WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon readers, Happy Friday! As we await news in Congress on permitting reform and the Department of Energy's highly anticipated LNG export report, Callie and Maydeen kick things off today with remarks from one of DC's top energy officials on when the country will actually see the impacts of the Biden administration's green agenda.
Plus, fracking may have a home with renewables as the International Energy Agency has indicated the common oil and gas drilling technique can be used to harness geothermal energy. Also in today's edition of Daily on Energy, we take a look at the $218 million approved in the state of Oregon to pay wildfire bills.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@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.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the lasting impacts of the Biden administration's green policy agenda have yet to be seen, adding that President-elect Donald Trump will be able to take credit for some of the expected economic growth.
"I think we were a year early, almost, to be able to see [the impact]," Granholm told the Financial Times. "The notion of feeling it, seeing steel on the ground, seeing people being hired, it's still a little early."
The secretary added that, while nearly 950 factories have announced they are planning to expand as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS Act, they are still just announcements, and not ribbon-cutting events.
"Trump is going to come in at a time when all of that's going to happen and he'll be able to take credit for a lot of that," she said.
Read more from Callie here.
INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY BACKS FRACKING TO HARNESS GEOTHERMAL ENERGY: Long-standing drilling techniques used by the oil and gas industry can also be used to harness enough geothermal energy to rival renewables like wind and solar, the International Energy Agency said.
The details: Today the intergovernmental organization released its latest report on the future of geothermal energy, finding that hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling - commonly used to extract oil and natural gas within the United States - could help make geothermal energy an "attractive" alternative resource worldwide.
Currently, geothermal energy only meets less than 1% of global energy demand, primarily in countries like the U.S., Iceland, Italy, Turkey, Indonesia, and Kenya. However, using techniques like fracking, the IEA said, the alternative source of energy could meet up to 15% of global demand by 2050. The agency said this could produce nearly 6,000 terawatt hours per year of power, roughly equivalent to the current demand of the U.S. and India combined.
A reminder: Fracking uses high pressure from a drill and perforating gun system to crack shale rock layers thousands of feet underground, where natural gas and oil can be found. A perforating gun is a device lowered into a deep well loaded with explosive charges to puncture cracks in the shale rock. Then, millions of gallons of water, chemicals, and sand are pumped into these open fissures in the shale. As the sand keeps these cracks open, the chemical and water mixture helps natural gas and oil to flow back to the surface.
In the case of geothermal energy, fracking could be used to circulate water beneath the earth's crust, collecting heat from the rocks below and sending it up to the surface. The IEA has said up to 80% of the current investment required for geothermal projects already involves skills commonly found in the oil and gas industry, making it easy to transfer data, technologies, and supply chains.
"Diversifying into geothermal energy could be of great benefit to the oil and gas industry, providing opportunities to develop new business lines in the fast-growing clean energy economy, as well as a hedge against commercial risks arising from projected future declines in oil and gas demand," IEA said.
HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ACCUSES 'CLIMATE CARTEL' OF COLLUDING TO TAKE OVER EXXON'S BOARD: In an interim report released today, the House Judiciary Committee has accused a number of climate activists and financial institutions of working together to take over the board of Exxon Mobil.
The details: The investigation by the Republican-led committee claims several climate coalitions, including the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, Climate Action 100+, Ceres, and the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, conducted pressure campaigns on U.S. companies in an effort to "enforce 'net-zero' climate commitments." The report alleges that if any companies refused to comply, the so-called climate cartel sought out to replace board members with "climate cartel-aligned members."
The report specifically takes a look at Exxon, claiming the activists forced climate disclosures, forced emission reduction targets, and enforced their demands by voting against its board of directors. "In 2021, after repeated attempts to force ExxonMobil to adopt 'net-zero' climate goals, the climate cartel conspired to 'refresh' the ExxonMobil board by removing and replacing its directors," the report reads.
The committee goes on to claim that the so-called climate cartel successfully removed and replaced three of ExxonMobil's board members through a small hedge fund called Engine No. 1. This was allegedly thanks to millions of dollars in funds from Climate Action 100+ and strong-armed support from asset managers with BlackRock, State Street Global Advisors and Vanguard.
"In the end, the climate cartel secured 'three climate activists' on the ExxonMobil board
of directors," the report continues. "In the year following the campaign, ExxonMobil made a series of 'net-zero' commitments for the first time."
Worth noting: As Exxon faced apparent pressure to make climate commitments, the company also saw massive upticks in profits. In 2023, the company announced record profits from the year before, with its stock outperforming competitors. While ExxonMobil has made net-zero commitments through investments in technology like carbon capture, the oil giant is still planning to produce record levels of oil and gas by 2030.
