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DAILY ENERGY NEWS  | 05/30/2025
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Common sense prevailed in court. Now let's get going on some reforms in Congress.


E&E News (5/29/25) reports: "The Supreme Court on Thursday placed new limits on environmental reviews for major federal projects such as pipelines and railways. In a unanimous 8-0 ruling, the justices found that a lower court should more narrowly tailor National Environmental Policy Act analyses to focus on effects that are close to projects under review and fall directly under the purview of approving agencies. 'Simply stated, NEPA is a procedural cross-check, not a substantive roadblock. The goal of the law is to inform agency decisionmaking, not to paralyze it,' said Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing the opinion for the court, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett...The decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County is expected to have significant implications for how courts handle lawsuits over NEPA reviews, as the Trump administration has vowed to boost fossil fuel development and streamline project permitting."

"Mandates require policymakers to pick winners and losers, which is a highly difficult task given their limited knowledge. The problem is particularly acute for new technologies with high uncertainties over cost and performance. For example, a policy that mandates electric vehicles as a preferred technology can backfire if the price of gasoline falls sharply, or EVs fail to develop economically and technically as hoped for by advocates. " 

 

– Kenneth Costello,
The Rio Grande
Foundation

It's not cheap being green.


Restoration News (5/29/25) reports: "Virginia residents will continue to experience a sharp increase in their electricity bills based mostly on 'green' energy mandates in the runup to this year's gubernatorial race. Earlier this year, Dominion Energy—the state's public utility headquartered in Richmond—submitted applications for rate increases to the State Corporation Commission, the state regulatory authority overseeing utilities, that will begin to show up on monthly bills. After analyzing the applications, Stephen D. Haner, a senior fellow for environment and energy policy at the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, identified the Democrats' 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) as the major culprit. He's expecting an almost 50% increase for Virginia ratepayers within the next two years. The 1,000-kilowatt hour monthly bill was about $116 just before VCEA was implemented, but Haner expects 'pending price increases' to take this amount to about $170 in 2027. But that's not the end of it, Haner explained, since VCEA compliance costs will continue to pile up.  'Clean energy requirements are the biggest component of the increase,' Haner said. 'And all these costs get passed along not just to residential people but to businesses and industry. When Virginia becomes an expensive state for industry that's not helpful, because we are competing against other states further south with much lower electricity rates.'"

This might surprise you, but not all California legislators are crazy. 


KCRA (5/28/25) reports: "As two oil refineries prepare to close in California within the next year, some Democratic state lawmakers on Wednesday signaled they're losing trust with the leaders of state agencies that have been regulating the oil and gas industry. California Air Resources Board Chair Liane Randolph, California Energy Commission Vice Chairman Siva Gunda and Division of Petroleum Market Oversight Director Tai Milder were summoned to testify in front of the Assembly's Utilities and Energy Committee...Regulators told lawmakers they're in the process of figuring out the state's plan of action when it loses the two refiners. Gunda confirmed the closures will require the state to import oil from other countries that don't have the same environmental and labor standards as California. The oil would be delivered by ships. 'Increase in imports meaning we have more vessels, which means more emissions, is that correct?' asked Asm. Mike Gipson, D-Los Angeles. 'You are correct that additional marine traffic would implicate air quality issues beyond state waters that we do not regulate,' Randolph replied."

Green New Scam handouts attract the worst kinds of compaines.


Independent (5/29/25) reports: "Brazilian prosecutors have filed a lawsuit accusing electric carmaker BYD of human trafficking and keeping its workers in 'slavery-like conditions' in its biggest market outside China. The suit seeks over £33m in moral damages from the Chinese EV giant as well as contractors JinJiang Construction Brazil and Tecmonta, according to a statement by Brazil’s Public Labour Prosecutor's Office, or MPT. The lawsuit comes on the heels of an investigation that led to the rescue of 220 Chinese workers from the construction site of BYD’s new factory in Camacari city in the northeast of Brazil last December...Prosecutors said the workers were found working in 'slavery-live conditions' and with 'minimum comfort and hygiene,' calling them victims of international human trafficking...BYD, short for Build Your Dreams, is a major player in the electric vehicles market, producing both passenger vehicles and electric buses. The company has been seeking to expand in Brazil, which is its largest overseas market."

Energy Markets

 
WTI Crude Oil: ↓ $60.84
Natural Gas: ↓ $3.54
Gasoline: ↓ $3.16
Diesel: ↓ $3.53
Heating Oil: ↓ $203.36
Brent Crude Oil: ↓ $64.04
US Rig Count: ↓ 586

 
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