WHAT’S HAPPENING: Good afternoon and happy Tuesday, readers! In today’s Daily on Energy, Callie and Maydeen dive into the flurry of executive orders President Donald Trump signed yesterday, following with reactions from lawmakers, professors, and international leaders. We also take a look at what is next for Trump’s nominations for the Departments of Energy and Interior.
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.
EXECUTIVE ORDER DETAILS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED: On Monday evening, President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders targeting immigration, trade, foreign relations, and of course, energy. While many orders were expected, such as pulling back federal support for offshore wind, there were some details you may have missed in the flurry of day one actions.
Defining energy: One of the orders signed by Trump yesterday sought to declare a National Energy Emergency within the U.S. As such, the order includes a number of key definitions for terms like energy, production, refining, and generation.
For energy, the order says this refers to sources like crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids, refined petroleum, uranium, coal, biofuels, geothermal, water, critical minerals, and lease condensates. Notably, it does not include solar or wind in this definition.
Supporting LNG: In a separate omnibus energy order aimed at “Unleashing American Energy,” the president also included language addressing his predecessor’s pause on new approvals for liquefied natural gas export projects. Specifically, it calls for the Secretary of Energy to restart reviews of applications for approvals of LNG export projects “as expeditiously as possible.”
Onshore wind also takes a hit: It was highly anticipated that Trump would target offshore wind projects in the weeks before he was inaugurated. The president, though, opted to hit the industry as a whole by pausing any new approvals, permits, leases, or loans for wind projects both onshore and offshore.
His wind executive order calls on the secretary of the interior to conduct a comprehensive assessment and review of federal wind leasing and permitting practices, considering environmental and economic impacts, before issuing any permits or approvals for such projects.
IRA funding: Also included in the large energy package is Trump’s vow to “terminate the Green New Deal” by halting all remaining funding appropriated through the Democrat-passed Inflation Reduction Act. Trump has ordered all agencies to “immediately pause the disbursement” of these funds.
It’s important to note that the Biden administration had spent the majority of these funds, with the Environmental Protection Agency spending roughly 93% of what had been appropriated to the agency by the start of last week.
Former EPA officials have insisted the Trump administration may face some hurdles in pulling back some of this funding as the agency is in legally binding agreements to distribute the federal grants. Officials have said the funds can only be legally terminated and withdrawn if there is a failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the award agreement.
PLUS…SOME REACTIONS: Former Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana took aim at the amount of executive orders issued yesterday, telling Callie, “Fashioning an energy policy that works to build economic opportunity for this nation is not best done by executive order by any president.”
Landrieu did praise Trump’s decision to restart LNG export approvals, saying the pause had been implemented for “political reasons with no real basis.” However, she noted that he would like to see Congress go one step further and pass bipartisan legislation that states LNG exports are in the nation’s interest. The former senator noted this would help prevent future administrations from making a 180 on the issue in a way that “disrupts our capital markets in a way that harms our economic future.”
Former Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio also applauded the increased support for natural gas in the executive orders, however, he criticized the president’s dismissal of renewables like solar and wind.
“I think he’s too focused on the politics of, you know, ‘drill, baby, drill,’” Ryan told Callie, adding, “We should try to dominate wind. We should try to dominate solar. We should try to dominate…any technologies coming in, whether they’re energy related or not. And to cede that ground by dismantling the industrial policy that we had…I don’t think it’s good at the end of the day.”
Meanwhile, American Energy Institute CEO Jason Isaac said the orders signed yesterday were a “victory” for American workers.
“The Paris framework does nothing to mitigate a changing climate but drives up energy costs and burdens Americans with decarbonization mandates rooted in the climate hoax,” Isaac said in a statement. “By making American energy more affordable and accessible, President Trump is benefiting not only our nation but the world.”
In regards to Trump declaring an energy emergency, Berkeley Law Professor John Yoo said on a Federalist Society webinar that the worry some conservatives have about declaring an energy emergency is that a future Democratic president could declare a climate change emergency.
He added that once a president declares an emergency, laws like the Defense Production Act and International Emergency Economic Powers Act give the executive branch “enormous authority” over the economy.
“There were progressives who were pushing President Biden to declare a climate change emergency. He did not. Conservatives would have immediately sued to stop him. An energy emergency has that same feature to it,” Yoo said. “The legal concern is can you declare this energy emergency? What’s the limiting principle we would see in the law to the emergency power of the government?”
