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REACTION TO THE BIDEN OFFSHORE LEASING PLAN: The news that the Biden administration will hold just three new oil and gas offshore lease sales through 2029 was met with sharp criticism by industry groups, which argued that Interior’s new five-year plan will hamstring overall U.S. energy production – not just fossil fuels – and drive new development to other, less-efficient countries around the world.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, National Ocean Industries Association President Erik Milito said the plan threatens not just oil and gas production but also offshore wind development, thanks to the Sen. Joe Manchin-authored IRA provision that requires Interior to lease 60 million oil and gas acres in the year before it auctions off any acres for offshore wind.
Interior “is not holding enough oil and gas lease sales in order for them to take full advantage of the opportunity to have wind lease sales every year” through 2029, Milito said of Interior’s plan.
The long-awaited five-year plan, published this morning, calls for no oil and gas lease sales in 2024, and just one new sale per year to be held in 2025, 2027, and 2029.
“No administration knows in advance what the market is going to be for any energy source, whether it’s oil and gas, or solar and nuclear,” Milito added.
Instead, he said the Biden administration should be “creating the best opportunity to provide the market with the ability to secure acreage as needed, as demand is there, in order to provide the energy that the American economy is looking to get to fuel itself.”
More broadly, Milito said, the plan “jeopardizes our energy security, and economic prosperity, and undermines our efforts to reduce emissions and combat climate change—goals purportedly championed by the current administration.”
Bigger picture: The Biden administration’s new five-year program was roundly criticized by drilling advocates, Republicans, and green groups—marking the latest instance in which the president has sought to strike a balance to assuage industry leaders and environmental interests, only to spark harsh criticism from both.
Manchin, who negotiated the inclusion of the IRA provision that tethers oil and gas leasing to offshore wind, also castigated the plan, saying in a statement that it shows the Biden administration has “once again decided to put their radical political agenda” over U.S. energy security.
“Granting the bare minimum of oil and gas leases will result in a minimum of renewables leases as well because the IRA tied the two together. You can’t have one without the other,” he said in a statement. Read more from Breanne here.
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.
BIDEN SPEECH INTERRUPTED BY CLIMATE PROTESTER: President Joe Biden was heckled during a speech about bipartisanship in Arizona Thursday by a climate protester, who called for the president to declare a climate emergency amid a number of Arizonians dying from heat-related deaths.
“Why have you yet to declare a climate emergency?” the person shouted from the crowd. “Arizonians have died.”
Biden stepped in, telling the protester that he would meet with him after the speech.
“Why don’t you wait – hang on a second, I’d be happy to meet with you after I speak, OK?” Biden said. As the protester continued yelling, Biden followed up saying, “If you shush up, I’ll meet with you immediately after I speak, OK?”
The president continued his speech, noting “Democracy’s never easy, as we just demonstrated.”
Climate activists have called for Biden to declare a national emergency on climate change, which would allow the president to unleash sweeping actions to restrain greenhouse gas production, such as banning crude oil exports, ending offshore drilling, and more. But some of these steps could prove to be politically explosive for Biden, as he enters a difficult reelection bid.
SENATE FAILS TO OVERRIDE BIDEN VETO ON ENDANGERED SPECIES PROTECTIONS: Efforts to override the president’s veto on resolutions of disapproval curtailing protections for the lesser-prairie chicken and the northern long-eared bat failed in the Senate on Thursday.
The resolutions, which would overturn rules implemented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, failed to reach a two-thirds majority, with the measures only being able to gather simple majorities. The lesser prairie-chicken resolution failed 47-46, and the northern long-eared bat measure did not pass at 47-45.
Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Manchin voted with Republicans to overturn the rules on the bat species, while Manchin was the sole Democrat to vote with GOP lawmakers to curtain protections for the lesser-prairie chicken.
If you’ll recall: The Senate passed the two disapproval resolutions under the Congressional Review Act back in May, with the same Democrats voting with Republicans. President Biden vetoed the two measures earlier this week.
UAW ANNOUNCES MORE WALKOUTS: The nation’s largest auto union announced more walkouts today at Ford and GM plants as the two sides continued to spar over the terms of the union’s new four-year contract.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said this morning that the strikes will include some 7,000 union employees at a Ford plant in Chicago and a GM plant in Lansing, Michigan. Fain said Stellantis would not be included in the expanded strikes, citing some progress in their ongoing contract negotiations.
The strikes are expected to add new pressure on the car companies to reach a deal with UAW, which is pushing for wage hikes and cost of living increases for its employees, among other things.
“Without the strike weapon, the war on workers is a rigged fight,” Fain said today.
The new actions come just days after Biden traveled to Detroit, where he urged the companies to increase wages for union employees. His trip marked the first time in modern history that a U.S. president has crossed the picket lines to rally alongside striking workers.
RUSSIA GOES BEYOND OIL PRICE CAP IN INDIA SALES: Russia is selling crude oil to India at prices of roughly $80 per barrel, new trading data show, roughly $20 above the capped price set by the G-7-led coalition in December and further padding Russia’s coffers as its war in Ukraine drags on, Breanne reports.
According to the data, reported by Reuters, Russia’s flagship Urals grade crude is currently being sold at $80 per barrel, or 30% higher than the $60 cap imposed by the Russian price cap coalition last year.
The $80 price is the latest in a string of data that have cast doubt on the efficacy of the cap, especially in the months since Russia and Saudi Arabia announced voluntary oil production cuts of 1.3 million barrels per day.
Russian Urals exports have been trading to Indian refiners above $60 per barrel since mid-July, when the supply cuts were first announced, and have continued to climb higher on the tighter supplies.
The Treasury Department has claimed success in its implementation of the price cap, noting in a May progress report that Russian oil revenue in the first three months of 2023 had dropped by more than 40% compared to the same period in 2022, even as its oil sales volumes have increased by as much as 10%, largely due to increased sales to India and China.
But other, more recent, data suggest Russia’s energy exports are actually earning far more than expected. Read more from Breanne here.
45L IS OUT: The Treasury Department released new guidance Wedneady on energy efficient home tax credits worth up to $5,000 per house, Reuters reports. But in order for a builder to receive the full amount, homes must be fully capable of supporting solar power, electric heat pumps, electric vehicles and other efficiency enhancements.
The “45L” tax credit for energy efficient homes – which can be acquired from 2023 through 2032 – ranges between $500 to $5,000 per home. Homes that meet lesser Energy Star efficient appliance standards will qualify for the low end of the tax credit, while those meeting the higher Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready Home requirements could qualify for the maximum amount allocated.
For homes in multi-family buildings to qualify for the full $5,000 credit, builders must also pay workers the area’s prevailing wage, according to the IRS guidance.
The IRS guidance is among a series of clarifications from the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credit rules, which are due before the end of the year. Read more on that here.
The Rundown
Associated Press Inside scientists’ mission to save America’s wine industry from climate change
E&E News Not made in America: Factory shortage stalls offshore wind
Wall Street Journal The frantic race to protect New Orleans’s drinking water
