Orders of Magnitude: President Trump Reshapes Energy and Environmental Landscape Through Executive Orders
Among the 37 executive orders signed by President Trump in his first week in office, there are several that address the regulation of energy and the environment. While it may be too soon to know the lasting effect of these executive actions, it is clear that the playing field across the country, and perhaps the world, will be greatly affected as these orders shift the focus back to production of American fossil fuels.
On his first day in office, President Trump announced executive orders aimed at changes to energy and infrastructure. For the first time in history, President Trump declared a national energy emergency, where "insufficient energy production, transportation, refining, and generation constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat." This sweeping executive order calls for an expansion of energy infrastructure to help lower the cost of energy and ensure a reliable domestic supply of energy. Interestingly, the definition of "energy" within the executive order does not include solar or wind energy, and seems to focus on increasing other forms of energy production. This comes as recent data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that the United States "produced more crude oil than any nation at any time, … for the past six years in a row."
To meet this demand, President Trump has paved the way through other executive orders to increase fossil fuel and mineral production. One order focused on the natural resources of the State of Alaska, proclaiming that it is now the nation's policy to "fully avail itself of Alaska's vast lands and resources" by "expedit[ing] the permitting and leasing of energy and natural resource projects" on Alaskan lands. The executive order aims to roll back restrictions on drilling, mining, and road building that were implemented by the previous administration. Removing these restrictions may allow for an increase of production out of America's most northern state.
This is coupled with a more geographically general executive order calling to "unleash America's affordable and reliable energy and natural resources." This order "encourage[s] energy exploration and production on Federal lands and waters, including on the Outer Continental Shelf," as well as calls "to establish our position as the leading producer and processor of non-fuel minerals, including rare earth minerals." The order goes beyond resource extraction to further "promote true consumer choice" by calling for the removal of the Electric Vehicle Tax Credit to prevent "unfair subsidies and other ill-conceived government-imposed market distortions."
President Trump also later established through executive order the National Energy Dominance Council, which will "advise the President on improving the processes for permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation, and export of all forms of American energy, including critical minerals" and recommend strategy for "cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the energy-producing economy, focusing on innovation, and seeking to eliminate longstanding, but unnecessary, regulation."
At the same time as calling for increased domestic energy generation, President Trump released a memorandum temporarily suspending all wind energy leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf, noting that further review is required to consider the wind turbines' "impacts on ocean currents and wind patterns" and to "ensure that the United States is able to maintain a robust fishing industry." The executive action will likely impact wind projects already underway, and specifically calls for a halt of one specific land-based project in Idaho called the Lava Ridge Wind Project. Back to the Laboratories: State Climate Initiatives Amid Federal Transition further explores the impact of President Trump's actions on state initiatives.
Additionally, President Trump has again removed the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, noting that the country "has purported to join international agreements and initiatives that do not reflect our country's values or our contributions to the pursuit of economic and environmental objectives." The executive order directs the United States Ambassador to the United Nations to submit the formal written notice of withdrawal, which will take a year to formally take effect under the rules governing the agreement. Once the formal withdrawal has taken effect, the United States will be one of four countries not a part of the global agreement, joining Iran, Libya and Yemen. This move comes just days after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that 2024 was the hottest year on record, and Antarctic sea ice coverage dropped to its second-lowest levels on record.
Finally, President Trump issued a broad executive order rescinding nearly 80 initiatives from the Biden administration. This revocation pertains to previous Biden executive orders affecting energy and the environment, including executive orders meant to reduce climate-related financial risk, directives to increase production of electric vehicles within the United States, and creation of American jobs in the renewable energy field: Executive Order 14030 of May 20, 2021 (Climate-Related Financial Risk); Executive Order 14037 of August 5, 2021 (Strengthening American Leadership in Clean Cars and Trucks); Executive Order 14052 of November 15, 2021 (Implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act); Executive Order 14057 of December 8, 2021 (Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability).
Overall, these sweeping changes will likely have a lasting and far-reaching impact within the United States and beyond.
