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REACTIONS TO NORFOLK SOUTHERN’S PLANS IN EAST PALESTINE: Lawmakers from Ohio had mixed reactions this week to the news that Norfolk Southern is winding down part of its family assistance program funding in East Palestine in February, a year after the crash.
Norfolk Southern said it will end its relocation assistance program in a statement earlier this week, after completing the major excavation and soil removal activities in the area.
Other community initiatives funded by the rail company, such as its $4.3 million commitment to long-term protection for East Palestine drinking water, its $500,000 investment to create an economic development agency to work with local leaders, and its plan to establish a permanent field office in the area, remain unchanged.
While the EPA and Norfolk Southern both maintain that the area is safe for residents to return home, some lawmakers representing the state were a bit more hesitant to give Norfolk Southern a stamp of approval.
Sen. J.D. Vance, who recently rated the company’s clean-up efforts as a “C-,” reiterated some of his concerns yesterday, telling the Washington Examiner, “I think in a lot of ways Norfolk Southern hasn’t done enough.”
In East Palestine, Vance said his main concern is that “we have to finish the cleanup, especially the waterways.”
“I think it’s not done yet,” he added. “And it’s premature for anybody to pull out of the cleanup effort until we’re done.”
Refresher: The EPA ordered Norfolk Southern last year to foot the bill for cleanup in the area, as well as conducting regular water sampling and screening for toxic chemicals released during the derailment. Since then, Norfolk has overseen the excavation and shipping of more than 165,000 tons of contaminated soil for disposal off-site, as well as the shipping and disposal of some 35 million gallons of wastewater.
Its efforts were cheered by Rep. Bill Johnson – the Republican whose district includes East Palestine – who praised Norfolk Southern for what he described as a “remarkable job” in its clean-up effort. “I mean, they’ve done in eight months … what would take the EPA, with an incident this large, anywhere from two to three years.”
He told the Washington Examiner that his office hasn’t received any complaints from families who are needing further assistance from the relocation program, though he said he’ll continue to look into the matter.
Johnson also noted that he has a “very good relationship” with the railroad company, and mentioned that the CEO, Alan Shaw, has been “very collaborative and helpful.”
Looking ahead: Ohio’s congressional delegation has backed rail safety bills in both the House and Senate aimed at preventing future disasters like the one that occurred in East Palestine — but it’s unlikely either will make it to the floor for a full vote before the end of the year.
Sens. Vance and Sherrod Brown introduced the Railway Safety Act of 2023, a bipartisan bill aimed at improving rail safety protocols, including enhancing safety procedures for trains carrying hazardous materials. (Remember, this was a major priority for state and local lawmakers in the aftermath of the Norfolk Southern train derailment.)
In the House, Johnson joined Democrat Rep. Emilia Strong Sykes in introducing the RAIL Act, which tasks the FTA and NTSB with making recommended changes for rail operations, increasing funding for Hazardous Materials Training, and increasing inspections of trains carrying such materials.
But neither appears to be getting traction: Asked whether Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to bring the Senate bill to the floor, Brown told the Washington Examiner that “he wants to do it,” but may well not have a chance to, as they wrestle through other legislative priorities, including funding for the war in Ukraine. “The problem is all the chaos in the House,” he said.
Meanwhile, Johnson noted there were things in the Senate-led bill that they “could never get across the House.” One important difference between the two bills, to note: the Senate version would require at least two crew members to operate a train, while appropriating $27 million for research and development for better wayside detectors and safer train cars. The House proposal does not include either.
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CHINA’S PLAN TO IMPROVE AIR QUALITY: China will “strictly and reasonably” control total coal consumption and curb high-emissions projects in efforts to improve air quality, according to an action plan released today by China’s state council.
As reported by Reuters, by 2025, China wants to cut the density of hazardous airborne particles known as PM2.5 by 10% compared with 2020 levels, and keep the number of days with severe pollution to less than 1%.
Other proposed measures include developments of new and clean energy, increasing natural gas production, and curbing projects that lead to high energy consumption and emissions. The plan sets a target to reduce coal consumption by 10% from 2020 levels in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region by 2025, along with a 5% reduction targeted for the Yangtze River Delta region.
The plan is also calling for the consumption of energy not produced from fossil fuels to account for about 20% of total energy consumption by 2025, while also promoting the use of electric vehicles. More on that here.
