COMMITTEE REVIEWS WESTERMAN NEPA BILL: The House Natural Resources Committee held a legislative hearing this morning on Rep. Bruce Westerman’ s proposal to scale back the National Environmental Policy Act, along with other NEPA bills. But support and opposition to the bill fell largely on party lines – with Republicans blasting the White House for straying from the congressional intent of permitting reforms embedded in the debt limit deal, and Democrats linking the NEPA bills to Project 2025.
What’s happened: The panel gathered to discuss Westerman’s NEPA reform measure, which would reduce the scope of the bedrock environmental law and speed up the consideration process for projects. The committee also considered a disapproval resolution that would roll back the White House’s finalized rule implementing changes to NEPA – which Republicans scorned as prioritizing clean energy projects over fossil fuels. Another bill, introduced by Rep. Rudy Yakym, would require the White House Council on Environmental Quality to publish an annual report on NEPA litigation and its impact on infrastructure projects.
However: The hearing got particularly heated when Rep. Garret Graves – who’s leading the disapproval resolution – blasted CEQ Chairwoman Brenda Mallory for adding climate and equity provisions on top of the permitting reforms that were negotiated between him and the White House in the debt limit deal.
“The White House has blatantly, blatantly gone back on their word that they committed,” Graves said. “We don’t have a scenario where Chair Mallory can just write whatever she wants.”
Democrats, however, sought to tie the measure to Project 2025 – a set of conservative policy proposals written by former Trump advisers and overseen by the Heritage Foundation. Ranking Member Jared Huffman tried to enter the entire proposal into the record – which was objected to by Graves and Rep. Jerry Carl , who pointed out that Trump has distanced himself from the project.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had requested to submit the report under a personal request, to which no member had objected.
Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell – the wife of the late John Dingell , who wrote the original NEPA bill – also brought up concerns around the judicial reform provisions, arguing that it limits community engagement and feedback.
“NEPA’s directive is clear: the government must consider how a project will affect the environment, and the communities and the people affected by the projects have the right to have a fair chance to weigh in on its merits,” Dingell said.
Some members of the panel did express interest in working in a bipartisan manner on permitting reform, such as Reps. Susie Lee and Mike Levin .
Why all this matters: While negotiations between Westerman and moderate Democrat Scott Peters are still happening, a number of Democrats – particularly progressive climate hawks – opposing the bill could put the bill on shaky ground.
Who testified: Chip Jakins , the chief executive officer of the Jackson Energy Membership Cooperative; Keith Pugh , the President of the American Public Works Association; John Beard Jr. , the founder of the Port Arthur Community Action Network, and Heather Reams , the president of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions.
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STELLANTIS SPENDS $406M ON THREE MICHIGAN PLANTS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Stellantis said today that it will spend $406 million on three plants in Michigan to help produce electric vehicles, the Detroit News reports .
The majority will be spent at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant to start building the Ram 1500 REV and the Ram 1500 Ramcharger pickup trucks.
Stellantis aims to spend $55 billion toward its goal of producing 100% EV passenger cars in Europe and 50% EVs in the U.S. by 2030.
RISING COFFEE PRICES ARE BECOMING CRIMINAL…LITERALLY : As the cost of coffee beans has spiked, farmers in Uganda are resorting to extreme measures to protect their plants from thieves in the night.
What’s happening : Coffee farmers in Uganda have been experiencing an increase in criminal activity, with thieves breaking into their farms and stealing coffee beans, according to Bloomberg. Ronald Buule , executive director of Uganda’s Central Coffee Farmers Association (CECOFA) told the outlet these robberies are directly connected to high prices of coffee. Buule said the late-night raids have “created insecurity in coffee farms.”
Many farmers suspect the criminals are young locals. Bloomberg reported that these criminals are typically going off to sell the beans themselves. If stolen from the farms before turning ripe, the beans are at risk of entering the supply chain at a lower level of quality. Additionally, if branches are ripped off the plants, it can harm future bean production. Despite concerns, it has been difficult to determine how large the issue is due to a lack of police and government data on the thefts.
What’s being done : To protect their crops, farmers have been forced to resort to a variety of security measures. Farmer Charles Waliggo told Bloomberg that he has been waking up in the middle of the night to check his plants, while Buule said he hired 10 night guards to monitor over 40 acres across two coffee plantations. Other farmers have been encouraged to use fencing, dogs, and even bees to ward off the criminals. Some local communities are also taking action, prohibiting children from selling coffee beans.
Some background : Uganda is one of the top 10 exporters of coffee beans worldwide, accounting for around 4% of global coffee production, per the USDA. Between 2023 and 2024, the African nation exported around 6.13 million bags of coffee worth approximately $1.144 billion. Given its global prominence, coffee production has become a key part of Uganda’s economic and infrastructure growth.
In recent years, consumers worldwide have been experiencing a sharp increase in costs for their morning fuel. In June, the International Coffee Organization reported costs hitting a 13-year-high, averaging around $2.27 per pound – a 8.9% increase from the month before. Uganda farmers also saw prices skyrocket as high as 65% for unshelled robusta coffee beans, Bloomberg reported .
‘NEIN’ MR TRUMP: GERMANY REJECTS DEBATE ENERGY CLAIMS : As Donald Trump sparred with Vice President Kamala Harris during Tuesday night’s debate, the former president also took a jab at one of the United States’ strongest allies – Germany.
The details: During his closing remarks, Trump slammed Harris on her energy policy, accusing her of supporting policies that are not backed by the American people.
“You believe in things like we’re not going to frack, we’re not going to take fossil fuel, we’re not going to do things that are going to be strong, whether you like it or not,” He said, directing his remarks at Harris. “Germany tried that, and within one year, they were back to building normal energy plants.”
The response : Germany’s foreign ministry sought out to set the record straight in a post shared to X .
“Like it or not: Germany’s energy system is fully operational, with more than 50% renewables,” the post read. “And we are shutting down – not building – coal & nuclear plants. Coal will be off the grid by 2038 at the latest.”
The country then took a jab at the former president’s claims that Haitian migrants in Ohio have been killing and eating household pets – despite local officials finding no evidence. “PS: We also don’t eat cats and dogs,” Germany’s foreign ministry wrote.
Some context: Like other countries that are part of the European Union, Germany has been making strides toward using more clean energy in an effort to cut carbon emissions and reach its goals set in the Paris Climate Accords. However, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a severe drop in gas imports, the nation recently brought some coal-powered plants back online for a limited time between October 2023 and March 2024.
No new coal-plants have been built in the country, which is seeking to phase out its use of coal-powered energy by no later than 2038. German officials have also revealed that in 2023 the nation saw more than half (51%) of its energy system powered by renewable sources, such as solar and wind.
RUNDOWN
Reuters In arid New Mexico, rural towns eye treated oil wastewater as a solution to drought
Wall Street Journal Shortfall in Young Engineers Threatens Nuclear Renaissance
The Guardian Inside Eraring, the giant coal-fired power station that escaped a 2025 death sentence
Joseph Lawler and Callie Patteson contributed to this report.
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