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A key House Republican is putting forward a plan to make the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) an independent agency outside the Department of Commerce. 

Why it matters: Removing the agency from a Cabinet-level department could diminish its clout when it comes to securing funding and weighing in on key policy decisions, former senior NOAA officials tell Axios.  

It would also hollow out the Commerce Department, where NOAA comprises more than 50% of the budget.

NOAA plays an outsized role in American daily life, since it is responsible for forecasting the weather and issuing warnings for severe storms. The agency also regulates fisheries and runs some of the top climate change research centers in the world. 

State of play: A bill being circulated within the House Science, Space and Technology Committee by chairman Frank Lucas (Okla.)  would authorize NOAA and its mission in law for the first time. Lucas plans to formally introduce it this spring.

Committee Democrats, led by ranking member Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), are open to supporting the measure but are waiting to see all the details before deciding whether to back it, according to a Democratic committee aide. 

NOAA, which was created by an executive order in 1970, has always been an awkward fit in the Commerce Department. It was placed there because of a dispute then-president Richard Nixon had with his Interior secretary. 

However, making it an independent organization could deprive it of Cabinet-level influence. 

Yes, but: There is also precedent for the Commerce secretary to meddle with the agency due to political pressure, as occurred during the “Sharpiegate scandal” during Hurricane Dorian in 2019. 

In that instance, pressure from the White House and Commerce Department leadership forced NOAA to back away from its original forecast for Hurricane Dorian’s impacts, in order to support President Trump’s contention that the storm would threaten Alabama. 

Between the lines: A GOP Science Committee aide told Axios that Lucas’ effort is about ensuring that NOAA’s existence and mission is enshrined into law and reorganizing its structure to make its research operations more efficient. 

“Do we need all the existing line offices here? Do we need to consolidate? Do we need to combine?” the aide said. “We’re not really looking to have some massive reorientation of the agency, but partly it is somewhat of an organizational issue.” 

The bill would enter at least one polarizing area: it would require a study on moving NOAA’s endangered species and marine protection responsibilities to the Interior Department, which helps regulate energy development.

That is likely to encounter opposition on the Senate side, where Sen. Maria Cantwell, chair of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, plans to introduce her own bill to enshrine NOAA into law, according to Democratic committee staff members. 

The Senate bill is unlikely to push for NOAA's independence. 

Some of NOAA’s responsibilities also fall under the purview of the House Resources Committee. 

What they’re saying: Two past agency leaders told Axios that making NOAA independent would likely be a net plus for the agency, since the Commerce Department controls many of its policy, spending and messaging decisions. 

“The principle of moving NOAA to be an independent agency, I support 1,000%,” said Tim Gallaudet, who served as an acting NOAA administrator under former President Trump. “I cannot tell you the number of times where progress was impeded by having to go through the bureaucratic layer of the Department of Commerce.“ 

But one former NOAA senior staff member, who spoke anonymously because they still do business with the agency, expressed reservations about NOAA’s ability to continue to secure adequate funding and maintain its visibility if it were an independent agency. 

For more content like this, join the waitlist for Axios Pro Energy Policy, launching Feb. 13.

House Science chair seeks to carve out an independent NOAA

NOAA has always been an awkward fit in the Department of Commerce.

NOAA satellite image showing Hurricane Ian nearing the coast of Florida on Sept. 28, 2022.

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Climate change

A key House Republican is putting forward a plan to make the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) an independent agency outside the Department of Commerce. Why it matters: Removing the agency from a Cabinet-level department could diminish its clout when it comes to securing funding and weighing in on key policy decisions, former senior NOAA officials tell Axios.

Ominous forecasts about the impact of climate change serve as the backdrop for the world — led by U.S. lawmakers and companies — to debate big action on the problem, which could upend energy systems and our way of life.

Energy & Environment

A look at the scientific breakthroughs changing the world, explorations in space and in worlds beyond our own and the threats posed to us by our own planet, both out of our control and of our own making.

Science

The Biden administration effectively banned mining across a swath of land in northern Minnesota, putting a roadblock in front of the Twin Metals mining project for at least two decades.