THE LATEST ON COP28: It’s day eight of COP28 in Dubai, and the conference is slowing down as it heads into an official “rest day” before walking into a week of negotiations.
Here’s the rundown of what’s new, so far:
HUD joins climate change research alliance: The Department of Housing and Urban Development is set to join the U.S. Global Change Research Program, a coalition of federal entities that coordinates research on climate change, The Hill reports.
Officials announced the move in Dubai, and the agency will join other entities already a part of the program: the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Interior, State, and Transportation, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, NASA and the United States Agency for International Development.
45V tax credit to come after COP: The U.S. will release guidance on how hydrogen producers can secure billions of dollars of subsidies from Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act after the climate conference, White House advisor John Podesta told Reuters.
Industry players have been waiting anxiously for the guidance from the Treasury Department for months, as the administration debates whether to restrict the incentives to producers using new, instead of existing, clean energy sources to inhibit growth in emissions.
Asked when the guidance would be released, Podesta said he expected for it to come before the end of the year, but not during the summit. More on that here.
ICYMI: House and Senate negotiators dropped bill text of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act late Wednesday night after months of negotiations. Here’s a rundown from E&E News on what’s included – and what’s not.
SAUDI ARABIA ARGUES WIND AND SOLAR POSE CLIMATE THREAT: Saudi Arabia is pressing nations to take action on what it says is a growing threat to Earth’s climate – wind and solar, E&E News reports.
The pitch from the world’s biggest oil player centers around a Saudi government document, expressing concern about the “lifecycle” emissions of renewables – whose use has grown more popular as more countries look to transition away from fossil fuels.
“Renewables are an integral part of the solution,” a Saudi official was set to argue in a Oct. 31 closed-door speech to officials, according to a copy of the prepared text. But the Saudi text added that “we must also act immediately to address their lifecycle emissions in the near term. This will require emissions removal.”
As E&E reports, Saudi Arabia’s U.S. embassy did not respond to questions about the doc, which aligns with public statements that Saudi officials have made touting technology that captures carbon from smokestacks. But environmentalists say they worry that the kingdom is promoting efforts to manage carbon – and undercut renewables – in order to weaken support for transitioning away from fossil fuels. More on that here.
PUTIN AND MBS TALK FURTHER COOPERATION ON OIL: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed further cooperation on oil prices on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
A Saudi account of the meeting said the crown prince praised joint coordination between the two countries “that helped remove tensions in the Middle East.”
Putin and the crown prince had the last-minute talks after the Kremlin leader visited Saudi Arabia’s Gulf neighbor, the United Arab Emirates.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said cooperation would continue within OPEC+, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia.
The meeting took place after oil prices took a dip, despite an OPEC+ pledge to cut output further.
“We talked again about cooperation in OPEC+,” Interfax news agency quoted Peskov as saying. “The parties agree that our countries bear a great responsibility for interaction in order to maintain the international energy market at the proper level, in a stable, predictable state.” More on that here.
DUKE ENERGY DISCONNECTS CATL BATTERIES AT CAMP LEJEUNE: Duke Energy has disconnected its CATL industrial-scale energy storage batteries at the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps base in North Carolina, the power company announced yesterday—news that comes as the Chinese-owned battery supplier has come under growing fire by lawmakers for its ties to China’s Communist Party.
A growing list of lawmakers had voiced alarm about CATL’s operation at the military base, and more than two dozen Republicans asked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a letter last to “immediately reverse” the battery installation at Camp Lejeune.
Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia and Joe Manchin of West Virginia also asked DOE last month to prioritize domestic battery production amid what they described as China’s “near monopoly” in the market.
“Some concerns about this project have been raised, and, as a result, Duke Energy disconnected these batteries as we work to address these questions,” the company told Reuters in a statement, adding that they were not connected to the base’s cyber network or any other operations. Still, Duke Energy did not specify how long the batteries would stay offline.
The Rundown
E&E News Oil-friendly ad blitz targets Calif. climate policies
Bloomberg Dubai’s gilded COP28 summit changes climate talks forever
Financial Times Larry Fink dismisses ‘sad’ criticism of BlackRock in Republican debate
E&E News Biden regulatory plan set to shake up energy sector
