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CARPER AND PALLONE DEFEND TOUGHER FUEL ECONOMY RULES: Sen. Tom Carper and Rep. Frank Pallone filed a brief yesterday defending the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s authority to set tougher fuel economy standards, marking at least the third amicus brief the Environment and Public Works chairman and Energy and Commerce ranking member have collaborated on this year in litigation involving vehicle standards.
It’s representative of the larger political and legal fight between Democrats, Republicans and red states, and various interest groups over the internal combustion engine and what President Joe Biden can do to compel automakers to reduce the share of ICE-powered vehicles they manufacture.
The Inflation Reduction Act’s consumer clean vehicle credit is only part of the Biden administration’s strategy. The Environmental Protection Agency and NHTSA have set tighter standards on tailpipe emissions and fuel economy, standards that Republican-led states and fossil fuel groups are actively challenging.
Democrats in Congress have implored the administration to make the most of these regulatory authorities under the Clean Air Act and other laws to reduce emissions and compel innovation, or make electric vehicles the more economically sensible option for manufacturers.
Biden standards: EPA has already finalized tailpipe standards for model years 2023-2026 vehicles, which GOP-led states are challenging on “major questions” grounds (one Carper-Pallone brief), and NHTSA set fuel economy standards for the same years (yesterday’s Carper-Pallone brief).
The Biden EPA also reinstated the Clean Air Act waiver underpinning California’s Advanced Clean Cars program, paving the way for the state’s 2035 zero-emission vehicles regulation (the third).
What’s next: Biden issued an executive order in August 2021 requiring EPA to establish new tailpipe standards beginning with MY 2027 vehicles. That rulemaking will include stringency levels set “at least through model year 2030,” according to the administration’s unified regulatory agenda.
The order also directed NHTSA to set fuel economy standards beyond MY 2026.
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EPA PROPOSES NEW RULE TARGETING COAL PLANTS: The EPA proposed a new rule today seeking to tighten regulations on coal-fired power plants and mercury pollution, building on the Biden administration’s effort to crack down on pollution from industry, power generation, and other sectors.
EPA described the proposed rulemaking as the most significant update to date to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) since its introduction in 2012. The proposed rule seeks a further 67% emissions reduction limit for “filterable particulate matter” in existing coal-fired power plants, and a 70% reduction in mercury emissions from lignite-fired power sources.
Lignite-fired power plants represent about 30% of the mercury emissions generated by the U.S. power sector. EPA officials said today that their proposed rule would effectively bring the emissions limit for lignite plants into alignment with emissions already required for other coal-fired plants in the U.S. It would also reduce non-mercury pollutants such as nickel, arsenic, and lead pollutants at non-lignite plants, and would update a national monitoring system for coal-fired plants to ensure they are in compliance with the emissions limits.
They projected the rule would add between $2.4 billion to $3 billion in benefits over a 10-year period beginning in 2028, including up to $1.9 billion in health benefits and $1.4 billion in climate benefits.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s top Republican, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, took aim at the proposed rule, accusing the administration of waging “war” on coal and other reliable energy sources that help provide baseload power in the U.S.
“Despite agreeing with the Trump administration that existing controls on coal plants under the MATS Rule protect the public with an ample margin of safety, the Biden administration has again put politics over sound policy,” she said. “With one job-killing regulation after another, the EPA continues to threaten the livelihoods of those in West Virginia and other energy-producing communities across the country.” Read more from Breanne here.
DIRECT AIR CAPTURE STARTUP UNVEILS NEW CARBON SUCKER NEAR DENVER: Global Thermostat, a startup that designs direct air capture systems, revealed the first commercial-scale demonstration of its DAC technology yesterday at its new headquarters in Commerce City, Colorado.
The unit has been in operation since the end of last year and has capacity to capture over 1,000 tons per year, which is the threshold to qualify for the 45Q tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act. It is the largest operating in the U.S.
Global Thermostat’s technology uses highly efficient industrial fans to blow ordinary air through proprietary contactors that bind to carbon dioxide, which is then separated out with low-temperature heat.
Long road to widespread DAC: Direct air capture remains very nascent compared to point-source carbon capture, such as that installed at power plant or industrial facilities, and DAC systems have high energy requirements, which threaten to undercut a given facility’s benefits if its electricity is not generated from a low-carbon or carbon free source, according to a Government Accountability Office report published in September on carbon management technologies.
There’s also the issue of scale. As of last August, the globe’s largest direct air capture facility had the capacity to capture 4,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. The largest point-source carbon capture facility had the capacity to capture 7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.
EXXON CEASES BRAZIL DRILLING AFTER COMING UP DRY: ExxonMobil has discontinued exploration activities in Brazil’s deep water after failing to find sufficient oil, the Wall Street Journal reported this morning.
The oil major, which did not participate in a December auction for offshore drilling rights, has wrapped up initial exploration activities in Brazil, a spokesperson said, adding that the company would still consider exploration in the aera.
Exxon has identified neighboring Guyana as its favored location for international growth, while the Permian Basin remains home to its best performing assets domestically.
Together, year-over-year production in Guyana and the Permian increased by more than 30% in 2022, according to Exxon’s year-end earnings report.
INDIA’S POWER OUTPUT GROWS AT FASTEST PACE IN MORE THAN 30 YEARS: India’s power generation increased at the fastest pace in 33 years in the fiscal year ending in March, underpinned by a surge in coal-fired power generation as the country scrambled to avoid power cuts and meet a spike in demand.
According to data from Reuters, India’s power generation increased by a whopping 11.5% in the 12-month period, due to intense summer heatwaves and a colder-than-expected winter season. Total electricity output from coal also increased, making up more than 73% of the country’s total energy mix.
India, the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter, isn’t expected to shift on coal anytime soon. In the current fiscal year, which began April 1, its power plants are projected to burn about 8% more coal, according to estimates based on government data.
Increased fossil fuel burning also drove up total CO2 emissions by nearly a sixth, to 1.15 billion tons.
The increase of coal-fired plants underscores India’s ongoing struggle to embrace more renewables while also prioritizing energy security at a time of increasing demand.
YOUNGKIN ANNOUNCES TAIWAN TRIP AFTER CATL SNUB: Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will visit Taiwan and other key U.S. trade partner countries in Asia later this month, his office announced yesterday.
The visit to Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea is meant to strengthen trade partnerships between Virginia and their countries, the announcement said.
Youngkin’s trip carries special significance considering the ongoing China-Taiwan conflict and his decision not to extend a subsidy package to the joint battery manufacturing venture between Ford and Chinese battery giant CATL. Youngkin expressed that the plant with CATL, which is not owned by the state, would be a “front” for the CCP.
Michigan won the $3.5 billion Ford-CATL plant in February.
The Rundown
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