WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Tuesday, readers! We hope you all had a relaxing Labor Day weekend.
An appeals court has sided with the Environmental Protection Agency in its efforts to claw back billions in grants from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The ruling is the latest development in the ongoing legal battle between the EPA and climate groups.
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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.
APPEALS COURT RULES AGAINST FEDERAL JUDGE IN GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION FUND CASE: A three-judge U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued a 2-1 ruling this morning in favor of the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to claw back billions of dollars in grant money to climate groups.
The case: The EPA for months has sought to terminate climate groups’ grant money from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was established as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. However, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin claimed the fund was mismanaged and lacked oversight, and that funds were improperly distributed by being routed through Citibank.
The EPA’s efforts to terminate the fund were quickly met with legal challenges brought by the grantees: Climate United, Coalition for Green Capital, and Power Forward Communities.
The appeals court ruling is the latest twist in the battle between the climate groups and the EPA. Today’s ruling overturned District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s decision in April that would have allowed the groups access to grant money held in Citibank.
The majority rule said the district court “abused its discretion” by issuing the injunction preventing the EPA from rescinding the funds. The judges added the plaintiffs were not likely to succeed in their case because it belonged in the Court of Federal Claims, not the district court.
Reaction: Climate United CEO Beth Bafford said in a statement, “While we are disappointed by the panel’s decision, we stand firm on the merits of our case: EPA unlawfully froze and terminated funds that were legally obligated and disbursed.”
“This is another hurdle in our fight to lower energy costs for those who need it most while creating jobs for hardworking Americans, but we will continue to press on for communities across the country that stand to benefit from clean, abundant, and affordable energy. This is not the end of our road,” she added.
Read more by Maydeen here.
DOI ADVANCES COAL LEASE SALES: The Department of the Interior advanced three coal lease sales in Alabama, Montana, and Utah for this fall as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to revive the coal industry.
The lease sales: In Alabama, the Bureau of Land Management will offer two lease areas covering nearly 14,050 acres beneath private lands in Tuscaloosa County. The area contains an estimated 53 million tons of metallurgical coal or met coal, which is used in steelmaking. The bid will be held on Sept. 30.
In Utah, BLM will offer about 120 acres known as the Little Eccles Tract, which contains an estimated 1.29 million tons of recoverable coal. Sealed bid offers must be submitted by Oct. 1.
Lastly, in Montana, BLM will offer nearly 1,262 acres containing an estimated 167.5 million tons of recoverable coal. Bids for the lease are due Oct. 3.
“By moving forward with these lease sales, we are creating good-paying jobs, supporting local communities, and securing the resources that keep America strong,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement. “President Trump’s leadership is putting American workers first and ensuring our nation’s energy future is built on reliable, homegrown resources.”
The DOI moves are aligned with Trump’s executive order, “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry,” which is meant to revive the coal industry by opening up public land for coal leasing.
HIGH ELECTRICITY PRICES ARE CHRIS WRIGHT’S TOP CONCERN: Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that bringing down electricity prices is a top priority for him, insisting that “crazy” renewable projects will continue to increase bills at home.
“It’s what I worry about most, seven days a week,” Wright said during an appearance on Fox Business this morning. “We want to stop the rise in electricity for Americans and reshore jobs and opportunity here.”
Wright accused the Biden administration of facilitating the steady increase in electricity prices seen over the last four years, claiming it was due to a prioritization of wind and solar projects. The Trump administration has sought to stymie the development of renewables in recent weeks by pulling government funding and federal subsidies as well as by adding bureaucratic hurdles for obtaining federal approval for new projects.
Despite the recent crackdown, Wright said, the administration won’t be able to prevent all wind and solar projects from being plugged into the grid.
“All sorts of crazy projects were under construction and being built on your electricity grids over the last four years. We can’t stop all of them,” he said. “They’re going to get finished. That extra expenditure goes into the rate base for the utility, and it pushes up your prices. But we’re doing everything we can to build common sense things on those electricity grids and to build electricity in front of the AI demand.”
