HOUSE GOP TAKES ON BIROL: House Energy Republicans are accusing International Energy Agency’s Chief Fatih Birol of refusing to appear before their panel – and issued a thinly veiled threat tying cooperation with the panel to the IEA’s funding.
The details: Energy and Commerce Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Duncan blasted the IEA’s executive director in a new letter for declining the panel’s invitation, and for what they consider an “inadequate response” to a letter sent out on April 3, which probed U.S. funding for the IEA and its collaboration with the Department of Energy, as well as its positioning on different energy sources.
A refresher: Republicans have grown increasingly skeptical of the international organization’s projections in recent years, which have been optimistic regarding the world’s transition to renewables and have predicted that global fossil fuel demand will peak by the end of this decade. In their original letter to Birol, congressional Republicans said the IEA had become an “‘energy transition cheerleader.’”
A notable quotable, from the latest letter: “Your refusal to provide basic information to the Committee, including records relating to the development of the IEA’s budget and work plan, impedes our oversight work,” the lawmakers wrote. “Your cooperation with the Committee’s requests is necessary for our assessment of U.S. participation and funding for the IEA.”
In a response to the Washington Examiner, the IEA stated that Birol has already offered to travel to Washington to meet with members of the committee, and are “continuing efforts to find a mutually agreeable date.” The body also responded to several written requests from the committee over recent months, and held an “extensive” technical briefing with the committee’s staff, the IEA told us.
The IEA’s response to the original letter: In an April letter, the IEA pushed back on claims that the body does not promote energy security – pointing to examples where it coordinated releases following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 to show how the European Union could reduce its reliance on Russian natural gas suppliers.
The body also defended its scenario analyses, claiming other groups that produce long-term trajectories for energy markets – such as ExxonMobil and Shell – projected a peak in oil demand before or around 2030.
The threat to funding has been ongoing: Back in April, the pair of GOP lawmakers also wrote to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm requesting information on funding and resources provided to the IEA from the DOE.
House appropriators are set to mark-up the fiscal 2025 Energy and Water appropriations bill this Friday. Pay attention to how much funds House Republicans will allot to the agency as appropriations season starts heating up.
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TO WATCH THIS WEEK: A few items of note on the agenda this week…
EUROPE TARGETS RUSSIAN LNG WITH NEW SANCTIONS PACKAGE: The European Council today adopted its fourteenth package of sanctions on Russia, which notably includes measures to limit Russia’s ability to ship LNG throughout the world.
The measures will ban Russian LNG from being shipped into the European Union for the purpose of then being reshipped to third countries, a process known as transhipment. That includes both ship-to-ship transfers and ship-to-shore transfers. Russia currently routes many of its shipments to Asian buyers through ports in the EU countries of Spain, Belgium, and France.
Russia is aiming to build LNG terminals in the Arctic that would allow it more easily to make shipments to Asian purchasers. The new round of sanctions includes measures meant to halt its progress.
The package also includes new sanctions on entities that comprise the “shadow fleet” or “dark fleet” of ships that are used to avoid the price cap on Russian oil set by Group of Seven nations.
The new measures follow the U.S. effort earlier this month to tighten Russian sanctions, including via expanded secondary sanctions.
GROWING GREEN RESISTANCE TO APPALACHIAN HYDROGEN HUB: The Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub, one of seven regional hubs funded by the Biden administration to help build out the market for clean hydrogen, faces growing opposition from local environmentalists, the Financial Times reports.
Fifty environmental groups asked the Department of Energy to suspend the project, which spans the shale region of West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania and is meant to produce hydrogen mostly using natural gas and carbon capture.
Activists argue that the project will prolong fracking for decades, and accuse it of “greenwashing” fossil fuel production. The project leader, on the other hand, argues the project will not involve any new wells being drilled – and that it’s too early in the process for localities to understand the benefits that stepped-up hydrogen production will bring. DOE, for its part, said that hydrogen production is essential to the energy transition and that the hubs, which were funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure law, “will help unlock the full potential of this versatile fuel.”
While the administration now faces pressure from local green groups not to proceed with the hub, it also is being lobbied by the industry to ease rules for the Inflation Reduction Act clean hydrogen production tax credit to make it easier for hydrogen produced with natural gas to qualify. The hubs have said that they need looser rules than proposed to be viable.
ICYMI – CHINA’S BILLIONS TO SUPPORT ELECTRIC VEHICLE INDUSTRY: China has spent $230.8 billion over more than a decade to support its electric car industry, according to an analysis published last Thursday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The government support includes nationally approved buyer rebates, exemption from a 10% sales tax, government funding for infrastructure, research and development programs for electric vehicle manufacturers, and government procurement of EVs. The government subsidies account for 18.8% of total EV sales, according to the study.
However, the study notes this to be a “highly conservative” estimate, excluding other kinds of support. It cautions that it’s difficult to obtain a full picture of government support across regions and long time periods, as some forms of support are more difficult to calculate and account for.
Why it’s important: The subsidies underline how far China has gone in supporting the EV industry – and that high quality products have resulted from the continued aid. This has brought backlash from competing nations in the West, such as the U.S. and the European Union, both of which have announced plans to impose tariffs or raise duties on the imports of Chinese EVs.
RUNDOWN
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