WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Happy Monday, readers! We can hardly believe it is already the last day of June. From heatwaves, to public land sales debates, and a cabinet trip to Alaska, this month flew by with a flurry of news.
If you haven’t been able to keep up with everything (don’t worry, we know there’s been a lot), we want to flag a couple of our favorite stories from this month. Last week, Callie toured the Crane Clean Energy Center, formerly known as Three Mile Island, in Pennsylvania and got a close look at the efforts to restart the decommissioned nuclear reactor. Read more about the visit and see exclusive photos from our photographer Graeme Jennings here.
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And Utah Sen. Mike Lee continued to make headlines throughout June over his push to include public land sales in the Senate budget reconciliation package. While it has since been removed from the bill, take a look at Maydeen’s reporting to find out why Lee was backing the provision in the first place and who was against it.
Don’t expect it to get any quieter this week as the Senate began its vote-a-rama on President Donald Trump’s big, beautiful bill this morning. Depending on how many amendments are introduced, the legislation could be sent back to the House for a vote as soon as Wednesday.
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.
SENATE BEGINS VOTE-A-RAMA ON THE ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL: The Senate is inching closer to voting on President Donald Trump’s ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ Act, as the upper chamber kicked off a marathon amendment voting session early this morning.
After hours of floor debate, the Senate began its ‘vote-a-rama’ around 9:30 a.m. this morning, during which Democrats and some moderate Republicans are expected to introduce dozens of amendments. Most of the changes are expected to be shut down, though that isn’t stopping some members from making a last-bid effort to soften the attacks on wind and solar.
The amendments: Just before 3 p.m. EST, approximately 11 amendments had been introduced, most of which were rejected by the Republican majority. At least two energy-related amendments were expected to be introduced later in the day, including one by Colorado Democrat John Hickenlooper.
Hickenlooper is expected to file an amendment extending the 25D residential solar tax credit through the end of 2026. The subsidy is set to sunset by the end of this year in the current package. The amendment is backed by major solar industry groups, including the Solar Energy Industries Association, which has said the year delay would give companies enough time to adapt their business models, saving tens of thousands of jobs.
The other notable amendment to expect today has been filed jointly by three critical Republicans: Iowa Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley as well as Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski. This amendment seeks to change language allowing wind and solar projects to qualify for subsidies if they have started construction by a certain date, rather than be placed in service, and eliminate an additional tax on renewable projects that are brought online after 2027 if they include Chinese components.
The concerns: Both clean energy groups and fossil fuel advocates were left shocked by the revised version of the Senate’s bill, as it accelerated phase outs and imposes new taxes on wind and solar projects.
Critics of federally subsidized renewable energy projects have often pointed to sources like natural gas as the main and fully domestic alternative to wind and solar. While it is widely considered to be more reliable than intermittent renewables, the lead time for new natural gas facilities is considerably longer than that of wind and solar.
Republicans, including North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, have since warned that the increased attacks on renewables will actually threaten grid stability. Clean energy advocates also estimate that the existing bill will also increase project costs for wind and solar by as much as 20%, increase electricity bills by up to 10% and threaten hundreds of billions worth of domestic investments.
The confidence: Despite industry concern, top administration officials insisted today that the bill would support energy dominance. Energy secretary Chris Wright took to social media this morning lambasting wind and solar, claiming more renewables attached to the grid causes more problems in times of high demand.
“Subsidies are meant to drive prices down and boost supply. But subsidizing wind and solar has done exactly the opposite,” Wright wrote to X. “The One Big Beautiful Bill will help end wasteful subsidies and deliver more reliable energy for the American people!”
CLEAN FUEL PRODUCTION CREDITS PRESERVED: Senate Republicans preserved a credit for producing clean transportation fuels in the latest version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The bill extended the Clean Fuel Production Credit (45Z) until 2029, at a cost of nearly $26 billion. The credit promotes the production of clean transportation fuels.
The Senate version of the bill contains a domestic feedstock provision that resembles the House-passed version, which would prohibit using feedstock from foreign entities. Only feedstock sourced from the United States, Mexico, and Canada would be eligible for the credit. Those in the agriculture industry praised the Senate’s efforts to maintain and extend the tax credit.
However, Rachel Starr, a senior policy manager at the Clean Air Task Force, told Maydeen that it undermines the broader clean fuel goals by reducing other key credits, such as those for hydrogen, while also aiming to promote on-road biofuels.
The credit supports producers of on-road biofuels, such as ethanol, biodiesel, and renewable diesel, Starr said. Instead, lawmakers should focus on next-generation fuels like hydrogen and advanced aviation fuels to ensure the U.S. remains competitive on the global stage, she said.
“The U.S. is well-positioned to be a world leader in clean fuel production, but that won’t necessarily happen if federal policy continues to reward conventional biofuel production at the expense of advanced fuels,” she said.
Read more about the clean fuel production credit by Maydeen here.
EPA STAFF SIGN ‘DECLARATION OF DISSENT’ AGAINST TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: More than 150 employees from the Environmental Protection Agency signed a Declaration of Dissent, opposing the Trump administration’s policies that the staff said undermines the agency’s mission to protect human health and the environment.
