PERMITTING LEGISLATION RELEASE SOON? The Senate Energy duo are progressing on permitting reform negotiations – so much so that Sen. Joe Manchin announced yesterday that the pair has language for a bill. But any hypothetical bill will need the approval of Majority Leader Chuck Schumer – who declared that permitting reform was all but dead in the Senate.
“We finally have language – we’re going to start sharing the language with everyone so that people can see where we are,” Manchin, the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said during a hearing. “And hopefully, we can all get our act together.”
In an interview with Politico, Manchin said that text could be out as soon as “this week.”
However, an aide for ENR ranking member Sen. John Barrasso stated that negotiations are still ongoing – raising the question of whether a bill will land according to Manchin’s stated timeline.
Some background: Manchin and Barrasso have been working for months on a legislative package that would overhaul the permitting process for a variety of energy projects, including renewables and fossil fuels. However, the possibility of any deal coming to the floor was dismissed by the majority leader – who said last week that getting any permitting reform done was “virtually impossible.”
This is important: This could be a tough vote for Democrats if the bill includes streamlining fossil fuel projects and changes to the National Environmental Policy Act – a red line for some Democrats, and a difficult on-the-record vote to make during an election year.
What to look for: A draft bill possibly appearing in the next coming days – and any comment from Schumer.
Something brewing in the House: Across the chamber, Reps. Bruce Westerman and Scott Peters are also working on a bipartisan permitting reform bill. The duo has agreed to a broad framework that could later form into a deal.
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.
BREAKING — DEMOCRATS REFER BIG OIL PROBE TO DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE: Democrats referred to the Justice Department the results of their investigation into oil majors and whether the companies knowingly deceived the public about the effects of climate change.
In a joint letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse and House Oversight Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin, said the documents uncovered during the nearly three-year investigation demonstrate that the oil and gas industry has been using “deceptive practices” to “entrench the use of fossil fuels” and mislead the general public— including collaborating with trade groups and academic institutions to deceive the public about their positions and “lend an aura of credibility” to their claims. Read the letter here.
URANIUM ETFS SEE STRONG DEMAND FOLLOWING RUSSIAN IMPORT BAN: Uranium exchange-traded funds, which are meant to provide investors with an easy way to bet on the commodity, have seen strong demand following President Joe Biden’s signing of a ban on Russian imports.
The Global X Uranium ETF hit a 10-year high yesterday, and the Sprott Uranium Miners ETF hit the highest level since it was launched in 2019.
Domestic uranium producers have said that they expect the import ban to yield additional demand for their services. They’ve also said, though, that administration waivers could limit the effects of the ban, and that federal restrictions on mining could undercut their ability to respond to added demand. Breanne wrote about that here.
ICYMI – BIDEN RELEASES 1M BARRELS GAS FROM STORAGE: The Biden administration said yesterday that it would sell off the gasoline from the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve, about 1 million barrels.
The administration spin: Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and other administration officials touted the release to mean lower gas prices ahead of driving season (but note the 1 million barrel total equates to about 3 hours’ worth of daily gas demand).
The GOP pushback: Barrasso tweeted that “Joe Biden’s latest election-year raid on America’s emergency energy reserves is political through and through.”
But note: Congress ordered the sale of the gas and closure of the reserve in a government funding bill passed in March.
KENNEDY VERSUS GRANHOLM ON CHINESE AND RUSSIAN EMISSIONS: One interesting exchange from this morning’s Appropriations Committee hearing – Sen. John Kennedy questioned Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm about whether it is worth the U.S. spending trillions a year to counter climate change if doing so will not sway other major economies to reduce emissions, such as Russia, India, and China.
Granholm responded that those countries have made climate commitments and are spending to meet them.
The Louisiana Republican, though, pushed back on the idea that the leaders of those countries will live up to their promises. “Do you trust – look me in the eye – do you trust Vladimir Putin or president Xi Jinping to do anything other than what is in their best political interest and the power they achieve in the world, do you really believe that?” he asked.
Granholm responded that it is in those autocrats’ best interests to pursue clean technology, because their countries are suffering damages from climate change. China in particular sees an advantage in leading on clean technology, she added. “I don’t trust what they say, but we will verify,” she concluded.
HIGH PROFILE LNG PROJECT FACES DELAY FROM CONTRACTOR BANKRUPTCY: The timeline for the opening of the Golden Pass LNG terminal in Texas is newly in question after the lead contractor, Zachry Holdings, declared bankruptcy yesterday. Zachry said it was sunk by cost overruns, according to Reuters.
Exxon Mobil, which is developing the terminal with QatarEnergy, acknowledged the bankruptcy could delay the opening of the terminal, which had already been pushed back into 2025. It said it was “considering all available options to implement a smooth transition and minimize any impacts.”
The $10 billion construction project, being built on the site of a former gas import terminal, is expected to have a peak capacity of 18 million metric tons of LNG a year, is one of two large terminals meant to significantly expand capacity in the next two months, and has been cited as key in responding to added global demand following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
MICROSOFT FUNDS CARBON REMOVAL PLAN IN PANAMA: Microsoft has agreed to buy 1.6 million carbon removal credits, with the aim to remove 3.2 million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere – a project that developers are declaring as one of the largest fully funded, nature-based removal efforts in Central America, Reuters reports.
The project in Panama, which is partially funded by Microsoft, will plant 6 million trees in areas worn down by cattle ranching through reforestation efforts. What sets this project apart, according to developer Ponterra, is that it focuses on restoring lands rather than protecting existing forests from deforestation. Therefore, the project can sell carbon credits through the extra tons of carbon removed from the atmosphere rather than on avoided emissions.
The project will also enact biodiversity restoration efforts and provide over $70 million to local communities.
Ponterra is the developer of the project, and Rubicon Carbon and Carbon Streaming are providing the financing. The backers did not detail the size of the deal, or the price per ton paid by Microsoft. Read more on that here.
RUNDOWN
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