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| By Arianna Skibell |
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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks with reporters as he departs a vote at the U.S. Capitol last week. | Francis Chung/POLITICO |
House Republicans have officially unveiled the text of their massive energy and permitting overhaul set to hit the House floor by the end of the month. Dubbed the “Lower Energy Costs Act,” the legislation combines a number of bills advanced by House committees over the past few weeks that focus largely on long-held Republican priorities, such as boosting fossil fuel production. House leaders assigned the bill the designation H.R. 1 to signify its importance to the new GOP majority, writes POLITICO’s E&E News reporter Jeremy Dillion. Reality check: GOP lawmakers know the package has no chance of becoming law in its current form given Democratic control of the Senate, Jeremy told Power Switch. But it offers them a message they can carry into 2024 — and it serves as an aggressive starting point on negotiations about overhauling permitting rules for energy projects, a priority many Democrats share. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has been getting into shape a big push on energy policy since 2021. The package would streamline environmental reviews for energy infrastructure — be it pipelines or wind turbines — under the National Environmental Policy Act, a bedrock environmental law many Democrats consider sacred. Both sides have expressed interest in finding common ground on that issue, with Democrats being especially interested in speeding up deployment of wind, solar and power line projects to help curb climate change. Regional power lines can take years or decades to gain approval under the current process. The Biden administration has pledged to zero out carbon emissions from the power sector by 2035. Make that a hard “no” anyway: Permitting aside, Democrats have opposed almost every component of the new GOP package over the past two months, calling the measure a wish list of giveaways to fossil fuel interests. This morning, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) declared the bill “dead on arrival” in his chamber. “The bill has emerged as more of a Republican policy grievance list than a bipartisan bill capable of reaching the White House,” Jeremy said. Components of the bill aim to undercut Biden administration energy policies on federal lands and revoke key components of the president’s $369 billion clean energy law. Republicans used the package to attack Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline expansion and are proposing to ease cross-border pipeline permitting.
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It's Wednesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@eenews.net.
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| A message from Renewable Fuels Association: Adding ethanol to our fuel supply saved American drivers 77 cents per gallon of gasoline purchased between 2019 to 2022, according to economists at the University of California, Berkeley and other leading universities. That’s over $750 per household each year, representing total savings to U.S. consumers of $95 billion annually. To ensure consumers continue to enjoy these savings, President Biden should take action now to allow year-round sales of E15. Learn more here. |
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Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Annie Snider breaks down the obstacles facing the first-ever federal limit for toxic PFAS "forever chemicals" that are found in the nation's drinking water.
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The steel mills that line Lake Michigan in Indiana will face new limits on smog-forming emissions under EPA's latest plan. | Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO |
Pollution crack down — EPA announced it will dramatically curb smog-forming pollution from power plants and more than a half-dozen other industries, writes Sean Reilly. The move marks the latest effort from the Biden administration to push the country away from burning coal. The new rule aims to halve power-sector releases of nitrogen oxides (NOx) within four years. Starting in 2026, the rule also sets new NOx emissions limits for steel mills, cement manufacturers and other enterprises expected to cut their overall releases by about 15 percent in comparison with a 2019 threshold.
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| A message from Renewable Fuels Association:   |
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John James Audubon is pictured in a portrait provided by the Library of Congress. | Library of Congress |
What's in a name?
The National Audubon Society announced Wednesday that it’s keeping its name, following a lengthy internal debate and pressure from staff to sever ties to its namesake, bird artist and enslaver John James Audubon, writes Robin Bravender. The renaming debate has loomed as a contentious topic within the group for months as some Audubon affiliates have changed their own names, the organization’s employee union dropped Audubon from its title and staff accuse leadership of paying lip service to diversity efforts without taking sufficient action. Willow battle
The lawsuit filed by a bevy of environmental groups Tuesday against the Biden administration’s approval of ConocoPhillips’ Willow project is marking a new stage in the fight over drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, writes Niina H. Farah. The lawsuit charged that the administration failed to consider the project’s indirect and direct climate risks. Over its life span, the project would release nearly 280 million metric tons of planet-warming pollution. Europe’s green dilemma
As Europe looks to diversify its supply of critical raw materials away from China, it wants to make it easier to tap into domestic mineral reserves needed to build green technology like wind turbines and solar panels, writes Antonia Zimmermann. But locals and green campaigners warn that slashing red tape for extraction projects risks taking a wrecking ball to decades of work to preserve nature and biodiversity and that mining can cause water and soil pollution, deforestation and biodiversity loss.
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Impacts: Marine heat waves are sweeping the seafloor around North America. Climate tech: Floating solar panels could completely power thousands of cities.
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Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event Monday in Davenport, Iowa. | AP Photo/Ron Johnson |
Former President Donald Trump traveled to Iowa this week to bash Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for his views on ethanol. Nevada regulators approved what would be the state’s first new fossil fuel power plant in more than a decade Tuesday, responding to increased concerns about grid reliability. The Energy Department will make $750 million in infrastructure funds available for research, development and demonstration efforts to cut the cost of net-zero carbon hydrogen. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
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| A message from Renewable Fuels Association: Adding low-carbon ethanol to our nation’s fuel supply saved American drivers an average of 77 cents on each gallon of gasoline purchased between 2019 to 2022, according to a new study by economists at the University of California, Berkeley and other leading universities. That represents a total savings to U.S. consumers of more than $95 billion per year, or over $750 annually per household! As Putin’s war in Ukraine continues to wreak havoc on global energy markets, and as abnormally high inflation rates continue to challenge family budgets, the Biden administration and Congress should support the Renewable Fuel Standard and act immediately to allow year-round sales nationwide of lower-cost, lower-carbon ethanol blends like E15. Ethanol is a proven solution for reducing prices at the pump, cleaning the air, and enhancing our energy security. Learn more here. |
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