This morning, EPA employees sent the agency’s Administration Lee Zeldin and related Congressional committee a letter of dissent, highlighting five areas in which the administration is undermining the agency’s mission.
Five areas: First, the employees said the administration is undermining public trust through the agency’s communications platforms to “promote misinformation and overtly partisan rhetoric.” Secondly, the administration’s actions contradict EPA’s scientific assessment on human health. Third, the administration’s actions to cancel environmental justice programs and other related programs reverses the EPA’s progress in vulnerable communities.
Fourth, the administration’s actions to dismantle the agency’s Office of Research and Development, an office that helps provide scientific data for the rulemaking process and other decisions. Lastly, the letter said the administration has promoted a “culture of fear” with the agency providing employees resignations or retirement options.
“Americans have witnessed the unraveling of public health and environmental protections in the pursuit of political advantage,” the letter reads.
FEDERAL AGENCIES BEGIN TO RESCIND ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW GUIDANCE: Federal agencies have begun to review, repeal, and update guidance for issuing environmental reviews, in the latest step by the administration to streamline the permitting process.
The details: Multiple agencies including the Department of Defense and Department of Energy announced today that they would be rescinding existing regulations on implementing the National Environmental Policy Act in order to release new guidance on how to follow the bedrock environmental law when issuing permits for energy and infrastructure projects.
It comes several months after the Council on Environmental Quality, which oversees implementation of the law, moved to undo all current regulations issued under NEPA as the president had ordered the agency to provide new, nonbinding guidance. In February, CEQ ruled that federal agencies would be expected to write new NEPA regulations as it relates to their own departments.
As part of their reforms issued in an interim final rule today, DOE said NEPA will not apply to applications to authorize the import or export of natural gas to countries with which the U.S. has a free trade agreement. DOE is also moving to reduce the maximum time to issue an environmental impact statement report from three years to two years. Similarly, DOD is reducing that timeline to two years. You can find the complete interim rule for DOE here, and the DOD reforms here. Both are subject to comment periods before being finalized.
Quick reminder: Since 1970, the NEPA has required federal agencies to study the environmental impacts of projects such as new transmission lines, highways, or pipelines that require federal permits. Critics of the law have long claimed that NEPA contributes to slower domestic infrastructure development, higher project costs, and even excessive litigation. Meanwhile, supporters say it is critical to avoid the endangerment of public lands and wildlife.
GAS PRICES FALLING AHEAD OF SUMMER HOLIDAY: For the first time in several weeks, gas prices are falling, dropping by nearly 4￠ compared to last week, according to new data compiled by GasBuddy.
The details: This week, the average price of gasoline nationwide dropped by roughly 3.8￠ compared to a week prior, sitting at roughly $3.14 per gallon. This average is still up by 1.1￠ compared to this time last month, but, down by 32.1￠ per gallon than this week in 2024.
The downward pressure on prices is largely attributed to easing tensions in the Middle East, with prices expected to drop even more throughout the week. Analysts have estimated that if foreign tensions remain settled, and the U.S. avoids a major hurricane, the national average could even drop below $3 per gallon at one point this summer.
The highest prices of gas can still be found in states like California, Washington and Hawaii, where prices sit above $4.30 per gallon. Meanwhile, the lowest prices are found in Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Texas where gas is as low as $2.67 per gallon on average.
CALIFORNIA’S CONTROVERSIAL CLEANER FUEL STANDARDS TAKES EFFECT: California’s new rules to the Low Carbon Fuel Standards is set take effect tomorrow, with the hopes of lowering carbon in fuel therein reducing emissions, however, drivers could see a spike prices at the pump as a result.
The new rules set a declining target for the carbon intensity in transportation fuels used in California. The benchmarks get progressively lower by the year. The updated standards set targets to reduce the carbon in California’s transportation fuel pool by 30% by 2030 and by 90% by 2045.
“But often lost in the noise around this program are our primary reasons for approving it: better health for Californians, our economy and the environment, as well as achieving required state and federal air quality standards,” California Air Resources Board Chair Liane Randolph said.
However, many state lawmakers and others have raised concerns that the new standards could spike gas prices. Cal Matters wrote that the previous fuel standard set in 2011 added 9 cents to the cost of a gallon.
A LOOK AHEAD:
June 30 The Senate begins its ‘vote-a-rama’ on the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.
June 30 The National Science Foundation’s Division of Ocean Sciences is holding its 7th annual Frontiers in Ocean Sciences Symposium.
June 30 – July 4 The World Trade Organization is holding its sixth annual Trade and Environment Week.
July 1 The United Nations Human Rights Council is holding an event on a just transition, human rights, and reducing depending on new mineral resource extraction. It is a side event in the 59th session of the council that ends next week.
July 2 The United Nations Human Rights Council is holding an event to discuss the UN Special Rapporteur’s recent report on phasing out fossil fuels, and its impact on human rights. It is a side event in the 59th session of the council that ends next week.
July 4 Independence Day – there will be no newsletter!
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