Why it matters: House Republicans are eviscerating the move’s timing because it happened just after Biden struck a deal for minerals from Africa and suggested they’ll zero in on his efforts to support mining overseas. 

What’s happening: The Interior Department thrilled environmentalists and indigenous communities by withdrawing roughly 225,000 acres near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from mining practices for 20 years. 

Twin Metals sought to use this area for its proposed copper-nickel mine. The company, which sued the Biden administration for canceling its mineral leases, responded by saying in a statement that it is "committed to enforcing" its "rights." 

"With an eye toward protecting this special place for future generations, I have made this decision using the best-available science and extensive public input,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a news release. 

What they’re saying: Rep. Pete Stauber — the Republican who represents where Twin Metals would be built — responded by aiming fire at a mineral supply deal Biden inked in December with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia. 

"America needs to develop our vast mineral wealth, right here at home, with high-wage, union protected jobs instead of continuing to send American taxpayer dollars to countries like the Congo that use child slave labor," Stauber said in a statement. 

The bottom line: Northern Minnesota is especially wet and rich in biodiversity, making it a difficult place to mine, but a ban right now will unquestionably have political costs. 

Republicans will say Biden is halting U.S. mining jobs while supporting miners in other countries. 

This arrives just as House Republicans plot to throw bombs at Biden’s efforts to finance mines overseas with a State Department-led initiative. Read Jael’s coverage of that program here. 

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Biden bans mining in part of northern Minnesota

Northern Minnesota is a fragile place to mine, but Biden's ban has political costs.

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Mining

Electric vehicles

The Biden administration effectively banned mining across a swath of land in northern Minnesota, putting a roadblock in front of the Twin Metals mining project for at least two decades.Why it matters: House Republicans are eviscerating the move’s timing because it happened just after Biden struck a deal for <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="minerals from Africa" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/12/12/biden-overseas-mining-funding" data-vars-content-id="631707be-5883-4d2e-a86a-0642ecea1087" data-vars-headline="Biden bans mining in part of northern Minnesota" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/12/12/biden-overseas-mining-funding" target="_self">minerals from Africa</a> and suggested they’ll zero in on his efforts to support mining overseas. What’s happening: The Interior Department thrilled environmentalists and indigenous communities by <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="withdrawing" data-vars-click-url="https://www.blm.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2023-01/PLO%207917_Signed%20Notice_1.26.23.pdf" data-vars-content-id="631707be-5883-4d2e-a86a-0642ecea1087" data-vars-headline="Biden bans mining in part of northern Minnesota" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.blm.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2023-01/PLO%207917_Signed%20Notice_1.26.23.pdf" target="_blank">withdrawing</a> roughly 225,000 acres near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from mining practices for 20 years. <ul><li>Twin Metals sought to use this area for its proposed copper-nickel mine. The company, which sued the Biden administration for canceling its mineral leases, responded by saying in a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="statement" data-vars-click-url="https://www.twin-metals.com/press-release/twin-metals-minnesota-statement-regarding-enactment-of-mineral-withdrawal-in-northeast-minnesota/" data-vars-content-id="631707be-5883-4d2e-a86a-0642ecea1087" data-vars-headline="Biden bans mining in part of northern Minnesota" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.twin-metals.com/press-release/twin-metals-minnesota-statement-regarding-enactment-of-mineral-withdrawal-in-northeast-minnesota/" target="_blank">statement</a> that it is &quot;committed to enforcing&quot; its &quot;rights.&quot; </li><li>&quot;With an eye toward protecting this special place for future generations, I have made this decision using the best-available science and extensive public input,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a news <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="release" data-vars-click-url="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-protects-boundary-waters-area-watershed" data-vars-content-id="631707be-5883-4d2e-a86a-0642ecea1087" data-vars-headline="Biden bans mining in part of northern Minnesota" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-protects-boundary-waters-area-watershed" target="_blank">release</a>. </li></ul>What they’re saying: Rep. Pete Stauber — the Republican who represents where Twin Metals would be built — responded by aiming fire at a mineral supply deal Biden <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="inked" data-vars-click-url="https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinken-at-an-mou-signing-with-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-vice-prime-minister-and-foreign-minister-christophe-lutundula-and-zambian-foreign-minister-stanley-kakubo/" data-vars-content-id="631707be-5883-4d2e-a86a-0642ecea1087" data-vars-headline="Biden bans mining in part of northern Minnesota" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinken-at-an-mou-signing-with-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-vice-prime-minister-and-foreign-minister-christophe-lutundula-and-zambian-foreign-minister-stanley-kakubo/" target="_blank">inked</a> in December with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia. <ul><li>&quot;America needs to develop our vast mineral wealth, right here at home, with high-wage, union protected jobs instead of continuing to send American taxpayer dollars to countries like the Congo that use child slave labor,&quot; Stauber said in a statement. </li></ul>The bottom line: Northern Minnesota is especially wet and rich in biodiversity, making it a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="difficult place to mine" data-vars-click-url="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/environmental-law-review/blog/paved-paradise-and-put-up-a-copper-sulfide-mine-federal-intervention-halts-twin-metals-mining-project-in-minnesotas-boundary-waters/" data-vars-content-id="631707be-5883-4d2e-a86a-0642ecea1087" data-vars-headline="Biden bans mining in part of northern Minnesota" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/environmental-law-review/blog/paved-paradise-and-put-up-a-copper-sulfide-mine-federal-intervention-halts-twin-metals-mining-project-in-minnesotas-boundary-waters/" target="_blank">difficult place to mine</a>, but a ban right now will unquestionably have political costs. <ul><li>Republicans will say Biden is halting U.S. mining jobs while supporting miners in <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="other countries" data-vars-click-url="https://www.eenews.net/articles/biden-admin-eyes-funding-canadian-mining/" data-vars-content-id="631707be-5883-4d2e-a86a-0642ecea1087" data-vars-headline="Biden bans mining in part of northern Minnesota" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/biden-admin-eyes-funding-canadian-mining/" target="_blank">other countries</a>. </li><li>This arrives just as House Republicans plot to throw bombs at Biden’s efforts to finance mines overseas with a State Department-led initiative. Read Jael’s coverage of that program <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="here" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/12/12/biden-overseas-mining-funding" data-vars-content-id="631707be-5883-4d2e-a86a-0642ecea1087" data-vars-headline="Biden bans mining in part of northern Minnesota" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/12/12/biden-overseas-mining-funding" target="_self">here</a>. </li></ul>

