WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Wednesday, readers! We are halfway through the week and finally provide an update on the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to claw back tens of billions of climate funding. The Trump administration won’t be able to declare victory in the case just yet. 

In today’s edition of Daily on Energy, we also take a look at the administration’s reported efforts to redefine part of the Endangered Species Act, a move seemingly a part of the president’s broader effort to cut out environmental red tape for energy and manufacturing projects. 

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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.

JUDGE ISSUES ORDER TO PREVENT EPA FROM TERMINATING GREEN FUNDS: District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a preliminary injunction late last night blocking the Environmental Protection Agency from “unlawfully suspending or terminating” billions in climate grants from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which the Trump administration has said distributed the funds improperly. 

The order called on Citibank, which is holding the funds, to disburse expenses that the climate groups in question incurred before the funding freeze that started in February. It is unclear how much of the funds would be released, but climate groups expect more clarity from Chutkan on Wednesday. 

The funds in question: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has set his sights on $20 billion issued by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds and has claimed that the Biden administration improperly distributed them by routing them through Citibank. The agency froze the funds in Citibank eight weeks ago and sought to cancel $20 billion for eight nonprofit organizations through the program.

Zeldin has called the funds “gold bars,” referencing a video last year that showed a former EPA employee stating that the Biden administration was quickly trying to disburse funds before the end of the term. 

“It truly feels like we’re on the Titanic, and we’re throwing like gold bars off the edge,” the former employee says in the video.

Climate United, Coalition for Green Capital, and Power Forward Communities are the climate groups battling the EPA’s efforts to recoup the funds. The EPA has appealed the injunction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The fund was established through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The program aims to provide funding for climate projects across the country, specifically for low-income communities. 

Read more from Maydeen here. 

GOODBYE, PAPER PERMITTING: President Donald Trump signed a memorandum to speed up the permitting process for energy and infrastructure projects by bolstering the technology used in issuing environmental reviews. 

The details: In the memorandum signed yesterday, Trump called on federal agencies to “make maximum use of technology” in the environmental review and permitting process for all kinds of infrastructure projects, as required under the National Environmental Policy Act. It specifically calls on agencies to eliminate the use of paper-based application and review processes, accelerate processing times, reduce the length of documents related to applications, increase the accessibility of such documents, improve transparency of permitting schedules, and more. 

The president’s order also calls on the chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, which oversees NEPA, to issue a Permitting Technology Action Plan for all agencies within 45 days. This is expected to include technology standards, a roadmap for enhancing interagency coordination, and information on expediting permits. Agencies must implement the plan within 90 days of its release. 

Some hurdles: While trying to speed up the permitting process, the Trump administration has also created hurdles for itself. For example, the memo issues two directives to the chairman of CEQ, but the president has not yet nominated someone for that position. Additionally, reports revealed this week that CEQ ordered federal agencies to rescind existing rules on implementing NEPA and replace them with nonbinding recommendations, a move that could open the administration up to further litigation. 

Read more from Callie here. 

REDEFINING WHAT IT MEANS TO HARM AN ENDANGERED SPECIES: The Trump administration is reportedly moving forward with plans to overhaul the Endangered Species Act by changing the definition of one key word: harm. 

The details: Enacted in 1973, the ESA is primarily used to protect and recover endangered and threatened species as well as their habitats. Republicans have criticized their Democratic counterparts for taking the law too far, saying they have used it to impose stringent regulations on public and private lands. Building on his administration’s efforts to cut red tape for new energy and manufacturing infrastructure projects, Trump is weighing changing the law that has been the bedrock for decades of climate-related orders and protections, according to a RealClearPolitics report.

The administration is reportedly considering redefining the term “harm” within the Nixon-era law with a more narrow understanding of the word. In the existing text, the ESA makes it unlawful to “take” an endangered species without a permit. It then defines “take” as meaning “to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect.” As a result, regulations have gone a step further, defining harm as an action that kills or injures wildlife. Not only is this applicable to injury to the wildlife itself, but its habitat as well. 

Now the administration is looking to define “harm” only as an attempt to “take” the endangered species itself, not its surrounding habitat, according to RealClearPolitics. 

USGS ASSESSMENT FINDS UNTAPPED OIL AND GAS RESOURCES IN TEXAS: The U.S. Geological Survey released an assessment finding that there are nearly 366 million barrels of oil and 11 trillion cubic feet of gas that has yet to be recovered in the Maverick Basin, located in south-central Texas. The basin has already produced at least 306 million barrels of oil and 3.4 trillion cubic feet of gas. 

USGS said that 11 trillion cubic feet of gas is the amount of gas consumed in the U.S. in four months. 

“USGS energy assessments typically focus on undiscovered resources – areas where science tells us there may be a resource that industry hasn’t discovered yet. In this case, our assessment found substantial undiscovered natural gas resources,” Sarah Ryker, acting director of the USGS said in a statement. 

The Trump administration has aimed to boost domestic oil production. However, the Energy Information Administration last week said it expects oil demand growth will likely be less this year as a result of the trade war and OPEC+ output plans.

