”
Trump adviser Stephen Miller echoed that rhetoric, writing on X that “American sweat, ingenuity and toil created the oil industry in Venezuela. Its tyrannical expropriation was the largest recorded theft of American wealth and property.”
The Trump team may be referring to the expropriations of U.S. oil company assets in 2007 by President Hugo Chavez.
What it means for markets: A direct attack by the U.S. would likely not have a major impact on prices.
“Isolated attacks to drug trafficking assets such as airstrips or laboratories would have minimal impact on prices,” Francisco Monaldi, the director of Latin American energy policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, told Bloomberg. “The market would quickly absorb it.”
Venezuela accounts for less than 1% of global output. The vast majority of exports go to China, meaning that there is an added geopolitical consideration in blocking them.
OIL AND GAS EXECUTIVES STILL PESSIMISTIC ABOUT MARKETS: Oil and gas firms are reporting lower drilling and exploration activities to close out 2025, as many executives remain unhappy with lower oil prices and higher supply chain costs.
The details: The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas released its fourth quarter survey of oil and gas executives today, in which they continued to anonymously criticize the Trump administration.
Throughout this year, fossil fuel executives have been warning that the Trump administration would be unable to achieve its “drill, baby, drill” agenda amid falling crude prices and soaring supply chain costs driven by Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum. Executives previously warned that these market conditions would force firms to close up rigs and even lay off employees.
This week, one exploration and production firm executive said their company only runs one drilling rig. Earlier this year, it had three rigs.
While the administration has touted record oil production for the months of August and September, some executives are skeptical that the industry is experiencing substantial growth, with many reporting declines in production compared to the same period last year.
“There is no way that the U.S oil production data is correct,” one exploration and production firm executive said.
Read more from Callie here.
COLORADO ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH CENTER TO BE DISMANTLED: Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought has said that the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, will be dismantled.
“This facility is one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country,” Vought said on X in justifying the action.
About 750 scientists and support personnel work at NCAR, which is funded by the National Science Foundation and private universities with atmospheric research programs.
USA Today reported that the administration plans to ax what it calls “green new scam research activities” and move weather forecasting and supercomputing activities to other locations. The organization got $123 million in federal funding in 2025 from NSF.
IN OTHER NEWS FROM COLORADO: Xcel Energy shut off power this morning to nearly 50,000 customers due to high winds, increasing fire risks.
The planned outage has taken place in parts of Boulder, Clear Creek, Jefferson, Larimer, and Weld counties. Wind conditions are expected to improve around 6 p.m. today. However, Xcel noted that crews will inspect power lines and equipment before restoring power.
EUROPE STRENGTHENS CARBON BORDER TAX: While European officials consider softening various climate regulations, including the bloc’s ban on new gas vehicles, the European Union is making it clear that it is not giving up on its emissions reductions targets by widening the scope of its carbon border tax set to go in effect next year.
Quick reminder: Starting in January, the EU will impose a carbon border adjustment mechanism with the intent of lowering greenhouse gas emissions associated with imports. The tax primarily targets emissions-heavy products like steel, aluminum, cement, and fertilizers.
The details: The European Commission is now weighing applying the tax to even more products, hitting importers of refrigerators, washing machines, and even vehicle parts. The proposal recommends expanding the levy to roughly 180 products that use steel and aluminum to better ensure that emissions are “reduced rather than relocated.”
“Today, we are strengthening CBAM for competitiveness, climate, and independence. These measures protect Europe’s industries, safeguard climate investments, and ensure fair competition while cutting emissions,” Wopke Hoekstra, the commissioner for climate, said in a statement.
The move is a clear push from the EU against the Trump administration, as the president and top cabinet officials have pressured the bloc to soften or reverse major climate regulations – and appear to have found success in terms of getting the gas car ban weakened.
GLOBAL COAL DEMAND SET TO DROP: The International Energy Agency said that global coal demand is set to decline at the end of the decade due to major markets utilizing other energy sources.
The IEA said that global coal demand is set to rise by 0.5% in 2025, reaching a record 8.85 billion tonnes. The group noted that major markets like India, China, the European Union, and the United States have moved away from coal to instead use power sources like renewables, natural gas, and nuclear.
The group added that by 2030 global coal demand is expected to decline, returning to 2023 levels. IEA said coal-fired power generation is projected to decline starting next year.
For China, which accounts for more than half of global coal use, demand is expected to slightly decline by the end of the decade. It added that the largest increase in coal consumption is expected to take place in India, where demand is set to rise by 3% per year on average to 2030. Then, the fastest growth will take place in Southeast Asia, where demand is set to increase by over 4% per year by 2030.
SANDERS CALLS FOR A MORATORIUM ON DATA CENTERS: Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is calling for a moratorium on data center construction, citing the effect that the projects will have on emissions and utility bills.
“This moratorium will give democracy a chance to catch up with the transformative changes that we are witnessing and make sure that the benefits of these technologies work for all of us, not just the wealthiest people on Earth,” Sanders said in a social media post.
Sanders’s statement is just the latest and most aggressive statement yet of the anti-data-center sentiment that has been bubbling up in recent months.
The Democratic investigation: Earlier this week, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut announced a probe into data centers, specifically to tech companies like: Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, CoreWeave, Digital Realty, and Equinix.
The Chandler vote: As we wrote about, the Chandler City Council last week voted down a data center project after intense lobbying, including by former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, in what could be a harbinger of stepped-up local resistance.
On the other hand: New polling conducted by Global Strategy Group found that it’s far from clear that there is an anti-data-center majority. Only about a quarter of voters have negative views of data centers in their communities, according to the survey. Nearly as many have a favorable view, and a majority have mixed views or aren’t sure.
RUNDOWN
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