House Republicans want to launch investigations into a baseless claim that China and Russia unduly influence U.S. climate activism. 

Why it matters: Republicans are using this claim to seek donation information from climate groups and could potentially use subpoenas.

Driving the news: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last week said that if elected House speaker, he’d support investigations into “environmental NGOs’ collusion with Russia and China to hurt American energy.” 

GOP offices have sent many climate groups oversight letters in the past year suggesting they’re part of foreign influence campaigns, including multiple citing a debunked claim that one foundation may have been used as a conduit for Russian money.

The letters asked for donor information and details about communications with other governments, including China. 

What they’re saying: Asked if he’ll subpoena environmental groups, incoming House Natural Resources chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) said: “If I need to, I will.” 

"[I]f there’s evidence the Chinese government is funding their actions, we have to go after them. I don’t care what kind of group they are," he said.  

Westerman said the subject is “not a really high priority” right now compared to energy legislation, and “we’ve got to gather the data” first. 

But Westerman deeply cares about this. He's helped lead these efforts in Congress, including a 2018 effort to probe whether some activists' talks with China violated a foreign agents registration law.

“House Republicans have legitimate oversight questions regarding environmentalist NGOs and their interactions with foreign actors, and will use investigative authority to get answers for the American people," said McCarthy spokesperson Mark Bednar. 

What we're hearing: Environmental groups vehemently deny the GOP’s accusations. Still, sources at some targeted groups told Axios they are taking the potential legal threat seriously. 

Reality check: Some of the GOP letters to activists used a debunked claim about a charity called the Sea Change Foundation being a pass-through for Russia financing climate groups. 

