Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation
| | | | |  | | By Arianna Skibell | |  Caribou graze in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. | AP Photo | The Biden administration’s decision to cancel oil and gas leases in the Alaskan wilderness was just big enough to draw fire from the right — but not bold enough to win total praise from the left. On Wednesday, the White House revoked the seven remaining fossil fuel leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which were originally issued by the Trump administration. President Joe Biden also announced new protections for over 10 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Republicans have pounced on the move to accuse Biden of making the country more dependent on foreign oil. Especially irate were Alaska’s two GOP senators. Sen. Dan Sullivan said he was “livid” and called the decision “sickening,” Emma Dumain and Heather Richards write today. And Sen. Lisa Murkowski — who authored a provision in Republicans’ 2017 tax law that requires two lease auctions in the region — described the move as “illegal” and “reckless.” The reaction from Democrats and environmentalists was positive, but more muted. While some cheered, many also expressed disappointment that Biden didn’t go further by, for example, canceling the massive Willow oil project he had approved in the region earlier this year. ConocoPhillips’ $8 billion project could produce more than 600 million barrels of crude over 30 years. That would release nearly 280 million metric tons of planet-warming pollution into the atmosphere over the life span of the project — equivalent to an additional 2 million cars or two coal-burning power plants every year. Raena Garcia with the green group Friends of the Earth called the administration’s announcement a “small measure” that won’t erase Biden’s “incredibly disappointing climate record with respect to oil and gas leasing.” “If the Administration is truly committed to protecting our people and the planet, they will halt climate-destroying projects like Willow altogether,” she said in a statement.
| | | It's Thursday — 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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Border wall construction "caused significant damage and destruction" to Native cultural sites, damaging parts of Monument Hill in Arizona, the Government Accountability Office found. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images | Trump’s border wall
A federal report has found that former President Donald Trump's border wall harmed the environment and trampled on Native American cultural sites, writes Alex Guillén. The 450 miles of barrier constructed during Trump’s time in office — one of his highest-profile actions — interfered with endangered species, diverted water sources and caused other environmental damage, according to the Government Accountability Office. Carbon border tax
Momentum is growing on Capitol Hill for a policy that would require the tallying of carbon emissions associated with industrial materials produced in the U.S. — the first step in building support for tariffs on carbon-intensive imports, writes Emma Dumain. A bipartisan Senate proposal is gaining traction as two lawmakers prepare to introduce companion legislation in the House. Utility group taps Trump official as CEO
Dan Brouillette, the fossil fuel advocate who served as Energy secretary under Trump, is set to become the next CEO of the Edison Electric Institute, the powerful trade association representing investor-owned utilities, write Benjamin Storrow and Timothy Cama. The appointment arrives at a tense moment in the relationship between the Biden administration and the nation's utilities, many of which were caught off guard by the White House's push to regulate greenhouse gases from power plants. EEI's choice of Brouillette as its next leader could further strain relations.
| | | | Festival footprint: Burning Man’s climate reckoning has begun. Impacts: Alaskan fishers fear another bleak season as crab populations dwindle in warming waters.
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Climate scientist Patrick Brown is the co-director of the climate and energy team at the Breakthrough Institute. | The Breakthrough Institute | A climate scientist said he withheld key details of his research to fit “preapproved narratives” on climate risks in order to get published, an admission igniting controversy. Texas' electric grid operator issued an emergency warning Wednesday as a heat wave drove demand to record levels — the first such warning since the state's 2021 deadly winter storm. European companies that capture carbon and manufacture clean batteries are moving some operations to the U.S., lured by tax credits and other incentives enacted over the past two years. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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