GOING BIG ON SOLAR AND CARBON OFFSETS: The White House is touting its efforts to accelerate federal permitting for renewable energy – and announcing that the Bureau of Land Management has finalized a plan to expand solar energy on federal lands in 11 western states, as part of its push to advertise its “Investing in America” agenda ahead of the November election.
The deets : BLM will make over 31 million acres of public lands available for solar development across Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.
The EPA is also announcing the conditional approval of a rule that will create emission reduction credits for companies in Maricopa County, Arizona to retrofit or replace gas cars with electric vehicles. Manufacturers or new emitters can then purchase those credits to offset their own emissions. According to the White House, this will allow for the county – which is a huge hub for semiconductor manufacturing – to continue to build semiconductor fabs while helping the area comply with federal air quality standards.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Intel have semiconductor projects in Maricopa County.
Why this is important : The Fiscal Responsibility Act signed into law last year included modest permitting reforms that the White House is now claiming cuts six months off the median time it takes for agencies to complete environmental impact statements. The DOE has cut environmental review timelines by half for environmental impact statements, compared to the prior administration.
But: The finalized rule for the permitting reforms ultimately speeds up the approval process for clean energy projects such as solar and wind, along with transmission projects needed to connect these projects to the grid. Many within the industry are calling for permitting reforms for fossil fuels as well – a red line for many climate hawks.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment writer Nancy Vu ( @NancyVu99 ). 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.
CUTS IN OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION BY SHELL: Shell is expected to cut resources in its oil and gas exploration and development department by 20%, as its CEO ramps up his efforts to reduce costs and prioritize profits, Reuters scoops.
Sources told the publication that job cuts will be felt in different offices around the world, with a focus on Houston; the Hague, Netherlands; and Britain. The restructuring will occur in the exploration, wells development, and subsurface units.
Why this is important: Exploration is critical for oil companies to help fill exhausted reserves and discover new resources that can be profitable in the long run. However, since taking over in January, CEO Wael Sawan has pledged to increase profits and narrow the gap with competitors in share valuation. As a result of that strategy, the oil major has retreated from its operations in renewables and hydrogen and sold various businesses, refineries, and operations in oil and gas production.
Furthermore, the company has backed away from its 2030 carbon reduction target and scrapped a 2035 target, citing predictions for strong gas demand and uncertainty in the green transition. Read more on that here.
MORE EFFICIENT RIGS STIMULATE RECORD PRODUCTION : Oil rigs in the Permian and Bakken basins are drilling at the most efficient rates in more than a decade, according to analysts, leading many to believe that U.S. crude production will reach record-breaking levels, Bloomberg reports.
Some background : Rigs in Texas and New Mexico drilled an average of 47 miles of horizontal lateral wells from June 2023 to June 2024, nearly matching a record rate in 2011, Macquarie Group analysts estimates. In the Bakken formation of North Dakota, the drilled average reached a record of 57 miles.
Why that is: Drillers have extended the length of their wells since the pandemic to three miles or more to allow for more production. Rig counts have been decreasing over time, but production has reached record levels as drilling technologies become more efficient.
Walt Chancellor , an analyst for Macquarie Group, estimates that U.S. production could reach 13.9 million barrels a day by the end of the year – increasing from 13.3 million barrels at the end of 2023. Read more here.
ICYMI – ERNST PRESSES EPA ON ‘FLINT WATER CRISIS’ IN FEDERAL BUILDINGS: Sen. Joni Ernst is pressuring the Environmental Protection Agency to take action to prevent a “Flint water crisis” from occurring inside federal buildings, our colleague Rachel Schilke reported yesterday.
The problem highlighted by the Iowa senator is that unsafe drinking water has been found in federal buildings that were left empty during the pandemic and afterward, as employees shifted to remote work.
Ernst noted reports that many federal buildings were found to have Legionella bacteria present in excess of federal thresholds. A child care center in Seattle was reported to have lead concentrations 14 times higher than the EPA action level. Read more from Rachel here .
RUNDOWN
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