Daily on Energy: The scene from today’s protest at EPA headquarters

Roughly 100 climate activists gathered in front of the EPA building today, delivering public comments in support of finalizing the “strongest possible” set of pollution standards from the EPA. Activists from Moms Clean Air Force, Climate Action Campaign, Sierra Club and other groups participated. According to officials, there were 1,000,099 letters to the EPA during their public comment period – including a letter from Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia and 99 other members of Congress.

“We recognize that after transportation, cars and planes, the next biggest source of carbon pollution are these power plants,” Beyer said during his remarks. “And you being here today, led by this great group, hopefully will push President Biden and Michael Regan and other decision makers to put the strongest possible power plant standards out.”

In May, the EPA proposed new standards for coal and new natural gas-fired power plants that would require them to slash their greenhouse gas pollution by 90% between 2035 and 2040, or shut down. The proposal breaks new ground by requiring sharp pollution cuts from plants burning coal or natural gas, which combined would provide the majority of the nation’s electricity. To rationalize the cuts, the agency proposed fossil fuel plants capture their greenhouse gas emissions through carbon capture and sequestration – a long-debated technology that no plant in the U.S. currently employs.

The proposal is likely to face legal challenges from Republican-led states that welcome fossil fuels, along with legislative challenges. The Supreme Court curbed the EPA’s authority to curb power plant pollution last summer.

“Well, it’s naive to think that it won’t go to the courts, because everything does,” Beyer told the Washington Examiner. “Whatever regulations we’re working on right now are done having read the Supreme Court decision carefully. So it’s not likely that the Supreme Court will have the same type of ruling or jurisdiction. We should have figured out the jurisdictional challenge from the legal side.”

The sooner, the better: There’s also a sense of urgency from advocates for the EPA to issue the ruling as quickly as possible, in case there could be a legislative challenge from Republicans under the Congressional Review Act. Beyer recalled Obama-era regulations aimed at curbing pollution from coal mines being passed in the last year of his presidency, which were then overturned through a disapproval resolution under the CRA, and signed into law by President Donald Trump.

“It’s really important we get it, just in case we lose the Senate or don’t retake the House,” said Beyer.

Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers Breanne Deppisch (@breanne_dep) and Nancy Vu (@NancyVu99). Email [email protected] or [email protected] 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.

GRAND CANYON MONUMENT MADE OFFICIAL: Biden is in Arizona today to talk about the rising temperatures and the administration’s efforts to fight climate change, and will also announce the designation of the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni monument – which will conserve nearly 1 million acres of landscape around the Grand Canyon that has significance to many tribal nations.

“By answering the call of tribal leaders to protect these lands as his fifth new national monument, President Joe Biden is helping address injustices of the past,” said Brenda Mallory, chair of the Council of Environmental Quality, in a press call. “He is ensuring that the Grand Canyon, an iconic American treasure, will stay pristine for future generations. And he is doing so in a way that recognizes and supports the importance of hunting and fishing in the area, protects existing grazing permits and leases, and fully protects private property rights.”

According to administration officials, the existing mining claims will not be affected, nor will the existing operations within the mining boundaries – rather, the new designation will not allow new mining claims to be put into effect.

While environmentalists and tribal groups cheered the decision, many critics argued that the decision undercuts the Biden administration’s promises to reduce reliance on Russian energy and puts the U.S. in a less competitive position against countries like China.

“We currently purchase about a billion dollars of nuclear fuel from Russia right now from the state-owned nuclear company, Rosatom,” said Curtis Moore, a senior vice president of marketing and corporate development at Energy Fuels and owner of the Pinyon Plain Mine – a uranium mine operating near the Grand Canyon. “And so then to turn around and cut off our best uranium deposits. That just seems like pretty questionable policy to us.”

On a related note: There is an on-going lawsuit between the state of Utah and the federal government, challenging Biden’s restoration of the Bears Ears and Staircase-Escalante National monuments under the Antiquities Act of 1906. The state alleged last year that Biden exceeded his authority under the law when he restored more than 2 million acres that had been removed by the Trump administration, and that the state is losing revenues from mineral leasing and grazing fees. The suit is still being decided in the district court of Utah – but if the suit were to make its way to the Supreme Court, it’s possible the Grand Canyon designation could be challenged.

BONTA LEADS ATTORNEYS GENERAL ASKING DUPONT TO PAY MORE FOR PFAS: California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the attorneys general of Arizona, D.C., Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin called on DuPont and other chemical companies to pay more in their PFAS contamination settlement with public water providers, arguing that remediating the damages they caused will far exceed the settled amount of $1.18 billion.

While the attorneys general said they support a negotiated deal, they argued in an amicus letter that the new settlement amount falls far short of Dupont’s liability and would push costs onto U.S. residents and businesses.

