WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Friday, readers! In today’s Daily on Energy, with the help of our editor Joe Lawler, we are taking a look at House Republicans’ failure to advance their fiscal overhaul bill due to disagreements over slashing Inflation Reduction Act tax credits.
The failed vote today likely pushes back House Speaker Mike Johnson’s goal of passing the bill by Memorial Day. The legislation is key to enacting President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda.
In other news, we also take a look at the United Nations’ report on global food insecurity, which found that extreme weather and conflicts have heavily influenced food shortfalls. Keep reading to see how Tesla’s Cybertruck is losing its status as the No. 1 electric truck on the market.
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: “While many of these provisions reflect a commitment to American energy dominance through an all-of-the-above energy strategy, we must ensure certainty for current and future energy investments to meet the nation’s growing power demand and protect our constituents from higher energy costs,” 12 House Republicans wrote on Wednesday, asking for gentler treatment of energy tax credits in the GOP reconciliation bill.
The Republican lawmakers included: Reps. Jen Kiggans of Virginia, Andrew Garbarino of New York, Mark Amodei of Nevada, Juan Ciscomani of Arizona, Dave Joyce of Ohio, Nick LaLota of New York, Mike Lawler of New York, Dan Newhouse of Washington, David Valadao of California, Gabe Evans of Colorado, Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania, Don Bacon of Nebraska, and Young Kim of California.
NEVERTHELESS…IRA SUBSIDY OPPOSITION HELPS STALL GOP MEGABILL IN BUDGET COMMITTEE: Disagreement over the fate of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits helped stall the Republican reconciliation bill this morning in the Budget Committee.
Five Republicans voted with Democrats against the measure: Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Chip Roy of Texas, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, and Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania (who said he voted “no” for procedural reasons). The failed vote is a blow to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s goal of passing the legislative package by Memorial Day.
The Republicans, all conservative fiscal hawks, are seeking bigger spending cuts, including by shortening the timeline for the imposition of Medicaid work requirements and accelerating the phase-out of IRA subsidies.
Brecheen cited the clean energy incentives as the motivation for opposing the bill this morning.
He said that he was withholding support until “we get these timelines corrected, where it’s a true repeal of wind and solar that is undermining our electric grid.”
He argued that the build-out of renewable energy is undermining the grid, increasing reliance on China, and hurting employment in oil and gas production. “We have to fix this,” he said.
The vote follows three House committee markups this week that lasted through the night as lawmakers debated over Medicaid, energy provisions, and tax cuts. We covered the House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committee hearings on Daily on Energy earlier this week.
But as a reminder, the Energy and Commerce Committee’s markup hearing lasted over 25 hours.
The Budget Committee is scheduled to reconvene to consider the bill again Sunday night.
The Ways and Means Committee markup, which advanced the cuts to the IRA credits, ended Wednesday morning. The Agriculture Committee also advanced its portion of the budget reconciliation bill earlier this week.
U.N. SAYS CLIMATE EXTREMES ARE UNDERMINING GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY: The United Nations said in its 2025 Global Report on Food Crises that more than 295 million people faced acute hunger last year, with climate change and conflicts playing a major role.
“Fueled by conflict, geopolitical tensions, climate chaos, environmental vulnerabilities, and economic upheaval, food and nutrition crises define the lives of millions– not for weeks or months, but for years and even lifetimes,” UN Secretary General António Guterres wrote.
He added “[C]limate extremes are growing in intensity – wreaking havoc on global food security, crippling harvests, and breaking supply chains.”
As an example, the report noted that Asia was significantly impacted by extreme weather events such as El Niño and an emerging La Niña by the end of last year, which hurt agriculture production.
HOUSE DEMOCRATS CRITICIZE BANKS FOR EXITING CLIMATE INITIATIVES: House Democrats are trying to put pressure on financial institutions for exiting climate initiatives following the change in administration, E&E News reports.
Forty-one House Democrats sent a letter to 12 banks, including Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs, upbraiding them for leaving climate financial groups like the Net Zero Banking Alliance and the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, which aim to reduce emissions.
“Abandoning these groups signals that your organization has actively decided to cede U.S. leadership on combating climate change,” the lawmakers wrote. “Furthermore, leaving doesn’t eliminate climate-related financial risk; instead, it diminishes your capacity to monitor and address that risk collaboratively. This ultimately has the potential to harm your customers and shareholders in the long run.”
The lawmakers requested the financial institutions to respond to several questions regarding the reasons they left the climate groups and whether they are still committed to the net-zero carbon emissions goal.
The signatories include Financial Services Committee ranking member Rep. Maxine Waters and Reps. Sean Casten of Illinois, Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Joyce Beatty of Ohio, and many others.
TESLA CYBERTRUCK OVERTAKEN BY FORD F-150 LIGHTNING IN Q1 SALES: The Ford F-150 Lightning overtook the Tesla Cybertruck as the No. 1 electric pickup in sales in the first quarter, Inside EVs reports.
In the quarter, 7,913 Lightnings were registered, versus 7,126 Cybertrucks, according to S&P Global Mobility (Tesla doesn’t break out sales by model, so registrations are the number to watch).
Deliveries of the Cybertruck began at the end of 2023, peaked in 2024, and are now declining. So the Lightning, which debuted in 2022, is retaking the title of most sold.
Still, the absolute number of electric pickup sales remains quite low, Inside EVs notes, highlighting the obstacles to consumer adoption.
‘DRILL, BABY, DRILL’ UPDATE – DOWN 25 RIGS ON THE YEAR: The total number of oil and gas drilling rigs active in the U.S. fell by six this week to 578, according to data from Baker Hughes released today. On the year, the number is down by 25.
The rig count has declined as oil prices have slipped to near or below where drillers have said it needs to be to drill new wells. WTI, though, was up about 1.4% to above $62 this early afternoon, as traders reacted to optimism for a nuclear deal with Iran.
ICYMI – DOE TO REVIEW BILLIONS IN ENERGY GRANTS: The Energy Department yesterday announced that it is reviewing $15 billion in energy grants awarded during the Biden administration.
“Over the past 110 days, the Energy Department has been hard at work reviewing the billions of dollars that were rushed out the door, particularly in the final days of the Biden administration, and what we have found is concerning,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a press release.
The department said it is evaluating 179 awards and is prioritizing large-scale commercial projects. Wright said the review will ensure that the department is “utilizing taxpayer dollars to generate the largest possible benefit to the American people and safeguarding our national security.”
Wright added “Any reputable business would have a process in place for evaluating spending and investments before money goes out the door, and the American people deserve no less from their federal government.”
The Trump administration has sought to cancel grant funds that were previously awarded by the Biden administration that do not align with the administration’s agenda.
RUNDOWN:
The Washington Post Where local forecast offices no longer monitor weather around-the-clock
Reuters How could the EU ban Russian gas?
New York Times Data Centers’ Hunger for Energy Could Raise All Electric Bills
Grist If you want to claim the solar tax credit, install now
