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Energy

Chris Wright’s First Order of Business

On DOE directives, Orsted, and Volkswagen’s affordable EV

Chris Wright’s First Order of Business
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Back-to-back winter storms are hammering states in the Northeast with ice and snow • Atmospheric rivers have dropped more than 2 feet of rain on parts of Northern California in recent days • Temperatures could soar above 120 degrees Fahrenheit this week in Western Australia.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Chris Wright orders DOE to ‘unleash American energy’

Energy Secretary Chris Wright signed an order yesterday telling the Department of Energy to “unleash American energy” and restore “energy dominance” in line with President Trump’s agenda. Wright, who was confirmed by the Senate on Monday, began his order by denigrating the quest for a carbon-free future, claiming that net-zero policies “threaten the reliability of our energy system, and undermine our energy and national security.” After getting that out of the way, he went on to outline the following priorities:

  • A review of DOE research and development, to ensure a focus on “affordable, reliable, and secure energy technologies including fossil fuels, advanced nuclear, geothermal, and hydropower.” He also gave a shout out to nuclear fusion here.
  • A return to “regular order” regarding liquefied natural gas exports.
  • A review of the DOE Appliance Standards Program – which issues efficiency standards for home appliances – “to ensure that American families can choose from a range of affordable home appliances and products.”
  • Refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
  • Launching an American “nuclear renaissance” and commercialize next-generation nuclear power.
  • Strengthening the grid to meet soaring energy demand.
  • Streamlining permitting for new energy infrastructure.
  • Modernizing the nuclear stockpile.

2. Key federal agency stops approving new renewables projects

The Army Corps of Engineers has paused all permitting for well over 100 actions related to renewable energy projects across the country. In a statement to Heatmap’s Jael Holzman, the Army Corps confirmed it has “temporarily paused evaluation on” 168 pending permit actions “focused on regulated activities associated with renewable energy projects.” According to the statement, the Army Corps froze work on those permitting actions “pending feedback from the Administration on the applicability” of an executive order Trump issued on his first day in office, “Unleashing American Energy,” and that the agency “anticipates feedback on or about” February 7 from administration officials. Climate advocates are already pressing the panic button. “This is a 5 alarm fire alert,” Nick Abraham, state communications director for League of Conservation Voters, wrote on Bluesky in response to Holzman’s reporting. “This could decimate all the clean energy we worked to pass under Biden.”

3. Orsted cuts investment program by 25%

The Danish wind power company Orsted, which has a number of wind projects in the United States, said yesterday that it will “reduce its investment programme” by a quarter through 2030. This planned reduction will be global, not just in the United States, where the Trump administration has put a virtual embargo on new offshore wind permitting. The company said that it will still install more than 8 gigawatts of wind capacity over the next three years. Orsted replaced its chief executive Mads Nipper last week after it took a writedown of over $1.5 billion thanks to delays on its Sunrise wind project off the coast of Long Island. The company said it was scaling back its investments in order to maintain its credit rating. “Orsted has experienced challenges, especially related to the U.S. offshore wind portfolio, which have led to further pressure on our credit metric,” the company said in a statement.

4. Carbon Mapper releases new satellite data on carbon and methane plumes

Carbon Mapper yesterday released another tranche of data from its greenhouse gas-measuring satellite, the Tanager-1, shedding light on more than 300 newly-spotted CO2 and methane plumes. The largest methane source in Carbon Mapper’s database by far remains the U.S. Permian Basin, where oil and gas operations are concentrated. The Tanager-1 satellite, launched in August 2024, has identified 707 methane plumes from 588 sources across the world. Fossil fuel production accounts for 522 of those plumes and 458 of the sources. Here is a glance at some of the methane plumes spotted in the U.S., and zooming in on part of the Permian Basin

Carbon Mapper

Carbon Mapper

5. Volkswagen teases new affordable EV model

Volkswagen gave employees a glimpse of its upcoming affordable EV model yesterday. The car is part of a new lineup that the company no doubt hopes will help it keep pace with Tesla and BYD. “We set the largest future plan in Volkswagen’s history in motion,” CEO Thomas Schäfer said. “We are pursuing an ambitious path to ensure we achieve our shared goals with full commitment. A key step in this is making e-mobility attractive for everyone – that is our brand promise.” The entry-level EV will go on sale in Europe in 2027 with a base price of €20,000, which is about $20,800. It’s not clear if the car will come to the U.S. VW recently canceled the rollout of its ID.7 in the States. VW will start showing off the car – rumored to be called the ID.ONE – to the public next month. But here’s an image released yesterday:

Volkswagen

THE KICKER

Novo Nordisk’s emissions grew by 25% last year due to increased production of its popular obesity drug, Wegovy.

Yellow

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Ideas

The GOP Megabill Is Playing Right Into China’s Hands

Two former Department of Energy staffers argue from experience that severe foreign entity restrictions aren’t the way to reshore America’s clean energy supply chain.

Xi Jinping and solar panels.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

The latest version of Congress’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” claims to be tough on China. Instead, it penalizes American energy developers and hands China the keys to dominate 21st century energy supply chains and energy-intensive industries like AI.

Republicans are on the verge of enacting a convoluted maze of “foreign entity” restrictions and penalties on U.S. manufacturers and energy companies in the name of excising China from U.S. energy supply chains. We share this goal to end U.S. reliance on Chinese minerals and manufacturing. While at the U.S. Department of Energy and the White House, we worked on numerous efforts to combat China’s grip on energy supply chains. That included developing tough, nuanced and, importantly, workable rules to restrict tax credit eligibility for electric vehicles made using materials from China or Chinese entities — rules that quickly began to shift supply chains away from China and toward the U.S. and our allies.

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Politics

AM Briefing: Let the Vote-a-Rama Begin

On taxing renewables, climate finance, and Europe’s heat wave

Where Things Stand with the GOP’s Megabill
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Parts of Northern California are under red flag warnings as warm air meets whipping winds • China’s southwestern Guizhou province is flooded for the second time in a week • A potential bomb cyclone is taking aim at Australia’s east coast.

THE TOP FIVE

1. The Senate GOP’s new tax on renewables could kill the industry

Late on Friday Senate Republicans added a new tax on solar and wind projects to the budget reconciliation megabill that sent many in the industry into full-blown crisis mode. The proposal would levy a first-of-its-kind penalty on all solar and wind projects tied to the quantity of materials they source from companies with ties to China or other countries designated as adversaries by the U.S. government. “Taken together with other factors both in the bill and not, including permitting timelines and Trump’s tariffs, this tax could indefinitely undermine renewables development in America,” wrote Heatmap’s Jael Holzman. Here are a few reactions from politicians and industry insiders:

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Yellow
Politics

How the Senate GOP’s New Tax on Renewables Could ‘Kill’ the Industry

As bad as previous drafts of the reconciliation bill have been, this one is worse.

The Capitol and John Thune.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Senate Republicans are in the final stages of passing their budget reconciliation megabill — which suddenly includes a new tax on solar and wind projects that has sent many in the industry into full-blown crisis mode.

The proposed tax was tucked inside the latest text of the Senate reconciliation bill, released late Friday night, and would levy a first-of-its-kind penalty on all solar and wind projects tied to the quantity of materials they source from companies with ties to China or other countries designated as adversaries by the U.S. government. Industry representatives are still processing the legislative language, but some fear it would kick in for certain developers as soon as the date of its enactment. Taken together with other factors both in the bill and not, including permitting timelines and Trump’s tariffs, this tax could indefinitely undermine renewables development in America.

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Green