Dupont “must pay far more to address the damage its toxic products have caused, and California will vigorously prosecute its own PFAS lawsuit to ensure the company is held accountable,” Bonta said. “When reviewing future settlements with DuPont or other PFAS manufacturers, we urge the court not to consider the DuPont settlement as a point of reference.”

Bonta is pushing to advance a lawsuit he filed against 20 PFAS manufacturers last fall on behalf of U.S. states, which seeks payment of funds necessary to mitigate the impacts to human health and the environment through environmental testing, medical monitoring, public noticing, and replacement water.

INSURER EXODUS WILL STRAIN CALIFORNIA, S&P REPORT SAYS: The recent move by a few major insurers to discontinue writing new homeowners’ policies in California – prompted by wildfires, rising rebuilding costs and regulatory limits on rate increases – is expected to push homeownership costs even higher, according to a recent S&P report. 

The analysis, reported by Bloomberg, states the waning availability of homeowners’ insurance could weaken credit quality over time, with cost increases leading to possible socio-economic shifts of communities over a longer span of time. California is already experiencing a population decline, with reduced competition among remaining insurers leading to higher prices and few options for current residents or those considering moving to California. Read the report here.

TESLA CFO ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE: Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer Zach Kirkhorn stepped down this week after more than four years in the role, the EV maker said yesterday, a surprise departure from a man many—including members of the board—were considering as a potential successor to Elon Musk, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Kirkhorn’s departure comes after nearly a decade at the company, and as Tesla prepares to roll out its Cybertruck pickup in late 2023—the first new model to be debuted from the EV maker in more than three years. (Tesla also saw an exodus of senior executives in the run-up or during the launch of its Model 3 sedan in 2017.)

Already, observers are projecting a potentially tepid market response to the Cybertruck. It is unclear who else the board might be eyeing for a second-in-command.

NORWAY TO CONNECT WESTERN EUROPE’S LARGEST LNG PLANT TO ITS GRID: Norway has approved a plan to connect Western Europe’s largest LNG plant, on the island of Melkoeya in the Arctic Circle, to its national power grid, the government announced this morning, in an effort to help drive down emissions.

Equinor, which owns the Hammerfest LNG line, estimates that connecting it to Norway’s grid will save the country an estimated 850,000 tons of carbon emissions per year, or roughly 2% of Norway’s annual emissions total.

That’s because the plan requires Norway to shut down a gas-fired power plant in its industrial town of Porsgrunn by 2030—currently the largest single source of CO2 emissions in the country—and replace it with power supplied from the national grid, which receives the bulk of its supply from renewable resources.

“This is an important day for building industry and creating jobs in northern Norway, and for the climate,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told reporters at a press conference this morning in front of the LNG facility.

To help ease concerns from environmental groups and fears from consumers about higher power prices, Norway’s center-left government agreed to postpone the power switch at the Hammerfest plant until 2030, or two years later than originally planned. It also said it will support development of new renewable resources and connection lines in the country’s northwest.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS DEMAND INFO ON GRANHOLM’S TALKS WITH CHINA: Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee demanded more information about Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s 2021 discussions with China’s top energy official, Zhang Jianhua, which took place just days before the Biden administration announced its sale of 50 million barrels of SPR oil, arguing in a new letter that it raises the urgency for the Senate to vote on H.R. 22, the House-led bill that would prohibit the Biden administration from selling any SPR oil to China.

Members also requested Granholm provide all communications and documents related to her conversations with Jianhua, as well as summaries and readouts from the calls,

“The Biden administration has helped support China’s national security at the expense of our own security by using our strategic energy supplies to help the Chinese build up their own strategic reserves,” the committe’s chairwoman, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, said in a statement. “The Energy and Commerce Committee will be demanding answers and full transparency from the Secretary.”

GM TO EQUIP ELECTRIC VEHICLES WITH BACKUP POWER AS BLACKOUT THREATS RISE: General Motors announced today it is planning to equip its electric cars and trucks with a new backup power function that can help supply electricity during blackouts, news that comes as searing temperatures push power demand to all-time highs.

The new “vehicle-to-home” technology will be available in certain GM models as early as this year, the company said, including its electric Silverado truck and its electric Cadillac Escalade. By 2026, they said, their entire fleet of EVs will be equipped with the technology.

It’s part of a broader shift in the EV industry as carmakers look to appeal to a wider clientele, and provides another incentive for drivers who might not otherwise be inclined to switch out their gas-powered cars. Blackouts have become more frequent in recent years, and are lasting longer: According to data from the International Energy Agency, the average duration of outages roughly doubled between 2015 and 2021.

“In addition to providing you with the mobility that you’ve enjoyed for the past 100 years with cars, we can now also provide backup power to your home,” senior GM official Hossein Hassani told the New York Times.

The Rundown

The Hill Year after Biden’s climate bill sees spike in renewable energy investment, industry says

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