WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Wednesday, readers! We are kicking off today’s Daily on Energy with news on the Environmental Protection Agency that is reportedly allowing for some Inflation Reduction Act funds to be allocated. Callie and Maydeen also take a look at the New Jersey Supreme Court dismissing a climate lawsuit against oil and gas giants, marking yet another blow for climate advocates.
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.
EPA ALLOWS SOME IRA FUNDING TO BE DISBURSED: The Environmental Protection Agency is reportedly allowing some funding allocated by the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan infrastructure law to be disbursed after having been paused since President Donald Trump took office.
The details: An internal memo reviewed by Politico reveals that the EPA directed agency officials to disburse funds for a number of programs starting on Tuesday. The decision came one day after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration and its efforts to pause all funding for federal grants and other programs.
“Consistent with the Order, the agency’s financial system will now enable the obligation of financial assistance,” EPA acting CFO Gregg Treml reportedly wrote in the memo. “This includes programs within the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, including federal financial assistance in the State and Tribal Assistance Grants, Brownfields, and Superfund.”
What funds? While the agency had yet to publish a detailed list of the programs set to receive the obligated funds, one source who viewed relevant documents told the outlet that the majority of the money in question is related to programs from the bipartisan infrastructure law. This reportedly includes programs focused on improving drinking water, targeting toxic chemicals like PFAS, and remediating brownfield sites. So far, only one climate-related program from the IRA focused on consumer education is expected to receive its funding.
This means the majority of the climate funds allocated by the IRA will remain frozen – including funding for climate pollution reduction, solar programs, and the Biden administration’s clean electric school buses.
COURT DISMISSES NEW JERSEY’S CLIMATE LAWSUIT AGAINST OIL AND GAS GIANTS: In a major blow for climate activists, the Superior Court of New Jersey has thrown out the state attorney general’s lawsuit against a number of oil and gas companies, including Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and Shell, dismissing the case with prejudice.
The details: The lawsuit, first filed in 2022, accused the fossil fuel giants of deceiving the public about the existence of climate change as well as the impact their oil and gas products had on it. The New Jersey attorney general accused the companies of engaging in deceptive marketing practices that lead to an increase in greenhouse gas pollution, mimicking similar lawsuits filed across the country.
Nationwide trend: Last month, a Maryland judge dismissed two similar lawsuits targeting Chevron, BP, Shell and other oil and gas giants that were also being sued over their role in contributing to climate change. The judge, who originally ruled against dismissing the suits in 2024, reversed his decision after a number of other rulings nationwide tossed identical suits.
New Jersey Superior Court Judge Douglas Hurd pointed to these rulings in his decision saying, “the court’s decision is reliant upon and consistent with both federal and state courts across the country that have rejected the availability of state tort law in the climate change context.” The judge noted that his ruling upholds previous decisions that note federal law preempts state law claims against the oil companies.
Big Oil has since celebrated the ruling, with Chevron attorney Theodore J. Bourtrous Jr. saying in a statement it “joins the growing and nearly unanimous consensus” across the country that such cases must be dismissed.
MEANWHILE, IN OTHER EPA NEWS: The Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it has renamed its Gulf of Mexico Division to the Gulf of America Division to be aligned with Trump’s executive order renaming the body of water.
“The Gulf of America is a flourishing economic resource critical to our nation’s economy. This body of water is one of the most abundant oil and gas regions in the world, providing roughly 14% of America’s crude-oil production and a wealth of natural gas,” EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said in a press release.
“EPA is committed to protecting the 1,630 miles of this watershed, comprised of a vibrant marine ecosystem made from 33 rivers draining from 31 U.S. states. The Gulf of America will help power our Great American Comeback. We are pleased to recognize it and ready to protect it,” Zeldin added.
IRAN CLAIMS US SANCTIONS WOULD DESTABILIZE ENERGY MARKETS: Iran is now warning that U.S. efforts to drive down oil exports from Tehran could destabilize the global energy market and is urging OPEC+ to join forces against possible sanctions.
A refresh: Yesterday, Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum on restoring pressure on the government of Iran, including through sanctions and other forms of economic pressure. The order, which was primarily aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, directs the treasury secretary to implement a campaign “aimed at driving Iran’s oil exports to zero.”
Iran currently exports around 1.5 million barrels of crude oil every day, with the majority of that going directly to China, according to Reuters. Iran alone makes up for around 1.4% of the global supply of crude.
