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SWAYING BIDEN ON MINING CRITICAL MINERALS: The mining industry is aiming to convince President Biden that expanding production of critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, graphite, and rare earth elements is a necessary step to meet aggressive climate targets.
The National Mining Association has already been engaging with Biden’s team on ways to support domestic critical minerals development and has plans to meet with members of the administration next week, said Rich Nolan, the trade group’s CEO.
The group says Biden’s goals to increase adoption of renewable power and electric cars are inextricably linked with ensuring a domestic supply of the minerals needed to make electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, and other clean energy technology.
“Made in America must include mined in America,” Nolan told Abby in an interview, referencing Biden’s “buy American” executive order and his pledge to ramp up domestic manufacturing of electric cars.
Hopeful signs: Nolan said he’s seeing indications the Biden team is paying close attention to critical minerals and the risks associated with not building up domestic supply.
For example, Jennifer Granholm, Biden’s nominee to lead the Energy Department, said in her confirmation hearing there are methods to mine critical minerals “in a way that respects the environment,” and she backed the agency’s role in supporting their production.
“We don’t want to be under the thumb of China or other countries that corner the market on minerals,” Granholm said.
The Energy Department is also leaving in place guidance issued by the Trump administration in December that clarified projects involving the “production, manufacture, recycling, processing, recovery, or reuse” of critical minerals could apply for the agency’s loan guarantee program.
The guidance didn’t change the rules for the loan program (instead clarifying which types of critical minerals projects could apply), but Trump officials at the time said the agency would give special consideration to critical minerals projects.
“The recognition by the Department of Energy that these projects are a priority of the U.S. government and that the capital market should join in investing in these types of operations issued a signal to the market,” Nolan said of the guidance. “That can attract additional capital and create more high-paid American jobs.”
IT’S A TRICKY ISSUE FOR BIDEN — READ ON BELOW FOR MORE…
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…A TRICKY ISSUE FOR BIDEN: Biden is certain to face pressure from environmental activists, however, who don’t want to see mining expanded in the U.S. and have fought projects that would mine lithium, silver, and other minerals used in clean energy technologies.
Environmental groups are also wary of arguments from the National Mining Association and others in industry that revisions to the permitting process are needed to ensure projects can be approved more quickly.
Nolan said it typically takes seven to 10 years for a mine to get permitted and approved in the U.S., compared to just two years in allied countries such as Canada and Australia. He added that Trump administration changes to speed up environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act were “welcome.”
Environmentalists, meanwhile, have called on the Biden administration to reject the Trump administration changes in NEPA implementation, strengthen climate considerations in environmental reviews, and expand public input.
“The best way to ensure a reliable supply of these critical minerals is to maintain our alliances with nations that source these minerals, while promoting public and private sector investment in research, conservation, recycling, and substitution,” a number of environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, Center for Biological Diversity, and Sierra Club, said in a letter to Congress last year.
MANCHIN’S KEYSTONE XL PLEA: Energy and Natural Resources Committee chairman Joe Manchin is calling on Biden to reconsider his decision to cancel a permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, as Josh first reported yesterday.
Biden’s decision has drawn backlash from union leaders who endorsed him and some centrist Democrats who say the cancellation will kill thousands of construction jobs.
What’s next: In his letter, Manchin called on Biden to support the continued construction of oil and gas pipelines more broadly, saying “responsible energy infrastructure” supports the president’s “Build Back Better” agenda.
Several House and Senate Democrats are calling on Biden to build on his cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline by shuttering another controversial pipeline, Dakota Access, while it undergoes an environmental review mandated by the courts. We’ll see if Manchin’s advocacy is persuasive.
STATES WEIGH LAWSUIT: More than a dozen state Republican attorneys general say they are reviewing whether to sue the Biden administration over its decision to reject Keystone XL.
The attorneys called on Biden to reconsider his decision to nix the pipeline, which they said in a letter yesterday to him would result in “devastating damage” to states and localities.
The 2,000-mile Keystone XL pipeline would have delivered oil from Alberta in western Canada to be refined on the Gulf Coast of Texas, but it would also pass through Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska.
MEANWHILE, VOTERS ARE FAIRLY SPLIT ON THE DECISION: Biden’s cancelation of Keystone XL is among his least popular executive orders so far, although more people agree with the decision than not.
A poll released today from Morning Consult and Politico found 42% of voters support Biden’s move to revoke the Keystone XL permit, while 38% oppose it and 20% don’t know.
It was the third least popular of 28 executive orders polled. Some of Biden’s other environmental moves polled better, including his commitment to conserve 30% of U.S. lands and oceans (63% support), ordering agencies to revisit fuel efficiency standards for vehicles (62%), and rejoining the Paris Agreement (56%).
The survey was conducted Feb. 5-7 among 1,986 registered voters.
