SENATORS REGROUP ON ENERGY AND CLIMATE LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES: Senators are left looking for new avenues to advance energy- and environment-related legislative priorities after they were excluded from consideration as amendments to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization that cleared the chamber last night.
The nuclear package: The top lawmakers on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee were unable to get a large package of nuclear legislation into the FAA bill. The package is meant to overhaul the nuclear sector and streamline the approval of advanced nuclear reactor projects.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, the top Republican negotiator of the nuclear package, mentioned that she could tell “that was the direction that we’re going” but expressed optimism that the bill could be brought to the Senate floor.
Sen. Tom Carper, Environment and Public Works Committee chairman and top Democratic negotiator, expressed the same optimism: “There’s a lot of bipartisan support in the House and Senate – we’ll get it done.”
Reality check: The bill has a notable amount of bipartisan support – but it’s up to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to bring the bill to the floor for a standalone vote. And there are a lot of competing priorities that Schumer has in mind: a stalled tax bill, efforts to combat fentanyl, a rail safety bill, and advancing marijuana legislation.
RECA reauthorization: A priority of Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s is the reauthorization and expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act – a bill that gives compensation to victims exposed to nuclear contamination by the federal government – before a June deadline. The Missouri Republican’s amendment to include the bill ultimately was not considered – but Hawley is placing blame on House GOP leadership rather than Senate Democratic leaders, bluntly stating that the House needs “to get off their backside and act.”
“I don’t know how they’re going to tell all of these Americans who have been poisoned by the government that they’re not going to get anything, but for what reason? Because the House just doesn’t want to do anything?” Hawley told reporters.
Hawley zoned in on Speaker Mike Johnson – who he blasted for not taking a meeting with nuclear contamination victims, and implored Johnson to meet with the groups personally.
A spokesperson for Johnson declined to comment.
The Senate passed Hawley’s RECA Act as a standalone measure in March, but the House has yet to take up the bill on the floor.
Kelly and Cruz on semiconductors: Legislation from Sens. Mark Kelly and Ted Cruz to streamline the permitting process for semiconductors was also left by the wayside – but the Arizona Democrat is still eyeing other vehicles for the legislation, such as the annual defense bill. Kelly acknowledged that there are actions the executive branch could take to speed approvals, “but ultimately, we need legislation.”
“This is the obvious legislation to make sure we can not have these projects be slowed down by NEPA reviews that could take years,” Kelly told Nancy.
SAF Aviation: Another amendment was one from Republican Sen. Roger Marshall that would support the growth of sustainable aviation fuels. The Kansas Republican took issue with leadership for not allowing non-germane amendments to the FAA bill.
“They’ve taken all of the power that senators once had. It’s very disappointing,” he said.
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OPTIMISM ON PERMITTING REFORM WANES: Senate Energy and Natural Resources Ranking Member John Barrasso seemed less than optimistic about a permitting deal moving across the Senate by the end of the year, criticizing Democrats for not being open to reform that would speed along fossil fuel projects.
What he said: “It’s hard to tell. I continue to work with Chairman [Joe] Manchin, and he and I agree on many, many things. But we have Democrats who do not agree because we want to increase permitting opportunities for all sources of energy. Many of the Democrats only want to do it for their favorite types, not all energy. We need to do it for all energy.”
This goes without saying: Once a deal emerges, it’ll be up to Schumer to take up the bill. It still remains to be seen if that will be the case.
NEW TARIFFS COMING FOR CHINESE ELECTRIC VEHICLES, SOLAR, AND BATTERIES: Bloomberg is reporting that the Biden administration is set to implement new tariffs on a range of Chinese imports, including electric vehicles, solar cells, and batteries.
Such a move would be the latest escalation in the administration’s efforts to counter what it describes as China’s efforts to manipulate trade by subsidizing excess production in key industries. President Joe Biden has maintained tariffs on Chinese goods put in place by Donald Trump and recently raised tariffs on Chinese steel.
Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, said the announcement could come as soon as next week.
Trump, meanwhile, has promised higher tariffs on all imports and floated the idea of 60% levies on Chinese goods.
Of particular note in Biden’s plan is the treatment of solar. Some developers have opposed solar tariffs and argued that they slow the buildout of solar energy. Domestic manufacturers, though, have argued that they are necessary as protections against Chinese dumping to help get U.S. production off the ground. They’ve also recently asked for tariffs on imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, saying that Chinese companies are routing products through those countries to avoid existing tariffs.
CALPERS WEIGHS MOVE AGAINST EXXON CEO OVER ACTIVIST INVESTORS LAWSUIT: The California Public Employees Retirement System, or CalPERS – which is the largest public pension plan – is considering voting against Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods’s reelection to the board over the company’s legal dispute with activist climate investors, The Financial Times reports.
The background: In February, Exxon asked a federal court to continue its suit against climate activist investors, even after the resolution in question had been withdrawn. It did so in the hopes that the litigation could prevent further proposals from being considered in the future.
The resolution, from investment firm Arjuna Capital and the Dutch investor group Follow This, would have demanded a vote on the company establishing targets for Scope 3 emissions.
The criticism: Michael Cohen, chief operating investment officer for CalPERS, said that Exxon had gone too far. “There doesn’t seem to be anything other than an agenda of sending a message of shutting down shareholders’ ability to speak their mind,” he said in an interview with the FT.
Exxon responded that its suit was only meant to gain clarity about Securities and Exchange Commission rules “to stop the continued abuse of the proposal process.”
SECOND YOUTH CLIMATE LAWSUIT TOSSED: Judge Michael Fitzgerald of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California threw out a climate suit from California youth against the EPA, EE News reports. The youth sought to hold the agency accountable for emissions. Fitzgerald, though, said they lacked standing because their claims could not be remedied via the courts.
He cited last week’s ruling in a separate case by a panel of judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that youth plaintiffs lacked standing to sue the federal government over climate harms. We covered that in the newsletter here.
RESULTS FROM FED CLIMATE RISK ANALYSIS PILOT: The Federal Reserve released the results of its pilot program to assess climate risks for big banks, and the results are a bit underwhelming.
The central bank said in a summary of the program yesterday that the banks that participated, among other findings, “suggested that climate-related risks are highly uncertain and challenging to measure.” They also highlighted the role that the insurance industry played in mitigating any financial shocks that might result from climate change.
The program included six megabanks: Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo. The Fed stressed all along that the pilot program was voluntary and would not have regulatory consequences for the institutions that participated. Still, Republicans have argued that it represents a step toward climate regulation for the Fed.
CLIMATE PROTEST WATCH: Two elderly climate protesters damaged the display case for a copy of the Magna Carta in the British Library in London.
Reuters reports that the protesters, aged 82 and 85, used a hammer and chisel to break the case before they were stopped by guards. The document wasn’t damaged.
Just Stop Oil posted a video of the vandalism on X and claimed responsibility.
RUNDOWN
Financial Times Carmakers bet on hybrids as shift to EVs slows
Politico Gavin Newsom is coming for your car, and he wants you to know it
InsideEVs I Went To China And Drove A Dozen Electric Cars. Western Automakers Are Cooked
WyoFile Wyoming coal production nosedives, with more trouble ahead
