WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Wednesday, readers! National Clean Energy Week has kicked off today in Washington, D.C., gathering lawmakers, policy experts and industry leaders to discuss the energy landscape. We will be at the conference this week. If you are also attending, be sure to say hi! 

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.

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PERMITTING REFORM HINGES ON TRUMP COOPERATION FOR SOME DEMOCRATS: While several Democrats in the House have indicated interest in supporting their Republican colleagues on a permitting reform package, negotiations appear to be contingent on the administration’s willingness to issue federal approvals for all projects, no matter the energy source. 

The details: During the House Natural Resources hearing on permitting last week, Rhode Island Rep. Seth Magaziner said he wants to get to a “yes” on bipartisan reform, but he can’t get there without cooperation from the Trump administration. 

Magaziner told Callie today that his confidence level with the White House remains “very low,” as the administration continues to block construction of the Revolution Wind farm off the coast of his state. The project, which is estimated to be 80% complete, has been halted since Aug. 22. 

“I very much want to engage in negotiations on all of the above permitting reform,” Magaziner said. “But if the administration is just going to block clean energy projects that have their approvals from going forward, then how could we – on our side – assume that they are going to be negotiating in good faith?

The stop work order: Trump administration officials have pointed to national security concerns as one of the main reasons behind the order to pause construction on the project. In court filings last week, officials explained the decision further, saying Revolution Wind failed to reach additional mitigation agreements with the Department of Defense over ways to mitigate risks from fiber optic-sensors and foreign investment. The Interior Department said the project has, to date, not provided any information to the agency addressing these concerns. 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ISSUES LOAN FOR BATTERY SEPARATOR PLANT: The Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office is moving forward on a loan agreement made under the Biden administration for a battery separator manufacturing facility, in an effort to shore up the supply chain for lithium-ion batteries. 

The details: DOE announced this morning that it is disbursing more than $77 million to ENTEK Lithium Separators to help finance a battery separator plant in far western Indiana. This is just the first disbursement as the agency has committed to loaning as much as $1.3 billion to ENTEK. 

Once built, ENTEK’s facility will be the only U.S. owned and based producer of “wet-process” lithium-ion battery separator materials that can be used for energy storage, in electric vehicles, data centers, and other electronics. These materials are crucial for lithium-ion batteries and help prevent any short-circuiting.

ENTEK first received a conditional commitment from DOE for the loan in the last summer of the Biden administration and saw a financial close on the deal in November 2024. 

Some background: The announcement marks the first publicly announced loan disbursement made under the Trump administration for a project other than the restart of the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan. DOE confirmed to Daily on Energy that there have been several disbursements ongoing since Trump took office, but they are business confidential. 

The administration has been criticized by former and current LPO staffers for not advancing and finalizing loan agreements made under the Biden administration, which they say could help advance the president’s energy dominance agenda. 

NEW BILL TO EXPAND PRODUCTION TAX CREDITS TO INCLUDE NUCLEAR FUSION ENERGY: House lawmakers today introduced a bill to expand the advanced manufacturing production tax credit for companies that produce components for nuclear fusion energy. 

Republican Rep. Carol Miller of West Virginia introduced the Fusion Advanced Manufacturing Parity Act, which would expand the Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit (45X) to include fusion energy components. Those who produce and sell eligible energy components like battery cells or critical minerals can be eligible for a tax credit. 

Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney of New York and Democratic Reps. Suzan DelBene of Washington and Don Beyer of Virginia are co-sponsoring the bill. 

What does the bill do? The bill would establish a 25% credit for qualified fusion energy components, effective January 1, 2026, and ending in 2034. The bill also expands the critical mineral list of 45X to include deuterium, helium-3, tritium, lithium compounds, and copper-chromium-zirconium alloys. 

Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act modified the tax credit by eliminating 45X credits for all related wind components produced and sold after 2027. The phase-out period was not accelerated for other energy components, which begins in 2030. The bill also included a provision that would allow producers of metallurgical coal to claim the credit. 

What are they saying: Helion Energy director of public affairs Jackie Siebens told Maydeen on the sidelines at the National Clean Energy Week that the expansion of 45X is a “critical first step to get us on the right path.” 

