POLITICO Energy

A string of whale deaths along the New York and New Jersey coasts are increasing tensions between environmental groups, energizing Republicans and threatening the development of the offshore wind industry. POLITICO’s Ry Rivard breaks down the controversy. Plus, a new government watchdog report found that the Tennessee Valley Authority needs to step up its efforts to manage climate-related risks.  ...

House Republicans passed a messaging bill on Friday intended to limit President Joe Biden’s ability to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. And though the bill will likely not make it past the Senate or Biden, the legislation is part of a broader GOP effort to attack the White House’s energy and climate policies. POLITICO’s Josh Siegel and Kelsey Tamborrino break down the GOP’s messag...

On Wednesday, Sen. Joe Manchin proposed legislation that would delay implementing new tax credits for electric vehicles until strict new battery and domestic sourcing requirements are put in place. Manchin’s legislation adds to broader tensions over the EV tax credits, as foreign allies are critical of the program. POLITICO’s Tanya Snyder breaks down Manchin’s stance and whether his bill will rece...

Grid operator PJM Interconnection's efforts to fix what it believes to be an error in its December auction is now dividing regulators, consumer advocates and power providers. PJM believed power prices for customers were artificially inflated, so it decided to delay posting the auction results and asked federal regulators to allow it to change the auction rules. But critics say that move could gene...

America’s energy transition away from fossil fuels is producing economic losers. In Pennsylvania, those losses are largely because of the state’s unique tax code. Pennsylvania is quickly transitioning from coal mining to natural gas drilling, but the state is losing tax revenue as a result. POLITICO’s Jordan Wolman breaks down coal country’s bumpy transition. Plus, New York’s grid operator is warn...

A new POLITICO analysis found that roughly two-thirds of major clean energy projects announced since the Inflation Reduction Act went into law are located in districts whose Republican lawmakers opposed the legislation. POLITICO’s Josh Siegel and Kelsey Tamborrino discuss how the Inflation Reduction Act sparked billions of dollars in investment flowing to red districts. Plus, Energy Secretary Jenn...

Under acting chair Willie Phillips, FERC could move to consider the climate and environmental justice impacts of projects the agency approves, including fossil fuel infrastructure. But that’s a direction Senator Joe Manchin doesn’t like, which is a major reason why former FERC chair Richard Glick didn’t get a re-confirmation hearing last year. POLITICO’s Catherine Morehouse breaks down FERC’s dire...

On Thursday, top Biden administration officials attended the groundbreaking of Ten West Link, a major Arizona transmission project, which could be a model for the shift toward renewables and how future lines can make it through the difficult permitting process. POLITICO’s Catherine Morehouse and James Bikales discuss the importance of Ten West Link and its potential impact on future transmission p...

Europe is faring better than anyone expected in its energy war with Russia -- and President Vladimir Putin's attempt to leverage his country’s vast gas and oil resources is actually beginning to look like a losing strategy. POLITICO’s Charlie Cooper breaks down how, so far, Europe has managed to keep the lights and heat on without Russia. Plus, New FERC chair Willie Phillips is pledging a transmis...

The Biden administration isn't proposing a federal ban on gas stoves but that didn’t stop conservative pundits and lawmakers from expressing alarm about such a move in the latest fight in the culture wars. POLITICO’s Alex Guillén breaks down why this gas stove issue started, and what the right’s gas stove freakout is really about. Plus, the Interior Department is shaking up which of its agencies w...

Last week, the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office conditionally agreed to provide a $700 million loan to a controversial lithium mining project in Nevada. The site would extract critical minerals crucial to meeting President Joe Biden’s clean energy goals, but has drawn significant environmental concerns. POLITICO’s Kelsey Tamborrino breaks down the debate over the project and why the loa...

On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed legislation with strong bipartisan support aimed at preventing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve from being shipped to China. POLITICO’s Josh Siegel and Ben Lefebvre discuss the legislation’s bipartisan appeal, prospects in the Senate, impact on China, and how it fits into the GOP’s energy priorities in the new Congress. Plus, the Biden admin...

