The Manchin-Barrasso permitting bill is attracting intense attention from energy lobbyists, federal disclosures show, as K Street prepares for the lame duck, Nick writes.

Why it matters: It's no surprise that companies are trying to influence this bill, but the third quarter disclosures show just how intently the energy sector is focused on the Hill's permitting debate.

Driving the news: Most of the more than two dozen energy companies and trade groups we looked at listed Manchin-Barrasso by its formal name, the Energy Permitting Reform Act, in the latest disclosures filed yesterday.

• Other priorities for the lame duck and beyond — namely the NDAA, tax policy, WRDA and a potential pipeline safety reauthorization — also showed up frequently.
• And the 45V hydrogen tax incentive continues to be a focus, with final guidance widely expected sometime after the election. It's one of the few IRA tax credits that companies tend to mention specifically in the paperwork.
• Overall, energy lobbying spending was down or flat for most energy companies and trade groups in the third quarter.

Zoom in: The American Petroleum Institute reported lobbying specifically on provisions in Manchin-Barrasso related to NEPA judicial review, leasing on public lands and the LNG permits pause.

• Duke Energy similarly said its lobbyists were talking to the Hill about the bill's transmission and judicial review provisions.
• Rep. Bruce Westerman's efforts to draft a broader overhaul of NEPA are getting plenty of attention as well.

Between the lines: The impending 2025 tax battle royale is beginning to show up in the energy industry disclosure forms. 

• ConocoPhillips, for instance, reported talking to the Hill about "priorities in the coming reauthorization of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" and "preserving" the 45Q carbon capture credit.
• Meanwhile, the Solar Energy Industries Association discussed "defending the Inflation Reduction Act," which Republicans may try to scale back if they have power during the tax debate.

By the numbers: Here are some of the notable lobbying spends from big industry players:

• American Petroleum Institute: $1.5 million in Q3, compared with $1.7 million in Q2.
• American Clean Power Association: $450,000 in Q3, compared with $630,000 in Q2.
• Solar Energy Industries Association: $470,000 in Q3, compared with $460,000 in Q2.
• Nuclear Energy Institute: $310,000 in Q3, compared with $480,000 in Q2.
• Edison Electric Institute: $2.9 million in Q3, compared with $2.2 million in Q2.
• American Chemistry Council: $5.8 million in Q3, compared with $4.8 million in Q2.
• ExxonMobil: $1.4 million in Q3, compared with $1.5 million in Q2.
• Shell USA: $1.7 million in Q3, compared with $2.1 million in Q2.
• Chevron: $2.6 million in Q3, compared with $2.1 million in Q2.
• ConocoPhillips: $570,000 in Q3, compared with $710,000 in Q2.
• Orsted North America: $380,000 in Q3, compared with $350,000 in Q2. 
• Southern Company: $2.3 million in Q3, compared with $2.4 million in Q2.
• NextEra Energy: $1.9 million in Q3, compared with $1.9 million in Q2.
• Duke Energy: $1.2 million in Q3, compared with $1.3 million in Q2.

Investors and federal agencies have poured billions of dollars into developing small nuclear reactors, an effort Peter Barrett calls "unwarranted innovation," Alan Neuhauser writes in Axios Pro: Climate Deals.

What he's saying: The Playground Global general partner argues that the U.S. should instead be deploying large conventional reactors that have already gotten regulatory sign-off.

State of play: Most investors and policymakers see little appetite for more large reactors like Georgia's AP1000 units at Vogtle, the first new reactors in 30 years, given the time and money it takes to bring them online.

This interview was edited for length.

What's been the major news in climate tech this month?

Getting Three Mile Island reopened. The stuff we have works magnificently well, and recommissioning existing reactors is a great first step.

I view SMRs as unwarranted innovation that give people the mindset that we need something else in order to scale. We simply don't.

What would you add to the narrative?

We should be building a bunch of AP1000s. The engineering challenges have been largely solved. We know how to operate these things for 50-100 years.

The worst thing about you can say about the U.S. nuclear fleet is it's heterogeneous: There are many different reactors. Economies of scale and regulatory streamlining stem from building a lot of the same one.

In three-ish words, one change you'd make to climate-focused investing.

Beware of predatory delay. Some technologies like direct air capture or carbon sequestration are subject to predatory delay from oil and gas folks who would delay a transition to a carbon-free world.

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☀️ 1. Wafer win: The Treasury Department said today that solar ingot and wafer production facilities and equipment qualify for a 25% investment tax credit under its final rules for the Section 48D tax credit.

• The industry has announced 21 gigawatts of wafer production and 10 gigawatts of ingot production, but only 3.3 gigawatts of ingot and wafer capacity is under construction, according to SEIA.

👩‍⚖️ 2. D.C. or Denver?: The Supreme Court agreed to hear cases that could settle whether certain EPA challenges must go through a Washington-based appellate court.

• One case comes from small refineries challenging EPA's denial of Renewable Fuel Standard exemption petitions in the New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit.
• Another comes from GOP-led states and energy companies challenging the agency's "Good Neighbor" rule intended to fight cross-state pollution in the Denver-based Tenth Circuit.

💨 3. Bight of the apple: The Biden administration finalized an environmental review to assess wind development activities within six wind lease areas in the New York Bight, which covers 488,000 acres offshore New York and New Jersey.

• Full development of the lease areas could generate up to 7 gigawatts of offshore wind energy, enough to power 2 million homes, the administration estimates.

⛏️ 4. Lithium legend: Arkansas has a massive trove of lithium under its soil, federal and state researchers said yesterday.