Daily on Energy: Burgum bangs BAAJA drum

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Tuesday, readers! If you have a chance to venture out tomorrow, national parks will be free for all U.S. citizens and residents to commemorate Veterans Day. 🇺🇲🏔️🌲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.Interior Secretary Doug Burgum seriously minimized President Donald Trump’s comments yesterday that he wouldn’t approve wind power and that BAAJA was still being negotiated, which raised the possibility he could torpedo the legislative deal. “Folks that are concerned about that should just read the bill because that’s what will become law, and this is an administration that follows the law,” Burgum said this morning at a permitting event in D.C.He said the bill provides permitting certainty for wind and solar.He added that while there is a “lot of speculation about the negotiations… in some ways, the negotiations are over.”“The bill is the bill, and the House should just take the Senate bill and say, ‘Hey, if we want to help everybody in America, let’s get this bill passed and passed right now.’ And then a project’s going to be treated equally under the – under the new law that will be in place,” he said.That sounds a lot different than what Trump said: If you missed it, late yesterday afternoon Trump told reporters during an impromptu press briefing that he would not approve permits for new wind turbines even if the permitting bill is passed.“The bill hasn’t been fully negotiated,” he said. “I will not approve wind turbines because wind turbines are a major loser.”Burgum says to trust the legislation: Burgum acknowledged the president’s distaste for wind, saying Trump’s opinion on the matter hasn’t changed.But for those concerned about the president’s feelings influencing how the bill would be implemented, Burgum issued a call for trust.When later pressed by reporters about additional assurances for Democrats, Burgum said the bill’s language provides a level playing field for all energy resources.Burgum’s tussle with TMZ: Burgum’s remarks to the press came just one day after he refused to answer questions from TMZ’s D.C. correspondent Charlie Cotton as the secretary’s security forcibly pushed Cotton away. You can watch the interaction here.Final vote tally: Right around 6:30 p.m. last night, the Senate voted 73-25 to invoke cloture on BAAJA, limiting debate and sending the nearly 500-page bill toward a final vote.That vote is expected next week.The ‘nay’ votes: Ultimately, 25 senators voted against advancing the legislation: 24 Democrats and one Republican.Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota explained his “nay” vote in a post shared to X last night. He said he opposed a provision in the legislation that would move some authority for siting transmission lines from state regulators to the federal level. “I hope to continue to work with my colleagues to address this concern,” he wrote.There were no major surprises among the Democrats who voted against the motion last night, as several made their intention clear before the vote.There were, however, several members who ultimately voted in favor of advancing the bill, but said they could not support, or could not commit to supporting final passage. This include Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada.You can find the complete list of the members who voted against advancing BAAJA here. All the rest: EPA AIR CHIEF NOMINEE TESTIFIES BEFORE CONGRESS: Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona grilled Justin Schwab, Trump’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Air and Radiation, over the EPA’s proposal to scale back public input for low emitters.Earlier this year, the EPA proposed a rule that would eliminate federal minimum requirements for state and local agencies to provide public notice and input on minor-source air permits as a way to speed up the permitting process.A minor source can emit up to 100 to 250 tons of pollutants per year, which could include facilities like laundromats, car repair shops, and data centers.Kelly asked whether Schwab would be comfortable with living next to a data center that was emitting pollutants without public input.Schwab argued that state and local governments have responsibility for permitting minor sources. He added that the Clean Air Act does not require state permitting programs to provide public engagement for permits on minor sources.“My opinion is that, as a general principle, state and local governments and agencies understand their communities and their concerns best,” Schwab said.Kelly and Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island sent a letter to EPA last month opposing the agency’s proposal. The senators also sent letters to nine data center developers. Kelly said that the seven who responded stated they did not ask the EPA to roll back this requirement.Schwab noted that the administration has called to streamline the permitting process by removing requirements that are not mandated by law, which could hinder development.He currently serves as a senior advisor to the administrator. Last month, Aaron Szabo, an attorney who had led the EPA’s Office of Air ​and Radiation since 2025, departed from the agency.TRUMP ADMIN USES LOAN AUTHORITY FOR GULF OIL AND GAS PROJECT: The Trump administration is using the Department of Energy’s loan arm to fund a multi-hundred-million-dollar oil and gas project