ENERGY & INTERIOR SECRETARIES CONFIRMATION VOTE: Trump may see two key energy positions filled by the end of the week as the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is poised to hold votes on Thursday.
The details: Today, Republican Chairman Mike Lee and Ranking Member Martin Heinrich announced that the committee would be meeting to consider the nominations of former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright.
Wright has been nominated to serve as Secretary of Energy while Burgum has been tapped for Secretary of the Interior.
The men appeared before the committee last week in separate hearings that were largely drama-free. If confirmed, both Burgum and Wright are expected to help usher in Trump’s America First energy agenda and reverse a number of Biden administration climate policies.
With Republicans holding the majority in the Senate, they are not expected to face additional hurdles before being confirmed.
GLOBAL LEADERS REACT TO U.S. WITHDRAWING FROM THE PARIS AGREEMENT: Trump’s move to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement yesterday was expected, but German vice chancellor Robert Habeck said at an energy conference in Berlin that it was “fatal,” Reuters reports.
European Union commissioner Ursula von de Leyen, spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier today, stating that the Paris Agreement is the best hope in the battle against climate change.
“All continents will have to deal with the growing burden of climate change. Its impact is impossible to ignore,” Von de Leyen said. “The Paris Agreement continues to be humanity’s best hope. Europe will stay the course. And we’ll keep working with all nations that want to stop global warming.”
Von de Leyen did not explicitly name the United States.
Additional reactions gained by Reuters: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said “China is concerned about the U.S. announcement that it will withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Climate change is a common challenge facing all of humanity. No country can stay out of it, and no country can be immune to it.”
EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said “It’s a truly unfortunate development that the world’s largest economy, and one of our closest allies in the fight against climate change, is withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.
“Despite this setback, we remain committed to working with the U.S. and our international partners to address the pressing issue of climate change… The Paris Agreement has strong foundations and is here to stay,” Hoekstra added.
WIND SUFFERS SLUMP ABROAD: One of the largest offshore wind developers has seen its shares drop this week, on the heels of Trump’s executive order targeting wind.
The details: Yesterday, Denmark-based Ørsted announced new writedowns on its U.S. portfolio, sending its shares down by more than 17%, according to the Financial Times.
The company had announced impairments to its U.S. business totaling roughly 12.1 billion Danish Krone (around $1.7 billion). Ørsted reportedly attributed this to supply chain issues, interest rates and “market uncertainties.”
The impairments came just hours after Trump delivered his inauguration speech, in which he echoed his criticisms of the offshore wind industry.
Executive order impact: Ørsted currently has two offshore wind projects under construction in the U.S., known as Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind. While both projects have obtained necessary federal approvals, they could still be under threat by Trump’s executive order, which gives the secretary of the interior the authority to conduct reviews regarding terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases.
Ørsted CEO Mads Nipper told analysts on Tuesday that the company is reviewing the order, and insisted it is committed to remaining in the U.S. market, according to the Financial Times.
“We continue to navigate the complexities and uncertainties we face in a nascent offshore industry in the new US market,” Nipper said.
MAJOR WINTER SNOW HITS GULF COAST: States in the Gulf Coast are facing a historic winter storm today, bringing below-average temperatures and snowfall.
Today’s winter storm will hit parts of Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama, bringing “rare snow” to the region.
As of this morning, the highest snowfall is 10.5 inches near Lafayette, Louisiana, according to the Weather Channel. There is up to four inches of snow in Houston as of this morning and flurries have fallen on the shoreline in Galveston, Texas – take a look at this video. New Orleans also saw snow.
“This is a rare, extremely disruptive and dangerous southern winter storm. Snow and ice are accumulating in places that have not seen wintry weather in many years. Some of these towns have little to no equipment and limited supplies to deal with snow or ice on the roads,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said. “The extreme cold after the storm will slow down the cleanup process.”
Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi have declared a state of emergency. Houston’s main airports, George Bush Intercontinental and William P. Hobby, have closed due to the weather.
RUNDOWN
New York Times Mother Chimp and Daughter Share a Special Sign
Forbes Planet Last Is Not America First: Trump’s Paris Exit Is A Mistake
Inside Climate News The Pope Led Notre Dame Toward Decarbonization. He Hasn’t Influenced the School’s Alabama Coal Investment