WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Wednesday, readers! Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency would begin the process to repeal former President Joe Biden’s rules limiting carbon emissions and mercury for power plants.
We also take a look at the testimony of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where lawmakers zeroed in on the sale of public lands and clean energy tax credits.
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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.
EPA ZELDIN FIRST MAJOR RULEMAKING PROPOSAL: Environmental Protection Agency head Lee Zeldin announced his first major rulemaking proposal aimed at repealing former President Joe Biden’s regulations that limit carbon and toxic emissions from fossil fuel power plants.
“Both proposed rules, if finalized, would deliver savings to American families on electricity bills, and it will ensure that they have the electricity that they need today,” Zeldin said at a press conference on Wednesday. “EPA is taking an important step, reclaiming sanity and sound policy, illustrating that we can both protect the environment and grow the economy.”
The Biden administration last April set a series of standards for fossil fuel power plants, requiring new and existing power plants to reduce carbon pollution and other toxics like mercury by installing carbon capture and sequestration/storage technology.
Zeldin argued that the Biden standards sought to regulate coal, oil, and gas out of existence.
Fossil fuel power plants are a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, contributing 5% of total global emissions since 1990. A key part of the EPA’s argument for repealing the rule is that greenhouse gas emissions from power plants have not been accurately linked to public health harm. The agency also argues that CCS technology is costly and has not been “adequately demonstrated” as a way to reduce emissions.
The White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs completed its review of the EPA’s repeal proposal on Friday. Zeldin’s announcement is part of the agency’s plan to repeal a slew of climate-related rules finalized during the Biden administration.
Zeldin was joined by North Dakota Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, and Reps. Troy Balderson of Ohio, Carol Miller of West Virginia, Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania, Michael Rulli of Ohio, and Riley Moore of West Virginia at the EPA’s headquarters in D.C.
Meanwhile, manufacturers praised the EPA’s action, as they had previously warned that the Biden rule would jeopardize the stability of the electric grid.
“The EPA’s decision to repeal the unworkable power plant rule for existing coal-fired and new natural gas-fired power plants is a critical and welcome step toward rebalanced regulations and American energy dominance. This change will strengthen grid reliability and support manufacturing growth in the United States,” National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons said in a statement.
The EPA’s proposed rule will likely spur legal action against the agency. The proposed rule will undergo the rulemaking process, beginning with a public comment period.
Read more about the power plant rules by Maydeen here.
INTERIOR SECRETARY DOUG BURGUM ON THE HILL: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was on the Hill today, speaking with senators on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee about selling federal lands to address the housing crisis and about clean energy tax credits.
Chairman Mike Lee noted his efforts to utilize federal land to address the housing crisis. Lee is proposing a provision in the committee’s reconciliation bill to sell federal land in Utah and Nevada to boost housing construction.
“We got a lot of value trapped in land, particularly bordering our fast-growing metro areas,” Burgum said.
He added, “It is a great opportunity to lower the cost of housing by being smart on a case-by-case basis in moving forward projects that help communities and help our states.”
Committee ranking member Sen. Martin Heinrich continued on the issue of selling public land for housing. He asked Burgum when would the public know what lands could be sold.
Burgum said the department is on a proposal stage, taking a look at how many acres that could be utilized for housing. The four states the department is looking for land in are Idaho, Alaska, Utah, and Nevada.
Burgum said the department would “absolutely” hold public meetings before selling land, adding that they are not considering national park land.
In addition, Oregon Democrat Sen. Ron Wyden criticized the House’s reconciliation bill, which terminates technology-neutral tax credits, which apply to a wide range of clean energy technology.
Wyden said the administration is making an “unforced error” because it is taking renewable energy sources “off the table.”
“The House bill reflects the priority that we need to have reliable and affordable and some of what we tend to call as ‘renewables’ would fall into the category of being intermediate and expensive,” Burgum said.
NOAA CLIMATE WEBSITE TO SHUT DOWN: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office website will stop publishing new content after staff terminations, the Guardian reports.
Climate.gov is a website that provides scientific data and information on climate change. Former NOAA staff told the Guardian that the entire content production staff for the website was terminated at the end of May.
The terminations are part of the Trump administration agenda to debloat the government. Specifically, the administration has gone after staff and programs that work on climate change issues. NOAA has been a target for the administration. The Guardian said the website receives hundreds of thousands of views per month.
LATEST ON U.S.-CHINA TRADE TALKS: The U.S. and China concluded trade talks on Tuesday, striking a deal to address Beijing’s grip on rare earths and magnets.
“OUR DEAL WITH CHINA IS DONE, SUBJECT TO FINAL APPROVAL WITH PRESIDENT XI AND ME,” Trump said on Truth Social early this morning. “RELATIONSHIP IS EXCELLENT!”
Details on the deal have not been released, but the New York Times reports that it involves China loosening its export restrictions on rare earths and magnets, which are crucial for the energy and defense sectors. China is responsible for processing the majority of rare earths.
As a result, the U.S. would roll back its export restrictions of U.S. products, technology, and proposed student visa restrictions. Trump added that tariffs on China would remain at 55%.
ICYMI – DOJ GIVES TRUMP THE GREEN LIGHT TO SHRINK MONUMENTS: Trump has the legal authority to end federal land protections and abolish national monuments, the Department of Justice said in a memo released yesterday.
A 1938 DOJ memo had found that the declaration of a monument under the Antiquities Act was irreversible. This new finding paves the way for the Trump administration to pursue the goal of scaling back certain monuments to allow for commercial activity, including drilling.
Notably, Trump signed a proclamation in April to open up commercial fishing in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. He’s also seeking to open up six other monuments to oil drilling.
In his first administration, he tried to scale back the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah.
Read more from Elaine Mallon here.
ONE HUNDRED NEW NATURAL GAS PLANTS PROPOSED IN TEXAS: Developers have proposed more than 100 new natural gas power plants for Texas, according to information from the state’s grid operator collected by the Environmental Integrity Project, a D.C. nonprofit organization.
Although most of the projects won’t move beyond the planning stage, the number of planned projects indicates the scale of the power boom in Texas, which is driven in large part by the construction of large data centers. Authorities estimate that power demand will double by 2030.
The planned natural gas additions would be 58,000 megawatts of new generation capacity, enough to power more than 8 million homes, Inside Climate News reports. They would also contribute as much greenhouse gases every year as about 27 million gas-powered cars.
OWNERS SUE MUSK FOR TURNING TESLAS INTO “VERITABLE EXTREME RIGHT ‘TOTEMS’”: A new headache for Elon Musk – French Tesla owners have sued him for a breach of lease contract, according to France24. They argue that, because of his actions, “Tesla branded vehicles have become strong political symbols and now appear to be veritable extreme-right ‘totems’, to the dismay of those who acquired them with the sole aim of possessing an innovative and ecological vehicle,” the law firm representing the owners said.
Musk’s net worth took a major hit after his fallout with Trump, driven in part by a drop in Tesla stock.
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