WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Monday, readers! We are kicking off the beginning of June with senators gearing up to debate their version of the Republican megabill. GOP members have set a July 4th deadline, but several Republican senators have vocally opposed cuts to clean energy tax credits and Medicaid.
In today’s Daily on Energy, we also take a look at the Department of Interior’s proposal to roll back former President Joe Biden’s restrictions on oil and gas developments in Alaska. It comes as energy and environment agency leaders travel to Alaska to tout the administration’s efforts to increase energy development in the state.
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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.
GOP ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’ HITS THE SENATE: Senators this week will begin working on the House Republican’s megabill, with GOP lawmakers aiming to send the bill to President Donald Trump by the 4th of July.
Last month, the House narrowly passed its reconciliation bill, which would cut billions in Inflation Reduction Act clean energy tax credits. Now, the Senate will debate the fate of these tax credits, with some Republican senators previously voicing opposition to deep cuts.
Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, John Curtis of Utah, and Jerry Moran of Kansas in April sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune, cautioning against a full-scale repeal of credits and warning it could weaken the U.S. position as a global energy leader. Several Republican senators have also been vocal against Medicaid cuts.
In May, House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson told Fox News, “I encouraged them to do their work, of course as we all anticipate, but to make as few modifications to this package as possible, remembering that we’ve got to pass it one more time to ratify their changes in the House.”
TRUMP MOVES TO ROLLBACK BIDEN-ERA RESTRICTIONS ON OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT IN ALASKA: The Trump administration has taken new steps to bring “Drill, Baby, Drill” to Alaska, poised to roll back rules imposed under former President Joe Biden that restricted oil and gas development in the nation’s largest tract of public land.
The details: This morning, the Interior Department announced that it had proposed rescinding a rule issued by the Bureau of Land Management last year meant to keep 13 million acres of the National Petroleum reserve in Alaska off-limits to future drilling. The Trump administration has claimed this regulation amounted to government overreach and limited energy development in the 49th state.
“The 2024 rule ignored that mandate, prioritizing obstruction over production and undermining our ability to harness domestic resources at a time when American energy independence has never been more critical,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said today.
Some background: NPR-A, a roughly 23-million-acre area in Alaska’s North Slope Borough, was first set aside by President Warren Harding in 1923 as an emergency oil supply for the U.S. Navy. Jurisdiction of the land was transferred to the Interior Department in the 1970s, opening it up to oil and gas leasing.
The Biden rule would ban drilling on nearly half of NPR-A, with the aim of conserving the land, environment, and habitats of wildlife in the region, including polar bears, caribou, and thousands of migratory birds.
Read more from Callie here.
ENERGY CABINET MEMBERS TRAVEL NORTH: President Donald Trump’s energy and environment cabinet members have traveled to Alaska, further emphasizing the administration’s plans to unleash energy development in the 49th state.
The details: Burgum, joined by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin, kicked off their trip over the weekend, with all three traveling to the northernmost city in the U.S., Utqiagvik, Alaska.
Utqiagvik, home to the largest Iñupiaq settlement in the state, is located along the resource-rich North Slope. There, many local Native leaders and tribes support more energy exploration and drilling, as their towns and cities heavily depend on funds generated by taxation on resource development. The three cabinet members’ visit to the region consisted of a tour of the town, a local town hall, and a dinner with Native leaders.
Nagruk Harcharek, President of advocacy group Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, told Callie that despite being the ones directly impacted by more drilling, the Iñupiaq have long felt left out of the discussions around energy development in the North Slope, particularly under the Biden administration.
For Harcharek, having all three cabinet members take the time to travel to their home and sit down with Iñupiaq leaders face-to-face already makes them feel more heard.
“I think everybody was pleasantly surprised that they were here, but I think it just shows the commitment to our priorities and making sure that there is a relationship that is built between the region [and] the federal government, something that we’ve been asking for for a very long time,” Harcharek said today, one day after meeting with Burgum, Wright, and Zeldin.
“If there’s going to be durable policy and there’s going to be responsible resource development, it has to include us at the table,” he said.
What’s next: The cabinet members’ Alaskan visit is expected to last through Tuesday. All three were scheduled today to visit the Prudhoe Bay oil field, the largest oil field in North America. They were also expected to attend and speak at Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s annual energy conference in Anchorage tomorrow.
CANADA WILDFIRE FORCES THOUSANDS TO EVACUATE: Over the weekend, more than 25,000 residents in three Canadian provinces were forced to evacuate due to wildfires.
About 17,000 people in Manitoba were evacuated Saturday, NPR reports, as well as 1,300 in Alberta and 8,000 in Saskatchewan. Both Saskatchewan and Manitoba have declared a state of emergency.
