January 21, 2025<\/p>\n
4 min read<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Trump Declares Energy \u2018Emergency\u2019 to Justify More Oil and Gas Drilling<\/p>\n
Though largely symbolic, President Trump\u2019s declaration of an \u201cenergy emergency\u201d could throw a wrench in renewable energy development and will cut into the Endangered Species Act<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
By Scott Waldman<\/a> & E&E News<\/a> <\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump signs executive orders during the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena, in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Angela Weiss\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n CLIMATEWIRE |<\/b> Minutes into his second term, President Donald Trump declared a “national energy emergency” and said he would bring forth a \u201cgolden age\u201d of domestic affordability and global dominance.<\/p>\n Though largely symbolic, the move was an especially bitter pill for climate advocates.<\/p>\n Not only do they dispute the need for an energy emergency \u2014 as U.S. oil and gas production has thrived the past several years<\/a> \u2014 but Trump\u2019s Day 1 decision comes after activists failed for four years to convince former President Joe Biden to declare a similar emergency for climate change.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing<\/a>. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n Collin Rees, U.S. program manager for the activist group Oil Change International, said Trump’s quick turnaround shows he understands the political potency of an emergency declaration.<\/p>\n His group had long pressured the Biden administration to do the same with climate. Now, Rees said, advocates are left wondering why Biden never took that step \u2014 even if only to show his supporters that he took seriously the threat of unmitigated global warming.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would have shown that he was willing to fight and actually mobilize all the resources in the government,\u201d Rees said.<\/p>\n During his time in office, Biden made climate action a priority for the federal government and helped pass one of the biggest climate laws in U.S. history. But his team resisted calls to declare an emergency, even as climate-juiced heat waves, droughts, floods, hurricanes and wildfires killed thousands of Americans.<\/p>\n Some environmental groups and Democratic lawmakers wanted Biden to go further than the climate policies he did enact. They hoped Biden would use a climate emergency<\/a> to end crude oil exports, stop offshore oil drilling, cut U.S. investment into international fossil fuel projects, grow domestic clean energy manufacturing and rebuild renewable energy systems in communities hit by climate change.<\/p>\n For his part, Trump did not even wait until the end of his almost 3,000-word inaugural speech to declare an energy emergency.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again right to the top, and export American energy all over the world,\u201d Trump said in his speech from the Capitol Rotunda.<\/p>\n The energy emergency<\/a> guts the Endangered Species Act and states without evidence that Biden\u2019s climate policies have imperiled the nation and led to a \u201cprecariously inadequate and intermittent energy supply, and an increasingly unreliable grid.\u201d The emergency creates a definition of energy that does not include wind and solar and claims the head of key federal agencies should use their authority to \u201cfacilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources,\u201d particularly on the West and East coasts where Democratic governors and state lawmakers have blocked some fossil fuel infrastructure. It faces a significant court battle in the coming months and years.<\/p>\n Whatever the language, Trump won\u2019t be able to fully realize his energy policy with the stroke of a pen, said Michael Gerrard, faculty director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University.<\/p>\n Much of that will be decided in the coming years \u2014 after pitched battles in the courts and Congress.<\/p>\n \u201cDeclaring an emergency gives very few additional powers,\u201d Gerrard said. \u201cIt’s not as if it allows him to supersede federal or state law as a general matter. There are certain specific things that could be done, but on the energy front, they’re extremely limited.\u201d<\/p>\n That could include banning the import or export of certain types of energy, or using the defense production act to build energy equipment. Still, Gerrard said the energy emergency declaration ultimately was \u201cmore performative than substantive.”<\/p>\n As part of his rationale for the emergency declaration, Trump said Monday that the United States was in an energy crisis. But Trump on Day 1 also took steps to sideline clean energy \u2014 even though the sector expanded significantly during Biden\u2019s presidency, and experts say it still has potential to boost U.S. energy independence.<\/p>\n The Department of Energy has estimated that the country has enough renewable energy potential to meet 100 times<\/a> the annual U.S. energy demand.<\/p>\n Trump, however, has taken a dim view of cleaner forms of energy \u2014 especially wind. His office sent a notice Monday to reporters that said Trump would move to halt both onshore and offshore wind development.<\/p>\n The move likely will slow \u2014 but not stop \u2014 the U.S. expansion of clean energy. But Rees of Oil Change International said the avalanche of Trump energy moves shows that American conservatives right now have the upper hand in getting their message to voters.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it’s an indicator of how the right is doing better at politics right now,\u201d Rees said. \u201cTrump understands the intersection of politics and energy better.\u201d<\/p>\n Reprinted from <\/i>E&E News<\/i><\/a> with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2025. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"US](\"https:\/\/static.scientificamerican.com\/dam\/m\/1eba9b68e218bc29\/original\/President-Trump-holding-up-executive-order.jpg?m=1737482134.495&w=600\")
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