Thursday, November 7, 2024

Farewell, latest bipartisan energy permitting bill

Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation
Nov 07, 2024 View in browser
 
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By Arianna Skibell

Power utility lines are seen in Pownal, Maine.

Power utility lines are seen on Oct. 6, 2021, in Pownal, Maine. | Robert F. Bukaty/AP

One of the most critical (albeit unsexy) tasks for securing the nation’s energy future — whether with clean power or fossil fuels — is issuing permits for energy infrastructure projects. No projects? No power.

But President-elect Donald Trump’s victory further complicates an already fraught and prolonged negotiation on Capitol Hill meant to speed up the permitting process. Getting a permit for an energy project can take years — almost 20, in some instances.

After scores of false starts and Republican opposition, independent Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming came up with a compromise plan that garnered considerable GOP support, even if it seemed unlikely during this Congress. Now, it’s most likely doomed, writes Kelsey Brugger.

“I don’t really see a path forward,” a Senate Republican aide granted anonymity to speak freely told Kelsey. “I don’t see there being much of an appetite on it.”

It’s not as though Democratic lawmakers were thrilled with the measure. Many argued it included too many giveaways to the oil and gas industry that would further hurt communities already plagued by pollution.

But with Republicans slated to take control of the White House and Senate, they are probably free to craft new legislation in 2025 that offers an even greater boost to oil and gas permitting without making any concessions to Democrats and their clean power provisions. (TBD whether House Democrats will amass enough power to thwart them).

The provisions the Democrats favor largely aimed to streamline the buildout of long-range power lines, which often face opposition from the many states and communities they cross.

New transmission infrastructure is needed not only to carry solar and wind power from rural areas to city centers — and meet the nation’s climate goals — but also to shore up reliability and resilience. Without it, the electric grid could increasingly fail to keep the lights on during more frequent and intensified storms and other climate-fueled disasters.

Some Republican lawmakers get that, said Devin Hartman, a director at the right-leaning R Street Institute.

“You are starting to see some Republicans appreciate the reliability lens,” he said.

But by and large, Republican lawmakers are not interested in advancing provisions associated with addressing climate change if they don’t have to. And it’s likely they won’t.

That, of course, is bad news for a livable planet. Current policies and pledges by governments across the world are falling alarmingly short of what is needed to stave off the worst of climate change. A recent United Nations report found that the odds of limiting warming to the most ambitious goal outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement are likely zero.

 

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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Listen to today’s POLITICO Energy podcast

Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Kelsey Tamborrino and Josh Siegel break down what a second Trump presidency means for the hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy funding in Democrats' 2022 climate law.

Power Centers

EPA building and Donald Trump

Illustration by Claudine Hellmuth/POLITICO (source images via Francis Chung/POLITICO and AP)

Can Trump keep his Day 1 climate promises?
Trump has promised that as soon as he takes office, he will cut energy bills in half within a year; he will ax all price-raising regulations; and he will make disaster aid contingent on bending to his will.

Scott Waldman offers a reality check on Trump's Day 1 pledges.

US-China trade war, here we come?
For energy companies and economists weighing the implications of Trump’s election, a new trade war with China might be the biggest wild card, write Peter Behr and Joel Kirkland.

Trump's proposed tariffs on imports from China could cause global supply-chain shocks, hiking the cost of producing not only clean power, but also steel, which U.S. companies need to make good on Trump’s pledge to accelerate oil and natural gas production.

How Trump could shrink EPA
On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to hollow out federal agencies he sees as bloated, including the Environmental Protection Agency.

Kevin Bogardus breaks down how Trump could use buyouts and budget cuts, among other means, to reduce the agency’s workforce.

Don't kill it, climate law supporters say
Supporters of President Joe Biden’s climate law are urging Republicans not to gut the incentives driving its $150 billion in private-sector clean energy manufacturing investments, write Kelsey Tamborrino and Jessie Blaeser.

Those investments are expected to create about 160,000 jobs, mainly in Republican congressional districts, with most projects coming online during Trump’s second term.

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Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville.

President-elect Donald Trump wooed so-called bitcoin bros as part of his campaign strategy. | Mark Humphrey/AP

The financial market's initial reaction to Trump's win: out with clean energy, in with crypto. The president-elect bashed solar and wind energy while touting power-hungry cryptocurrencies on the campaign trail.

The U.S. mining sector is hoping to capitalize on competition with China and the growing demand for critical minerals to score more policy wins under this Trump presidency compared with the last.

The White House will adopt social cost of greenhouse gas metrics issued last year by EPA, though it may be short-lived with Trump set to return in January.

That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.

 

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Arianna Skibell @ariannaskibell

 

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