WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Thursday, readers! The Trump administration is taking aim at national monuments and considering removing federal protections to support mining and oil production operations. There are monuments under consideration in California, Arizona, and Utah.
In today’s Daily on Energy, we also take a look at the administration’s efforts to fast-track the permitting process for energy and mining projects. Read on to learn how the oil industry is bracing for higher costs because of tariffs.
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.
ADMINISTRATION WEIGHS SHRINKING NATIONAL MONUMENTS TO BOOST ENERGY DEVELOPMENT: Trump administration is considering removing federal protections for some national monuments in order to offer support for mining and oil production operations, in line with President Donald Trump’s energy dominance agenda.
The details: Two people familiar with the matter confirmed to the Washington Post that the Department of Interior is considering shrinking at least six national monuments located in the western United States.
While no final decisions have been made, the list of monuments at risk currently comprises Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona, Ironwood Forest in southern Arizona, Chuckwalla in southern California, Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks in New Mexico, and Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante both in southern Utah.
One source said that officials with the Interior Department are analyzing whether the land belonging to these monuments has any potential for mining and oil production. The department is also looking to change the monuments’ boundaries, depending on what it finds.
Goals in writing: The administration has not publicly confirmed its plans to shrink any of these national monuments, but a draft strategic framework for the Interior Department (obtained by the Public Domain news desk) details that one of the agency’s goals is to “assess and right-size” national monuments.
The Interior Department has seemingly confirmed the validity of the draft document, with spokeswoman Kathryn Martin telling the Washington Post it was “beyond unacceptable that an internal document in the draft/deliberative process is being shared with the media before a decision point has been made.”
“We will take this leak of an internal, pre-decisional document very seriously and find out who is responsible,” Martin said. “The internal document is marked draft/deliberative for a reason — it’s not final nor ready for release.”
Some reaction: News of the potential resizing of national monuments has been met with scathing criticism from conservationists and environmental activists. Chris Hill, CEO of the nonprofit Conversation Lands Foundation, emphasized how popular these monuments are with Americans nationwide.
“With more than 80 percent of national public land already open to oil and gas leasing, it’s clear any action to shrink or eliminate national monuments won’t be about energy production,” Hill said in a statement to Daily on Energy. “Eliminating National Monuments protection for these irreplaceable landscapes will not help local people whose livelihoods and rural economies rely on outdoor recreation.”
TRUMP TAKES STEPS TO FAST-TRACK PERMITTING: The administration has also announced plans to dramatically slash the typically yearslong permitting process to less than a month for nearly all energy and mining projects on federal lands, except for solar and wind power.
The details: Interior unveiled new emergency permitting procedures yesterday, offering more relief for the fossil fuel industry and a select few clean energy projects. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the measures were designed to expedite the reviewing and approval process for energy and mining projects needing leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, generation, or exploration permits. The process is intended to be completed in 28 days at the most.
The department also plans to use its emergency authority under existing regulations for the National Environmental Policy, Endangered Species, and National Historic Preservation acts to speed up reviews.
What’s included: In its announcement, the Interior Department issued a list of the different energy sources that can receive these fast-track permits:
- Crude Oil
- Natural Gas
- Lease Condensates
- Natural gas liquids
- Refined petroleum products
- Uranium
- Coal
- Biofuels
- Geothermal Energy
- Kinetic hydropower
- Critical minerals
Renewables like solar and wind power were notably absent. Trump has expressed disdain for the renewable energy industry, but solar power has dominated domestic energy growth in recent years. In 2024, it was the largest source of new energy capacity (around 50 gigawatts) added to the national grid.
Read more from Callie here.
OIL INDUSTRY BRACES FOR HIGHER COSTS BROUGHT ON BY TRUMP TARIFFS: Analysts are now predicting oil producers will be hit with higher costs in their supply chains in the fallout of the Trump administration’s sweeping looming tariffs.
The details: A new Wood Mackenzie report published this week and obtained by Hart Energy estimated that the president’s tariffs policy on China and Western allies could increase upstream costs for production by up to 4% for onshore projects. Offshore projects could see even greater price hikes of up to 14%.
“The global oil industry is bracing for a crisis,” Wood Mackenzie’s head of upstream analysis Frazier McKay told Hart Energy.
Higher costs, combined with already falling prices and OPEC+’s decision to accelerate its output of oil next month and possibly again in June, have raised uncertainty within the industry as to whether developers can profitably increase production.
“Recent U.S. tariffs, along with retaliatory tariffs, have added significant uncertainty in the market, which if unresolved will very likely cause demand destruction in the short to medium term,” Girish Saligram, CEO of oil services company Weatherford International, told the outlet.
Where oil stands: Wood Mackenzie’s recent report estimates that the industry won’t be forced to impose cost-cutting measures if the price of oil remains around $65 per barrel. That would likely change if prices drop toward or below the $50 line.
