WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Friday, readers! We are starting off the newsletter with some news on the U.S. Agency for International Development which has reportedly shut down a number of its climate and energy programs. Today’s Daily on Energy also takes a look at the European Union’s plan to import more U.S. liquefied natural gas to decrease its reliance on Russia.
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: Schneider Electric’s chief public policy officer Jeannie Salo spoke to reporters on Wednesday ahead of the release of BloombergNEF and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy’s 13th annual energy factbook. She highlighted the importance of bipartisan permitting reform, as Democrats have threatened to withhold support in an attempt to hit back at the Trump administration’s early actions.
“We’ve got to get permitting reform done. It is vital to achieving all the goals, modernizing the infrastructure, energy infrastructure, and bringing more projects online that are going to unlock our energy needs,” Salo said. “And so I would just reinforce: streamline, baby, streamline. It’s tough always to find a compromise in Congress, but we’ve got to get it done.”
USAID SHUTS DOWN SOME CLIMATE PROGRAMS: The U.S. Agency for International Development has reportedly shut down at least 10 of its climate- and clean energy-related programs, in the latest apparent effort to dismantle the agency.
The details: A spreadsheet detailing canceled programs and initiatives within USAID obtained by E&E News confirmed that the climate-related programs were shut down in recent days. An agency employee who was granted anonymity for fear of retribution told the outlet that several similar spreadsheets have been circulated within the agency.
Among the programs canceled was a nearly $85 million initiative to increase access to affordable, reliable, and clean energy in southern Africa. The program had been set to dole out the funds over a five-year period, ending in July of 2028. Another slashed initiative was an $18.7 million program which sought to boost energy efficiency and electric vehicle deployment in Nepal. Additionally, the spreadsheet reportedly listed a $12 million program to support utilities amid the transition to cleaner sources of energy like solar power. It remains unclear how many other climate-related programs besides those listed have also been slashed..
The reasoning: The State Department, which currently oversees USAID, told E&E News that it is reviewing each program within the agency to assess whether it is aligned with U.S. interests. “Programs that serve our nation’s interests will continue. However, programs that aren’t aligned with our national interest will not,” a spokesperson told the outlet.
EUROPEAN UNION SEEKS TO BUY MORE U.S. LNG AND GROW RENEWABLES: The European Union will seek to buy more gas from the United States to cut its dependence on Russia while also boosting its renewable energy industry, EU energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen told Reuters.
The EU in 2022 promised to cut its reliance on Russian fossil fuels by 2027 due to the war in Ukraine. However, Reuters said the EU last year increased its imports of Russian liquefied natural gas.
“Instead of using taxpayers’ money, citizens’ money, to pay for gas where the revenue goes into Putin’s war chest, we need to make sure that we produce our own energy,” Jorgensen told Reuters in a joint media interview.
Jorgensen added that Brussels plans to change its permitting rules in order to grow renewable energy projects. He said the EU will also look to source alternative supplies for areas where gas cannot be easily replaced by electricity.
“And then it’s my job to make sure that it is cheap and not Russian,” Jorgensen said. “There will still be the need for gas, and there we will have to find other sources than Russia, and that can also mean bigger import from the U.S.”
AMERICANS PULLED FROM GLOBAL CLIMATE MEETING: Representatives from the U.S. State Department will no longer be attending a key United Nations climate meeting next week, according to multiple reports, a further withdrawal by the Trump administration in global climate change talks.
The details: Sources familiar with the matter confirmed to both Axios and Reuters this week that the U.S. will not attend meetings with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in Hangzhou, China, starting next Monday. There, the UN climate science panel is poised to plan its seventh global climate assessment which is expected to be completed by 2029. The IPCC has been releasing such reports since it was founded in 1988.
It was not immediately clear why the State Department’s delegation would not be attending. The department appeared to have intentions of attending as sources told Axios that the delegation’s plans for travel to China were denied. The U.S. was also reportedly obligated under contract to provide technical support for the UN panel’s assessment, but, that contract was recently canceled by NASA and the support team will also no longer be in attendance.
The impact: While the State Department’s delegation and technical support team will be absent, Reuters reported that some American scientists will still be in attendance and assist on climate research used for the UN’s assessment. Still, industry leaders have called the move “concerning.”
“The power of the IPCC is that governments, businesses and global institutions can operate with shared conclusions. The U.S. being completely removed from that process is concerning,” Delta Merner, the lead scientist for the Science Hub for Climate Litigation with the Union of Concerned Scientists, told the outlet.