Most recently: The administration tightened its grip on the renewable energy industry on Friday, as the Department of Transportation moved to withdraw and terminate roughly $679 million worth of funding for offshore wind projects. Most of the funding was not set to go towards building offshore wind farms, but instead to projects that were set to serve as manufacturing hubs and ports for future farms. The money is expected to be reallocated to boost the maritime industry.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SEEKS TO ROLL BACK SAGE GROUSE PROTECTIONS: The Bureau of Land Management is moving to re-examine the management of habitat of the Greater Sage-grouse, the latest effort from the Trump administration to walk back Biden-era environmental protections.
The details: BLM announced today that it is seeking out public comments on managing the bird’s habitat, which stretches across California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. Last November, the Biden administration increased protections for the brown speckled grouse, by issuing a rule to safeguard the habitat from drilling and mining activities. The rule also blocked renewable energy projects in the region.
The Trump administration is considering changing this Biden-era rule to expand the amount of land available for energy and mining projects.
BLM is accepting comments on its proposal until Oct. 3.
LARGEST US UTILITY ANNOUNCES ANOTHER NUCLEAR COLLABORATION: The Tennessee Valley Authority is further expanding its nuclear energy portfolio and has plans to obtain another 6 gigawatts worth of nuclear power to help meet growing energy demand.
The details: Early this morning, TVA, the largest public utility provider in the U.S., announced an agreement with ENTRA1 Energy, a strategic partner of advanced nuclear developer NuScale. Under the agreement, TVA plans to collaborate with ENTRA1 Energy to build up to 6 gigawatts worth of nuclear power generation on several sites throughout the utility’s region. ENTRA1 Energy plans to deploy small modular reactors developed by NuScale inside its energy plants.
The agreement is expected to provide enough energy to power the equivalent of 4.5 million homes, or 60 new data centers. All of the power is expected to be sold to TVA under future power purchase agreements. It was not immediately clear when ENTRA1 Energy expects to have its plants operational.
Some background: The collaboration is the latest avenue TVA is pursuing to bring as much new nuclear energy online as quickly as possible. The utility is working with Google and Kairos Power to connect 50 megawatts of SMR capacity to the grid by 2030. TVA is also planning to build its own SMR at its Clinch River Nuclear Site in eastern Tennessee.
OVER 80 SCIENTISTS SAY DOE CLIMATE REPORT IS ‘MISLEADING’: Eighty-five climate scientists said that the Department of Energy’s report that downplays climate change risks is misleading.
“Our review reveals that the DOE report’s key assertions—including claims of no trends in extreme weather and the supposed broad benefits of carbon dioxide—are either misleading or fundamentally incorrect,” the scientists said.
The scientists said that the authors of the report reached “flawed conclusions” by “cherry picking” evidence and research.
The DOE report, titled “A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate,” was released in tandem with the EPA’s proposal to roll back the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which concludes that greenhouse gas emissions threaten public health.
The DOE’s report has received criticism from a number of climate researchers who said their work that was cited in the report was misrepresented.
“No one should doubt that human-caused climate change is real, is already producing potentially dangerous impacts, and that humanity is on track for a geologically enormous amount of warming. No one knows what socioeconomic impacts of this warming will be,” the scientists said. “It should also be clear that the DOE report’s approach to undermining scientific evidence mirrors tactics previously employed by the tobacco industry to create artificial doubt.”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright spoke with Callie last month, where he admitted there were some mistakes made in the report. Read more about the interview here.
MAJOR OIL AND GAS TRADE GROUP GETS NEW PRESIDENT: The Independent Petroleum Association of America has announced the appointment of a new president to head up the industry group, which represents more than 5,000 of independent crude and natural gas producers and developers nationwide.
