WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Friday, readers! We are showcasing Callie’s new docu-series highlighting the women leading the conservative climate movement. The series consists of six episodes, with the final episode being released tomorrow.
Today’s Daily on Energy also takes a look at former Environmental Protection Agency administrators who warned that the EPA’s move to deregulate 31 actions will completely change the agency’s mission.
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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.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Several lawmakers began to react to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to reconsider the 2009 Endangerment Finding – the crux of decades’ worth of rules and regulations controlling greenhouse gas emissions. Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona told Callie on Thursday that if the EPA is successful in reversing the finding, it would “of course…have an impact on our ability to implement policy and programs to try to bring down the amount of carbon we can put in the atmosphere.”
“When you look at the plot over the years, the amount of carbon – trillions of tons – is a straight line going up,” Kelly said. “Even though we’ve put all this renewable energy in…we haven’t really started bending the curve yet. But if we say that’s not a contributor, we’re putting ourselves in a position that it’s going to be harder to get that curve to start to bend.”
WOMEN LEADING THE CONSERVATIVE CLIMATE MOVEMENT: Following International Women’s Day last Saturday, the Washington Examiner published a docu-series taking a closer look at the women who have helped found and lead climate and clean energy organizations on the right.
The details: Over the last month, Callie sat down with five of these women in the private sector and Congress to discuss why they are so passionate about curbing climate change and why they still believe a second Trump administration can open a pathway for meaningful reform.
The series consists of six episodes, with the final video being published tomorrow. Throughout the series, these women discuss how climate policy does align with conservative values, how the conservative movement hasn’t always been out of sync with environmentalists, and what steps need to be taken to lower greenhouse gas emissions while prioritizing American energy demands. Tomorrow’s final episode and the rest of the series can be found here.
A few highlights: “If climate change is a crisis, we need to be looking at all of our options to reduce our emissions as quickly as possible,” says Rainey Center CEO and founder Sarah Hunt. “And if that involves using fossil fuels as bridge fuels, if that involves using fossil fuels with carbon capture and other ways to control emissions, then I think we should do that.”
“I think the majority of people feel really comfortable about this balance, that we’re not doing everything for the sake of the environment, but we always have to make sure what the environmental impact is,” says Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions President Heather Reams. “And I think many Republicans have felt like it’s gone too far. So, climate action had become synonymous with like it’s all environment or nothing”
“I think women have this view of these issues that allow it to permeate in culture,” says American Conservation Coalition CEO Danielle Franz. “And I think that a lot of that is why this eco-right, conservative environmental movement has also been so successful, is because we’re able to draw those links between culture and politics.”
FORMER EPA ADMINISTRATORS WARN TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS ‘USHERING’ IN AGE OF POLLUTION: Just days after EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency would be taking 31 actions to review and undo dozens of climate-related rules, former heads of the department have insisted the move completely changes the mission of the EPA.
The details: This afternoon, three former EPA administrators – William Reilly, Christine Todd Whitman and Gina McCarthy – spoke to reporters about their concerns about Zeldin’s Wednesday actions, calling it “the most disastrous day in EPA history.”
McCarthy, who served as EPA administrator from 2013 to 2017, pointed to the agency’s decadeslong mission to protect the country’s health and environment. With Zeldin’s emphasis on unleashing American energy, McCarthy said, the agency is now “ushering in a global age of pollution.”
“In other words, this EPA Administrator is now – seems to be doing the bidding of the fossil fuel industry more than he’s complying with the mission of EPA,” she added.
The former administrators did note that it may take some time in order for the EPA to fully complete the reconsideration process of all 31 actions flagged by Zeldin this week. As this process is intended to reconsider all underlying factors that led to an original decision, McCarthy warned it could take years. However, with plans to reduce the agency’s budget by 65% and ongoing layoffs, there are fears agency officials won’t be thorough in the reconsideration periods.
“The absence of qualified people, experts, knowledgeable with experience, is likely to achieve the effect that I suspect they want, which is to make moot the whole regulation,” Reilly said.
Looking ahead: All three former agency heads noted that they believe lower courts will be critical to preventing the EPA from doing away with some of these rules and regulations under threat. “We have to rely that they are going to read the laws as they are written and make their decisions based on that,” Whitman said. At the same time, the former administrators encouraged state and local governments to step up and fill any gaps created on the federal level in local environmental policy.
INSURERS WARN THAT MASS FIRINGS AT SCIENCE AGENCIES COULD RAISE PRICES FOR CONSUMERS: The efforts by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to reduce the federal workforce at science-related agencies could lead to higher prices for consumers, the Financial Times reports.
Insurers warn that the workforce cuts at agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) could harm weather and geospatial data that the industry uses to manage natural disaster risks and as a consequence lead to consumers paying more.
NOAA monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditions as well as tracks severe weather. Earlier this week, though, it was reported that the administration would look to fire more than 1,000 workers at NOAA.
The Reinsurance Association of America is lobbying the Commerce Department to preserve data collection at the NOAA after mass layoffs were reported to happen at the agency, the Financial Times wrote.
