Last month’s toxic train derailment is hardening the divide between Democrats and Republicans over how to overhaul the nation’s energy permitting process.

Democrats see the accident as a warning sign that easing requirements and speeding up environmental reviews could lead to future disasters. Republicans take it as proof that the U.S. needs to build more energy infrastructure like pipelines to keep more chemicals, oil and natural gas off the roads and rails, writes POLITICO’s E&E News reporter Jeremy Dillon.

Why it matters: Meeting President Joe Biden’s goal of a carbon-free electric grid by 2035 will likely require building a network of long-distance power lines to carry wind and solar energy to cities. But the approval process for such power lines can take years, if not decades.

That’s why some Democratic lawmakers support easing project permitting requirements. But they also worry a permitting overhaul could mean expediting fossil fuel infrastructure, which is the goal for many Republican lawmakers — hence the partisan gridlock.

The divide: Democrats argue the Ohio accident highlights the need for strict environmental and safety regulations. “You get things like [East Palestine] when you take shortcuts,” said Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman of California.

Republicans, on the other hand, say the derailment proves how critical it is to build more energy infrastructure. They have made clear that they will only support a permitting overhaul that includes relaxed pipeline reviews.

“I think one of the points to be made is you’re carrying this liquid in the pipeline underground, it can’t derail,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a top Republican from West Virginia, said in a recent hearing. “It’s safer. There’s no question about that.”

(While pipelines can’t derail, it’s worth noting they come with their own safety concerns.)

House Republicans are finalizing their permitting proposal this week, with the goal of moving it by the end of the month as part of a broader energy package. To advance, the proposal will need to find favor among Democrats in the Senate, where its prospects are unclear.

It's Tuesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to [email protected]

Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Josh Siegel breaks down the key points of the House GOP's new energy bill, and the challenges Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) could face in advancing it.

Power Centers

Sniffing the sky
U.S. scientists are launching a multiyear study of the stratosphere to help world leaders better understand whether it’s possible to use solar geoengineering to counter global warming, writes John Fialka.

And they’re going back in time to do it. The new mission will use a retrofitted Air Force bomber that was initially designed to operate in the upper atmosphere over 70 years ago at the start of the Korean War.

CERAWeek
The White House is banking on the 6-month-old Inflation Reduction Act to shift global investment away from China and into a new wave of U.S. clean energy projects, a Biden official said at one of the world’s top energy conferences, writes Brian Dabbs.

John Podesta, a senior energy adviser, also pushed for faster environmental reviews at federal agencies and touted the Department of Energy’s authority to site new transmission lines in priority corridors.

EV tax credit uncertainty
Electric vehicle buyers and makers, as well as mining companies, are eagerly anticipating the Biden administration’s expected announcement this month on which vehicles can get credits worth up to $7,500 under last year’s climate law, write Timothy Cama and Hannah Northey.

It’s a consequential decision for the Treasury Department, as the administration tries to balance the goals of keeping EV prices down while boosting manufacturing and mining in the United States and in allied countries.

In Other News

Oil: Nearly two dozen lawmakers are calling on Biden to reject a massive oil and gas development in northern Alaska known as the Willow project.

Russia's war: German prosecutors say new intelligence suggests a pro-Ukrainian group sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines that carried natural gas from Russia to Europe.

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Texas energy giant Vistra Corp. announced plans Monday to purchase Energy Harbor, acquiring the nation’s second-largest nuclear generation fleet as the company eyes deep emissions cuts.

The United Arab Emirates official who will lead this year's U.N. climate talks challenged the energy industry Monday to cut planet-warming pollution faster.

While Canada is still finalizing rules to get tough on foreign state-owned investors, it announced C$14 million for six Canadian firms to supercharge the domestic critical minerals sector.

That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.

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