SOME RIDERS TO WATCH: House Republicans are ordering up their first batch of appropriation bills to be considered on the floor as soon as this week – and the measures are loaded with a number of energy and environment-related policy riders that are likely to get stripped out in final negotiations. 

The rundown: The House is expected to consider spending bills for the Department of Homeland Security; the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs; and the Department of Defense. While the Department of Homeland Security bill doesn’t have many energy and environmental-related riders, it does allocate $28 billion to the Federal Emergency Management Agency – a notable increase from fiscal year 2024’s spending bills. There are, however, a number of controversial measures in the other two spending bills. Here’s a non-comprehensive list of what caught our eye: 

What’s in the Department of State appropriation bills: 

What’s in the Department of Defense funding bill: 

Riders playbook: Just as Republicans did for fiscal year 2024 spending bills, the House GOP has loaded up their first version of the appropriation measures with a number of environmental riders that serve as a messaging tool for the lawmakers. However, a number of the controversial riders proposed by Republicans for FY2024 bills – such as a slate of provisions to roll back climate and energy programs in the IRA – were stripped out of the final bill. It’s likely that these riders will suffer the same fate, since Senate appropriators have been steadfast in crafting these bills in a bipartisan manner.  

But, take note: House Republicans were able to score a partial win last year, with a $1 billion cut to the EPA and a more than 3% cut at the Interior Department. 

Gear up: There are nearly 900 amendments being considered for all three bills in the Rules Committee today. We’ll be on the lookout for any energy riders that slip through. 

Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment writer Nancy Vu (@NancyVu99), with help from policy editor Joseph Lawler. Email nancy.vu@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.  

CLIMATE RESILIENCE INVESTMENT PAYS OFF, CHAMBER STUDY SHOWS: Every dollar spent on climate resilience could save communities $13 in damages and clean-up costs stemming from natural disasters, according to a new study by Allstate and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 

The study models 25 disaster scenarios around the country that have resulted in damages and cleanup costs amounting between $1 billion to $130 billion. According to the study, each model showed sizable savings when upfront investments in disaster resiliency programs and resources were made. On average, communities saved $7 on economic costs alone for every $1 invested in climate resiliency.  

An example: The report found if a large city invests $10.8 billion in resilience before a Category 4 hurricane, the city could save 184,000 jobs, $26 billion in GDP, and $17 billion in earned income for residents. But on the flipside, a lack of investment would result in the loss of 361,000 jobs, $46 billion in GDP, and $29 billion in earned income. 

Notable stat: Since 1980, the U.S. has endured 383 weather and climate disasters that have totaled more than $1 billion each in damages – amounting to more than $2.7 trillion in total. 

Some examples of investments the study is suggesting include green infrastructure, wetlands restoration, barrier walls and floodgates, enhanced evacuation routes, and more. Read the study here. 

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TO GET POWER FROM ADVANCED GEOTHERMAL IN UTAH: Southern California Edison has signed power purchase agreements with geothermal power company Fervo for power from its advanced geothermal project under construction in southwest Utah.

The agreements are for 320 megawatts of geothermal power, which is touted as carbon-free, reliable, and affordable. That’s the equivalent of the power needed for 350,000 homes. 

Why it matters: Southern California already gets some power from geothermal projects that exploit the heat and steam near the earth’s surface, Canary Media notes. Now, it will get supply from Fervo’s Cape Station project, which uses advanced oil and gas drilling techniques to tap heat far deeper down. The power will be run along high-voltage lines from Utah and through Nevada to Southern California.

ONE TO WATCH – DENMARK TO TAX LIVESTOCK EMISSIONS: Legislators in Denmark reached a deal last night to introduce a tax on carbon dioxide emissions from livestock starting in 2030, Reuters reports. 

The tax would start out at less than $20 a ton, and subsidies will be available to farmers to help them adjust their operations accordingly. The measure is meant to help Denmark meet its climate goal of cutting emissions 70% from 1990s levels. 

Why it matters: Europe has been roiled this year by protests staged by farmers upset at green agricultural policies necessitated by climate goals. But the Danish tax, which would be the first in the world, could avoid provoking major pushback. It is a compromise measure hammered out with farmers and labor unions and endorsed by agricultural groups. 

WHAT BILL GATES HAS LEARNED: Megabillionaire Bill Gates said that the most important lesson he’s learned in the 10 years since founding the clean-energy venture Breakthrough Energy is that voters are not willing to pay more for green products. 

“The Breakthrough theory of change, that middle-income countries and even rich countries aren’t willing to bear green premiums, is, sadly, being borne out,” he said in an interview with Semafor. 

He said that the companies that his group is developing, which generally receive government incentives, are doing well, but that “our current trajectory doesn’t get you anywhere near climate goals, not even close.”

Gates on nuclear: Terrapower, the nuclear company backed by Gates, broke ground earlier this month on the site for an advanced nuclear plant in Wyoming. Gates, who did a number of interviews ahead of a Breakthrough summit in London, told Axios that he sees nuclear as critical to decarbonizing the power sector. There will never be sufficient transmission to deliver solar and wind energy around the clock to places that need the power, he said. 

“Look at a place like Japan. There’s not enough wind or solar there. So what are people saying Japan should do? Not be green? Depend on another country for their electricity? If we don’t have fission or fusion, we won’t achieve our climate goals,” he said.

Rundown 

Financial Times The giant Exxon project that could create the world’s last petrostate

E&E News Utah Senate primary a test for GOP climate candidate

Bloomberg Exxon Plans New Guyana Oil Project to Lift Output Into 2030s