Trump administration asking US oil industry to return to Venezuela — but getting no takers

By Ben Lefebvre， Sophia Cai and James Bikales

18 December 2025 at 05:26

The administration’s outreach to the industry, previously unreported, is the latest sign the White House is dreaming of a post-Maduro future for Venezuela.

Members of the audience wave Venezuelan and American flags as President Donald Trump speaks to a Venezuelan American community at Florida Ocean Bank Convocation Center at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, on Feb. 18, 2019, to speak out against President Nicolas Maduro's government and its socialist policies.

Trump’s dismantling of climate research center is a ‘destruction of knowledge,’ critics say

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Robin Bravender

18 December 2025 at 04:32

The White House says it’s targeting the “premier research stronghold for left-wing climate lunacy.”

Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought departs a Senate Republican Conference luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on July 15.

Vought says National Center for Atmospheric Research will be dismantled

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Gregory Svirnovskiy

17 December 2025 at 23:10

Loss of the program would mean “public safety is at risk and science is being attacked,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) said in a statement Tuesday.

OMB Director Russ Vought speaks to reporters in the Capitol in July.

The brawl over the Colorado River is about more than water

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Annie Snider

16 December 2025 at 22:00

The lifeblood of the West is drying up — and scrambling state and local politics.

The Colorado River winds its way along the West Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Vote to overhaul FEMA canceled after leaked report

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Thomas Frank

12 December 2025 at 05:32

The FEMA Review Council was scheduled to approve its recommendations for overhauling the agency Thursday.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is overseeing an overhaul of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

‘Windmills are a disgrace’: Inside Trump’s war against a growing U.S. industry

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Benjamin Storrow， Kelsey Tamborrino and Jessie Blaeser

11 December 2025 at 17:45

Efforts to avoid conflict and seek help from GOP moderates didn't spare wind companies from the president's attacks.

"Many of us knew that if Trump won, we were dead,” one former wind executive said. But another industry leader expressed surprise at "the level of aggression and opposition that the administration launched on Day One."

US seizes Cuba-bound Venezuelan oil tanker, ramping up pressure on Maduro

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Eric Bazail-Eimil and James Bikales

11 December 2025 at 04:34

The seizure off the Venezuelan coast is a major escalation of U.S. aggression toward the South American nation.

President Donald Trump speaks to a Venezuelan American community at the Florida Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami in 2019.

Electricity prices jump after Trump rejects disaster aid for Michigan utilities

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Thomas Frank

1 December 2025 at 05:00

The president denied the state’s request for federal aid to rebuild power lines after a fierce ice storm last March, a move that could force thousands of rural electricity customers to pay the entire tab.

A utility worker repairs lines after an ice storm in Michigan in 2023.

Pollution from coal plants was dropping. Then came Trump and AI.

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Ariel Wittenberg

27 November 2025 at 23:00

Data centers’ hunger for electricity is prompting some states to keep their coal-burning power plants from closing — while DC relaxes air pollution limits.

The world is fractured. The climate talks reflected that.

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Zack Colman， Karl Mathiesen， Zia Weise and Sara Schonhardt

23 November 2025 at 04:12

Delegates from nearly 200 nations — not including the U.S. — showed they could make some progress. But they deferred the hardest decisions.

Colombian representative Daniela Duran (left) gestures during Saturday's closing session of the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, which included sniping among delegates from developed and developing countries.

Trump refused to send disaster aid to Chicago after 2 devastating storms

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Thomas Frank

23 November 2025 at 03:00

The destruction caused by the summer storms was enough that past presidents likely would have approved requests for federal assistance, former FEMA officials said.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker meets with former military generals and admirals on Oct. 16 in Chicago.

Deal or ‘meh’ deal? Climate summit ends on a deflating note

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Sara Schonhardt， Karl Mathiesen， Zia Weise and Zack Colman

23 November 2025 at 01:27

Nearly two weeks of talks in the Amazon ended with commitments to do more, but no firm movement on the most divisive issues — including turning away from fossil fuels.

Indigenous activists protested inside the COP30 climate summit venue a day before delegates approved Saturday's agreement in Belém, Brazil.