MASSACHUSETTS CONGRESSMAN SEEKS PARDON FOR ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYER: Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts is calling on President Joe Biden to issue a pardon for environmental and human rights lawyer Steven Donziger, who went up against Chevron throughout the early 2000s.
Some background: Beginning in 2003, Donziger led a class action lawsuit representing tens of thousands of indigenous people and farmers in Ecuador who claimed Chevron had dumped billions of gallons of poisonous oil waste into their lands. While the Ecuadorian Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, Chevron swiftly fought against the rulings and filed a RICO lawsuit against Donziger. While parts of a key testimony that the case relied on was later found to have been exaggerated or false, the lawyer was found guilty of contempt of court.
The details: McGovern called for Donziger's pardon in an op-ed in The Guardian today, accusing the oil and gas giant of retaliating against the lawyer in a "vicious legal campaign designed not just to discredit him, but to ruin his life."
The congressman claimed Chevron weaponized the courts against Donziger, calling the RICO case "bogus," particularly as the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York declined to prosecute.
"Chevron pressured the judge to appoint private prosecutors from a corporate law firm - who previously had Chevron as a client - to prosecute him in the name of the US government," McGovern wrote.
He noted that not only was Donziger denied a jury trial, he also had been put on house arrest for nearly three years - more than four times longer than the maximum sentence in such a contempt case.
"A pardon for Donziger would not erase the injustices he has endured. And it would certainly not fix what Chevron did to the innocent people of Ecuador," McGovern wrote. "But it would send a powerful signal that truth and fairness still matter, and that the United States stands for justice and not corporate impunity. It also would allow Donziger to travel again and help the Amazon communities force Chevron to comply with court orders that it pay the judgement."
Earlier this week, McGovern led a group of 34 members of Congress from both chambers in a letter sent to Biden requesting the pardon for Donziger. He was joined by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, as well as Democratic Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Pramila Jayapal of Washington.
OREGON LEGISLATORS APPROVE MILLIONS TO PAY WILDFIRE BILLS: In a special session, Oregon lawmakers yesterday evening approved $218 million to pay for the state's extreme wildfire season.
Wildfires have burned 1.9 million acres, far exceeding the state's average. The wildfires cost the state over $350 million, leading Gov. Tina Kotek to call for a special session to approve additional funding.
The funding will go towards the Oregon Department of Forestry and the Oregon Department of the State Fire Marshal to pay all costs for the season.
"We had a historic wildfire season and we didn't have enough money essentially in the bank to pay all of our bills. So as the state of Oregon, it was really important for us to make sure that we paid back those bills, especially as we're going into the holiday season," said state Sen. Kate Lieber, who co-chairs the joint budget committee, according to AP News.
The funding gained bipartisan support in both chambers.
GOP state Rep. Jeff Helfrich, tweeted "Proud to deliver compensation for our heroes who keep us safe, but real protection means managing our natural resources properly. Time to prevent fires, not just fight them."
NIKOLA LAYS OFF WORKFORCE THIS MONTH DUE TO FINANCIAL TROUBLES: Battery-electric truck manufacturer Nikola confirmed it has laid off more workers this month as part of several moves to keep the company alive, Electrek reports.
According to Electrek, Nikola announced this month it has implemented further layoffs amidst financial troubles. The company in October laid off 15% of its workforce.
The layoffs come at a time when the company is struggling to sell enough of its fuel cell-hydrogen truck production. Nikola is valued at around $100 million. Electrek said the company is losing about $200 million a quarter.
Nikola is attempting to sell shares to raise money and shared with Electrek that it does not have enough to get through the next quarter.
"We currently estimate that our existing financial resources are only adequate to fund our forecasted operating costs and meet our obligations into, but not through, the first quarter of 2025," Nikola told Electrek.
ICYMI - DOE APPROVES $1.25B LOAN FOR EV CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE: The Department of Energy's Loan Program Office announced yesterday that it will lend $1.25 billion to EVgo to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure nationwide.
EVgo is the largest U.S. electric vehicle charging company. The loan will help the company build about 7,500 chargers at roughly 1,100 charging stations nationwide.
The department said EVgo will first deploy dual charging ports. It added that EVgo will continue installing power sharing equipment over the five-year deployment timeline.
The project will benefit from tax credits created by the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act. The administration has provided these credits to help boost the domestic EV industry. However, EV credits may be at risk with the incoming Trump administration, which has expressed dissatisfaction with them.
The department said that, due to federal funding and tax credits, from the Biden administration more than 204,000 publicly available charging ports and nearly 38,000 new public chargers were added this year.
RUNDOWN
The New York Times Tribes in Canada Stand to Reap Billions From Gas. Some Fear a Greater Loss
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