WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Tuesday, readers! This week, the Washington Examiner began publishing its 10-part series on how the One Big Beautiful Bill came together last summer. Our team has been digging into negotiations about clean energy tax credits, Medicaid, SALT, and so much more. We spoke with Senate and House leadership, cabinet members, dozens of lawmakers, and other big players in Washington. Our story diving into what it took to phase out the wind and solar subsidies went live today, and we’ve featured an excerpt below. ⚡🌱⬇️ You can find the rest of the series here. Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
A WASHINGTON EXAMINER DEEP DIVE INTO THE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL:
Over the last several months, the Examiner has been digging into all the ins and outs of how Republicans were able to get the One Big Beautiful Bill over the finish line, taking a closer look at negotiations over provisions like those ending clean energy tax credits. We spoke with key players, including Republican Sen. John Curtis of Utah, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, to find out how exactly they were involved in constructing the final package. Here’s an excerpt: Hard-line Republicans in the House had won. They’d taken a sledgehammer to former President Joe Biden’s tax credits for wind and solar projects in their House-passed bill, and they had President Donald Trump’s full backing. That’s when Sen. John Curtis (R-UT), a first-term senator and former congressman who succeeded Mitt Romney, started fielding phone calls from former House Republican colleagues imploring him to “fix this” before the Senate passed it.Curtis is a unique Republican. A former registered Democrat, the affable Curtis is known for seeking bipartisan solutions. Unlike others in the GOP, Curtis contends that humans play a role in climate change. He founded the Conservative Climate Caucus and has urged Republicans to be more outspoken on environmental issues. He also doesn’t shy away from criticizing Trump and was one of the few Republicans who won his GOP primary despite a rival attracting the president’s endorsement in 2024.Still, Curtis recognized he was the new guy on the block as he sought changes to the legislation.“I found myself saying to the industry, to one of my colleagues who had asked me about it, ‘Don’t worry, I got this,’” Curtis recalled to the Washington Examiner. “They’re looking at a brand-new senator saying, ‘Don’t worry, I got this.’ Very skeptical.”Curtis knew that the hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies were without a doubt on the chopping block. They were, after all, from the largest-ever climate bill passed and championed by Democrats. But he also knew that “how they go away is everything.” Curtis argued that businesses would be “decimated” if they were not given time to adjust to ending federal subsidies. As it turned out, many Republicans quietly agreed with him, despite it meaning they were at odds with most in their party and, more importantly, Trump.Read more from our team here. FIVE STATES PICKED FOR NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE PROGRAM:
