WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon readers, and happy Wednesday! With a little help from our editor Joe Lawler, today’s edition of Daily on Energy kicks off looking at who will be leading the federal permitting council under the second Trump administration. 

German energy major RWE saw a major win today in a landmark case that determined when individual companies can be held accountable for impacts on climate change. Plus, Chevron has been granted some relief from the Trump administration to maintain its oil assets in Venezuela. 

Recommended Stories

• Daily on Energy: A reprieve for NYC congestion pricing, Michigan coal plant kept online, and Europe softens carbon tariff
• Daily on Energy, presented by CRES Forum: Trump boosts nuclear
• Daily on Energy, presented by CRES Forum: Reconciliation, California emissions CRAs, and hurricanes 

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.

TRUMP APPOINTS NEW HEAD OF FEDERAL PERMITTING COUNCIL: President Donald Trump’s inner circle selected to deliver on his energy dominance goals continues to grow, as the president has selected Hill veteran Emily Domenech to head the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council. 

The details: The federal permitting council announced today that Domenech has been appointed its incoming executive director, a sign that the White House plans to utilize the council in order to swiftly advance permit approvals for infrastructure projects in line with the president’s agenda. The council was first created under the Obama administration in order to make the review process more transparent and predictable across federal agencies. The 16-member council manages a nearly $75 billion portfolio for large-scale infrastructure projects in a variety of sectors, including energy production, mining, waterways, and transmission. 

As Trump has made several efforts to accelerate the permitting process to ease construction of energy and manufacturing projects – particularly those related to fossil fuels – it comes as no surprise that he would set his sights on the permitting council to further implement his agenda. 

“Streamlined permitting is critical to achieving the President’s economic goals and ensuring the next generation of innovative technologies are built in America,” Domenech said in a statement, mirroring language used by Trump and his cabinet members regarding permitting reform. 

“For far too long, burdensome regulations have stymied American industry and allowed our adversaries to take the lead,” Domenech added. 

Her appointment comes one month after Trump signed a memorandum aimed at speeding up the permitting process for energy and infrastructure projects. The memo called on federal agencies to eliminate the use of paper-based applications 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.

Some background: Domenech has long worked in the energy and permitting sectors, having worked as a senior policy advisor to speakers Mike Johnson and Kevin McCarthy. In both offices, Domenech worked closely on permitting and energy policy and also served as the lead negotiator for the House on National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reforms enacted by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WALKS BACK CLIMATE GUIDANCE FOR NEPA REVIEWS: The White House’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is moving to end Biden-era guidance that instructed federal agencies to consider the effect of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change as part of their environmental reviews when issuing permits. 

The details: In a notice published to the Federal Register today, CEQ said it would be withdrawing interim guidance published in January 2023. This temporary guidance was never made into an official rule or regulation, only directing agencies to keep the effects of climate change and emissions in mind when conducting reviews as required by NEPA. 

CEQ, which is currently being led by acting Chairwoman Katherine Scarlett, pointed to the fact that this guidance was never binding in its decision today. The agency claimed that the guidance is “inconsistent” with the Trump administration’s policy objectives, including ensuring there is an abundant supply of reliable energy in every state and territory. 

While it is withdrawing the 2023 guidance, CEQ does plan to consider issuing new or revised guidance on greenhouse gas emissions, the notice reads. 

Some background: The withdrawal of the interim guidance is the latest effort from the White House to streamline the permitting process for energy and infrastructure projects. Shortly after taking office, Trump signed an executive order requiring CEQ to provide new, nonbinding guidance on implementing NEPA and asked the agency to rescind all existing regulations. 

The agency was also ordered in April, under a new executive order, to issue a permitting technology action plan for all federal agencies and establish an interagency Permitting Innovation Center to help accelerate reviews and environmental permits. 

GLOBAL HEAT PROJECTED TO TEST RECORDS: Today the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released its updated global temperature projections for the next five years, and there is one clear trend: it’s getting hot. 

WMO estimated in its Global Annual Decadal Climate Update that there is an 80% chance at least one of the next five years will exceed 2024 as the warmest year on record. Similarly, there is an 86% chance that at least one of the next five years will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above industrial levels. There is also a 70% chance that the five-year average warming for the 2025-2029 period will be greater than 1.5 degrees Celsius, up from 47% in last year’s report. 

“We have just experienced the ten warmest years on record. Unfortunately, this WMO report provides no sign of respite over the coming years, and this means that there will be a growing negative impact on our economies, our daily lives, our ecosystems and our planet,” WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett said in a statement. 

OPEC+ LEAVES OUTPUT POLICY UNCHANGED AS ACCELERATED PRODUCTION HIKES LOOM: OPEC+ and its allies agreed today to leave their official output quotas unchanged through the end of 2026, as eight members of the oil-producing bloc are expected to ramp up production again this summer. 

The details: In order to support a stable oil market, OPEC+ and its allies agreed to “reaffirm the level of overall crude oil production for OPEC and non-OPEC Participating Countries in the Declaration of Cooperation” as decided during the group’s December meeting – meaning they again agree to cut roughly 2 million barrels per day until the end of next year. 

The agreement comes as OPEC+ members Russia, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates have begun to unwind their combined production cuts. The eight oil-producing countries had also agreed to cut 2.2 million barrels per day until April, when they began their gradual increase of production. 

The group has accelerated this production hike far swifter than expected, putting further pressure on the already volatile market. The countries are expected to meet over the weekend and agree again to hike its production output by more than anticipated in July. One OPEC+ delegate told CNBC that it could be as much as 411,000 barrels per day – triple the amount of the expected monthly increase. 

Where oil stands: Oil was on the rise following today’s meeting, with both international and domestic benchmarks gaining more than a dollar by midday. Just before 3 p.m. EST, Brent Crude was up 1.11% and priced at $64.80 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate jumped 1.40% and was selling at $61.74 per barrel.

GERMANY’S RWE SEES MAJOR WIN IN LANDMARK CLIMATE CASE: A German court has thrown out a lawsuit brought against energy major RWE by a Peruvian farmer who claimed the German company put his home at risk by fueling climate change. 

The details: While the court sided with RWE in the landmark climate case, it did affirm that individual companies can be held liable for climate-related damage if the threat is great enough. In the case of RWE, it was not, the court ruled. The court also tossed out any possibility for an appeal. 

Peruvian farmer Saúl Luciano Lliuya first brought the case against RWE in 2015, arguing that RWE’s greenhouse gas emissions have fueled global warming which then poses a risk to his home of Huaraz, Peru. The farmer claimed that the impact the company has had on climate change accelerated the melting of Andean glaciers above his hometown, which faces greater flood risks. 

While the German court sided with RWE in the case, Lliuya still sees the ruling as a win, given its acknowledgment that large polluters can be held legally responsible for impacts on climate change. 

“From the beginning we wanted to set a precedent so that we could hold the companies responsible,” Lliuya told reporters following the ruling.

“Of course in this case my request that the company has to take responsibility was rejected, well it was not completely achieved, but a big step was taken for, for other lawsuits,” he said.

RADIANT RAISES $165M FOR MICRO REACTOR: Radiant Industries raised $165 million to complete a design for a 1 megawatt “micro reactor,” Bloomberg reports, bringing its total funding for the project to $225 million. 

The Kaleidos micro-reactor is intended to replace diesel generators at locations like military sites or remote villages for three to five years, with rapid installation. 

“We deliver three to five years of energy in one box,” Chief Operating Officer Tori Shivanandan said. 

RUBBER TIRE MANUFACTURING EMISSIONS REGULATION CRA SIGNED: Trump has signed a Congressional Review Act resolution to undo the Environmental Protection Agency’s standards relating to hazardous air pollutants from rubber tire facilities, according to the resolution’s sponsor, Rep. Morgan Griffith. 

Maydeen wrote a rundown of all the CRA efforts underway and finished. You can read that here. 

ICYMI – CHEVRON GRANTED LIMITED LICENSE TO PRESERVE VENEZUELAN OIL ASSETS: The Trump administration has issued oil major Chevron a narrow license to maintain its oil-producing assets in Venezuela, months after the president revoked a deal allowing the company to produce oil in the country. 

The details: Yesterday, the Treasury Department issued a waiver for Chevron to continue conducting maintenance on equipment still located in Venezuela, according to Bloomberg. The license does not permit Chevron to produce any oil, but does help reduce the risk of Venezuelan authorities taking control of any of Chevron’s assets. 

Chevron told Bloomberg that the company’s continued presence in the South American country remains in compliance with “all applicable laws and regulations, including the sanctions framework provided for by the US government.” 

Some background: Chevron has been the only U.S. oil producer in Venezuela since late 2022, and had been producing around 200,000 barrels of oil per day under a Biden-era agreement made that same year. Trump revoked the agreement in February, driven by frustrations over illegal immigrants from Venezuela entering the U.S. Trump added pressure on the country days later, announcing he would impose a 25% tariff on any nation that imports crude oil from Venezuela. 

RUNDOWN

The Guardian New eco-hotel at Everglades national park built for age of super hurricanes

De Smog Green Goals, Dirty Fuel: Europe’s Fertiliser Industry Bets on Shale

Electrek First electric boat crosses Mediterranean, sailing from Europe to Africa