Inside Greenpeace USA's fight for its life

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Robin Bravender

23 November 2025 at 01:00

The environmental group is grappling with leadership turnover and staff cuts as it fights an energy company in court.

Climate summit proposal dodges call to accelerate move from fossil fuels

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Karl Mathiesen

22 November 2025 at 20:13

The final text of a proposed deal would be a disappointment for European countries and low-lying Pacific island nations.

Activists hang banners while protesting Friday at the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil.

It’s official: Turkey will be boss of COP31 climate talks

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Karl Mathiesen

22 November 2025 at 08:04

And its rival Australia will play a role in running the negotiations.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government won a more than year-long struggle with Australia for the right to host next year's U.N. climate summit.

EU threatens to block ‘weak’ COP30 deal

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Zia Weise， Karl Mathiesen， Sara Schonhardt and Zack Colman

22 November 2025 at 00:14

The bloc and its allies raged at a draft agreement presented by the Brazilian hosts on Friday morning.

Attendees at a plenary session Friday listen to COP30 President André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, who pleaded that "this cannot be an agenda that divides us."

Fire disrupts climate talks — and souvenir hunters

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Sara Schonhardt

21 November 2025 at 22:00

The blaze closed an area of the venue that hosted pavilions set up by countries to showcase their climate actions. China’s knicknacks were especially popular.

Trump administration proposes opening waters off California and Florida to oil drilling

Politico | Energy & Environment

By James Bikales

21 November 2025 at 03:45

The proposed plan is a jab at California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, but could face bipartisan pushback for opening acres off Florida's Gulf Coast.

Offshore oil platforms seen from Huntington Beach, California, in 2021. Companies are producing oil and gas off the California coast in territory originally leased by the mid-1980s, but drilling there has declined for decades.

Trump administration proposes opening waters off California and Florida to oil drilling

Politico | Energy & Environment

By James Bikales

21 November 2025 at 03:36

The proposed five-year schedule for offshore oil and gas leasing released Thursday represents the most expansive plan in decades.

Fire forces evacuation from climate summit as talks reach critical stage

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Karl Mathiesen

21 November 2025 at 01:56

More than 50,000 people from nearly 200 nations are attending the COP30 gathering in Brazil.

Delegates were evacuated from the COP30 climate summit Thursday in Belém, Brazil, after a fire broke out in the venue.

Meet the Republicans who killed solar subsidies — after using them

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Timothy Cama and Corbin Hiar

20 November 2025 at 23:00

POLITICO’s E&E News examined satellite imagery of more than 100 homes owned by Republican lawmakers to see if they have solar panels. Seven had rooftop arrays.

Lula at climate summit: US might not be gone for good

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Sara Schonhardt

20 November 2025 at 22:59

Brazil's leader said he hopes “one day to convince the president of the United States that the climate crisis is serious” — and to join a phase-out of fossil fuels.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva speaks during a news conference late Wednesday at the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil.

Turkey to host 2026 climate summit, in defeat for Australia

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Karl Mathiesen， Zack Colman and Zia Weise

20 November 2025 at 06:37

But Australia will hold the summit's presidency — and therefore control the diplomacy, Climate Minister Chris Bowen told reporters.

Activists at the COP30 summit site in Belém, Brazil, call Wednesday for the world to move away from fossil fuels.

Disaster-battered nations seek $120B in adaptation cash

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Sara Schonhardt

20 November 2025 at 03:58

The move at COP30 comes as global climate pollution continues to rise, increasing damage in poorer countries.

Residents return to their damaged homes after Typhoon Kalmaegi caused devastation in the central Philippines on Nov. 5.

Double down on push to abandon fossil fuels, 82 countries urge at climate summit

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Zack Colman

19 November 2025 at 04:07

Governments across Europe, the Pacific islands, Latin America and Africa embraced the call. The United States did not.

An Indigenous man holds up a small globe during a protest Monday in Belém, Brazil, outside the U.N. climate summit.

Beijing in Brazil: China makes bank as Trump spurns climate talks

Politico | Energy & Environment

By Zack Colman

18 November 2025 at 23:00

In the Biden era, countries interested in clean energy “were motivated to buy things from the U.S.,” an African official says. But now Beijing has few rivals.