There’s no evidence of Russian money to the foundation, and the family behind it has repeatedly said it’s funded by their own money. 

A Washington Post fact-check found that the claim originates from a report by the Environmental Policy Alliance, an “astroturf” front group that has received support from oil executives. 

Between the lines: Experts do worry that China and Russia may gain leverage over the U.S. as it ditches fossil fuels because of where global supply chains exist today. 

Unlike fossil fuels, the United States controls relatively few resources used to make electric vehicle batteries.

China has a stranglehold on global supplies for many of these materials and dominates the semiconductor industry. Russia, a gas hub, also produces lots of nickel and low-carbon aluminum. 

Yes, but: There’s no proof to date that either China or Russia is funding U.S. activism to quit fossil fuels. 

In 2014, the head of NATO claimed that Russians boosted an anti-fracking campaign in Europe as an influence operation, but did not mention the United States.

For more content like this, join the waitlist for Axios Pro Energy Policy, launching early next year.

GOP plans "collusion" probe into climate groups

They're using baseless claims to seek donation information from climate groups.

Illustration of a mad emoji face on a magnifying glass, which is examining Europe and Asia on a globe

Climate change policy

House Republicans want to launch investigations into a baseless claim that China and Russia unduly influence U.S. climate activism. Why it matters: Republicans are using this claim to seek donation information from climate groups and could potentially use subpoenas.

Relying on Asia for imports could pose a risk to U.S. solar growth, a top Department of Energy official told Axios in an interview.

Why it matters: The department is shedding light on where it believes there is risk in the solar supply chain (China) — and where there isn't — ahead of aggressive oversight from House Republicans.

What they’re saying: “There are certainly supply chain risks that come from having manufacturing concentrated in China and Southeast Asia,” DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office director Becca Jones-Albertus told Axios.

“We certainly want a more diverse geographic footprint and we would really like to have more of that here at home.” 

The big picture: Chinese parts are getting riskier for U.S. solar firms.

The Commerce Department recently found that some of the largest solar module suppliers — all operating in China — are illegally dodging U.S. anti-dumping tariffs by routing shipments through other Asian countries. 

GOP lawmakers also urged Customs and Border Protection last month not to allow solar-related imports from companies in China over human rights concerns. 

Yes, but: Jones-Albertus said solar has one big advantage over other low-carbon products: There's no shortage of the minerals it needs.

Raw materials for making solar technology — like quartz — are found in abundance domestically, and around the world, so solar may not face the kinds of resource shortage problems befuddling batteries. 

She said the problems arrive in “those intermediate supply chain steps” where quartz is made into polysilicon for panels — another space China dominates today. 

"Supply of that raw material of quartz is not going to limit our ability to deploy solar technology," Jones-Albertus said, "but as that technology gets refined and you come into these intermediate supply chain steps, that’s where we don’t currently have U.S. manufacturing capacity." 

The big picture: Jones-Albertus pitched the Inflation Reduction Act — which was packed with solar manufacturing incentives — as a solution to weaning off Asia. 

The Solar Energy Industries Association predicts the U.S. will have significant ingot, wafer and cell manufacturing in three-to-five years, partially because of IRA incentives. 

Large solar part plants have been announced across the country since the IRA passed. And Jones-Albertus expects more to come. 

“I think this is a really exciting time because the Inflation Reduction Act actually provides the incentives needed to grow that whole supply chain here,” she said. 

Exclusive: DOE official warns of solar supply chain risks

The department is noting where it believes there is — and isn’t — risk in the solar supply chain.

Photo illustration of Becca Jones-Albertus with solar panels and abstract shapes.

Photo illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios. Photo: courtesy of DOE

Solar power

Alternative energy

Relying on Asia for imports could pose a risk to U.S. solar growth, a top Department of Energy official told Axios in an interview.Why it matters: The department is shedding light on where it believes there is risk in the solar supply chain (China) — and where there isn&#x27;t — ahead of aggressive oversight from House Republicans.

This story originally appeared in a special pre-launch edition of Axios Pro Energy Policy. For more scoops and sharp analysis like this, sign up to join the waitlist.

