WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Monday, readers! With a little help from our editor Joe Lawler, today’s edition of Daily on Energy dives right into President Donald Trump’s latest diatribe on wind energy, which has come up several times during his trip to Scotland. 

Plus, we recap the president’s trade deal with the European Union and where it is already boosting the U.S. natural gas industry. As with every Monday, keep reading to check out which events, conferences, and hearings we have our eyes on this week. 

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TRUMP RAGES AGAINST WIND INDUSTRY AND VOWS TO BLOCK PROJECTS: The wind energy industry faced the ire of President Donald Trump as he took several moments to lambast the renewable source of power during his four-day trip to Scotland. 

The details: As recently as this afternoon, local time, Trump declared wind energy to be a “disaster.” He insisted that oil and natural gas can produce 1,000 times more energy out of a hole in the ground less than three feet wide, saying no one would see it, as opposed to large wind turbines. “It’s a very expensive energy, it’s a very ugly energy, and we won’t allow it in the United States,” Trump said. 

Yesterday, the president also made a bizarre claim that wind turbines were killing “us”, saying, “We will not allow a windmill to be built in the United States, they’re killing us. They’re killing the beauty of our scenery, our valleys, our beautiful plains.” 

Some facts: Trump did not appear to be using the word “us” in the literal sense, as in alleging that wind turbines were killing people. However, there have been some deaths associated with turbines over the last several decades. The anti-wind group Scotland Against Spin found that from 1980 to June 2025, there have been around 186 fatal accidents associated with turbine projects. Many of these were construction and maintenance accidents, while others were transportation related. 

Still, this number pales in comparison to the number of deaths associated with the extraction of oil and gas, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that between just 2014 and 2019, there were 470 fatalities reported. And, between 2019 and 2023, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 387 fatal occupational injuries in the oil and gas extraction industries. 

Trump also repeatedly claimed that wind turbines have to be scrapped after just eight years, a claim at odds with Department of Energy statistics. The agency’s wind energy end-of-service guide details that the expected service life for wind turbines is around 30 years. 

ICYMI – TRUMP REACHES EU TRADE DEAL WITH MAJOR ENERGY PROVISION: During Trump’s trip to Scotland this weekend, the president struck a trade deal with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, softening the expected tariffs set to hit later this week. 

The details: Trump told reporters on Sunday that the trade deal will include a 15% tariff on most imports, including automobiles, from the EU. The bloc had been facing an August 1 trade deal deadline, or risk being hit with 30% tariffs. 

As part of the deal, the EU has agreed to purchase $750 billion worth of American energy through 2028. The White House has said this will “strengthen the United States’ energy dominance, reduce European reliance on adversarial sources, and narrow our trade deficit with the EU.” 

Boosting LNG: Several EU countries have already announced their intention to increase U.S. energy imports, such as liquefied natural gas. For example, Germany and Italy have both agreed to purchase LNG from U.S. exporter Venture Global. 

Venture Global and several other major LNG producers including NextDecade and Cheniere Energy saw notable gains in the wake of the trade deal. As of Monday, the three companies jumped between 3.5% and nearly 7%, according to Reuters. 

OIL RISES ON TRUMP UPDATES FROM SCOTLAND: Oil prices are significantly up today on Trump’s announcement of the trade agreement and his statement that he is shortening the deadline for Russia to end its war in Ukraine. 

Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 2% to near $70 as of the early afternoon. WTI was also up 2% to near $66.50. 

Trump on Russia: Asked by reporters during his trip to Scotland about the prospects for a ceasefire in Ukraine, Trump said he was disappointed in Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that he thought he’d settled the matter a number of times, and then Putin “starts launching rockets into some city, like Kyiv, and kills a lot of people.”

For that reason, Trump said, he was going to shorten the deadline given to Putin. “I’m going to reduce that 50 days we gave him to a lesser number because I think I already know the answer what’s going to happen,” Trump said. 

Trump had said on July 14th that severe tariffs would be imposed on Russia if it did not end the war in 50 days. That would include secondary tariffs on trading partners, a step with major implications for the oil trade. 

Also: OPEC+ maintained its current oil output policy at its Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee meeting.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LOOKS TO FURTHER CLEAR PATH FOR ALASKA DRILLING: The Department of the Interior has taken another step to make it easier for oil and gas firms to pursue new drilling in Alaska by revoking three Biden administration restrictions. 

This afternoon DOI revealed that the Bureau of Land Management has specifically revoked: 

• A request for information titled “Special Areas within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska,” which was published in July of last year. 
• A report titled “Maximizing Protection in the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska,” which was published in January 2025.
• A BLM memo titled “BLM Interim Management of Special Areas within the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska,” also published in January. 

The agency claimed these documents had been created “without sufficient deference to statutory direction, economic realities or the voices of Alaskans, and threatened to unnecessarily restrict access to vital domestic energy resources.” 

Some background: These documents were a part of the Biden administration’s broader efforts to curb oil and gas development in the remote North Slope of Alaska, driven by environmental concerns. In its final days, the administration recommended that an additional 3 million acres of the region be protected from energy development. 

RESIDENTS NEAR PALISADES NUCLEAR PLANT MAKE LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO BLOCK RESTART: Not everyone is on board with Holtec International’s plans to restart the Palisades Nuclear Plant in western Michigan, as a former employee of the plant and nearby resident is filing another petition to slow the reopening. 

The details: Longtime nuclear engineer Alan Blind, who worked in the industry for 40 years before retiring from working at the Palisades Nuclear Plant in 2012, announced today that he is filing a fifth petition with federal regulators protesting Holtec’s restart plan. 

