The Supreme Court appears poised to keep at least some Clean Air Act disputes in federal courts outside of D.C. — preventing what at least one justice described as “home court advantage” for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The justices heard a pair of cases on Tuesday about whether certain Clean Air Act disputes should be heard...
Author: The Hill
How Texas oil workers, technology are helping build a new renewable boom
On any other day, David Rodriguez’s truck would have been helping extract oil, and as he sucked mud from a well beneath a towering drilling rig, any passersby might have assumed he was doing just that. “Compared to oil and gas, it’s the same thing, man,” Rodriguez shouted over the motor. But he was working to produce...
Trump signs order on critical mineral production
President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order intended to boost production of critical minerals in the United States and confirmed a deal to gain access to minerals in Ukraine was still on track. Trump signed the order behind closed doors at the White House. A spokesperson said the order would streamline permitting to allow...
Trump blocks rule to implement methane fee for oil and gas companies
President Trump on Friday signed a resolution to block the implementation of a fee on oil and gas companies’ excess methane emissions. The resolution blocked the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2024 rule that implemented the fee program, which was established in the Democrats’ 2022 climate, tax and health care bill. Read more in The Hill here.
Senators eye national standard for wildfire response on federal lands
Bipartisan legislation introduced by first-term Sens. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.) would establish a nationwide response time standard for wildfires affecting public lands. Under the bill, the Wildfire Response and Preparedness Act, all wildfires on Interior Department- or Agriculture Department-administered lands would be subject to a half-hour response standard. In a statement, Sheehy and Kim...
House votes to overturn rule implementing methane fee
The House on Wednesday voted to overturn a Biden-era rule implementing a program that charges oil and gas companies for excess methane emissions. The vote was 220-206-1. Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Jared Golden (Maine), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Adam Gray (Calif.), Kristen McDonald Rivet (Mich.) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) voted with nearly every Republican in favor of the measure. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) was...
EPA to make higher-ethanol gas available year round beginning in April
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will proceed with Biden-era plans to allow the year-round sale of higher-ethanol E15 fuel, a longtime ask of midwestern lawmakers and the biofuels industry. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency would maintain the agreed-upon date of April 28 to make the fuel available in eight states. The governors of...
Trump administration identifies hundreds of energy projects that could be fast-tracked
The Trump administration has identified hundreds of “emergency” energy projects whose approvals could be fast-tracked. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has updated its website to put hundreds of new projects on its emergency docket under President Trump’s energy emergency declaration. Among those on the list are approval for the construction of a tunnel that would...
Why red states are pulling ahead in America’s clean energy race
Renewable energy generation is surging across many of the country’s red-leaning states, positioning some to outpace their bluer peers in a national drive toward grid decarbonization. Their emerging leadership in the area in some ways defies the political battle lines that have been drawn on energy in recent years. On the federal level, Democrats have...
Senate confirms Burgum as Interior secretary
The Senate confirmed former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as Interior secretary Thursday in a 79-18 vote, with the majority of Senate Democrats joining every Republican in the chamber. Burgum, a one-time candidate for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination-turned-visible Trump campaign surrogate, has been among the president’s least controversial nominees. He advanced out of the Senate Energy...