POLITICO Energy

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled against the Navajo Nation — the largest Native American reservation in the United States – in its effort to make the federal government take steps to secure water from the Colorado River for the tribe. The decision comes as seven states are fighting over access to the West's most important river, whose flows have shrunken roughly 20 percent over the past two de...

The Biden administration’s final rule under the Renewable Fuel Standard aims to modestly increase the amount of biofuels that oil refiners must blend into the nation’s fuel mix over the next three years. But multiple powerful industries aren’t completely happy with the regulation: the agricultural sector says the administration’s blending mandates are too low, while the oil industry argues the lev...

Lawmakers, consumer advocates, independent experts, and regulators are pushing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to revisit the competitive power markets that dominate the US electricity system. POLITICO’s Catherine Morehouse breaks down why organized competitive power markets are drawing scrutiny and what sort of solutions lawmakers are proposing. Plus, a federal court struck down an EPA r...

Clean energy advocates and green groups are fighting over how the Treasury Department should implement the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean hydrogen tax credit, which offers billions of dollars in federal incentives to companies that produce hydrogen in a climate-conscious way. The Biden administration believes investing in the nascent clean hydrogen industry could be a political and climate win, b...

After scoring wins in four states to pass costs of recycling plastic onto manufacturers over the past two years, recycling advocates had hoped to build on the momentum in more states across the country. But this year, nearly a dozen state-level bills to fund increased recycling have gone nowhere in state legislative sessions or have been watered down into feasibility studies. POLITICO’s Jordan Wol...

The White House’s semi-annual rulemaking agenda released on Tuesday shows the Biden administration is planning to unveil significant regulatory actions in the energy and climate space in the first half of 2024 —  including major policy priorities from the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Interior and Energy Departments. POLITICO’s Alex Guillén breaks down what to expect and why it’s import...

Ford and General Motors’ recent decisions to adopt Tesla’s EV charger technology puts the Biden administration on the losing side of a charging “standards war” and threatens President Joe Biden’s ambitious electric vehicle adoption goals. POLITICO’s James Bikales breaks down the origins of this EV charging fight and how the Biden administration might respond. Plus, FERC Chair Willie Phillips annou...

The Texas Railroad Commission, the state’s oil and gas regulator, is posing a major obstacle to the Biden administration’s goal of reducing methane emissions. At the same time, the commission’s Republican regulators take in millions of dollars from the fossil fuel industry. POLITICO’s Ben Lefebvre breaks down how the regulatory agency’s actions are at odds with one of President Joe Biden’s key cli...

General Motors and Ford – two of the biggest electric vehicle producers – announced they would adopt Tesla’s charging technology for their electric vehicles in the coming years. That’s significant because the federal government earlier this year chose to require another EV charging technology rather than Tesla’s technology in its federally-funded chargers under the bipartisan infrastructure law. P...

This week, hazardous smoke spewing from hundreds of Canadian wildfires spread across much of Canada and the Northeast and Midwest United States. POLITICO’s Zi-Ann Lum breaks down the health risks of wildfire smoke exposure, the federal response from the U.S. and Canadian governments, and how climate change is playing a role in the situation. Plus, the U.S. and U.K. will start negotiating a critica...

The United Arab Emirates, one of the world’s wealthiest oil states and host of the upcoming UN climate talks in November, has tried to cast itself as an environmental leader through a wide-ranging public relations and lobbying campaign that began in 2019. But the UAE’s efforts and its host status are facing significant criticism from lawmakers and environmentalists in both the United States and Eu...

Across the country, medical professionals and Washington policymakers are pushing to decarbonize the American healthcare system, which is responsible for 8.5 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Joanne Kenen, a POLITICO Magazine contributing writer, breaks down the movement to green the healthcare system, how the Biden administration is playing a role, and whether the sector’s transformation...