US OIL DEMAND BUMP: U.S. oil demand recovered last week to 20.18 million barrels per day from 18.53 million barrels p/d the previous week, the Energy Information Administration reported today.
Jet fuel consumption rose the most, while motor gasoline and diesel saw slight upticks.
EIA also reported a major draw of 6.6 million barrels of crude from storage, reducing the glut in the market and leading to oil prices rising this morning. Brent crude, the international benchmark, is now over $60 per barrel.
GOP HAALAND PUSHBACK INTENSIFIES: Freshman Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming is the third Republican senator to come out in opposition of Biden’s Interior secretary nominee Deb Haaland before she’s had the chance to testify at a confirmation hearing.
Lummis follows John Barrasso of Wyoming, the ranking member of the Energy Committee that will consider her nomination, and Steve Daines of Montana.
Breaking precedent: It’s unusual for senators to oppose a nominee before they’d been afforded a chance to answer questions at a confirmation hearing. In this case, a hearing for Haaland hasn’t even been scheduled yet.
But Republicans have cited Haaland’s liberal credentials in pushing back on her more forcefully compared to Biden’s other environmental nominees, Michael Regan for EPA administrator and Granholm for Energy secretary. Assuming she gets no GOP votes, Haaland can still be confirmed if all Democrats stand by her.
BIDEN TAPS NO. 2 AT ENERGY DEPARTMENT: Biden today named former Obama administration official David Turk as deputy secretary of Energy.
Turk brings years of federal government experience to back up Granholm, who was governor of Michigan, should she be confirmed.
Turk has coordinated international clean energy efforts at the Energy Department and was deputy envoy for climate change at the State Department.
In 2016, he joined the International Energy Agency, where he was just promoted in October to deputy executive director.
More hires: The Energy Department yesterday also announced a bunch of new political appointees, including Jeremiah Baumann, most recently the director of federal policy at Energy Innovation, as deputy chief of staff, and Robert Golden, who was the deputy chief of staff for Ørsted's Offshore Wind Division in North America, as special adviser to the chief of staff.
EPA SAYS REVIEW OF ‘FOREVER CHEMICAL’ HAD POLITICAL INTERFERENCE: The EPA announced yesterday it has determined a review of the damages posed by “forever chemical” compound Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (or PFBS) was compromised by political interference during the Trump administration and violated the agency’s scientific integrity policy.
The EPA said after a review by its career scientists, it has removed the toxicity assessment, published on the Trump administration’s last full day in office, from its website.
“Issuing documents, like the PFBS Toxicity Assessment, that include conclusions purporting to reflect science when in fact they are the product of biased political interference undermines the agency’s scientific integrity policy and erodes the trust that the American public has in EPA, the quality of our science, and our ability to protect their health and the environment,” said Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, the acting head of the EPA’s research office and agency science adviser.
The EPA said the removal of the assessment aligns with Biden’s memorandum last month on scientific integrity.
TRADE COMMISSION DECISION COULD HINDER BIDEN’S ELECTRIC VEHICLE PLANS: If the U.S. International Trade Commission decides today to ban imports of certain lithium-ion battery components, it could create a hurdle for Biden’s plans to boost electric cars and for automakers Ford and Volkswagen reliant on those components for their batteries.
The ITC is poised to decide whether to agree with a ruling last year from the trade judge overseeing the case that South Korean battery maker SK Innovation stole trade secrets from competitor LG Chem, Bloomberg reports. If the ITC issues the import ban, SK Innovation would have to turn to Biden to veto it, which has only been done once in more than three decades.
SK Innovation argues an import ban would hamper Biden’s climate goals, and they’ve recruited former EPA Administrator Carol Browner as an expert witness to help make that argument.
“The U.S. automotive industry is on the cusp of a major transition to electric vehicles as part of a broader effort to combat climate change — a transition that is wholly dependent on a sufficient supply of EV batteries,” SK Innovation told the ITC.
HOUSE COVID BILL INCLUDES MONEY TO CLEAN UP POLLUTION: The House pandemic relief package includes $100 million in funding to the EPA “to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to markup documents from the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Half of those funds would go to grants to clean up the minority and low-income regions most affected by pollution, while the other half would go to air quality monitoring grants, a summary of the provisions said. The bill would also provide $4.5 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which utilities have said is critical to avoid electricity and water shut-offs during the pandemic as people struggle to pay their bills.
The Rundown
Los Angeles Times Biden wants 100% clean energy. Will California show that it’s possible?
Reuters UAW president holds White House talks on vehicle emissions
Bloomberg China needs to hit peak oil long before it reaches net-zero emissions
Wall Street Journal China’s coal war with Australia fuels shortage at home
Axios Coal is set for a miniature pandemic rebound
Reuters Canada plans hydropower push as Biden looks to clean up US grid
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | FEB. 10
12 p.m. OurEnergyPolicy hosts a webinar titled, “Guiding Principles for Sound Energy Policies” with opening remarks by Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Paul Tonko.