As of Thursday afternoon, international and domestic benchmarks remained comfortably above $60, with Brent Crude up 0.64%, selling at $66.54 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate was also up by around 0.84% and priced at $62.77 per barrel.
NEW JERSEY FIRE UPDATE: A man from Waretown, New Jersey, was arrested for arson and aggravated arson in connection with the New Jersey fire, the Associated Press reports.
Investigators said 19-year-old Joseph King started a bonfire with wooden pallets and left the area without completely putting out the fire.
The fire started Tuesday and quickly spread in southern New Jersey. As of this morning, the fire was 50% contained and had burned 13,250 acres. The fire forced nearly 5,000 people to evacuate their homes on Tuesday night. Some commercial buildings and vehicles have been destroyed.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued an air quality alert for New York today. The agency predicts that the levels of pollution either ozone or fine particulate matter will exceed an Air Quality Index value of 100.
DOE OFFICIAL SAYS EFFORTS TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE RESTRICTS ENERGY GROWTH: Tommy Joyce, the acting assistant secretary for the Office of International Affairs at the Department of Energy, told representatives of about 60 countries that efforts to tackle climate change harm energy supply, Politico reports.
“When and where their energy is scarce or restricted, humans suffer. Unfortunately, the focus during the last [U.S.] administration was on climate politics and policies leading to that scarcity,” Joyce said.
“These policies have been embraced by many, not just the United States, and harm human lives,” he added.
Joyce also raised concerns about reliance on China’s clean energy supply chain for things like magnets, which are used in the construction of wind turbines. He said “[S]ince China, the supplier of nearly all of them, restricted their sale, there are no wind turbines without concessions to or coercion from China.”
He added that “putting abstract emission goals and the interests of our adversaries first, and the security of our people last.”
OTHER NEWS IN EUROPE: President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Commission plans to present a roadmap by May on how it will phase out Russian imports of fossil fuels.
The roadmap will provide “concrete measures to phase out all imports of Russian fossil fuels so that we will no longer rely on a hostile power for our energy needs,” von der Leyen said, according to Politico.
In response to the war in Ukraine, the European Commission has promised to stop the imports of Russian fossil fuels by 2027. Trump has urged the EU to purchase more U.S. gas as a tactic to negotiate on tariffs
“These energy partnerships, including imports of liquefied natural gas from the United States, remain of strategic importance for the European Union,” von der Leyen added.
RENEWABLE INVESTORS COULD FLEE TO U.K. IN PIVOT AWAY FROM TRUMP: The United Kingdom has the opportunity to meet the moment for new renewable energy investments as many weigh reducing U.S.–based portfolios amid the second Trump administration, Scotland’s Secretary of State Ian Murray said this week.
The details: In an interview with the Financial Times, Murray indicated that the U.K. is bracing for investors to turn to Britain and Scotland to back new clean energy projects, as Trump has shaken up the domestic renewable industry. He pointed to growing concerns from investors that saw major benefits from tax credits and subsidies created through the Inflation Reduction Act.
Murray explained that, during a roundtable held by BlackRock earlier this month, stakeholders expressed a belief that the “era” of thriving renewable investments in the U.S. is now over. Amid growing “unpredictability” from Washington, Murray said, investors are turning their attention abroad.
Key quote: “They were looking to places that were world leaders in renewables. And they’re looking at the UK as an investable proposition for two reasons,” he told the Financial Times.
“One, the political and parliamentary stability, which is pretty unique in the rest of the western world at the moment, and [secondly] the fact that we’ve got an abundance of tech and talent here.”
HAS THE NUCLEAR REVIVAL HIT SPAIN? Since agreeing to a total phase-out of nuclear power six years ago, Spanish officials have for the first time indicated support for keeping the carbon-free energy online just a bit longer.
The details: Environmental Transition Minister Sara Aagesen told Bloomberg this week that contract extensions for operating nuclear plants are not off the table, as the country has faced pressure to keep nuclear as a part of its energy mix.
“Nuclear energy will be present in our mix at least until 2035,” she told the outlet. “We’re not considering anything because there is no specific proposal on the table.”
If any companies do propose extensions past 2035, the government appears more flexible to approve longer lifespans for nuclear plants in the country.
Nuclear power in Spain: The European country is currently planning to shut down seven nuclear reactors, which make up roughly 20% of its total energy mix. Spain has been planning to fill the gap created by the nuclear phaseout with increased renewables, like wind and solar.
The phase-out was agreed to in 2019, with the support of a number of utility companies that have since walked back their positions. In March, energy company Iberdrola’s chairman Ignacio Sanchez Galan insisted that nuclear energy is “absolutely necessary” to support Spain’s grid, according to AFP.
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