Lawmakers included only modest changes to permitting as part of the debt ceiling deal. But the Supreme Court’s recent decision to sharply curb federal protections under the Clean Water Act could have a far bigger impact on the permitting process across the country. POLITICO’s Annie Snider reports. Plus, the Biden administration on Monday laid out a road map to scale up U.S. clean hydrogen producti...

Southeast Asian nations are the latest foreign trading partners looking to access America’s coveted electric vehicle tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act. But their campaign creates challenges for the Biden administration, which is looking to balance its efforts to deepen economic ties in the Indo-Pacific with its promise of a clean energy transition that will help revitalize American man...

Some Democrats are frustrated with the energy-related measures in the debt ceiling package, which must be signed into law by President Joe Biden by June 5 in order to avoid a government default. POLITICO’s Josh Siegel breaks down what’s bothering Democrats, why the White House is defending its debt ceiling deal, and what’s next in terms of energy permitting negotiations. Plus, a panel of grid expe...

The New England Independent System Operator has asked federal regulators to approve a plan to help improve the region’s power reliability during the region’s cold winters by paying oil and gas producers to store extra fuel on site. But powerful officials and advocacy groups are pushing back, arguing that the plan’s steep cost isn’t justified. POLITICO’s Catherine Morehouse breaks down the grid ope...

The tense negotiations between the White House and House Republicans over the debt ceiling offers some updates to environmental permitting rules that would benefit both oil and gas and clean energy projects — though many of the most contentious measures were left for Congress to haggle over. POLITICO’s Josh Siegel breaks it all down with Kelsey Tamborrino. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m...

Today, POLITICO’s Josh Siegel chats with Pedro Pizarro, the president and chief executive officer of Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison. Pizarro, who is also vice chair of the Edison Electric Institute, the industry's largest trade group, gives his take on federal policy issues impacting the nation’s power grid, the permitting reform push in Congress, and the im...

The Supreme Court issued a ruling Thursday that significantly constrained the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate wetlands under the Clean Water Act. The decision is a major blow to the Biden administration’s efforts to protect millions of acres of wetlands while delivering a victory to multiple powerful industries, including mining, oil and gas and homebuilding. POLITICO’s Annie...

House Republicans once again attacked the Biden administration yesterday for trying to regulate gas stoves, portraying proposed efficiency standards from the Energy Department as federal overreach. POLITICO’s Alex Guillén breaks down why the GOP is reigniting the gas stove culture wars, the Biden administration’s insistence it is not banning the appliances, and the policy debate. Plus, the Energy...

The Biden administration announced on Monday it is dropping plans to give a $200 million dollar federal grant to Microvast, a Texas-based battery company whose connections to China had drawn criticism from Republican lawmakers. It’s the latest example of how the rivalry between Washington and Beijing is complicating President Joe Biden’s clean energy agenda. POLITICO’s Kelsey Tamborrino discusses...

California, Arizona and Nevada released a plan on Monday to significantly reduce their water use from the drought-stricken Colorado River over the next three years. It’s a historic moment for the seven western states and 40 million Americans that depend on the river, which has seen its flows diminished by 20 percent over the past two decades. POLITICO’s Annie Snider breaks down the details of the...

For months now, European Union officials have pressed the Biden administration for a trade deal that would give EU automakers access to a larger chunk of the electric vehicle tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act. But reaching that agreement is taking longer than expected, and talks could drag into the summer. POLITICO’s Steven Overly breaks down the sticking points in negotiations and why th...

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is hoping his state will be the nation’s leading producer of offshore wind energy by 2040. But his ambitious plans are facing criticisms for two big reasons: questions remain about how the state’s wind projects will be financed and the opposition stirred up by unfounded claims that those projects are linked to several whale deaths along the coast. POLITICO’s Ry Rivard b...

Congress has directed about $14 billion dollars to repair Puerto Rico’s troubled energy grid, but disagreements over how to spend those funds could slow the effort to stave off power disruptions as the territory seeks to create a 100 percent clean power grid by 2050. POLITICO’s Gloria Gonzalez breaks down solar advocates’ concerns and how fights over funding could affect the island. Plus, a new EP...