Since President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, clean energy companies like Q Cells are pouring billions of dollars into investments to build out the sector’s domestic manufacturing. POLITICO’s Kelsey Tamborrino breaks down what’s going on in the sector and why it’s still facing supply constraints. Plus, the chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission disavowed chatter a...

On Tuesday, the Biden administration released a plan to guide the U.S. to eliminate carbon emissions from the transportation sector, the leading emitter of U.S. greenhouse gasses warming the planet, by 2050. That blueprint includes spending billions of public dollars to expand the use of electric vehicles and low-carbon fuels. POLITICO’s Catherine Morehouse breaks down the details of the administr...

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is hardly seen as an advocate for climate change policy, but he’s been more open to addressing the issue than many others in the GOP. And the concessions he made to House conservatives last week to secure his new role are likely to complicate any future party-line energy package. POLITICO’s Kelsey Tamborrino and Josh Siegel discuss what’s in store. Plus, a new study co...

The EPA has proposed lowering the annual average soot exposure limit, predicting such a move would yield tens of billions of dollars per year in public health benefits. But the proposal, which would overturn a Trump-era decision that left the regulation unchanged, is already drawing criticism from industry, even though it fell short of environmentalists' expectations. POLITICO’s Alex Guillén repor...

The Biden administration has named FERC commissioner Willie Phillips as interim chair of the commission, a decision that isn’t without controversy. Environmental justice groups and renewable industry interests have long lobbied for the more progressive FERC commissioner Allison Clements to be named chair. Phillips, the more moderate choice, is viewed by some environmental groups as too accommodati...

Before 2022 came to a close, the Treasury Department released new rules regarding electric vehicle tax credits offered in the Inflation Reduction Act. The law contained “Made in America” requirements that rankled the European Union and other trading partners, who said the provisions would disadvantage their EV manufacturers and other clean tech industries. The Biden Administration is now showing s...

Ever since Congress passed the Clean Water Act more than fifty years ago, the EPA, the White House and the Supreme Court have wrestled over what legally constitutes “Waters of the United States.” This past Friday, the Biden administration finalized a rule to expand protections from the Clean Water Act nationwide, but the Supreme Court’s decision in an upcoming case could complicate the situation. ...

People are shooting, sabotaging and vandalizing the nation’s power system at a pace unseen in at least a decade, according to DOE data analyzed by POLITICO. Pro’s Catherine Morehouse breaks down the alarming trend and how federal regulators are responding, especially as the Biden administration and Congress seek to expand the power grid to accommodate renewable energy and electric vehicles.    Jos...

Geothermal energy — the technology that harnesses the heat beneath the Earth’s crust — is poised for growth due to an influx of federal funding, advances in technology, state incentives and interest from the Biden administration and the oil and gas sector. POLITICO’s Kelsey Tamborrino breaks down why geothermal energy is drawing fresh interest now and the different regulatory, financial and techno...

On Monday, an influential New York panel adopted a road map of climate and clean energy measures designed tohelp the state meet its ambitious green goals. But several concerns remain about the implementation of New York’s plan. POLITICO’s Marie French breaks down the state’s new climate effort and unanswered questions. Plus, environmental groups are suing the Interior Department to stop the planne...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s aggressive policies to transition off fossil fuels are posing a growing threat to the state’s oil industry – and a new tax on refining is the latest front in the battle. But the industry says it isn’t giving up without a fight. POLITICO’s Wes Venteicher breaks down why Newsom and the oil industry are on a major collision course. Plus, inside the energy...

European officials have been critical of the clean energy subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act. But that criticism has raised eyebrows in Washington, where officials say the law does exactly what Europe has long pressed the United States to do: get serious about fighting climate change. POLITICO’s Karl Mathiesen breaks down the European outrage over the IRA, America’s response, and how the leg...

Oil and chemical companies are investing in chemical recycling, aided by favorable laws passed primarily by GOP-controlled state legislatures. These companies say the technology can help address the country’s plastics crisis by increasing recycling rates and reducing the amount of waste dumped into landfills and polluting the world’s waterways. But environmental groups argue that the pollutants re...