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WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Friday, Daily on Energy readers! It is a chilly one today in Washington, D.C., as we got our first snowfall of the season. If you are in the area, we hope you’re staying warm, cozy, and safe amid the winter weather. ❄️☃️
In today’s newsletter, we break down the details of the Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy, which lays out several key policies related to minerals and energy.
Meanwhile, we are keeping an eye on lawmakers as they continue negotiating permitting reform – we’ve got the latest on the pushback that’s slowing down hopes for a bipartisan deal.
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.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Doubts as to whether western nations can meet their ambitious climate goals continue to spread as Canadian Liberal Party politician Steven Guilbeault warned this week that Canada will fail to meet its short-term and long-term emissions reductions targets.
“With what has been announced, there’s no way Canada can meet its 2030, even its 2035, climate-change objectives,” Guilbeault said on Bloomberg’s Zero podcast. “And frankly, I doubt that we could even be carbon neutral by 2050.”
ENERGY DOMINANCE WOVEN INTO TRUMP’S NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY: Boosting domestic energy production and investment in critical minerals is a crucial part of the Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy.
The details: The plan, released today, outlines the core principles of President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy. It details a number of priorities related to energy and minerals, including increasing investments in energy sectors and critical mineral development in Africa as well as the Middle East.
Not only does the administration wish to reshore key components to support oil, gas, coal, and nuclear energy advancements, its strategy is to support global supply chain growth and open markets. One way the administration plans to do this is through increasing exports of U.S. oil and gas in order to “curtail the influence of adversaries,” support ally relationships, and “project power.”
How to get there: In order to increase exports, the administration’s plan hints at one notable step it may take: formally opposing climate change-related policies.
“We reject the disastrous ‘climate change’ and ‘Net Zero’ ideologies that have so greatly harmed Europe, threaten the United States, and subsidize our adversaries,” the plan reads.
The plan later again indicated that rescinding or easing up on “restrictive energy policies” would in tandem allow U.S. energy production to increase.
Some reaction: In order for the administration to meet its ambitions for energy dominance, Jorge Gastelumendi, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Climate Resilience Center, has suggested the government go further to establish resilience for energy infrastructure and financial systems.
“Resilient, modern infrastructure is the foundation of reliable energy and technological networks,” Gastelumendi said. “Without robust power grids, supply chains, and communications systems, ambitions for advanced nuclear reactors, AI-driven innovation, and export leadership remain fragile. Supporting that infrastructure—and embedding redundant, disaster-resistant systems—gives real durability to the energy- and technology-dominance goals.”
BIPARTISAN PERMITTING BILL FACES SURPRISING PUSHBACK FROM GOP: Not all Republicans are on board with Arkansas Rep. Bruce Westerman’s push to reform the National Environmental Policy Act through his bill, which is expected to see a floor vote this month.
The details: Westerman’s bill, the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act, is facing pushback from members of the House Freedom Caucus, who claim its permitting reforms prop up renewable sources of energy.
It’s important to note that the bill itself uses project-neutral language, which was a priority of Westerman in order to gain more support from his Democratic colleagues. If passed, these reforms would in theory apply to all energy and infrastructure projects, regardless of the resources used. The bill also now includes language blocking the executive office from revoking permits for clean energy projects.
Some conservatives are now arguing for stricter reforms, to allow for a further crackdown on wind and solar.
“The last thing we need to do with offshore wind is to tie the administration’s hands in stopping that ridiculously expensive source of energy that enriches foreign companies with American taxpayer dollars,” Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris of Maryland told E&E News. “Unfortunately, that’s exactly what the ‘SPEED Act’ would do.”
Texas Rep. Chip Roy has also voiced skepticism about the bill, telling the outlet that the caucus is looking into whether it is “still promoting too much wind and solar.”
Why this matters: With Republicans holding a slim majority in the House, major opposition within the party could make it difficult to pass the permitting reform bill. If the legislation fails to advance out of the House before the end of the year, some in Washington have suggested momentum to pass any permitting reform within this Congress will be lost heading into the midterm elections. However, the SPEED Act does have at least seven Democratic members in support of the text, and additional amendments could bring more on, allowing Republicans to sacrifice a few conservative votes.
NEW JERSEY REPRESENTATIVE HOPEFUL PROMOTES FREE SOLAR AS PART OF ENERGY STRATEGY: Former Obama administration official Cammie Croft, one of the several Democrats making a bid for New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill’s seat in the House, is aiming to break out of the crowded field with her ambitious energy policy, which includes an offer for free solar for her constituents.
Croft released her energy policy agenda on Friday, detailing three main strategies to tackle affordability and rising utility bills:
- Free rooftop solar for homeowners and businesses
- Forcing data centers to “pay their fair share” and invest in grid infrastructure
- Tying utility executive compensation to rates, preventing executives from receiving bonuses amid massive rate hikes
“Just paying our utility bills shouldn’t be so dang hard, and Democrats need to be the party that takes bold action to end the corruption that is driving them up, and actually fix the problem of skyrocketing utility bills to massively expand cheaper, cleaner energy supply,” Croft said in a statement.
