Governors' Biofuels Coalition

President Donald Trump’s looming changes to a rural energy program that has distributed billions of dollars in recent years will make it harder for many farmers to access funds ‌for such things as solar arrays and energy efficiency projects, farmers, energy companies and analysts said.

It is Trump’s latest move to slash government support for renewable energy. While working on the changes, the administration had halted applications this year for the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP.

California congressional Democrats are seeking details about a former White House official and the government support she gave to an oil company shortly before she took a job there, according to a letter POLITICO obtained.

Brittany Kelm left the White House in August to take a job as Sable Offshore’s vice president of policy and commercial.

The letter highlighted Kelm’s comments and those of other administration officials boosting Sable while she worked in government, along with an instance where a Sable executive credited Kelm’s efforts to help the company.

The statements from groups representing both major trucking companies and independent truckers — typically close Trump allies — cast doubt on the president’s claims Monday that the move would save truckers hundreds of dollars and help bring down the cost of goods across the economy. The high cost of diesel — averaging $6.31 a gallon, or about $2.64 higher than last year — is dragging on Republicans going into next month’s elections.

Sixth-generation Nebraska farmer John Hansen leaned into baseball lingo to describe his take on dual diesel directives by President Donald Trump and Gov. Jim Pillen. He compared the impact to a bunt single.

The swing was less than full and the outcome far from a home run, he said.

“It’s somewhat helpful but small in scale by far,” said Hansen, whose leadership of the Nebraska Farmers Union spans nearly 40 years. “We’ve got a much bigger hole to fill.”

US car shoppers have been slow to warm back up to electric vehicles since a key federal subsidy expired a year ago, despite persistently high gas prices, while Europeans have flocked to the cars.

EV sales in the US are down 30.7% this year through ‌September, according to research firm Motor Intelligence, accounting for just 6% of overall sales. That’s less than the 8.5% at this time a year ago, when buyers rushed to beat the expiration of a $7,500 federal tax credit.

 Battleground districts in Iowa, Michigan and North Carolina are among a whopping 18 U.S. House races shifting in favor of Democrats, a top election forecaster says. As of Friday, Democrats are seen picking up nine to 19 congressional seats in next month’s elections, giving the party a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives with 224 to 234 seats, according to new analysis from the nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter.

A bipartisan group of senators is calling on President Donald Trump to “immediately reverse course” on his decision to allow Russian diesel imports, accusing the administration of violating federal law and handing Moscow a financial lifeline as it wages war against Ukraine.

“President Trump’s decision to allow Russian diesel imports to the U.S. runs directly counter to that law,” the senators said in a statement released Sunday, citing Congress’ 2022 ban on Russian energy imports. “The Administration has also failed to consult with Congress or submit any explanation to justify its decision as required by statute.”

The rebuke includes four Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Thom Tillis (N.C.) and John Curtis (Utah) — along with Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.). Shaheen is the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The Iowa Utilities Commission has denied a request from Summit Carbon Solutions, the company seeking to build a carbon sequestration pipeline in Iowa, to consolidate outstanding dockets and schedule a hearing. 

The IUC issued hearing schedules for two sections of pipeline in the company’s second phase of the project, but denied Summit’s request to combine the dockets. 

The IUC did not rule on the remaining dockets for phase 2, which could still be consolidated in the future, as Summit has requested. Summit’s phase 2 pipeline routes would add laterals to the pipeline, allowing it to connect to more biorefineries than the original route included. 

President Donald Trump is tempering his endorsement of a diesel export ban because of concerns that it could push up gasoline prices, as his administration raises expectations of price relief from new diesel supplies in Europe. Trump said on Wednesday that although he was still “thinking about” a diesel export ban, he believes the US is in a “good place” because of a recent drop in crude prices and a “tremendous” volume of oil coming out of the strait of Hormuz. Trump had called for a diesel export ban last week, but administration officials have since said that an outright ban on exports is unlikely.

The Trump administration has told Germany and ‌France to draw down emergency diesel inventories to help to ease global fuel prices or face a potential US diesel export ban, said three people close to the discussions. The warning marks an escalation of pressure on Europe as US President Donald ​Trump considers a potential diesel export ban to bring down US fuel prices ahead of November’s ​midterm elections.