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THE BUDGET COMMITTEE’S FOCUS ON CLIMATE: Budget Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse held his 10th climate change-related hearing of the Congress this morning as he shapes the committee into the Senate’s fossil fuel watchdog.
Whitehouse has been using the committee’s jurisdiction over budgetary matters to scrutinize oil and gas companies’ business and political strategies, carrying over the “dark money” themes he has explored on other committees, including on Judiciary with respect to the nomination of judges.
“Collectively, fossil-fuel aligned trade organizations and dark money groups have spent tens of billions of dollars—again, that we know of—on ads, lobbying, campaign contributions and dark money front groups,” Whitehouse said this morning, adding that spending by fossil fuel interests is delaying decarbonization around the world and increasing climate-related economic risks to the U.S. budget.
Keeping up the momentum: Previous hearings have explored the risks associated with continuing to build fossil fuel assets only to see them left stranded by a green energy transition. The committee has also held a hearing on the “budgetary perils of dependence on fossil fuels” and another looking at how climate change is affecting insurance markets.
Earlier this month, the committee opened an investigation into how insurance companies calculate climate-related risk and decide whether or not to underwrite fossil fuel projects.
“Any new fossil fuel expansion is incompatible with our climate goals and economic stability. By underwriting and investing in new and expanded fossil fuel projects, U.S. insurers are helping Big Oil bring us closer to the worst runaway climate scenarios, which threaten lives, livelihoods, and the federal budget,” Whitehouse said at the time.
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SENATE FAILS TO OVERRIDE BIDEN VETO OF TRUCK EMISSIONS RULE CRA: The Senate failed to override Biden’s veto of Sen. Deb Fischer’s resolution of disapproval to cancel EPA’s heavy-duty vehicle emissions rule.
The vote was an even split 50-50.The resolution required a two-thirds majority to pass.
EPA BOOSTS BIOFUELS BLENDING REQUIREMENTS BUT SPURNS CORN ETHANOL: The EPA announced it will increase the amount of biofuels that refiners must blend into their fuel mix over the next three years, even as it sparked criticism from some industry officials over its lower mandates for corn-based ethanol.
The new renewable volume obligation, or RVO, increases biofuel blending volumes in a given compliance year to 20.94 billion gallons in 2023, 21.54 in 2024, and 22.33 in 2025, according to the EPA. That’s an increase to the agency’s previously proposed blending requirements in December, which targeted biofuel volumes of 20.82 billion in 2023, 21.87 billion in 2024, and 22.68 billion in 2025. It’s also a 2.2% increase from the Biden administration’s biofuels blending mandate for 2022, which stood at just 20.63 billion gallons.
But the RVOs also include a lower mandate for conventional biofuels such as corn-based ethanol, compared to its original proposal. The final rule keeps the ethanol blending requirements at just 15 billion gallons for each of the three years, compared to the earlier proposal, which had increased the conventional biofuels requirements from 15 billion gallons in 2023 to 15.25 billion gallons in 2024 and 2025. That reduction sparked consternation from the biofuels industry, who argued that the U.S. has more than enough supply to meet the levels proposed in December.
“EPA’s decision to lower its ambitions for conventional biofuels runs counter to the direction set by Congress and will needlessly slow progress toward this administration’s climate goals,” Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor said this morning.
Meanwhile, the Renewable Fuels Association criticized the decision as both “inexplicable and unwarranted.”
The final rule “flatlines conventional renewable fuels at 15 billion gallons and misses a valuable opportunity to accelerate the energy sector’s transition to low- and zero-carbon fuels,” said RFA president Geoff Cooper.
“By removing half a billion gallons of lower-carbon, lower-cost fuel, today’s rule needlessly forfeits an opportunity to further enhance U.S. energy security and provide more affordable options at the pump for American drivers,” he added. Read more from Breanne here.
BIDEN AND ALLIES ID CLIMATE AS 1 OF 2 ‘EXISTENTIAL BATTLES’: Biden and nearly a dozen other heads of state identified climate change as one of two existential battles facing the world in a new op-ed this morning that calls for their countries’ respective development banks to work together to reach net zero globally by 2050.
The op-ed, which is bylined by Biden, Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz, Fumio Kishida, and several others, identified poverty as the other leading challenge and said climate change threatens to make poverty worse around the world.
“We want our system to deliver more for the planet. The transition to a “net zero” world and the goals of the Paris Agreement present an opportunity for this generation to unlock a new era of sustainable global economic growth,” the leaders wrote.
NEW BILL WOULD ENSURE VETERANS ARE COVERED FOR PFAS-RELATED ILLNESS: Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee of Michigan introduced legislation this morning to ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs covers healthcare costs for veterans for various illnesses linked to PFAS contamination at military bases.
The Veterans Exposed to Toxic PFAS Act would consider PFAS-connected illnesses, such as ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, and testicular cancer, to be service-connected injuries and require the VA to cover treatment.
EXXON TO SHED OFFSHORE ACREAGE IN GUYANA: ExxonMobil and the Guyanese government are working to determine which offshore exploration areas the energy giant will relinquish under the terms of a 2016 contract governing its activities in the South American country, Reuters reported.
Exxon and its partner companies must return 20% of unexplored acres this year.
Offshore Guyana is Exxon’s chief region of focus for international growth. The company announced a final investment decision for a new offshore development, as well as two new discoveries in the region, earlier this year.
It also expects to complete and start production at the site of its Payara development, which would be its third in the region, in the fourth quarter of this year. The project would bring total output offshore Guyana to nearly 600,000 barrels per day.
PENNSYLVANIA GAS SECTOR PAYS OUT RECORD TAXES TO STATE AND LOCALITIES: Pennsylvania’s natural gas sector paid out more than a quarter of a billion dollars last year in taxes to state and local governments, the state Public Utility Commission announced yesterday, a record that tops the previous high of nearly $252 million in 2018.
Revenues from the state’s tax on natural gas development totaled $278 million. They will be used to fund conservation and infrastructure improvements, as well as emergency services for recipient counties.
Highest payers: EQT Corp., the nation’s top gas producer, had a bill of more than $42 million, followed by Chesapeake Appalachia and Range Resources.
Read more from the PUC here.
GRID OPERATOR ASKS TEXANS TO TURN DOWN AC AMID SEARING HEAT WAVE: Texas grid operators asked residents yesterday to turn up their thermostats by several degrees and refrain from using large appliances through this evening, as they braced for potential grid strain and record-shattering demand that comes as a searing heat wave hits the state.
Temperatures in most of Texas have climbed into the triple digits, and humidity is again expected to drive up the forecast heat index much higher through this evening, according to forecasters. ERCOT issued a “Weather Watch” through tonight, and warned that it expects demand to peak at around 80,458 MW, shattering its previous record set last July.
Residents are expected to get a brief respite tomorrow and Friday before the excessive heat continues and puts additional strain on the grid, according to ERCOT.
“[W]e anticipate this long-duration heat wave will re-strengthen over the weekend into next week,” the National Weather Service said on Twitter. “No clear end in sight to this oppressive heat. Continue to do what you can to keep cool!”
The Rundown
Reuters Auto firms race to secure non-Chinese graphite for EVs as shortages loom
Wall Street Journal Bill Gates-backed mining company is Silicon Valley’s newest unicorn
