January 26, 2025 | Subscriber Exclusive | Dear reader, Welcome to the Premium Report! As a subscriber, you have exclusive access to our premium content. Our editorial team digs deep to present you with facts that matter, providing a unique perspective on the issues shaping our world. Meanwhile, our designers format it for you into a beautifully curated layout. We hope you enjoy it. | | The 8 Executive Actions That Will Drive the Trump Energy Agenda | Four sweeping slates of energy directives revoke prior orders, deregulate, and direct to 'drill baby drill.' | Illustration by The Epoch Times, Getty Images | President Trump signed 46 executive actions in the hours after his inauguration on Jan. 20 with many of them multi-pronged mixes of more than 200 executive orders, directives, and policy guidance designed to prompt a "whole-of-government" sea change in administration. At least eight relate directly to energy policy with four eliminating more than 200 rules, regulations, and executive orders issued under the Biden administration. This includes any regulations or rules adopted within the last 60 days and any allocations authorized under two "New Green Deal" bills adopted in 2021 and 2022. Two of the seven are dedicated to specific issues in Alaska and California, and one implements a temporary pause in offshore wind development leasing. Tucked inside another one are directives calling for dramatic expansions of offshore oil and gas leasing. One of Trump's signature campaign slogans was "Drill, baby, drill." As expected, perhaps the least complicated of the eight energy and environment-related actions is Trump's order withdrawing the United States from 2015's Paris Climate Accords, which Trump did in 2017 and vowed to do again during his 2024 campaign. Not only does Trump's executive order withdraw the United States from the pact, it also includes "withdrawal from any agreement, pact, accord, or similar commitment made under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" and immediately rescinds the U.S. International Climate Finance Plan which, over the years, earmarks billions in U.S. taxpayer commitments. In the "Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential" executive order, Trump calls on federal agency officials to "expedite the permitting and leasing of energy and natural resource projects," prioritize "development of Alaska's liquefied natural gas (LNG) potential," and expand fossil fuel development in the 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve and 19.6-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The sweeping action rescinds "all regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, and any other similar agency actions … promulgated, issued, or adopted between Jan. 20, 2021, and Jan. 20, 2025," essentially erasing dozens of Biden-era actions related to Alaska. During Trump's first term, Congress directed the Department of Interior (DOI) to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling for the first time. Under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the DOI was required to conduct two annual lease auctions within Section 1002, a 1.5-million acre coastal plain expanse that the U.S. Geological Survey estimates could hold up to 11.8 billion barrels of oil. Instead, the administration auctioned only 400,000 acres in January, drawing no bidders because "new severe restrictions" imposed in November 2024 made "any development economically and practically impossible," Alaska argued in a Jan. 5 lawsuit filed against the DOI. By broader interpretation, the policy directives could allow Trump's White House also to challenge the Biden administration's withdrawal of 13 million National Petroleum Reserve acres from oil and gas leasing as part of its March 2024 decision to allow ConocoPhillips to proceed with its $8 billion Alaska Willow Project. | The Kaktovik Lagoon and the Brooks Range mountains of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Kaktovik, Alaska, on Oct. 15, 2024. (Lindsey Wasson, File/AP Photo) | Another executive order is focused solely on California. Trump's "Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California" executive order revives his first-term proposal to redirect water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to Central Valley farms and into Southern California urban areas. The state of California and dozens of varied advocacy groups stymied the order in a federal court ruling that determined the action was a federal and executive overreach, and would endanger protected wildlife, including the delta smelt, a species of tiny fish. "Today, this enormous water supply flows wastefully into the Pacific Ocean," the executive order reads. "The recent deadly and historically destructive wildfires in Southern California underscore why the State of California needs a reliable water supply and sound vegetation management practices in order to provide water desperately needed there, and why this plan must immediately be reimplemented." The Paris Climate Accord withdrawal, Alaska oil and gas, and Southern California water executive action packets are relatively straightforward with narrow apertures. By contrast, many of the 46 pen-stroke calls-to-action issued on Jan. 20 are multi-faceted, including five that dissolve dozens of Biden era actions and dispense dozens of Trump actions across a wide swath of energy-related policy and regulation. 'Unleashing American Energy' The 3,456-word "Unleashing American Energy" executive order states the administration's intent "to establish our position as the leading producer and processor of non-fuel minerals, including rare earth minerals … to protect the United States' economic and national security" and includes executive orders, actions, directives, and policy guidance. Many provisions in this order enact or begin the process of encoding initiatives that Trump frequently cited in campaign rallies and also in his Policy47 agenda platform. One provision pledges to "eliminate the "electric vehicle (EV) mandate" imposed by the Department of Transportation's fuel-efficiency rules that would lift average fuel economy to 50 miles per gallon by 2031. Trump's order states that the action will ensure "a level regulatory playing field for consumer choice in vehicles" and calls for eliminating "unfair subsidies and other ill-conceived government-imposed market distortions that favor EVs over other technologies and effectively mandate their purchase." | Vehicles on the 101 freeway during a morning commute in Los Angeles on Sept. 23, 2024. Trump's energy order calls for the Environmental Protection Agency to "take measures" to roll back tailpipe pollution limits for cars, SUVs, and trucks that were finalized in March 2024. