Energy & Environment — Biden to reevaluate Saudi relations after OPEC cuts 

The Biden administration will reassess its relationship with Saudi Arabia following OPEC+ production cuts. Meanwhile, the president is touting a new EV battery plant in Ohio.  

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OPEC cuts cause US to reexamine Saudi ties  

White House national security spokesman John Kirby on Tuesday said President Biden is willing to immediately begin reevaluating the U.S.-Saudi relations after the country and its oil-exporting allies announced production cuts of 2 million barrels per day. 

The White House expressed disappointment after the announcement from OPEC+, which is comprised of the 13 OPEC nations and 11 nonmembers including Russia, and some Democratic lawmakers have since called for freezing American arms sales and military support to Saudi Arabia. 

• “I think the timeline is now, and I think he’s going to be willing to start to have those conversations right away,” Kirby told CNN’s Brianna Keilar of Biden’s plans to reevaluate the relationship. 
  
• “I don’t think this is anything that’s going to have to wait, or should wait quite frankly, for much longer,” Kirby continued. 

The energy takeaway: The OPEC+ announcement will reduce global oil supplies. This is expected to raise gasoline prices, which has become a hot button issue, as has inflation more broadly.  

The U.S. has sold weapons to Saudi Arabia and stationed U.S. troops in the country for years.  

• The longstanding military alliance has persisted through what has at times been a rocky relationship, including after the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi.  
  
• U.S. intelligence concluded Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman approved his killing, leading to an outcry from human rights advocates and Biden, who during his 2020 campaign said he would make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” state. 

But weeks after average gas prices peaked at more than $5 per gallon nationwide, Biden reversed course in July and traveled to Saudi Arabia to appeal to the crown prince. Saudi Arabia and its OPEC+ allies subsequently announced small oil production increases before implementing the latest cut. 

“I think the president’s been very clear that this is a relationship that we need to continue to reevaluate, that we need to be willing to to revisit,” Kirby said on CNN. “And certainly in light of the OPEC decision, I think that’s where he is, and he’s willing to work with Congress to think through what that relationship ought to look like going forward.” 

Read more here, from The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld.  

Biden touts plans for EV battery plant in Ohio   

President Biden on Tuesday touted the plans for Honda to build a joint-venture electric vehicle battery factory in Ohio, saying new investments are part of the backbone of his economic agenda.  

“Just as my CHIPS and Science Act is spurring record investments in communities across the country, my Inflation Reduction Act is driving a manufacturing boom for electric vehicles. This has been the backbone of my economic plan: America is leading the world again, rebuilding our supply chains, infrastructure, and manufacturing here at home,” Biden said in a statement. 

Honda will team up with LG Energy Solution of South Korea to build the $3.5 billion battery factory as a joint-venture southern Ohio. The factory is expected to employ 2,200 people. 

Additionally, Honda announced it will invest $700 million and add 300 jobs to three of its Ohio factories so they can start manufacturing electric vehicles. 

The announcement follows the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which expands electric vehicle tax credits for consumers, but also adds stipulations that to quality, vehicle battery components need to be made in North America.  

Read more here, from The Hill’s Alex Gangitano.  

IAN JOINS LIST OF BILLION-DOLLAR DISASTERS  

Hurricane Ian, which made landfall in Florida late last month and ravaged the area as it pushed north to the Carolinas, is the latest of 15 climate and weather disasters that have totaled at least $1 billion each this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).   

The devastating storm was among six new costly disasters recorded since June of this year, according to a report from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.   

The new count makes 2022 the country’s eighth consecutive year experiencing 10 or more climate and weather disasters costing more than $1 billion each.   

Hurricane Ian was joined on the latest list by Hurricane Fiona, which hit Puerto Rico in mid-September, and two other severe storm events this summer.   

Wildfires in the West and July flooding in Kentucky and in Missouri also made the list.   

The disaster losses total around $29.3 billion, according to NOAA — without accounting for the damages from Ian, Fiona and the Western wildfires, which have not yet been calculated. 

Read more here, from The Hill’s Julia Mueller.  

ON TAP TOMORROW

President Biden will visit Colorado, where he’s expected to designate Camp Hale as a new national monument.  

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Iowa pipeline regulators reject tribe’s request for environmental impact study (Des Moines Register) 
• Federal Officials Trade Stock in Companies Their Agencies Oversee (The Wall Street Journal) 
• Can Flashy Music Festivals Go Green? (The New York Times) 
• Indigenous people’s climate dilemma: To go or not to go (Axios) 
• Biden’s promise to tribes faces test in Great Lakes (E&E News) 

🐄 Lighter click: Talk about a gas tax

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Energy & Environment page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.