A VOTE ON LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES IN ELECTRIC MOBILITY DEVICES: New York lawmakers are fast-tracking a bipartisan measure requiring a consumer product safety standard on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes a scooters, following a barrage of fires that stemmed from the batteries overheating.
The bill at hand, led by Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres, would require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to promulgate a product standard on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used in micro mobility devices to protect against the risk of fires. The bill is expected to be voted on today, under a procedural move that would fast-track its consideration and necessitate a two-thirds majority for passage.
New York City has experienced the brunt of battery-started fires. As the number of e-bikes and scooters had increased around the city over the years, so did the number of fires. Just last year, there were over 250 fires sparked by lithium batteries, causing at least 18 fatalities and more than 130 injuries. This is a huge swell from prior years – with only 30 fires related to the batteries reported in 2019.
“I’m grateful to the hundreds of first responders who continue to bravely respond to these incidents and do all they can to save lives and property, but the time has come for the federal government to act because this problem is not isolated to just New York,” Torres said last year in a statement introducing the bill.
Who’s on the bill: Many members of the New York delegation – and that includes both Republicans and Democrats. Along with Torres, Democratic Reps. Yvette Clarke, Pat Ryan, Jamaal Bowman, Adriano Espaillat, Dan Goldman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Grace Meng, Gregory Meeks, and Jerry Nadler, and GOP Reps. Andrew Garbarino, Anthony D’Esposito, Nicole Malliotakis, Nick Langworthy, and Marc Molinaro are supporting the bill.
There are also members from other states signing onto the bill, such as Democratic Reps. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Jasmine Crockett, Kevin Mullin, Colin Allred, Earl Blumenauer, Bonnie Watson Coleman, André Carson, and Troy Carter.
There’s state-level action being proposed: In January, New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said that she would propose a state-wide ban on the sale of uncertified lithium batteries. She has launched a state-wide campaign to raise awareness on the dangers of the products.
But this isn’t just a local problem: Fires caused by lithium-ion batteries have been an issue nationwide. The CPSC received reports of at least 208 fires from 39 states between January 2021 through November 2022, resulting in at least 19 fatalities.
Plus: In a 2022 letter, the CPSC had previously called on manufacturers of electric mobility devices to review their product lines and ensure they complied with “established voluntary safety standards or face possible enforcement action.” Read the letter here.
Why this is important: State officials have called for a mandatory standard on the batteries – FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh testified at a CPSC forum in August last year on the need for such regulation.
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ICYMI – SCHUMER ALL BUT DISMISSES PERMITTING REFORM: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer essentially closed the door on the possibility of permitting reform legislation this year, even as Sens. Joe Manchin and John Barrasso have continued working toward a bipartisan deal.
“I’m happy to listen, but I’ve told Joe Manchin it’s going to be virtually impossible to get something done,” Schumer said on a press call, according to The Hill.
He was responding to the new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of two rules meant to speed up transmission approvals.
Schumer blamed the GOP for the failure of permitting reform and said that, to accelerate the build-out of clean energy, the FERC rulemaking “was the necessary and nearly only way to go.”
Sen. John Barrasso, the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, blasted Democrats as being the reason for the lack of movement on any permitting reform legislation.
“If permitting reform is dead, Senator Schumer and Senate Democrats killed it,” the senator said in a written statement. “I made multiple balanced offers to achieve real reform that would spur American energy transmission and production, and help drive down costs for the American people.”
RASKIN PROBES OIL COMPANIES ABOUT ‘QUID PRO QUO’ WITH TRUMP: Oil company CEOs are under scrutiny from House Democrats because of the report that detailed former President Donald Trump asking for $1 billion in campaign contributions from the industry at a campaign dinner.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, asked nine CEOS for information about “quid pro quo financial agreements related to U.S. energy policy” that they might have made with Trump at the dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
Raskin, in letters sent to the industry figures, said the report raises “significant potential ethical, campaign finance, and legal issues.”
The inquiries were sent to executives at Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Continental Resources, Chesapeake Energy, Occidental Petroleum, Venture Global LNG, Cheniere Energy, EQT Corporation, and the American Petroleum Institute.
TARIFFS FALLOUT: The White House made official a range of higher tariffs on $18 billion worth of Chinese goods, an escalation in the trade war and a policy move that will help President Joe Biden keep pace with Trump’s populist pitch on the campaign trail.
Most of the goods affected are key to the Biden administration’s efforts to boost clean energy and, simultaneously, domestic production, including steel and aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries and battery minerals, and solar cells.
China’s Ministry of Commerce responded to the official announcement this morning by saying that it “will take resolute measures to safeguard its own rights and interests.” The agency stopped short, though, of identifying any specific countermeasures, and analysts expect that any retaliation will be muted in comparison to the trade-war measures of the Trump years, Bloomberg reported.
Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio said that Biden should go further, tweeting that tariffs “can’t stop the flood of Chinese-subsidized products on their own.” Brown is one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats in this year’s elections and has sought to appeal to workers in the state by calling for an outright ban on Chinese EVs.
PROXY ADVISOR DEALS BLOW TO CHEVRON-HESS DEAL OVER GUYANA DISPUTE: The proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services said yesterday that shareholders should abstain from voting on Chevron’s proposed $53 billion takeover of Hess, a setback for closing the deal.
At issue is a dispute with Exxon Mobil over Hess’s stake in a major offshore oil project in Guyana. Exxon has claimed that it has the right of first refusal to the asset. ISS said that investors should hold off until they gain clarity about the arbitration process, according to Reuters.
Chevron sought to take over Hess in large part to gain access to Guyana. At times, the spread between the two companies’ share prices has reflected geopolitical risk as Venezuela has threatened Guyana.
RUNDOWN
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