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) | The order calls for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take measures to roll back tailpipe pollution limits for cars, SUVs, and trucks that were finalized in March 2024. The order also directs the roll back of energy efficiency standards for appliances. It terminates "efforts to curtail consumer choice" by the Biden administration in pushing the energy efficient home improvement credit for domestic appliances that meet new EPA standards. Trump's order maintains the White House must act "to safeguard the American people's freedom to choose from a variety of goods and appliances, including but not limited to lightbulbs, dishwashers, washing machines, gas stoves, water heaters, toilets, and shower heads, and to promote market competition and innovation within the manufacturing and appliance industries." The executive order includes provisions that launch an "immediate review of actions that potentially burden the development of domestic energy resources" and a revocation/revisions section that abolishes 12 executive orders issued by Biden, including the creation of a Climate Change Support Office and an executive order essential to the implementation of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Another order within the package focuses on expediting permitting and simplifying compliance related to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The order requires agency officials to have a plan within 30 days that includes the rescission of any regulations and rules added through the IRA to NEPA purview by the Biden administration. The order authorizes the directors of the National Economic Council and the Office of Legislative Affairs to jointly prepare recommendations to Congress that "facilitate the permitting and construction of interstate energy transportation and other critical energy infrastructure, including, but not limited to, pipelines … and provide greater certainty in the Federal permitting process, including, but not limited to, streamlining the judicial review of the application of NEPA." A further provision takes aim at recently crafted federal greenhouse gas and methane emission rules by tossing aside all studies and analyses that justified them, including any by The Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases, which the order also sunsets. The order—"Prioritizing Accuracy in Environmental Analyses"—specifically calls for doing away with "social cost of carbon" calculations that it maintains "is marked by logical deficiencies, a poor basis in empirical science, politicization, and the absence of a foundation in legislation" and that is putting the U.S. economy at a disadvantage. The order also requires agencies to provide "estimates to assess the value of changes in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from agency actions." | A customer looks at washers and dryers on display at a Lowe's Home Improvement store in Miami on June 27, 2022. Trump's energy order maintains the White House must act "to safeguard the American people's freedom to choose from a variety of goods and appliances." (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) | The EPA under the Biden administration in April 2024 finalized stringent new greenhouse gas emission standards that significantly raise costs for coal-fired power plants and those invested in newly built gas generation that utilities and electric transmission operators say could render some power plants financially inoperable. The EPA rule has been challenged and an opinion by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is expected soon. Trump could issue an executive order directing agencies not to implement the order until the court ruling. It will require legislative action, however, to bury the greenhouse gas rule. The EPA finalized on Nov. 12, 2024, a new methane emissions rule that levies a first-ever "waste emissions charge" on oil and gas producers via IRA provisions authorized under the Clean Air Act. Under the IRA, companies that emit methane beyond 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually must pay $900 per metric ton in 2024, $1,200 in 2025, and $1,500 in 2026 and beyond. Although repealing the methane emission fee will require congressional action, the emissions charge could be eliminated in budget reconciliation under the Congressional Review Act. A Trump executive action might direct agencies not to collect the data that emitters are required to provide to verify compliance while legislation and court actions play out. A further provision calls for "Terminating the Green New Deal." This directive mandates that "all agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through" the massive IRA and the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which along with the 2022 CHIPS & Science Act, are the three signature laws of Biden's "New Green Deal." The provision specifically cites "defunding" authorized IRA and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocations using "funds for electric vehicle charging stations made available through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program." Among other dissolutions, the provision rescinds Biden's executive order 14082, which could now allow the White House and Congress to tighten tax credits, claw back loans and grants, and revise unfinalized rules under the Congressional Review Act to chip away at the IRA. | AES Indiana Petersburg Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant, operates in Petersburg, Ind., on Oct. 25, 2023. The EPA under the Biden administration in April 2024 finalized stringent new greenhouse gas emission standards that significantly raise costs for coal-fired power plants. (Joshua A. Bickel/AP Photo) | Trump and Republican congressional leaders vow to dismantle the IRA, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the CHIPS act. The IRA alone authorizes 10 years of sustained tax credits, low-interest loans, and grant programs that by some estimates could top $1 trillion. Also within the "Unleashing American Energy" executive order is a directive to lift the pause that had been placed on LNG exports. This provision directs the secretary of energy to "restart reviews of applications for approvals of liquefied natural gas export projects as expeditiously as possible." This essentially pulls the plug on the Biden administration's January 2024 halt in new permit reviews. The order states that it is in the public interest when the criteria for review includes "the economic and employment impacts to the United States and the impact to the security of allies and partners that would result from granting the [export] application." "Restoring America's Mineral Dominance" is another provision within the executive order package. It is similar to a 2020 Trump order that installs a "whole-of-government" synthesis to "identify all agency actions that impose undue burdens on the domestic mining and processing of non-fuel minerals and undertake steps to revise or rescind such actions." Offshore Wind Moratorium Another energy-related executive order signed by Trump on Jan. 20 suspends all "energy leasing in all areas within the Offshore Continental Shelf (OCS)" related to wind energy nationwide. The moratorium will remain in effect until "various alleged legal deficiencies underlying" the federal government's wind leasing regulations for onshore and offshore wind projects are addressed. "This withdrawal does not apply to leasing related to any other purposes such as, but not limited to, oil, gas, minerals, and environmental conservation," the order states. A separate package of executive action calls to expand the number of leases and where leases can be sold. Trump frequently expresses a dislike for windmills and, despite his first administration backing offshore wind ventures, he appears intent on halting proposals to develop wind power in federal waters beyond the 11 already approved. Those 11 are projected to generate more than 19 gigawatts of energy—enough to power more than 6 million homes... | Subscribe to The Epoch Times to read the rest. Become a paying subscriber of The Epoch Times to get access to
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