Budget & Policy

Since President Barack Obama took office in 2009, the Department of Energy has invested nearly $5 billion in research related to carbon capture and storage. That number could change drastically with the incoming administration of Donald Trump, if his recent selection of Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) to direct the White House Office of Management and […]

The Department of Energy on Wednesday announced the first project that could be supported by its $8 billion loan guarantee for advanced fossil energy projects. The department has offered a conditional commitment to guarantee loans of up to $2 billion to Lake Charles Methanol LLC for the construction of the world’s first methanol production facility […]

The Environmental Protection Agency got a little backup Wednesday in a federal lawsuit challenging its carbon emissions standards for new-build coal-fired power plants. Two amici curiae briefs, one submitted by carbon capture and storage scientists and another by academics whose work focuses on technology innovation, asserted that contrary to the arguments of the petitioners, the […]

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency has drawn ire from Democrats and environmentalists, but more than a few notable Republicans are quite pleased with the selection of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt. “Under Pruitt’s leadership, EPA will return to an agency that works to protect human health and the environment based […]

The United States is considered a world leader in matters of climate change, but will lose that position if President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his campaign pledges, according to White House science adviser John Holdren. “If the United States were to step back from its leadership position in climate change, China would happily assume […]

The ExchangeMonitor’s Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will not be published from Dec. 26-Jan. 2 in observance of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Look for the next edition in your inbox on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017.

After disavowing a questionnaire sent to the Department of Energy requesting information on its climate change efforts, President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has reportedly requested similar information from the State Department, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. “As part of a list of questions posed last week to the department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental […]

Regardless of President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign promises to unravel President Barack Obama’s climate legacy, 55 percent of Trump voters support upholding current climate change policy and 30 percent support further action on climate, according to survey results Tuesday from the Glover Park Group and Morning Consult. “Contrary to campaign rhetoric and the Republican platform – […]

The U.S. Department of Energy is accepting applications to fund new research through its annual University Coal Research (UCR) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Other Minority Institutions (HBCU/OMI) programs. Submissions to the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) are for fiscal 2017, which began on Oct. 1. “Through this proposed Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the […]

A group of 50 protesters Tuesday headed to President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team office in Washington, D.C. to teach the incoming administration a thing or two about climate change. “In opposition of Trump’s Climate Denial Cabinet, participants held a climate teach-in outside the Trump transition office to provide his administration with a much-needed lesson in […]

The Environmental Protection Agency has thrown in the towel on its Clean Power Plan model trading rules, announcing Monday it has withdrawn the rules from interagency review and released the draft documents to the public. “While these drafts are not final and we are not required to release them at this time, making them available […]

Four of NRG Energy’s power plants no longer are powered by coal, the company announced Monday. The Joliet Generating Station in Joliet Ill.; the Shawville Generating Station in Shawville Pa.; the New Castle Generating Station in New Castle, Pa., and one unit of the Big Cajun II Generating Station in New Roads, La. have been […]

South Carolina on Monday was granted a 17-day extension to defend its position that a federal judge has jurisdiction to rule on the $100 million the state is seeking in its lawsuit over plutonium disposition at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. The extension pushes the response deadline from Dec. 27, 2016, to Jan. 13, 2017. […]

While the nuclear industry estimates the U.S. Energy Department’s remaining liabilities for nuclear waste disposal at $50 billion, DOE regards that number as “highly inflated,” projecting remaining damages at $24.7 billion. That’s according to the department’s Nuclear Waste Fund audit report for fiscal 2016, which was monitored by the DOE Inspector General’s Office and made […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is looking for U.S.-based entities that can help it attract and maintain nuclear experts in a talent pool supporting the U.S. nuclear enterprise. A sources sought solicitation released earlier this month is aimed at interested parties for a project that would involve “maintaining a smaller, but still vibrant, community […]

The ongoing saga of the Trump transition team Department of Energy survey took another turn late last week with a letter from nine Senate Democrats to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel requesting an investigation into the questionnaire. The survey, which was leaked to the press earlier this month, requested (among other information) that DOE […]

Initial data suggests that U.S. natural gas production faltered in 2016 after a year of growth in 2015, the Energy Information Administration said Friday. “Although annual production in 2015 grew, monthly U.S. natural gas production has since declined in 2016, falling to 71.4 Bcf/d [billion cubic feet per day] in July 2016 after reaching a […]

At the last minute Dec. 9, after deadline for last week’s issue of Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor, the Senate passed a stopgap spending bill that will keep the federal government open and funded at fiscal 2016 levels through April 28. An earlier stopgap bill, known officially as a continuing resolution, was set to expire at […]

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team this week drew a snarl from one of the Senate’s top nuclear policymakers, who vowed to keep a close eye on the incoming administration’s demand that the Energy Department provide target budget and staffing levels its national nuclear cleanup programs. “I intend to closely follow the transition process at the […]

The Hanford Advisory Board is asking the Department of Energy to increase its budget to allow more meetings, including sessions around the Pacific Northwest. The federally chartered 32-seat board is tasked with offering advice on key Hanford Site cleanup issues to DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Washington state Ecology Department. It includes […]

At the last minute Dec. 9, after deadline for last week’s issue of Weapons Complex Monitor, the Senate passed a stopgap spending bill that will keep the federal government open and funded at fiscal 2016 levels through April 28. An earlier stopgap bill, known officially as a continuing resolution, was set to expire at midnight […]

President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will nominate former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to lead the Energy Department. Perry, who served 14 years as governor of Texas, famously suggested eliminating DOE during his 2012 presidential bid, only to blank on the agency’s name during a nationally televised debate. Perry also ran for president in […]

Putting to rest any lingering doubts about his pick for interior secretary, President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday confirmed his intent to nominate freshman Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.). “He has built one of the strongest track records on championing regulatory relief, forest management, responsible energy development and public land issues,” Trump said in a press release. […]

In 2008, as Barack Obama prepared for his first term in office as president, 82 percent of Democrats, 75 percent of independents, and 55 percent of Republicans believed the planet was warming. Now, eight years later and with a vastly different president-elect about to take office, 82 percent of Democrats, 75 percent of independents, and […]

November 2016 was .95 degrees Celsius warmer than average, making it the second-warmest November in recorded history, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies said Thursday. Last month was .07 degrees cooler than November 2015, which was 1.02 degrees warmer than average, setting the record for warmest November ever. NASA uses data from 1951-1980 to calculate […]

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team on Wednesday indicated it did not authorize a survey sent to the Department of Energy requesting the name of personnel who have worked on issues related to climate change, CNN reported Wednesday. “The questionnaire was not authorized or part of our standard protocol. The person who sent it has been […]

In an unexpected move, President-elect Donald Trump is now expected to nominate freshman Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) to lead the Interior Department. This came after heavy reporting late last week that Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) would be the pick. Trump’s transition team has not yet officially announced Zinke’s appointment. The congressman would be tasked […]

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team this week drew a snarl from one of the Senate’s top nuclear policymakers, who vowed to keep a close eye on the incoming administration’s demand that the Energy Department provide target budget and staffing levels for its national nuclear cleanup programs. “I intend to closely follow the transition process at […]

While the rest of the world charges ahead to secure a spot in the growing global clean energy market, the U.S. is faltering, but there is time to get the nation on the right course, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said in a new report. “By investing in energy innovation and infrastructure, the United […]

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday formally announced his selection of ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson to serve as his administration’s secretary of state. “Rex knows how to manage a global enterprise, which is crucial to running a successful State Department, and his relationships with leaders all over the world are second to none. I […]