On his first day in office, President Trump announced a wide range of energy policies and efforts to roll back environmental protections.
The move excited advocates and the fossil fuel industry. For example, Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute (API), said in a written statement that President Trump's move “enables U.S. oil and gas to be accommodated, not restricted. We will chart a new path.”
But they worried environmentalists, who warned that the order would ultimately have a negative impact on the planet.
“A consistent theme is maximizing both the supply and demand for fossil fuels, which is the exact opposite of what we need to do to address the climate crisis,” said Columbia Law School Professor Sabin Climate says center founder Michael Gerrard. He told The Hill he wanted to change the law.
Here are some of the measures that are likely to be most effective.
Blocking new wind energy projects
President Trump on Monday issued an executive order that prohibits the government from auctioning off rights to build offshore wind farms and temporarily blocks new wind power rights on public lands.
Additionally, the order directed the Ministry of the Interior to halt construction.wind farms in idahoIt was approved under the Biden administration.
President Trump has long railed against wind as an energy source, calling windmills ugly and claiming they kill birds. According to Massachusetts Institute of Technologywind turbines can kill birds, but fewer than domestic cats or fossil fuels.
Wind industry and climate change advocacy groups alike expressed concerns about the order, noting that it could disrupt the industry and hinder the creation of carbon-free electricity.
“A small delay in any emerging industry can lead to multi-year setbacks, resulting in bottlenecks, rising costs, and ultimately energy It impacts consumers.”
Senator Martin Heinrich (DN.M.) Some critics “It will raise energy costs, eliminate thousands of skilled jobs, and threaten billions of dollars in planned investments in rural areas,” he wrote on social platform X about the action.
Gerrard said offshore wind has particularly large potential for energy production because the areas off the coast where offshore wind power is generated are particularly windy, have more space and don't have to contend with angry homeowners. It is said that there is.
“There is huge production capacity offshore,” he said.
Reconsidering EPA's position that climate change is dangerous
Another executive order signed by President Trump directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider a 2009 finding that climate change is dangerous, which would require many government regulations to This is an important policy that is the basis of the
In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate greenhouse gases if it determines they pose a threat to public health. In 2009, he was right, saying that greenhouse gases “endanger both the public health and welfare of current and future generations.”
Some observers said the order was an attempt to weaken climate change rules all together.
Stan Myburg, who was the EPA's No. 2 acting agency during the Obama administration, told The Hill in an email that overturning the study's findings means that greenhouse gases are “under the meaning of that term in the Clean Air Act.” “It means that it will no longer be recognized as a pollutant.” Therefore, this law does not apply to them. ”
He added that this could lead to the overriding of many climate regulations, “particularly impacting” those affecting cars and power plants.
Gerrard said if the government were successful in overturning the endangered finding, it would be “devastating” because “it underlies almost all of the EPA's actions on climate change”. he said.
However, he expressed skepticism that such an effort would actually be successful.
“I think it's a fool's errand,” he said.
“When the endangered finding was first announced in 2009, there was a tremendous amount of scientific evidence to support it, but it was challenged and the D.C. Circuit rarely held “I almost laughed it off,” he added. “There is so much scientific evidence today.”
Moves toward accelerating fossil fuel infrastructure
President Trump's order made a number of moves aimed specifically at accelerating both fossil fuel projects and broader infrastructure projects.
The measures, which include a declaration of a “national energy emergency” and orders aimed at ramping up oil and gas drilling, will not only expand the domestic fossil fuel buildup but also limit environmental considerations in the construction process. There is a possibility.
Jackson Ewing, director of energy and climate policy at Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability, said President Trump's state of emergency declaration could be one of the most impactful policies in this category. He said there is.
The order was issued under the National Emergencies Act, which gives the president emergency powers. Mr. Trump's team said the freeing up of authority would allow his administration to jump-start energy production.
“The biggest thing this will enable is faster leasing, siting and permitting for oil and gas production,” Ewing said.
“We're really trying to accelerate fossil fuel exploration and production by removing obstacles or speeding up processes that are currently delayed,” he added, adding that laws to protect water and endangered species are also part of this move. He pointed out that he was subject to an order.
Additionally, another executive order states that federal agencies must “prioritize efficiency and certainty over any other goals” when considering projects under the Bedrock Act, which requires environmental reviews. .
Blocking Biden's climate funding
Another key provision of the lengthy order is an order to “pause spending” of funds under Democrats' signature climate change legislation and bipartisan infrastructure legislation.
The law allocated billions of dollars for clean energy projects and incentives, including tax credits for renewable energy and the purchase of electric vehicles. The Biden administration has already spent most of the money and is scrambling to raise money in the final months.
However, further legal freezes could still have a significant impact.
“He is directly interfering with the way anti-inflation laws are implemented to encourage the transition to clean energy,” said Sam Sankar, senior vice president of programs at Earthjustice.
Sankar noted that the climate change law covers a “huge range”, from air pollution monitoring to tax credits for low-carbon energy sources, among other things.
Ewing also said the legislation allows the Department of Energy to finance climate-friendly energy projects.
He said even a temporary suspension of funding under the law signed by President Biden could reduce investment in the industries the law is intended to support.
