WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Friday, readers! Just a few days remain until Congress is back from the August recess. We are expecting members of the House to dive straight into discussions about permitting reform once they return. 

To preview where negotiations might go, Callie held an exclusive interview with House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman as he wrapped up his bipartisan delegation to Alaska this week. Plus, Callie also spoke with the president’s own “permitting czar” Emily Domenech, to discuss options the executive branch has to accelerate the environmental review process. 

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With a little help from our editor Joe Lawler, today’s edition of Daily on Energy also details the latest hits on wind from the administration. 

We want to wish you an early Happy Labor Day and will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday. Enjoy the long weekend! 

Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency held a multi-day hearing over its proposed rescission of the 2009 Endangerment Finding. Few attendees spoke out in support of the administration’s proposed decision, upsetting one prominent long-time oil and gas advocate. 

In a blog post published Thursday, Kathleen Sgamma lamented that fewer than two dozen individuals encouraged the administration to move forward with the rule. 

“I was the only one from the oil and natural gas industry that stood up for overturning the endangerment finding itself,” Sgamma wrote. “Hopefully, there are those who will submit supportive written comments, but at this point, I’m not sure…I fear that my industry will stay largely silent, and that’s a shame.”

PERMITTING PRIORITIES FOR THE FALL: Permitting reform is back on the table for discussions when lawmakers return to Washington, D.C., in just a matter of days. House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman is hopeful the House can move quickly on meaningful legislation, sending a package to the Senate by the end of the year. 

The details: In a phone interview with Callie yesterday afternoon, Westerman said passing permitting reform legislation is a “high priority” for him and the committee. He expects the Natural Resources to hold a hearing and markup on a substantial package soon after Congress is back in session, sending it over to the Senate before the year ends. 

Westerman, who introduced legislation last month focused on revamping the National Environmental Policy Act, said the House is likely to pass a larger permitting bill that would include other statutory revisions for laws like the Endangered Species Act. No matter what the final package looks like, NEPA will likely remain at the center. 

“Without NEPA reform, which is the key part of permitting reform, I don’t think there is any kind of a permitting reform bill. Everything hinges on NEPA,” the Arkansas Republican said. 

Read more from Callie’s interview with Westerman here. 

ALSO, DOMENECH SPEAKS ON GETTING PERMITTING PARTNERSHIPS WITH MORE STATES:  As permitting discussions ramp back up, the executive branch is also aiming to use every tool at its disposal to accelerate environmental reviews, including the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council. 

This week, the council announced a new partnership with Alaska to streamline mining, energy, and other infrastructure projects on both the state and federal level. Executive Director Emily Domenech told Callie that she expects the council will recreate this agreement with other states particularly in the West in the coming months.

Domenech also intends to leverage new technologies like artificial intelligence into the application process, making data and systems more accessible for project developers. 

While there is widespread agreement that Congress needs to pass meaningful permitting reform into law, Domenech said there still needs to be a whole-of-government approach as those negotiations continue.

“We have a ton of work to do on fast tracking permitting on the executive side,” she said. “I have full confidence in our Republicans on the Hill, but we’re not going to stop working on the things we can do on the executive side while that negotiation happens.”

TRUMP TO CANCEL $716M LOAN FOR GREEN TRANSMISSION PROJECT: The Department of Energy has reportedly canceled a $715.8 million loan that would have gone toward upgrading and expanding transmissions infrastructure in New Jersey that would have allowed over 4 gigawatts of clean energy to be pumped into the grid. 

The details: Three Energy Department officials confirmed to the Washington Free Beacon that the conditional commitment for a loan guarantee for Jersey Central Power & Light was withdrawn after company executives acknowledged that the transmission project was likely no longer justifiable because a major offshore wind project for New Jersey was abandoned over the summer. The decision to withdraw the loan comes just weeks after JCP&L said it was delaying the transmission project by 30 months. 

That wasn’t the only reason the administration pulled back the funds – sources told the Washington Free Beacon that the loan did not align with President Donald Trump’s agenda. Throughout the summer, the Trump administration accelerated its crackdown on the wind industry by rescinding federal subsidies, adding additional requirements for new projects, and ending existing regulations that previously streamlined the permitting process for renewables. 

“The Trump administration is done subsidizing projects that ultimately raise energy prices and that are bad investments for the American people. This decision should come as no surprise,” one Energy Department official told the outlet. 

Some background: The $715.8 million loan was announced in the final days of the Biden administration, one of several that was pushed out before Trump took office. The conditional commitment was handled by the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office, which has not finalized a single loan agreement under Trump thus far. Former LPO staffers have encouraged the administration to move these loans forward, insisting they can advance Trump’s energy dominance goals.

$679M GRANTS FOR OFFSHORE WIND CANCELED: In another hit to the wind industry, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced today that the administration is withdrawing or terminating a total of $679 million worth of grants for offshore-wind related projects. 

The details: Duffy said the Department of Transportation would be taking the funding and reallocating to boost the domestic maritime industry. 

“Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg bent over backwards to use transportation dollars for their Green New Scam agenda while ignoring the dire needs of our shipbuilding industry,” Duffy said. “Thanks to President Trump, we are prioritizing real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects that cost much and offer little.” 