Frank Nutter, president of the Reinsurance Association of America, told the Financial Times that insurers are concerned about the ability to track extreme weather like hurricanes, tornadoes, drought conditions, wildfire, etc.
“What Noaa provides is an infrastructure of facilities that produce the data — satellites, ships, weather buoys — that the insurance industry doesn’t have,” he said.
The cost of buying other monitoring equipment could be passed down to the consumer and raise the price of insurance, industry experts warned.
VIETNAM SIGNS ENERGY DEAL WITH US: Vietnamese and U.S. firms reportedly came to a series of energy and minerals deals this week, signing multiple agreements today.
The details: PetroVietnam Power, a state-controlled power producer, revealed Friday that Vietnam companies are looking to purchase crude oil and liquefied natural gas from the U.S., according to Reuters. PetroVietnam Power has reportedly signed on to at least one of these agreements, purchasing equipment from GE Vernova for gas-fired power plants in Vietnam.
State media has reported that the agreements also involve Vietnamese trading firm Petrolimex, the U.S. Grains Council, Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy, as well as the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. Further details on other deals were not released. PetroVietnam Power did, however, claim the total value of the agreements was around $4.15 billion.
ENERGY INDUSTRY LEANS ON FOSSIL FUELS AS CERA CONFERENCE WRAPS: The CERAWeek by S&P Global conference – often described as the Super Bowl for energy conferences in the U.S. – came to a close this afternoon, with the fossil fuel industry coming out on top.
Realistic expectations: As energy demand from artificial intelligence advancements dominated much of the conversations in Houston this week, there appears to have been a major shift in energy expectations towards becoming more “realistic.” On Tuesday, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company CEO Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber insisted the industry needs “every energy option available” to meet global needs, according to Axios.
Patrick Pouyanné, the CEO of TotalEnergies, agreed, saying “We need more energy, we need more gas, we need more electricity…Gas is going to be right at the forefront of meeting that power demand.” Energy Secretary Chris Wright also touted this approach at the start of the conference, when he described himself as a “climate realist.”
Burgum shares the love: On Wednesday, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum proclaimed the administration’s admiration for the fossil fuel industry, telling executives “We love you!” according to Reuters. During his remarks at the conference, the secretary affirmed the president’s plans to “drill, baby, drill” as well as increase mining domestically. Burgum, who also chairs the administration’s National Energy Dominance Council, insisted one of their priorities would be to speed up permitting for both energy production and mining, in order to win the AI race against China.
Alaska LNG project: Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy said a liquefied natural gas project could start in Alaska as soon as 2030 or 2031, Reuters reports.
President Donald Trump is seeking to build a $44 billion Alaska LNG project that would produce about 3.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day for international markets. However, the project would need an 800 mile pipeline to move gas from Alaska to Asia.
There has yet to be a final investment, but Dunleavy said there are talks with potential buyers in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and Thailand. The governor expects the pipeline to be built in two and a half years.
“We’re looking at an expedited process to build a pipe,” Dunleavy said. “We have all the permits, feedback from all the court cases, we have the support of the president of the United States, we have Asian allies that need gas.”
UNITED KINGDOM LOOKS TO CHINA ON CLIMATE: Officials in the United Kingdom are now turning their attention to China to boost global climate mitigation efforts as the Trump administration has slammed the brakes on green international engagement.
The details: UK energy and net zero secretary Ed Miliband reportedly arrived in Beijing today for at least three days of discussions with the Chinese government, according to The Guardian. The talks are expected to revolve around clean energy supply chains as well as the critical minerals needed for green technologies like solar and wind.
“We can only keep future generations safe from climate change if all major emitters act,” Miliband said Friday. “It is simply an act of negligence to today’s and future generations not to engage China on how it can play its part in taking action on climate.”
Some background: Miliband’s visit to China marks the first time in eight years that an energy secretary from the UK traveled to Beijing. It comes as China, the largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world, has been slammed with tariffs from the Trump administration on exports to the United States. While China is leading in exports for green technologies like solar panels and electric vehicles, the country is still heavily reliant on coal for energy. In an op-ed published with The Guardian, Miliband insisted that there has been “negligence” on western nations like the UK’s part for failing to engage with China on this sooner.
MARCH STORM ON THE WAY: A large storm system is expected to start today in the central part of the country and move its way to the East Coast over the weekend.
The storm system could raise risks of potential fires, blizzards, tornadoes, and flooding in various parts of the country.
Specifically, high winds with gusts up to 40 to 80 mph and dry conditions could create significant fire risk in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma starting today, AccuWeather said. Meteorologists are also predicting high risks for severe thunderstorms in several states, including Missouri and Tennessee. The thunderstorms could bring high winds, hail, tornadoes, and flooding in those states from today to Saturday.
The most extreme weather is expected to hit the middle Mississippi Valley from today into Saturday night. The highest risk for tornadoes on Saturday are predicted to be in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee.
Meteorologists are also predicting heavy rainfall for the East Coast on Sunday, which could bring disruptions in travel.
RUNDOWN
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