SHALE GROUP TOUTS FRACKING TO SUPPORT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: As the data center boom spreads across the country, shale drillers in Pennsylvania see their region as a prime location to support developments for artificial intelligence. 

The details: Since the start of the year, at least three large data center proposals have been announced in southwestern Pennsylvania, which also happens to sit above the Marcellus Shale – estimated to be the second largest natural gas find in the world. There, hydraulic fracturing has thrived as the natural gas industry has continued to grow amid the market’s departure from sources like coal. Jim Welty, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, is confident the region will only attract more data center projects. 

“We have one of the largest natural gas deposits in the world, so it just makes sense to build this here,” Welty told Axios. He called on lawmakers to “get out of our own way” to speed up the permitting process to upgrade and install new infrastructure for the natural gas industry. 

Some background: Pennsylvania produced roughly 7.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas last year, the second most behind Texas, according to the Energy Information Administration. The state only uses around 25% of the natural gas it produces, shipping much of the fuel to New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland, New York, and West Virginia. It is also home to 49 underground natural gas storage facilities – the most of any state in the U.S. With a natural gas storage capacity of around 763 billion cubic feet, Pennsylvania could very well be an attractive candidate for data center projects looking to secure reliable energy resources. 

TRUMP ORDERS INVESTIGATION INTO IMPORTS OF CRITICAL MINERALS: Trump yesterday evening signed an executive order directing the Commerce Department to launch an investigation into security risks associated with imports of critical minerals, the first step toward imposing tariffs.  

“[A]n overreliance on foreign critical minerals and their derivative products could jeopardize U.S. defense capabilities, infrastructure development, and technological innovation,” the order reads. 

The investigation raises global tension between the U.S and China, as Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods. The majority of U.S. critical minerals and rare earth come from China. In response to the U.S. sweeping tariffs, China has placed export controls on a number of rare earth elements. 

Last week, Reuters reported that China has also paused the shipment of the seven rare earth elements it placed on export controls. Rare earth elements and critical minerals are used for a range of products, including in the defense and energy sectors. 

EUROPEAN UNION SIMPLIFIES IMPLEMENTION OF CONTROVERSIAL DEFORESTATION RULES: The European Union is cutting red tape around the implementation of its controversial deforestation ban set to go into effect at the end of this year, giving some relief to importers. 

The details: Late last night, the European Commission published new guidance documents on how importers need to submit paperwork proving that their cargo is complying with the deforestation rules. 

Previously, the bloc planned to require companies to submit paperwork, also referred to as due diligence statements, for each cargo imported into the region. The new guidelines allow large companies to reuse existing statements, submit the due diligence statement on an annual basis, and allow authorized representatives to submit statements on behalf of a group of companies. 

“Our aim is to reduce the administrative burden for companies while preserving the goals of the regulation,” Jessika Roswall, the environment commissioner for the EU, said in a statement.

A reminder: In December, the European Parliament approved a one-year delay of its deforestation law, which had been set to go into effect at the end of last year. First approved in June of 2023, the law seeks to reduce the number of products consumed in Europe that contribute to deforestation, while also lowering carbon emissions and addressing deforestation on a global scale. 

Under the law, products made from commodities like coffee, soy, palm oil, cocoa, cattle, wood, and even rubber must not have been imported from recently cleared forests and must not have contributed to forest degradation. The EU had for months been facing calls to delay required compliance with the ban, in order to give foreign nations and companies more time to comply.

The law has been criticized by a number of EU member states as well as foreign producers, including the United States. In September, lawmakers from both parties warned a ban on certain imports could lead to manufacturing job losses and inflationary pressures on Europe. While they have supported the bloc’s delay of the rule, members of Congress have still called for it to be “reworked,” saying it would put the U.S. forestry industry at risk in its current state. 

ICYMI – DOZENS OF COAL PLANTS GRANTED EXEMPTION FROM EMISSION RULES: Nearly 70 coal-fired power plants have been granted a two-year exemption from federal restrictions on emissions of greenhouse gases, toxic chemicals, and other pollutants. 

The details: Yesterday, the EPA published a list of 47 power producers that will be exempt from Biden administration regulations issued via the Clean Air Act. These include regulations limiting air pollution from toxins like mercury, arsenic, and benzene that could have led to dozens of coal-plant retirements.

The administration opened up the pathway to get around the pollution regulations late last month, asking companies to send an email to the EPA requesting a two-year exemption with the possibility for renewal. 

Forty-seven companies that operate 66 plants were granted the offer. This includes the Colstrip Generating Station in Colstrip, Montana, which has long been considered to be the largest emitter of toxic air pollutants nationwide. 

Some remarks: In a statement to the Associated Press yesterday, the EPA insisted these exemptions would “bolster coal-fired electricity generation, ensuring that our nation’s grid is reliable, that electricity is affordable for the American people, and that EPA is helping to promote our nation’s energy security.”

Environmentalists have criticized the administration exemption offer, with Environmental Defense Fund’s General Counsel Vickie Patton calling the move an “extreme and improper abuse” of the Clean Air Act in March. 

“This is a Trump EPA-led effort to evade established limits on toxic pollution that protect millions of people across the U.S.,” Patton said in a statement at the time. 

RUNDOWN

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