in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed the Gulf of America.Arena Energy, an independent oil and gas exploration company, announced earlier today that it closed on a $480 million loan from the agency’s Energy Dominance Financing Office.The funds will support the company’s Project Elkhorn, helping retool, refurbish, report, and expand capacity across offshore drilling platforms off the coast of Louisiana. The project intends to return some idled platforms to service and expand the company’s overall production and capacity at active facilities. The project also plans to develop new natural gas pipeline infrastructure.In total, Arena Energy plans to add roughly 125 million barrels of additional oil and 250 billion cubic feet of natural gas production over the life of the project.Some background: The Energy Dominance Financing Office, which was formerly known as the Loan Programs Office, was created by Congress in 2005 as a tool to prop up innovative and often first-of-a-kind technologies in need of early-stage financing. It has been used to support advanced nuclear reactors and next-generation geothermal systems that require large investments but do not have proof of success to show investors, limiting their ability to obtain private lending.Today’s loan marks the first time that the Trump administration has utilized the office to finance an oil and gas project. You can find the office’s full lending portfolio here.WOOD MACKENZIE SAYS ENERGY SECURITY PUSH COULD LOWER EMISSIONS: Wood Mackenzie’s New Energy Transition Outlook found that countries that prioritize energy security could end up lowering emissions as they increase electrification.VENEZUELA WATCH – EXXON CLOSE TO RETURNING: Exxon Mobil is one step closer to returning to Venezuela for oil production, as the company said this week that it reached a deal with the country to evaluate opportunities.The deal, reported by the New York Times, is not binding and will allow Exxon to determine where it might pursue long-term investments.An Exxon spokesperson told Daily on Energy that the agreement is “a meaningful first step, but any future investment would require stable policies, clear regulations, strong investment protections and competitive returns.”Energy Secretary Chris Wright celebrated the news in a post to X this morning, while also taking a dig at CEO Darren Woods, who called Venezuela “uninvestable” earlier this year.“ExxonMobil’s preliminary agreement to return to Venezuela is a testament to President Trump’s leadership,” Wright wrote. “A country deemed ‘uninvestable’ earlier this year is already attracting significant commitment from one of the world’s largest energy companies. Tremendous progress in a remarkably short time.”Woods had made the comments about Venezuela in January, in the first weeks after the Trump administration ousted former dictator Nicolas Maduro and announced its plan to have U.S. oil and gas companies invest billions of dollars in the country.“We’ve had our assets seized there twice, and so you can imagine to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes,” Woods said at the time.PLUS – HOW MUCH VENEZUELAN OIL REVENUE HAS THE U.S. RECEIVED? The New York Times also reported today that the U.S. has received and disbursed more than $12 billion in revenue from Venezuelan oil exports between January and September of this year.The total revenue was detailed in a confidential report by global financial services company KPMG, written just days ahead of the midterm elections.It reportedly details activity of the account set up by the U.S. Treasury to manage Venezuelan oil export revenues, called the “Venezuela Custody Account.” If you remember, this account was first based in Qatar, but later moved to Citibank in New York.Between Jan. 3 and the end of September, that account received $12.26 billion in deposits, according to the report viewed by the New York Times. Most of these funds were distributed back to Venezuela shortly after being received.As of Sept. 30, there was a balance of roughly $170 million in the account.The New York Times reported that, due to how quickly the funds were sent back to Venezuela, the report “lends some credence to previous claims by U.S. officials that they serve as mere custodians of the wealth that Venezuela derives from its natural resources, primarily oil.”COURT BLOCKS CALIFORNIA FROM IMPOSING CLIMATE DISCLOSURE RULES: The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit yesterday blocked the state from requiring companies to disclose climate-related financial risks and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, Reuters reports.In 2023, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two laws to require large companies to disclose both their direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. The second law would also require them to disclose their climate-related risks. Opponents of the laws argued that it would create significant costs on public and private businesses.Reuters reported that the three-judge-panel said California could enforce provisions requiring large companies to disclose their own emissions and emissions from energy they buy and consume.RUNDOWNAssociated Press Peru’s move to reconsider protections for uncontacted Mashco Piro raises fears of Amazon loggingHigh Country News Is the Southwest’s flooding a harbinger of a wild winter?Reuters Security fears push Lithuania toward gas-backed power despite climate goals