Saskatchewan has 13 active wildfires, Manitoba 15, and Alberta 49, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. In total, Canada is dealing with 179 active wildfires spread across the nation, with 90 out of control as of today.
Firefighters from other provinces and the U.S. have been sent to help fight the wildfires, including from Alaska, Arizona, and Oregon.
The wildfires in Canada have led to air quality issues in the midwest of the U.S. Air quality alerts were issued in Minnesota and Michigan through this evening.
OIL PRICES JUMP DESPITE OPEC+ FAST-TRACKING OUTPUT: The price of oil was on a surprising upward trend today, with both international and domestic benchmarks increasing by more than $2, despite OPEC+ promising to pump more output into the market.
The details: Just after 2 p.m. EST, Brent Crude had risen by $2.17 and was selling at around $64.95 per barrel. Similarly, West Texas Intermediate jumped by $2.04 and was priced at around $62.83 per barrel.
The price hike comes two days after eight members of OPEC+ said they planned to again accelerate their planned production output increases in July, for the third month in a row. The oil producing bloc said the decision was responding to “a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals.”
Past announcements by OPEC+ on accelerated output hikes this spring have initially sent prices down, with market analysts concerned with increased production flooding the market and putting further downward pressure on prices.
While there might be some short-term relief driven by seasonally high demand, Morgan Stanley analysts said they believe the output hikes will ultimately send Brent Crude prices to around $57.50 per barrel by the end of this year, Bloomberg reported. By the first half of 2026, the international benchmark is projected to sit around $55 per barrel. At this level, industry experts warn producers may be forced to cut back.
EU SCIENTISTS ASK BRUSSELS NOT TO WEAKEN CLIMATE GOALS: The European Union’s scientific advisory board on climate change is advocating against lowering the bloc’s 2040 climate goals, Reuters reports.
Next month, the European Commission plans to release a legally binding proposal for stronger emission targets. The commission planned to set targets to cut 90% of EU emissions by 2040 from 1990 levels.
However, the emission target proposal has been delayed as it has received pushback from several EU countries and lawmakers. The commission is discussing ways to ease the target, including by allowing international carbon credits to go toward the climate target.
“[A] net domestic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, by 2040, in the range of 90–95% below 1990 levels remains scientifically robust and aligned with the EU’s broader strategic objectives, offering a credible pathway to the legally binding climate neutrality goal by 2050,” the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change wrote.
The board “advises against using international carbon credits to meet this target, even partially, could undermine domestic value creation by diverting resources from the necessary transformation of the EU’s economy.”
EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said last week that the proposal, which is expected on July 2, will include international carbon credit use.
ICYMI – HUNDREDS OF SCIENTISTS HOLD 100-HOUR LIVESTREAM TO PROTEST TRUMP CUTS: Scientists from across the country held a 100-hour livestream to talk about their work as part of a protest against the Trump administration’s cuts to funding for research, the New York Times reported.
The livestream began on Wednesday and ended Sunday on June 1, which is the start of the hurricane season in the U.S. More than 200 climate scientists and meteorologists participated in the days-long livestream to discuss their work and the impact cuts on science will have on the public.
The Trump administration has made cuts to groups like NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Science Foundation.
“Having reliable weather forecasts and climate projections is something that I think the American public has been able to take for granted for a very long time,” said Margaret Duffy, a climate scientist and an event organizer. “These funding cuts directly affect the research that underlies those forecasts.”
A LOOK AHEAD:
June 2 – 4 The Edison Electric Institute is holding its annual conference and leadership forum in New Orleans.
June 3 The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University is holding a webinar titled “The Impact of the Trump Administration’s Nuclear Executive Orders.”
June 3 The Senate Agriculture Committee is holding a hearing on the nomination of Michael Boren to serve as the undersecretary for natural resources and environment for the Department of Agriculture.
June 3 – 4 Capitol Hill Ocean Week is being hosted in Washington D.C. by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.
June 3 – 4 The California Hydrogen Leadership Summit is set to be held in Sacramento.
June 3 – 5 The fourth annual Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference is to be held in Anchorage, Alaska, and energy cabinet members Chris Wright, Doug Burgum, and Lee Zeldin are expected to attend.
June 4 The House Natural Resources subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries is set to hold an oversight hearing on restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.
June 4 The Atlantic Council is holding a U.S.-Central Asia Forum in Washington D.C., with discussions focused on critical minerals and U.S. policy.
June 4 – 5 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is holding a two-day technical conference to discuss resource adequacy issues within RTO and ISO regions.
June 4 – 5 The American Council on Renewable Energy is hosting a finance forum in New York City, featuring speakers from Amazon, Constellation Energy, Bank of America, Ørsted, and many more.
June 5 is World Environment Day.
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