WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and Happy Friday readers! In today’s edition of Daily on Energy, Callie and Maydeen are wrapping up the week by looking at the Senate plans for reconciliation and the vote this morning in the House on a GOP fracking messaging bill. Plus, President Donald Trump has teed up another notable executive order he plans to sign next week regarding paper and plastic straws.
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: Energy Secretary Chris Wright has expressed doubt that energy trade between the U.S. and Canada would be dramatically impacted by looming border tariffs, telling CNBC this morning: “Obviously, the Canadian energy system is built integrated with the United States energy system. Those pipelines come to U.S. refineries that are tuned to refine that heavier, more viscous crude that Canada produces. I don’t think we’re going to see that change.”
Plus… In the same interview, Wright insisted Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency does not have access to U.S. nuclear secrets saying, “Look, the government is–is old and maybe a little bit stodgy, and we’ve got some young kids – think, think young gun management consultants – coming in to take a critical look at how things are run. Can we do things a little bit more efficiently? Are our systems as efficient as they should be? I’ve heard these rumors. They’re like seeing our nuclear secrets and all that. None of that is true at all.”
SENATE REPUBLICANS LOOK TO ‘UNLEASH AMERICAN ENERGY’ IN BUDGET RESOLUTION: Despite objections from House Speaker Mike Johnson, the Senate Budget Committee released text of a budget resolution to move forward on the president’s agenda – particularly in boosting American energy production.
The budget resolution released by chairman Lindsey Graham of South Carolina paves the way for the government to spend hundreds of billions on border, defense, and energy over the next four years in a reconciliation package. While it remains unclear how much exactly will be allocated for energy, the final package is expected to support increased energy production through on- and offshore leasing sales and therein future drilling.
The bill would also end the Biden administration’s methane emissions fee, which penalized oil and gas facilities that exceeded a certain level of emissions. The fee, finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency in November, was put in place with the intention to encourage oil and gas companies to adopt technologies that would help lower their emissions and exempt them from the fee over time. Republicans have since dubbed the fee the “natural gas tax.”
Some background: The Senate’s resolution is the first step to passing two major bills through budget reconciliation, the legislative process that bypasses the filibuster so legislation only requires a simple majority vote in the Senate to pass.
Read more on the entire budget resolution from the Examiner’s David Sivak here.
BYE, BYE, PAPER STRAWS: President Donald Trump said today he will in just days sign an executive order intended to end the push for paper straws, long a target of his criticism.
The details: The Republican made the announcement via social media saying, “I will be signing an Executive Order next week ending the ridiculous Biden push for Paper Straws, which don’t work. BACK TO PLASTIC!”
The president did not offer up any additional details about what the executive order will entail, but it appears to be aimed at the Biden administration’s promises to phase out the use of single-use plastic cutlery within federal departments.
Biden’s efforts: In July, then-President Joe Biden announced a goal of ending the use of single-use plastics from all food service operations, events, and packaging by 2027, as well as all federal operations by 2035. This would affect plastic straws, bottles, cups, cutlery, disposable bags, and food and beverage containers. The Biden administration also began a 10-year phase out of single-use plastic products on public lands in 2022, in an effort to reduce pollution in national parks.
But, it goes back further: Recent concern and outrage about the environmental impact of plastic straws, such as pollution, can often be traced back to a video that went viral in 2015 showing a sea turtle with a straw stuck up its nose.
By mid-2018 – halfway through Trump’s first administration, a number of major corporations like Starbucks, Disney, American Airlines, and Hyatt made promises to do away with plastic straws. Some cities, such as Malibu, California; Seattle, Washington; and St. Petersburg; Florida have had plastic straw bans in place for at least six years. In 2019, California also became the first state to install restrictions on the use of plastic straws in restaurants.
Read more from Callie here.
SIXTEEN HOUSE DEMOCRATS VOTED FOR GOP PRO-FRACKING BILL: Sixteen House Democrats voted to help pass a bill that would ban the prohibition of hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking.
House lawmakers on Friday voted 226 to 188 to pass the Protecting American Energy Production Act. The bill, sponsored by Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, would prohibit the president from declaring a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing to help secure the production of oil and gas on state and private land.
Democrats in support: Reps. Sanford Bishop of Georgia, Lou Correa of California, Jim Costa of California, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Lizzie Fletcher of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Adam Gray of California, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Julie Johnson of Texas, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Greg Landsman of Ohio, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Sylvester Turner of Texas, Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico, and Marc Veasey of Texas.
“It will be up to Republicans and President Trump to reestablish American energy independence and dominance in the 119th Congress. This is why my first piece of legislation in the 119th Congress will protect the American energy industry and consumers from the federal government,” said Pfluger.
SOME NOAA EMPLOYEES ORDERED TO HALT CONTACT WITH FOREIGN NATIONALS: Staffers with the National Marine Fisheries Service, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, have reportedly been instructed to halt all contact with foreign nationals, causing more confusion at the agency.
The details: Multiple employees, who spoke with the Washington Post anonymously due to fear of retaliation, confirmed that the orders came this week during all-staff meetings. Employees with the NMFS have reportedly been ordered to temporarily cease international commissions and emails with foreign national colleagues, pausing various agency work, including setting limits on seafood harvests.