“We need the federal government to move more into a space of helping support the private sector to build out the full ecosystem of a commercial fusion marketplace,” she said. 

Read more by Maydeen here. 

AL GORE ACCUSES U.S. OF ‘BULLYING’ ALLIES TO SCRAP CLIMATE GOALS: Environmentalists and former vice president Al Gore has accused the Trump administration of “bullying” other countries to roll back climate targets and policies by hinging trade deals on agreement.

The details: Gore told the Financial Times in an interview published today that the administration appears to be working toward slowing the transition to clean energy alternatives “in every way they can.” 

“We have seen, just in the last week, a tour of Europe by a couple of the Trump officials trying to put pressure on other nations to change their policies and goals,” Gore told the outlet, likening the tactic to “bullying.” 

Gore appeared to be referring to Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s recent calls for the EU to soften its methane rules and other climate-related regulations for imported goods. Ahead of his trip to Europe, Wright told the Financial Times he believed the regulations “significantly threatened’ the ability for the administration to implement the trade deal agreed to with Europe.

While some countries might respond by downplaying their efforts to mitigate climate change and lower greenhouse gas emissions, Gore said, he believed most nations will not weaken their green targets. 

ADMINISTRATION’S REQUEST TO DISMISS LAWSUIT REGARDING CLIMATE REPORT GROUP DENIED: A federal court has denied the Department of Energy’s request to dismiss a lawsuit against the agency regarding the climate working group that penned the widely criticized report downplaying the risks of climate change. 

Quick reminder: In August, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Union of Concerned Scientists sued DOE, claiming the agency violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act when forming the working group of scientists in a number of ways, including through failing to issue a public notice for the working group’s meeting. DOE attempted to dismiss those claims last week, telling the court that it had dissolved the group, making the allegations “moot.” The administration also argued that the group should be exempt from the law as it was “assembled to exchange facts and information with a federal official,” akin to a literature review. 

The latest ruling: The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled against the administration today, affirming that the working group is not exempt from the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The court ruled that the scientists provided advice and recommendations in their climate change report that go further than just mutual exchange of information or literature review. 

“Today’s ruling makes clear the government’s arguments don’t pass muster. The claim that the DOE’s Climate Working Group report was a mere literature review is patently untrue as it clearly offered advice and recommendations on climate policy,” Union of Concerned Scientists President and CEO Gretchen Goldman said in a statement. 

The ruling permits the lawsuit to proceed and the next court hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 23. 

POLAND ASKS EUROPE TO ACCELERATE PHASE-OUT OF RUSSIAN OIL: Poland is calling on its fellow members of the European Union to halt their imports of Russian oil by the end of 2026, just over a year earlier than the bloc previously planned to do so. 

The details: Polish Energy Minister Milosz Motyka appealed to the other EU energy ministers in a letter sent today, citing geopolitical risks related to Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to Reuters. Motyka pointed to the recent Russian drone incursion in Polish airspace last week.

“I appeal to you to agree on a common goal of completely phasing out imports of Russian crude oil by the end of 2026,” Motyka said. “Such a decision would strengthen the coherence of our actions, set a clear time horizon, and demonstrate our determination to become independent from oil supplies posing political and strategic risks.”

The EU is currently planning on phasing out Russian oil and natural gas by the start of 2028. To accelerate this timeline, Motyka said Poland can assist its EU neighbors by transporting U.S.-produced liquefied natural gas into Europe. 

U.S. PLASTIC INDUSTRY GENERATES 5 MILLION JOBS: The American Chemistry Council said that the United States plastic manufacturing industry last year generated more than $1.1 trillion in total economic output and 4.8 million jobs. 

ACC released a new analysis which said the U.S. plastics manufacturing industry operated more than 11,600 facilities and employed nearly 670,000 workers. Job growth was particularly high in Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. 

“Plastics are essential to modern life, powering our economy and enabling innovation in everything from healthcare and clean energy to transportation and safe food and water,” Ross Eisenberg, president of America’s Plastic Makers, said in a statement. “Plastics manufacturing means good jobs, strong wages, and sustained investment in America’s future.”

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