Four sweeping slates of energy directives revoke prior orders, deregulate, and direct to ‘drill baby drill.’
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.
By John Haughey