The details: If this were to dramatically drop, Iran’s oil minister Mohsen Paknejad has warned, it would have a significant effect on the markets. “Depoliticising the oil market is a vital issue for energy security. Imposing unilateral sanctions against major oil producers and putting pressure on OPEC will destabilise oil and energy markets as well as harm consumers around the world,” he said Wednesday, according to the ministry’s SHANA news outlet.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has also since called on OPEC+ to unite against U.S. sanctions, reportedly claiming that it would prevent the U.S. from targeting one member of the oil producing bloc.
ENERGY GROUPS TO LOBBY CONGRESS TO PRESERVE TAX CREDITS: A coalition of energy groups announced they would hold over 100 meetings with members of Congress and staff urging them to support clean energy tax credits.
The Solar Energy Industries Association, the National Hydropower Association, the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, and others said they will mobilize a “lobbying blitz” on clean energy tax credits. The lobbying effort comes as Republican lawmakers look to repeal a range of the Inflation Reduction Act’s green tax incentives.
The energy groups said the effort included letters to lawmakers from more than 1,850 clean energy companies asking them to preserve the clean energy tax credits.
“Now’s not the time to undermine the federal policies driving this economic boom and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it’s creating. Now’s the time for Congress to keep the investments and opportunities flowing to the folks back home, while also making America competitive again in the global marketplace,” said Bob Keefe, executive director of the national nonpartisan business group E2.
Republicans are looking to scale back clean energy tax credits from the IRA through a reconciliation bill.
WINTER STORMS FORECAST TO HIT PARTS OF THE MIDWEST AND NORTHEAST: Forecasters are predicting a snow and ice storm will hit parts of the Midwest to the Northeast starting tonight through Thursday.
Starting this evening, snow across Montana and the Dakotas will move eastward through parts of the Great Lakes, around northern Wisconsin, northern lower Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, AccuWeather said. It added that along the edge of the storm it will create sleet and freezing rain for parts of the Midwest and Northeast.
“A storm sweeping across the central and eastern United States will bring a swath of hazardous freezing rain through Thursday. Major metropolitan areas which are expected to experience at least a glaze of ice include, but are not limited to, Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland,” said AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham.
AccuWeather said there could be ice accumulations above 0.10 of an inch that can affect parts of Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Most of the ice is expected to develop overnight.
UNITED KINGDOM TO EASE RULES ON NUCLEAR POWER LOCATION: The nuclear energy industry is expected to see a bit more flexibility in the United Kingdom this week as the government is poised to ease up on rules determining where power plants can be built.
The details: The Labour government was expected to make the announcement as early as Thursday, as the country is reportedly looking for ways to encourage investments within the energy sector, according to Bloomberg. Sources familiar with the decision told the outlet that the announcement will allow developers to build nuclear reactors outside the existing eight government-designated sites.
The UK currently has five nuclear power plants, which generate around 6 gigawatts of power – enough to power upward of 13 million homes. With several of these plants and reactors being decades old, the new rules are expected to encourage development of new nuclear generation, including through small modular reactors. While the news will likely not result in new generation by the next decade, increased nuclear capacity would help the UK hit its net zero targets for 2050.
ICYMI – TRUMP TAPS ‘SHARPIEGATE’ SCIENTIST TO LEAD NOAA: Yesterday, Trump nominated Neil Jacobs to serve as the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – a role he previously held on an acting basis during the first Trump administration.
The details: Jacobs, 51, is most well known for his ties to the “Sharpiegate” scandal, during which Trump altered a hurricane warning map to include Alabama in the potential pathway of Hurricane Dorian.
The storm never touched down in Alabama and had not been projected to by forecasters from the National Hurricane Center. Shortly after Trump claimed the storm threatened Alabama, NOAA released a statement supporting the president while also criticizing the National Weather Service for issuing a contradiction. Jacobs was later investigated by the NOAA Science Council and accused of violating the agency’s scientific integrity policy over the statement.
What is NOAA? NOAA was first established by President Richard Nixon in 1970, under the Department of Commerce. Its primary functions are to study and monitor the ocean and atmosphere, operating satellites, protecting marine life, and providing extreme weather warnings.
The agency was one of several targeted in Project 2025, which called for the administration to break up NOAA. Trump repeatedly distanced himself from the policy blueprint created by the Heritage Foundation while on the campaign trail. However, since taking office, various policy recommendations from the document have appeared to make their way into a number of executive orders and administration actions. As a result, fears have grown within NOAA that the administration could be considering shutting down the agency, as it has already started to do so with USAID.
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