The layoffs of thousands of government workers are likely to expand — possibly as soon as today — to two key climate science and extreme weather agencies: NOAA and NASA.

Why it matters: These agencies keep tabs on the planet's weather and climate and are considered to be in the top tier of such government departments worldwide.

🔍 Zoom in: In keeping with the size of cuts to other government departments, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is thought to be in line for as much as a 10% reduction in staff, which would amount to about 1,000 workers, per Axios sources.

• NOAA is a small organization, with only about 12,000 employees spread across functions from climate and weather forecasting to oceans research and fisheries regulation.
• Deep cuts could imperil some of its work, particularly that of the National Weather Service, which has been short-staffed in recent years.

The intrigue: It's possible that NWS would receive a public safety exemption to keep their meteorologists from being on the chopping block, but that was unclear over the weekend.

• The stated mission of the Weather Service includes "the protection of life and property," but such exemptions were being granted sparingly agency by agency across the government.

Zoom out: Billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been reviewing contracts at NASA and accessing IT systems at NOAA.

• These are two agencies where Musk has conflicts of interest given the activities of his company SpaceX.
• The firm is a major NASA contractor, and NOAA and NASA are studying the effects of frequent rocket launches as well as reentry of used satellites into Earth's upper atmosphere.

🗞️ Driving the news: Layoffs across the government are already reaching other energy and environmental agencies.

• The cuts include DOE offices expanded or launched under the 2021 infrastructure law and 2022 IRA, per Axios sources and published reports on Friday.
• DOE is axing roughly 50 workers in DOE's loan programs office, a major source of finance for commercializing low-carbon tech projects that got more muscular under the IRA.

Other cuts hit the Grid Deployment Office, according to a former DOE official who requested anonymity to share details that have not been made public.

• DOE also laid off substantial numbers of staff at the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, the former official said.

Catch up quick: Agencies are losing many probationary workers — people often a year or less into the job, though time periods vary.

• EPA terminated 388 probationary workers, the agency said Friday, citing a "thorough review of agency functions in accordance with President Trump's executive orders."

Friction point: Capitol Hill Democrats are demanding info as they criticize the cuts but lack power to force disclosures.

• "Until such time as we are briefed on these developments, we will not know the damage to our country and the world as a result of these haphazard and thoughtless firings," Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Marcy Kaptur, both Democrats, said in a statement about DOE.

The bottom line: DOE hasn't provided comment or tallies, so this all remains vague.

🤝 Permian Basin oil and gas producer Diamondback Energy is acquiring subsidiaries of privately held Double Eagle for $3 billion in cash and 6.9 million Diamondback shares.

• Why it matters: Consolidation in the biggest U.S. oilfield isn't done, even though dealmaking probably won't match the fever pitch of recent years. The deal gives Diamondback 40,000 in new acreage.
• The bottom line: Double Eagle's acreage is "the most attractive asset remaining" in the Midland Basin portion of the Permian, Diamondback CEO Travis Stice said in a statement. Investor deck...Reuters piece.

⛏️ Mining giant Anglo-American is selling its nickel business for up to $500 million to a subsidiary of MMG Limited, which is majority-owned by China Minmetals Corp. The WSJ has more.

Several new Trump 2.0 energy moves since our last edition add specifics to wide-angle plans for boosting fossil fuel infrastructure and paring back Biden-era policies.

State of play: DOE approved the first major LNG export permit since the Biden-era "pause" Friday.

• It conditionally gives Commonwealth LNG permission to ship over 1.2 billion cubic feet daily from its planned project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

Catch up quick: Other moves Friday include:

• DOE postponed implementing energy efficiency standards for seven categories of appliances, including washers and dryers and central AC units.
• EPA, in a coordinated move, said it is overhauling its WaterSense efficiency labeling program.
• The Transportation Department approved Sentinel Midstream's deepwater oil export terminal called Texas Gulflink.
• President Trump signed an executive order to create the "National Energy Dominance Council" within the White House.

What we're watching: One of Trump's Jan. 20 exec orders gave EPA 30 days to offer the White House views on the "continuing applicability" of the "endangerment finding."

• That's EPA 2009 formal conclusion that greenhouses gases threaten public health, and it forms the legal underpinning of climate rules under a 2007 Supreme Court ruling.

🙏 A wide array of companies, trade groups and advocates are pressing GOP congressional leaders to spare the IRA's hydrogen tax credit in budget negotiations.

• Why it matters: Various IRA clean tech subsidies are in jeopardy in the budget reconciliation fight.
• The intrigue: Their new letter is framed in rather Trump-y terms, noting the credit helps create "energy dominance" and that hydrogen can be produced using natural gas and nuclear power.

🧽 Via Bloomberg, top DHS officials received a memo "ordering an immediate stop to work connected to climate change and the elimination of climate-related terms across the agency."

An Arctic blast tied in part to the polar vortex is driving record cold air south from the Northern Plains toward the Gulf Coast today, lasting the entire week.

Threat level: This event is forecast to set records for the coldest temperatures this late in the season and bring below-zero Fahrenheit wind chills as far south as Texas and Arkansas.

Zoom in: The Arctic outbreak is consistent with events that some studies have shown to be more likely due to rapid Arctic climate change.

• It is tied to how multiple weather systems are lined up in the Far North, including a stretched polar vortex that has shifted south somewhat.
• These features are combining to drive frigid conditions southward into the Lower 48 states.

By the numbers: The National Weather Service is forecasting wind chills as cold as minus-35°F to minus-60°F across the northern Plains for multiple days.

• Conditions this cold can cause frostbite to exposed skin in just a few minutes.
• The NWS is warning that its forecasters have "high confidence for widespread, record-breaking cold" with the coldest conditions stretching from today through Friday.
• "Extreme Cold Warnings" and advisories are in effect from the Canadian border to Texas for temperatures as cold as 40 degrees Fahrenheit below average for this time of the year.

Between the lines: Cold weather of this magnitude and duration is likely to increase energy demand as well as costs.

• It may also lead to another month in which the U.S. is the world's most unusually cold spot on an unusually hot planet, as it was in January.

Sales of pickup trucks and SUVs might have peaked in the U.S. — not because Americans don't want them, but because many people can no longer afford them.

Why it matters: The vehicle mix affects oil demand and emissions, with larger, heavier models typically burning more fuel.

The big picture: Affordability is a growing concern, not just for buyers, but also stressed-out automakers facing heightened economic uncertainty and potential supply chain disruptions since President Trump took office.

• Big, fancy trucks and SUVs are the profit engines for automakers, generating cash to funnel into new technologies like electric, automated and connected vehicles.

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"Net zero 2050 is a sinister goal."

The intrigue: His remarks to the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship included knocks against European climate policies, adding to other top Trump officials' criticisms in other policy areas.

• Reuters and The Hill have more.