The agency is targeting 12 grants, many of which were set to support manufacturing hubs and ports for future offshore wind farms. This includes the Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind, a planned marine terminal off the coast of California. This project, which had the largest grant of around $427 million, was intended to support the build-out of wind power in California, helping the state meet its goal of deploying 5 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. 

Here is the complete list projects affected and whether their funds were withdrawn or terminated by the administration: 

• Sparrows Point Steel Marshalling Port Project ($47,392,500 withdrawn)  
• Bridgeport Port Authority Operations and Maintenance Wind Port Project ($10,530,000 withdrawn)
• Wind Port at Paulsboro ($20,494,025 withdrawn)
• Arthur Kill Terminal ($48,008,231 withdrawn)
• Gateway Upgrades for Access, Resiliency & Development at the Port of Davisville Project ($11,250,000 withdrawn)
• Norfolk Offshore Wind Logistics Port ($39,265,000 withdrawn)
• Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind ($426,719,810 withdrawn)
• Redwood Marine Terminal Project Planning ($8,672,986 terminated)
• Salem Wind Port Project ($33,835,953 terminated)
• Lake Erie Renewable Energy Resilience Project ($11,051,586 terminated)
• Radio Island Rail Improvements in Support of Offshore Wind ($1,679,604 terminated)
• PMT Offshore Wind Development ($20,000,000 terminated)

Read more from Callie here.

EPA POISED TO SHRINK PROTECTIONS FOR WETLANDS: The Environmental Protection Agency is reportedly planning to propose a new rule under the Clean Water Act that would narrow the scope of the decades-old law, reducing federal protections for many wetlands across the country. 

The details: An internal EPA presentation obtained by E&E News reveals that the administration is seeking to only regulate wetlands if the areas meet two criteria: they contain surface water throughout the wet season, and they touch a river, stream or other water body that flows during the wet season. 

This change would reduce the number of wetland permits when issuing federal approvals under the Clean Water Act and strip smaller stream systems of federal protections. It would also exempt additional industrial waste treatment systems and ditches from the Clean Water Act, according to E&E News. One EPA staffer told the outlet that, if approved, the rule could allow private companies to build or pollute over the vast majority of wetlands in the U.S., as many are groundwater-fed or do not contain surface water throughout a wet season. 

An EPA spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that the White House Office of Management and Budget is reviewing the proposal titled “Clarifying the Legal Extent of Agency Regulation of Waters of the United States.” Final action of the rule is expected to come by the end of the year. 

EXXON BLAMES EUROPEAN UNION RULES FOR RAISING PRICES: Exxon Mobil has sharpened its criticism of European Union climate rules, blaming them for raising energy prices and undermining economic security and, consequently, support for climate change mitigation. 

“Energy prices in heavy industry and commercial transportation are rising,” the oil major said in its global outlook report yesterday. “As a result, public support for lower emissions technology needed to reach EU climate goals is wavering.”

Chris Birdsall, the director of Exxon’s economics and energy division, said that the EU had pushed through climate policies too quickly out of a mistaken belief that a transition to clean energy would lower prices, according to the Financial Times. 

“We do think high-income countries like the US and EU, over time, can afford more lower emissions solutions, but that has to play out over time. One, keep growing your economy and, number two, keep investing in technology,” he said on a call with reporters. 

EXXON DEPARTS ‘MISALIGNED’ AXPC: Exxon said it has left the industry group American Exploration and Production Council (AXPC) because of the group’s opposition to climate regulations, Argus Media reports.

Exxon said in a lobbying report that AXPC has “increasingly diverged from ExxonMobil’s climate principles,” specifically with respect to the Biden administration’s methane regulations. 

The decision came as a surprise to some, Argus reports, given that AXPC’s positioning on the relevant matters is similar to that of other trade groups of which Exxon is still a member. 

DRILL, BABY, DRILL UPDATE: The number of active drilling rigs in the U.S. is still on the downward trend, spelling trouble for Trump’s goals for “drill, baby, drill.” 

The latest estimates released by Baker Hughes this afternoon reveal there are 47 fewer active rigs in the U.S. than this time last year for a total of 536. Week-over-week, the U.S. dropped a total of two rigs, both of which were based on land and used for drilling natural gas. 

Plus, where prices stand: Oil prices were down this morning as traders grew concerned over weaker demand in the domestic market, with the summer driving season coming to an end and global supply set to rise next month. 

OPEC+ is again increasing its scheduled production hike for September, by roughly three times the anticipated monthly increment. The oil-producing bloc has held a generally optimistic view of global supply and demand growth, breaking from other forecasters including the International Energy Agency and Energy Information Administration who have repeatedly lowered their estimates. With global production only expected to grow, the EIA expects U.S. producers will continue to pull back on drilling activities through 2025 and 2026. 

Just before 3 p.m. EST, both domestic and international benchmarks had fallen by around $0.50, but were still on track for a weekly gain. Brent Crude dropped by 0.73% and was priced at $68.12 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate fell 0.91% and was selling at $64.01 per barrel.

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