IPAA has appointed Edith Naegele to serve as the new president and CEO effective Sept. 22. Naegele currently serves as vice president of membership and strategic development as well as corporate secretary of the American Gas Association, where she has worked since 2021. Prior to AGA, Naegele worked for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
While leading IPAA, Naegele plans to prioritize engaging more with association members to “better understand the issues facing the upstream oil and gas industry,” the group said today.
“I am excited to join the team at the IPAA and get out to meet our members, invigorate our events, and continue to elevate the message of the importance of the U.S. oil and natural gas industry to our federal legislators and regulators,” Naegele said in a statement.
ENERGY ABROAD…THE LATEST: It has already been a busy week for the energy sector abroad, with big news coming out of Russia, China, Europe, and South America.
Russia and China: Officials from Moscow and Beijing have signed a legally binding agreement to build the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, an apparent move from Russia to secure increased exports of its energy products after Europe suspends all imports of Russian gas and oil.
Alexei Miller, CEO of Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, confirmed to Russian press today that the two countries would be moving forward on the second pipeline, which would stretch through Mongolia, according to CNBC. The pipeline is expected to supply as much as 50 billion cubic meters of gas annually for at least 30 years. The price of the gas transported through the pipeline has yet to be agreed upon.
Brazil: Brazil is seeking to affirm its position as a major player within the global energy markets, by requesting to join the International Energy Agency. The IEA confirmed today that it received a letter from Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira and Minister of Mines and Energy Alexandre Silveira to join the intergovernmental organization.
Brazil officials pointed out that the South American country has continued to hold a position as a “net oil exporter” while also leading in the integration of clean and renewable alternatives. Currently, Brazil is only an association country. Only 32 countries have full membership status, including the United States, Germany, Japan, France, Canada, and Australia. Its request comes as Brazil prepares to host the United Nations Climate Change Conference later this fall.
Germany: As the Trump administration increases pressure on its allies to slow the deployment of renewables and favor traditional fossil fuels, Germany has stayed on course to reduce reliance on coal power and is even ahead of schedule.
The Federal Network Agency, which regulates electricity and energy markets in Germany, announced yesterday that the country has already met its 2028 goal for reducing coal-fired energy generation. The country has been aiming to reduce coal energy by 8.7 gigawatts by 2028. As of Sept. 1, Germany has exceeded this goal by around 10%. The country still plans to completely phase out coal by 2038.
ICYMI – EPA FIRES STAFF FOR PUBLICLY CRITICIZING THE AGENCY: The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday fired at least eight employees who signed a letter criticizing the agency’s actions.
In June, more than 170 EPA employees signed a dissent letter criticizing the agency’s actions, stating they were steering away from its mission to protect the environment and public health.
The majority of those employees were placed on administrative leave and the EPA accused the employees of “ unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the administration’s agenda…”
It is unclear how many employees have been fired, but the Washington Post reported that at least six probationary employees and two career employees were fired.
A LOOK AHEAD:
Sept. 3 Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is holding a meeting to consider the nominations of Jeffrey Hall to serve as Environmental Protection Agency Assistant Administrator and Katherine Scarlett to serve as a member of the Council on Environmental Quality.
Sept. 3 The House Natural Resources subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources is holding a legislative hearing to discuss a number of bills that aim to unleash domestic mining capabilities.
Sept. 3 – 4 The Hydrogen Americas Summit and Exhibition is being held in Maryland at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center.
Sept. 4 The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is holding a hearing to consider the nominations of Laura Swett and David LaCerte to serve as members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Sept. 4 Latitude Media and Advanced Energy United are holding a webinar looking at how companies and states can continue to develop clean energy in the wake of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Sept. 4 The Center for Strategic and International Studies is holding a fireside chat with Jarrod Agen, executive director of the White House’s National Energy Dominance Council.
Sept. 5 The House Natural Resources Committee is holding a field hearing in Moose, Wyoming, titled “The Great American Outdoors Act: Modernizing and Maintaining National Parks to Celebrate America’s 250th Birthday.”
RUNDOWN
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