Blind has been joined by several nearby residents in these petition efforts, as they claim Holtec is violating approved license conditions. With the plant set to receive fuel as early as the end of August, Blind insisted that it will be falling short of necessary regulatory requirements. 

The claims: Three of these petitions, already filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, allege Holtec failed to submit an operational assessment for its degraded steam generator tubes, that the company made a “materially false statement” regarding its fire safety upgrades, and that critical components were left out of a containment building inspection. The fourth challenges the validity of a letter from Holtec, which detailed the readiness for the plant to transition back to an operational status. The new and fifth petition questions Holtec’s fire safety modifications, particularly relating to the reactor head and pressurizer vent valves for the plant. 

“These petitions show that Holtec is not yet meeting the terms of the license it fought to obtain,” Blind said. “The NRC must take action before fuel loading and startup is approved.”

Quick reminder: Last week, the NRC essentially gave the green light for Holtec to restart the plant, approving their request to transition from a decommissioning status back to operational. The NRC has completed and approved nearly all licensing actions related to the restart, but will still need to finish some key approvals before the plant can be turned on once again. This includes approving of the repairs to the steam generators. 

Read more on where the restart efforts stand here. 

SWIMMING IN THE SEINE, AN UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal has a look at public swimming in the Seine, a year after authorities hustled to reduce pollution to allow for some races to take place in the river as part of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. 

The bottom line: The three public swimming spots in Paris have been closed about half the time this summer because pollution levels have been too high. The efforts to reduce pollution in Paris have apparently been highly successful, thanks to the installation of a massive underground tank designed to catch polluted runoff in Paris when storms stressed the existing system. The problem is that other cities upstream of Paris still release too much pollution into the river during storms. 

The effects for wildlife: The number of fish species in the Seine has increased 10-fold thanks to the clean-up efforts, according to the WSJ, and researchers have even found freshwater mussels, which are sensitive to pollution, in the river recently. 

FAR GRANDER PLANS WERE BEHIND DOOMED ALAMEDA CLOUD-BRIGHTENING TEST: Remember last year’s canceled cloud-brightening project in Alameda, California? If you don’t, the background is that a group of researchers tried to do a small-scale project launching cloud-forming saltwater spray from the deck of a retired aircraft carrier, only to have it shut down by authorities and raise a lot of controversy about geoengineering. 

What was remarkable about the project was its tiny scale. It has to be seen to be understood. 

E&E News reports today that the researchers behind the project did have far grander ambitions, although those are now in doubt, given that geoengineering has only become more politically sensitive in recent months, especially thanks to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s efforts to advance a weather modification ban bill. Florida, notably, has recently enacted a law meant to ban geoengineering.

Specifically, the researchers were talking with donors and consultants about creating a 3,900 square-mile cloud off the west coasts of North America, Chile, or south-central Africa.

They’d hoped to use government ships and planes for the effort. In the wake of the Alameda setback, though, Sarah Doherty, the director of the Marine Cloud Brightening Program, acknowledged that’s not going to happen. 

ONE OIL MAJOR DOESN’T WALK BACK ON GREEN COMMITMENTS: Italian state-controlled energy company Eni plans to stick with its transition to cleaner fuel alternatives like renewables, while other oil and gas companies have begun to walk back green plans. 

The details: Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi told the Financial Times this week that the company expects to see growing profits from its expanding clean energy business, with renewables accounting for more than fossil fuels within 15 years. 

“By 2035, the [operating profit] created by our new companies will balance what is coming from oil and gas, in 2040 it will be more [than oil and gas],” Descalzi said. 

The company’s oil and gas business is currently roughly 10 times more profitable than its renewable and biofuels divisions – both of which saw earnings drop 15% in the first half of the year. 

Some background: Notably, oil majors like Shell and BP have reshifted their focus back to oil and gas, ditching green investments and projects. Most recently, BP announced it would be selling its onshore wind business in the U.S. to LS power. The decision offloads the company’s share in 10 operating windfarms that have a total generating capacity of 1.3 gigawatts. 

A LOOK AHEAD: 

July 27 – 30 The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners is holding its summer policy summit in Boston, Massachusetts, featuring remarks from Environmental Protection Agency Lee Zeldin, Deputy Secretary of Energy James Danly, and all four sitting members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

July 29 Hawaii’s First Circuit Court is poised to hear arguments for a summary judgement from energy majors including Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and Conoco, as the companies have been sued by the city and county of Honolulu over their effect on climate change.  

July 30 Prism is holding a webinar titled “How the U.S. wins the critical minerals race,” featuring remarks from Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa. 

July 30 The Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee is holding a hearing to consider pending nominations including Timothy Walsh to serve as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management, Audrey Robertson to serve as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, as well as Lanny Erdos to serve as Director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement at the Department of Interior. 

July 30 Resources for the Future is holding a webinar titled “Shifting Ground: Changes in Public Land Policies.” 

July 31 The Columbia Climate School to host its first of seven weekly, virtual learning workshops designed for improving climate change communications.

July 31 R Street Institute is holding a virtual panel discussion on how states are tackling energy infrastructure and energy policy issues. 

Aug. 1 – 3 The Bureau of Land Management’s Arizona Wild Horse and Burro Program is holding an event in Flagstaff where individuals can purchase untrained and trained wild horses and burros on a first come, first served basis. 

RUNDOWN 

Associated Press To host UN climate talks, Brazil chose one of its poorer cities. That’s no accident

Washington Post Why mobile homes get hit hard by extreme weather and how to build better

ProPublica 8 Things to Know About New Research on Earth’s Rapid Drying and the Loss of Its Groundwater