WHAT LAWMAKERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE MANCHIN-BARRASSO PERMITTING REFORM BILL: To sum it up – they like the bill.
Following the release of the much-anticipated permitting reform bill put out by Energy and Natural Resources top guns Joe Manchin and John Barrasso, praise for the bill was heard from both ENR and Environment and Public Works members.
GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan praised the judicial review provisions as “good,” noting the need for judicial reform when reviews of a project “can last for decades.”
Independent Sen. Angus King called the measure “an important step.”
“ Mick Jagger once said, ‘You can't always get what you want. If you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need,’” he told Nancy. “And in order to get the improvements we need in transmission for a green energy future, there's going to have to be some bipartisan give and take, and that's what this bill is all about.”
Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy deemed the measure a “good bipartisan effort” – but mentioned he would like to make changes to the bill, although he didn’t go into further detail about what those changes would be.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito , the top Republican on EPW, said that she hopes the bill is successful in committee – while noting that she hopes that members could “add to it at EPW, because there’s still some other issues.” Capito made note that she would still need to take into consideration the feedback of rural cooperatives and other groups on the cost allocation provisions for transmission projects.
Sen. Martin Heinrich , a climate hawk, threw his support behind the bill in a statement to E&E News. His support could go a long way, as he’s poised to be the top Democrat atop the ENR committee once Manchin retires at the end of the session.
Next steps: The bill would have to be marked up in the ENR committee, instead of EPW, according to Capito. Barrasso told Nancy that the markup is expected for next Wednesday.
Chances of the bill hitting the floor? Slim – considering Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said it was “virtually impossible” to get a permitting reform bill passed this year.
Sullivan’s take : “I’m not sure the Senate under Democratic leadership is into permitting reform, as you know. They talk a big game and they never, ever, ever step up and do it, and it’s the radical left that won’t let them.”
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment writer Nancy Vu ( @NancyVu99 ), with help from policy editor Joseph Lawler . Email nancy.vu@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.
LOOPHOLE THREATENS BIDEN’S HEAT PLAN FOR WORKERS : A 50-year old loophole could put President Joe Biden ’s plans to protect workers from heat exposure in jeopardy, E&E News reports.
Earlier this month, Biden announced a first-ever proposal to protect workers from heat, amid a number of Americans dying from heat-related causes. However, when Congress passed the law governing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, it gave the agency authority to regulate private companies but not employees of public employees. States have to opt in, and almost half the country never has, meaning that state and local government employees are not covered in case of injury.
But the loophole’s effects extend just past the heat rule – it affects a whole list of federal safety regulations, from handling toxic and flammable chemicals, to protecting workers from occupational accidents.
Because of this, the public sector has a higher rate of workplace injuries than businesses. More on that here.
COAL DEMAND GREW IN 2023, BUT EXPECTED TO LEVEL OUT, PER IEA: Global coal demand reached an all-time high in 2023 – mainly due to consumption in China – but is expected to stay flat by the end of this year, the International Energy Agency projects in a new report.
According to its mid-year update, global coal demand increased by 2.6% in 2023, reaching a new record of 8.7 billion tonnes. Consumption of the fossil fuel grew in both electricity generation and the industrial sector, and coal continues to be the largest source of global electricity generation broadly.
Yet the organization predicts that a recovery in hydropower in China, combined with a notable expansion of wind and solar, is expected to slow the growth of coal generation for the rest of 2024. The report notes that in the U.S., coal demand has remained “almost unchanged year-on-year in the first half of 2024” due to lower instances of switching from coal to natural gas by utilities.
However: The report does note that weather, economic activity, natural gas prices, and other factors could result in slight fluctuations. Read more on that here.
HYDROTHERMAL EXPLOSION AT YELLOWSTONE: A hydrothermal explosion in Yellowstone National Park sent tourists running for safety Tuesday, the New York Times reports . No injuries have been reported, but the area has been closed to the public.
The explosion was captured on video, where a gasket of boiling water, mud and rock cascaded into the air, destroying a section of the boardwalk. In the video, tourists can be heard shouting at others to run.
The scientific explanation: Explosions like the one in Yellowstone occur when water suddenly turns to steam under the park’s hydrothermal system – which can be caused by occurrences such as an earthquake.
However, Michael Poland , the top scientist at Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, told the New York Times that wasn’t the case here.
“Instead, what we had was a very localized change in this plumbing system,” he said. “Pressure can build and you can get an explosion like this.”
Similar explosions have occurred in the Norris Geyser Basin earlier this year and at Biscuit Basin in 2009. Read more on that here.
RUNDOWN
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