House Republicans' search for a bad Biden climate investment could blow up in their faces — because it may be about to hit firms in their own districts.

Why it matters: Republicans are scouring for a Solyndra-level energy money mishap with a national security lens, seeking to expose risks from funding firms tied to China — but some of the firms on their potential target list are bringing jobs and money to red districts.

Driving the news: House Science, Space and Technology Chairman Frank Lucas sent a letter in December to the Energy Department asking why it's funding Microvast — a Texas-based company with Chinese and U.S. operations now building a manufacturing plant in Tennessee. 

Microvast's plant is in Clarksville, Tenn., a city represented by Freedom Caucus member Mark Green, who celebrated the project's announcement. 

DOE told Axios its funding decisions follow "a rigorous merit review process" intended to "position the nation to out-compete on the global stage."

Microvast said in a statement that it’s "an American company" that is trying to combat the country's "reliance on Chinese manufacturers."

Green's office declined to comment on Microvast, but said the congressman "has been deeply concerned by the Chinese Communist Party's influence in American manufacturing companies."

Zoom in: The letter asked about funding to 19 other companies, including some with minor ties to China that also benefit GOP strongholds.

Take Group14 Technologies, which is building its second factory in Moses Lake, Wash., a town repped by Congressional Western Caucus chair Dan Newhouse. 

One Group14 investor is ATL, a Japanese-owned company headquartered in Hong Kong in ventures with China battery giant CATL. Group14 says ATL is a minor investor with no board seat.

There's also Talon Metals. That company is developing a nickel mine in Pete Stauber's Minnesota district and a refinery in North Dakota — an at-large district that's represented by Kelly Armstrong.

Talon's project partner is Rio Tinto, a mega-miner that's roughly 14% owned by a China-backed company and whose iron ore business is intertwined with China. A majority of its shares are held in the U.S., U.K. and Australia.

"This illustrates just how important it is — and how difficult it will be — to extract China completely from critical mineral supply chains," said Abby Wulf, a mineral security expert with D.C. nonprofit SAFE. 

What they're saying: Companies cited in the letter, including Talon and others, told Axios they're open to briefing the committee on their operations. 

A Western Caucus spokeswoman said Newhouse was "not familiar with Group14, and has not met with or spoken to them." She said a local news story describing him praising Group14 was inaccurate. 

A Stauber spokesman said "oversight of any funds from DOE this Congress is necessary" and he wants to "make sure those funds flow to projects like Talon."

"Solyndra" search impacts GOP districts

House Republicans' search for a bad Biden climate investment may hit firms in their own districts.

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House Republicans

This story originally appeared in a special pre-launch edition of Axios Pro Energy Policy. For more scoops and sharp analysis like this, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="sign up" data-vars-click-url="https://link.axios.com/click/30270966.22198/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYXhpb3MuY29tL3Byby93YWl0bGlzdD91dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249bmV3c2xldHRlcl9heGlvc2dlbmVyYXRlJnN0cmVhbT10b3A/584823bbade9c2a7778b457bBd669b4ea" data-vars-content-id="df0ebfaa-c976-4970-84ca-fe42f5fdd7d7" data-vars-headline="&quot;Solyndra&quot; search impacts GOP districts" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://link.axios.com/click/30270966.22198/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYXhpb3MuY29tL3Byby93YWl0bGlzdD91dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249bmV3c2xldHRlcl9heGlvc2dlbmVyYXRlJnN0cmVhbT10b3A/584823bbade9c2a7778b457bBd669b4ea" target="_blank">sign up</a> to join the waitlist.House Republicans&#x27; search for a bad Biden climate investment could blow up in their faces — because it may be about to hit firms in their own districts.Why it matters: Republicans are scouring for a Solyndra-level energy money mishap with a national security lens, seeking to expose risks from funding firms tied to China — but some of the firms on their potential target list are bringing jobs and money to red districts.

Jael Holzman

Stories

House Science chair seeks to carve out an independent NOAA

Biden bans mining in part of northern Minnesota

"Solyndra" search impacts GOP districts

Exclusive: DOE official warns of solar supply chain risks

GOP plans "collusion" probe into climate groups