“People have asked, ‘What if I have a postdoc [researcher] and they’re not a U.S. citizen?’” One NMFS employee told the outlet. “Nobody has an answer for those types of questions.”
Restrictions on contact with foreign nationals have reportedly also extended to other departments under the oceans and atmosphere agency. An email sent to NOAA Research staff reviewed by the Washington Post informed employees they now need to obtain approval for any “international engagement,” including travel or face-to-face meetings. Email engagement does not yet require that approval.
Agency fears: The unexpected restrictions on the agency, which relies on international cooperation to accurately monitor weather and atmospheric conditions, come the same week that Musk’s DOGE descended on NOAA’s Maryland headquarters. DOGE staffers unexpectedly entered headquarters on Tuesday and demanded access to confidential systems, according to former NOAA official Andrew Rosenberg. The incident has sparked concerns that the Trump administration may be considering dismantling the federal agency, as recommended in Project 2025.
IN OTHER DOGE NEWS…TOP DEMOCRAT CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION: Today, Natural Resources Ranking Member Rep. Jared Huffman is calling for an investigation into DOGE’s activities at NOAA.
The details: In a letter obtained by The Hill and sent to committee chairman Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, Huffman asked the Republican to investigate what NOAA data DOGE staffers may have obtained and potentially removed from the agency’s systems. The California Democrat is also requesting the committee find out if DOGE is in compliance with data privacy laws and if the executive branch has the authority to make major changes to the agency without legislation.
“NOAA provides cutting-edge research and services to keep American families safe and bolsters a sustainable blue economy, services that Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle – including within the Natural Resources Committee – support through annual appropriations requests and diligent reauthorizations of NOAA programs,” Huffman said. “We all have constituents in our districts who will suffer if NOAA’s work is halted.”
PLUS…DEMOCRATS DENIED ACCESS TO EPA: Yesterday, several Democratic lawmakers attempted to gain access to the Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters in Washington D.C., in an attempt to meet with a DOGE representative.
Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Reps. Paul Tonko of New York and Yassamin Ansari of Arizona were turned away from the EPA Thursday. “First, we were denied entry,” Markey said in a post to X. “Then we were promised a representative was coming to speak with us—twice. No one ever came. We are demanding answers.”
The lawmakers were attempting to enter the agency based on concerns that several programs under the Inflation Reduction Act were not receiving their allocated grants. During a press conference outside the EPA, Markey warned that the freezing of funds could hurt the EPA’s work for protecting clean water and clean air.
LAWMAKERS INTRODUCE ‘POLLUTERS PAY’ LEGISLATION: House Democrats today reintroduced the Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act, requiring fossil fuel companies to pay into a polluters fund based on a percentage of their global emissions to remediate the costs of climate change.
The bill is sponsored by Reps. Jerry Nadler of New York and Judy Chu of California.
“The climate crisis is here, and fossil fuel corporations responsible for worsening the climate crisis continue reaping massive profits while assuming none of the cost for the harmful emissions they produce, leaving taxpayers on the hook to pay the price,” said Chu.
By using peer-reviewed “carbon attribution,” the lawmakers said it is possible to attribute carbon in the atmosphere to specific companies. The bill would authorize the Treasury Department to impose a fee, collected over 10 years, to the largest polluters to establish the fund. The fee would apply to any fossil fuel company either based or engaged in business in the U.S. that has generated over 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions from 2000 to 2023.
The lawmakers’ bill is similar to state laws in New York and Vermont. However, New York is facing a lawsuit led by West Virginia’s Attorney General and 21 other states alleging the law preempts the Clean Air Act, which gives the Environmental Protection Agency the power to regulate air quality not the states.
House co-sponsors: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Andre Carson of Indiana, Becca Balint of Vermont, Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, Delia Ramirez of Illinois, Hank Johnson of Georgia, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, Kathy Castor of Florida, Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Raul Grijalva of Arizona, and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania.
Senate sponsors: The bill is sponsored by Sens. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
ICYMI – TRUMP PAUSES FEDERAL EV CHARGING STATION PROGRAM: The Federal Highway Administrator sent a memo to the Department of Transportation yesterday instructing the suspension of states’ electric vehicle infrastructure deployment plans.
The agencies paused the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program, or NEVI, that allocated funding for states to build EV charging stations. The letter said FHWA would update the NEVI program’s guidance. FHWA is aiming to have updated draft guidance by the Spring.
“Therefore, effective immediately, no new obligations may occur under the NEVI Formula Program until the updated final NEVI Formula Program Guidance is issued and new State plans are submitted and approved,” the letter reads.
The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act allocated money for the NEVI program. States were required to submit plans for how they would use the funding.
“Until new guidance is issued, reimbursement of existing obligations will be allowed in order to not disrupt current financial commitments,” the letter added.
RUNDOWN
Inside Climate News ‘The Devil Will Bite You,’ Environmentalists Tell Japan’s Prime Minister on Eve of Trump Summit
Washington Post Ultra-efficient AI won’t solve data centers’ climate problem. This might.
E&E News Democrats think they’ve found a winning climate message