GREEK ENERGY MINISTER AFFIRMS EUROPEAN BAN OF RUSSIAN GAS: Just days after the European Union decided to accelerate its phase-out of Russian gas imports, Greece’s energy minister Stavros Papastavrou insisted there is no turning back.
The details: Papastavrou has been in Washington all week, in Greece’s latest push to establish energy partnerships with the United States in order to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian fossil fuels. He appeared before the Foundation for Defense of Democracies early this morning to advocate for Greece’s position to transport natural gas through the vertical corridor to Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe.
“[The vertical corridor] will address the need to totally phase out Russian gas,” Papastavrou said, teasing an even faster phase out of Russian imports than the deadline announced this week.
“The European Union…has decided to totally disconnect from Russian gas. The regulation speaks about the end of 2027, but we're having now negotiations between the [European] Commission and the European Parliament which may lead to an earlier cut off date.”
‘Irreversible’: Papastavrou went on to say that the EU would not walk back its commitment to end Russian energy imports, indicating that the bloc would in no way support the revival of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
“It’s very important that the direction we’re heading is irreversible,” the energy minister said. “And I think on this front, both US and the EU must stand firm.”
He did explain that Russia should be reintegrated into global markets at some point, but warned that energy infrastructure should be the last sector to do so, as Moscow has used revenues from its energy exports to support the war in Ukraine.
PUTIN OFFERS ‘UNINTERRUPTED’ FUEL TO INDIA: Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is open to providing “uninterrupted shipments of fuel” to India.
Putin is in India this week as part of his first trip to the country since the Ukraine-Russia war began. According to CNBC, Putin made the offer during a joint address with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on India in an effort to pressure the country to stop purchasing Russian oil and gas, which has helped to fund the war in Ukraine. India is Russia’s second-largest importer of oil after China.
Yesterday, during an interview on an Indian television channel, Putin questioned the U.S. pressure on India. He said the U.S. still purchases nuclear fuel from Russia, adding “If the U.S. has the right to buy our fuel, why shouldn’t India have the same privilege?”
‘DRILL, BABY, DRILL’ UPDATE: The number of active drilling rigs in the U.S. is back up this week, further evidence that oil and gas markets remain fairly volatile as crude prices continue to toe the $60 per barrel line.
Rig count: Data released by Baker Hughes today revealed there are five more active rigs in the U.S. this week. Broken down, Baker Hughes found one of the added rigs was located in inland waters, another offshore, and the remaining three on land. In total, there were six oil rigs added in the last week, though one gas rig was removed, bringing the total to five. While the weekly count is up, there are still 40 fewer active rigs than this time last year.
Impact of prices: For months, oil and gas executives have warned that long-term low prices could hurt production levels and developers’ ability to drill new wells profitably. Just after 2 p.m., both international and domestic benchmarks were at or above the $60 per barrel line, with Brent Crude up by 0.65% and selling at $63.67 per barrel. Similarly, West Texas Intermediate jumped by 0.55% and was priced at $60.
Despite prices remaining low, the Energy Information Administration has been reporting record levels of production for the end of summer and beginning of fall. For September, the EIA found that oil production in the U.S. hit a new record of 13.84 million barrels per day. Natural gas production dropped slightly to 122.17 billion cubic feet per day, after hitting a record high of 122.8 billion cubic feet per day in August.
ICYMI - SOLAR COMPANIES ASK LAWMAKERS TO REVOKE DOI PERMITTING POLICY: Solar companies are calling on lawmakers to revoke the Interior Department’s policy that requires Secretary Doug Burgum to personally sign off for dozens of solar permits.
In a letter sent yesterday, 143 solar companies argued that the DOI’s policy has stalled many solar project permits on federal and private lands. DOI released a memo in July requiring Burgum to review and sign off on solar and wind energy projects. The memo is part of the administration’s broader effort to restrict the development of wind and solar power.
The companies sent the letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
“Businesses need certainty in order to continue making investments in the United States to build out much-needed energy projects. Certainty must include a review process that does not discriminate by energy source. We urge Congress to keep fairness and certainty at the center of permitting negotiations,” the companies wrote.
The letter comes as lawmakers are undertaking negotiations over permitting reform. Democrats have been hesitant to work with Republicans to reach an agreement because the administration has stalled solar and wind projects.
RUNDOWN
Grist After COP30, Indigenous advocates celebrate gains while warning of unfinished work
New York Times An Alaskan Village Confronts Its Changing Climate: Rebuild or Relocate?
Inside Climate News Global Scientists Anticipate Less Reliance on the US in Future Carbon Monitoring
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