Others have indicated that the decision comes as no surprise, given the president’s attitudes to global climate mitigation efforts thus far. On the first day of his administration, President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement for a second time. This administration has also directed some agencies, like the Department of Agriculture, to remove references to climate change on their webpages.
GRANHOLM JOINS THE BOARD AT EDISON: Former Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm will join the board of directors at Edison International and Southern California Edison starting in April.
Under President Joe Biden, Granholm oversaw billions of dollars for energy infrastructure projects provided by the Inflation Reduction Act. Now, she will be on the board of one of the largest electric utility companies.
“Jennifer’s experience as a leader familiar with cybersecurity, physical security and clean energy resources ― and known for working in partnership with utilities and other industries ― will allow her to make important contributions to Edison International, including SCE and Trio,” said Peter Taylor, Edison International board chair, in a press release.
The Energy Department invested more than $200 billion in thousands of clean energy projects when Granholm was energy secretary, which in turn created more than 400,000 jobs, Edison said in a press release. Granholm previously served as a two-term governor of Michigan. She also taught law and public policy at UC Berkeley, focusing on clean energy and public leadership.
Granholm is joining Edison as it faces lawsuits claiming the utility company’s electrical equipment may have started the Eaton wildfire in Los Angeles earlier this year.
NEW ZEALAND EMBRACES CARBON CAPTURE: In its latest effort to reach its 2050 net-zero goals, the government of New Zealand is turning to carbon capture and storage technologies.
The details: Climate Change Minister Simon Watts revealed today that the government is putting forth legislation this year that would encourage businesses to use carbon capture technologies to offset greenhouse gas emissions. The legislation is expected to establish a Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) framework that will allow companies to claim green credits in its emissions trading scheme (ETS) by storing carbon dioxide underground.
Future CCUS projects in New Zealand will be subject to extensive assessments and constant monitoring to ensure no leaks over time. The projects have been projected to lower carbon emissions by 1.9 megatons over the next 10 years, according to Bloomberg.
ELECTRIC AUTO GROUPS ASK EUROPE TO NOT WEAKEN VEHICLE EMISSION TARGETS: Two groups representing the electric vehicle industry in Europe, E-Mobility and ChargeUp, sent a letter urging European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asking her not to weaken the European Union vehicle carbon emission targets.
The letter seen by Reuters said the EU should reject gradually phasing in of emission targets or basing fines on a multi-year average. It said the fines should subsidize the transition to electric vehicles. The EU is planning to present its auto sector plan next month.
In the letter, the group noted that a lowering of the emission targets will put Europe farther behind China in the EV industry. It would also negatively impact investments in charging infrastructure, battery development, and manufacturing.
The EU’s target requires a 15% reduction of emissions to all new cars sold in the EU from 2025 to 2029. If auto manufacturers are unable to meet these targets, they will face fines.
ICYMI – SOME FIRED EPA EMPLOYEES CALLED BACK TO WORK: The Environmental Protection Agency laid off nearly 400 probationary employees last week, only to turn around and try to rehire some of them a few days later, according to an email reviewed by Business Insider.
The details: On Feb. 14, the EPA confirmed that it had fired 388 probationary employees, in line with direction from the Office of Personnel Management issued one day before. Federal employees who have worked for one to two years or less are typically kept on probation, which makes it easier for agencies to let them go. Thousands of other federal employees from agencies like the Department of Energy, and USDA were also impacted by the layoffs. However, this week, several of the fired EPA employees were informed that their terminations were rescinded.
“This is to provide notification that the Agency is rescinding your termination. You are not being removed from EPA or from federal civil service at this time,” an email sent to the impacted workers reportedly read. If employees had already turned in their agency equipment – such as a laptop or badge – the email detailed that their appropriate supervisors would assist in getting those items once again.
It was not immediately clear how many employees were asked to come back to work. Three employees who had their termination rescinded, and spoke to Business Insider anonymously for fear of retribution, told the outlet that around 10 to 15 received the notice.
Widespread confusion: The EPA isn’t the only agency that has been informing some employees they can have their job back after the sweeping layoffs. The Trump administration has also sought to rescind the termination of hundreds of employees within key departments like the National Nuclear Security Administration, Indian Health Service, and the Bonneville Power Administration. White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly confirmed to Reuters that the administration is currently identifying and reinstating any “key positions” that have been “eliminated.”
The swift rollback has since sparked a number of questions and confusion as to whether the broad firings by the administration were rushed last week. “This shows a level of absolute incompetence in the firing process,” Don Moynihan, a professor at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, told Reuters. “They are taking a chainsaw to public services without any kind of careful review of the people being removed and the tasks they are employed for.”
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