E&C MUSICAL CHAIRS: Former Rep. Bill Johnson’s resignation from Congress became effective on Monday, leaving open a highly sought-after seat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Who’s in the running: There are at least three Republicans that are hopping into the race — and it’s shaping to be a competitive one, with the lawmakers presenting a diverse set of knowledge and experience. Here’s the rundown:
“The nuclear guy”: Rep. Brandon Williams, the energy subcommittee chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, is presenting himself as the nuclear advocate. He’s the only Navy nuclear submarine officer serving in Congress, and is making the pitch that he is a subject matter expert ready to tackle the job from Day One – especially considering that a number of Republicans will be retiring from the committee.
“The Republican conference needs to lead on energy, and there’s growing consensus and awareness that we need to be making a serious pivot towards nuclear power,” Williams said during an interview with the Washington Examiner. “I’m a subject matter expert in nuclear power at a time when our nation and the GOP conference uniquely needs to have that kind of leadership.”
Much of his policy priorities are laid out in his “Rebalancing America’s Energy Investment Strategy” – an outline he presented at last year’s global climate summit, where he was the only freshman member to attend amongst more than a dozen Republicans. The New York Republican called for incentives within the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure bill to be redirected from wind and solar to nuclear. Williams is also advocating for nuclear and natural gas to be considered “green” to qualify for these incentives, and railed against “unproven” carbon capture technologies. Read that here.
The “Midwesterner” guy: Rep. John James, a Michigan Republican, is emphasizing the importance of having Johnson’s replacement be from the Midwest, as the former lawmaker was. The E&C committee currently has only a handful of Republican Midwestern members.
James noted that if other Midwestern members of the committee leave for other opportunities like leadership posts, the regional representation could go to zero “in a couple of years.”
“We cannot allow the Midwest to continue to lose representatives on the committee,” James said.
Why he thinks he’s the best Midwesterner to fill the role: Hailing from an automotive district in the Detroit area, the freshman Republican has been adamant on pushing back against the Biden administration’s plans to expand the use of electric vehicles. In a letter with GOP Sen. Mike Crapo and 89 other members of both chambers, James blasted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s proposed fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light duty trucks. In the interview, James stated that the letter was intended to precede a disapproval resolution to overturn the rule.
James also pointed to an amendment that was added into H.R. 1 — Republicans’ marquee energy bill that was passed by the House but stalled in the Democratic-controlled Senate — that would direct the government to identify a strategy to bolster production of critical minerals. Another bill he’s introduced, the BRIDGE to DRC Act, would require the U.S. to create a national strategy to secure critical minerals sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Representing the energy capital of the world: Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas is also jumping into the race, Politico has reported. The West Point graduate’s district includes parts of Houston, the energy capital of the world. He made a play for the committee at the start of this congress – but instead became the chairman of Rural Development, Energy; and Supply Chains for the House Small Business Committee. He campaigned on energy independence – releasing a short video emphasizing an all-of-the- above approach.
After graduating from West Point with a degree in mechanical engineering, he served two deployments in Saudi Arabia as a liaison officer in missions involving the Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Corps.
Looking ahead: The House is back in session next week, and the chamber’s steering committee is expected to make a decision in the coming days or weeks. But be on the lookout for other members to jump into the race, as races for A-committee seats will be competitive.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment writers Breanne Deppisch (@breanne_dep) and Nancy Vu (@NancyVu99). Email bdeppisch@washingtonexaminer dot com or nancy.vu@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.
THIS MORNING’S BIG NEWS: The Biden administration made official that it will pause new LNG export projects.
Administration officials said the pause will allow them to update the approval process to better account for the effects of such projects on climate change, as well as on economic and national security. They stopped short of giving a time frame for the pause but said it could take “some months.”
That timeline means the administration should get relief before the election from the liberal members of Congress and environmentalists who’ve been pushing to curb the explosive growth in LNG exports.
The reaction: Republicans criticized the decision today as dangerous for energy security and a threat to allies in Europe and Asia who have grown to depend heavily on the U.S. for LNG, especially following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Biden administration’s decision “prioritizes the wishes of radical liberals over U.S. energy security and the security of our allies,” House Energy and Commerce chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers said in a statement, describing the pause as “another gift to Putin.”
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said his panel would investigate the move.
“If the Administration has the facts to prove that additional LNG export capacity would hurt Americans, they must make that information public and clear,” Manchin said.
“But if this pause is just another political ploy to pander to keep-it-in-the-ground climate activists at the expense of American workers, businesses and our allies in need, I will do everything in my power to end this pause immediately,” he added.
OIL PRICES SEE SECOND STRAIGHT WEEKLY GAIN: Oil prices increased for the second week in a row today amid signs of Chinese economic recovery and Middle East supply concerns.
Brent crude was trading above $82 per barrel this morning, after reaching the highest price of 2024 the previous day at $82.57. West Texas Intermediate was flat.
“The economy remarkably weathered the storm caused by past rate rises and it remains ebullient at the beginning of 2024,” PVM’s Tamas Varga told Reuters of the prices.
EU SLATED TO RULE OUT UKRAINE GAS TRANSIT DEAL WITH RUSSIA: The European Union is slated to rule out the renewal of a Ukraine gas pipeline deal with Russia ahead of its expiration date later this year, a decision that will further reduce the bloc’s reliance on Russian gas but deepen its dependence on outside suppliers, including LNG imports from the U.S. and others.
Bloomberg reports that the rationale from European leaders is that Russian-gas-dependent nations, including Austria and Slovakia, will be able to find alternative gas suppliers in the event of a total cutoff from Russia.
The bloc has been largely successful in replacing lost gas supplies sent via Nord Stream 1, the main gas artery linking Russia and Germany before Russia began throttling supplies in summer 2022. The line was later exploded in September along with Nord Stream 2 in a string of blasts that the U.S. and others have described as an act of “sabotage.”
Still, the EU still continued to receive Russian gas via Ukraine and Turkey, and Ukraine had remained a key pipeline route, despite volumes being down by 40% compared to before the war. Read more from Bloomberg here.
RUNDOWN
E&E News How a new law could block Kerry’s replacement
Reuters Equinor sticks to 2030 renewables targets after US wind project reset
UPDATE: This newsletter has been updated to clarify that Brandon Williams is the only nuclear submarine officer serving in Congress.
