Governors' Biofuels Coalition

Employment in the sector dipped in Donald Trump’s first year back in office — and many more expected jobs won’t materialize thanks to canceled clean energy projects.

Clean energy installations have persisted at record levels despite President Donald Trump’s best efforts to stop them. But the first year of Trump’s second term did leave a mark on U.S. jobs in the sector.

Clean energy jobs fell in 2025 after four years of steady growth, according to a new analysis of federal jobs data by business-focused environmental advocacy group E2. The U.S. had 3.52 million clean energy jobs at the end of 2025, down nearly 37,000 from the year before. That drop represents just about 1% of the clean energy workforce, but was enough to erase about 40% of the previous year’s job growth.

Nearly a year after Phillips 66 permanently shut its 139,000 b/d Wilmington, California refinery, the US West Coast fuel market has undergone a structural shift in its import sourcing and export patterns, with gasoline imports reaching their highest level in at least five years and the supplier base expanding to 15 countries as the region scrambles to replace lost domestic refining capacity.

President Donald Trump’s plan to ease sanctions and allow more Russian diesel to hit the market is spurring backlash from his own party on the campaign trail, and experts say it is unlikely to ease elevated fuel prices ahead of the midterms. The ink had barely dried on the newly passed Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act when Trump signed an executive order Friday night waiving many of the harsh sanctions imposed by the law, which were intended to force Moscow to the negotiating table over the war in Ukraine.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Sunday defended President Donald Trump’s diesel deal with Russia as an “incentive” for Moscow to “reduce” its war in Ukraine, adding that after four years of conflict, other attempts to bring both sides to the table had failed.

“This is a carrot to try to end a war. It’s not an economic lifeline for Russia,” Wright said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“President Trump isn’t going to just throw up his arms and say, ‘Well, I guess we can never stop it,’” he added, when pressed on why a “carrot” was the appropriate action at this moment.

“Clearly, it’s a tricky problem.”

A House Democrat introduced legislation Friday to block President Donald Trump’s proposed deal to buy Russian diesel after a week of bipartisan pushback.

The Prohibit Corrupt Russia Oil Deals Act from Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, would reverse a general license issued by the Treasury Department allowing for the sale and importation of Russian diesel into the United States through April 2027. It’s the latest instance of Hill lawmakers protesting Trump’s proposed deal, which the president announced last week in a bid to bring down domestic fuel prices that have reached record highs following the administration launching attacks against Iran.

American corn and soybean growers have fresh reason for optimism this fall as biofuel demand keeps climbing at home and abroad.

New figures from the Renewable Fuels Association show U.S. ethanol exports rose 6% in August to 211.8 million gallons — a five-month high. Canada remained the top customer, taking 84.8 million gallons, or nearly 40% of total shipments. Through August, ethanol exports reached 1.62 billion gallons, up 12% from last year’s pace and representing roughly 560 million bushels of corn demand

Inflation unexpectedly accelerated in September due to soaring prices at the pump, boosting the chances of another Federal Reserve interest rate increase and dealing another blow to Republicans before next month’s congressional elections.

The consumer price index rose 3.7 percent over the 12 months ended in September, driven by the jump in gas prices, which accounted for over half the cost increases, the Labor Department said Wednesday. But prices beyond more volatile food and energy costs also rose more than projected, as consumers continue spending at a robust clip.

President Donald Trump’s plan to buy Russian diesel is burning through political capital at home and abroad — despite industry skepticism that it will even materialize.

Since announcing Friday that Russia would supply millions of barrels of diesel to the United States and the world, Trump has shifted his focus to domestic supplies — announcing plans Wednesday to sell Alaskan natural gas to Taiwan, and even revisiting the idea of capping U.S. diesel exports that infuriated the oil industry last month. But Republican lawmakers and European allies are still focused on his Russia gambit.

EPA’s proposal to fully reallocate renewable fuel standard (RFS) biofuel blending volumes waived for small refiners to larger refiners is essential to restore balance to the biofuel credit market, the agency argues, but it also raises legal and policy questions about the agency’s power to retroactively fix problems in the program. In its unpublished Federal Register notice announcing the plan, released Oct. 13, EPA underscores the need to reallocate all waived volumes to larger refineries to compensate for additional small refinery exemptions (SREs) that the agency granted in August.

The Fueling American Jobs Coalition is pushing back against EPA’s proposal to fully reallocate additional 2025 small refinery exemption volumes onto other refiners. The group made up of independent oil firms and union workers says the plan threatens to raise gasoline and diesel prices beyond increases due to biofuel-blending rules. “EPA should pursue a balanced policy that supports American agriculture without sacrificing fuel affordability, refinery jobs, or domestic energy production,” the coalition says.