First 100 days of energy policy

The new administration’s term hit its 100-day mark today. Here’s a recap of some of the administration’s major actions related to energy and environmental policy:

• January 20: “Unleashing American Energy” executive order. This order declared a national energy emergency due to the U.S.’s inadequate energy supply, infrastructure, and high prices. Federal agencies are directed to expedite permitting processes for domestic energy resource development, including not only oil, gas, and coal, but also critical minerals. Agencies were also required to pause disbursements of funds from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, pause leasing and permitting offshore wind farms, eliminate the de-facto electric vehicle mandate, reconsider the “social cost of carbon,” effectively withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, disband the American Climate Corps, and require the EPA to reexamine strict household appliance efficiency standards. This order also lifted the Biden-era moratorium on offshore oil and gas leasing and the indefinite moratorium on LNG export permits.
• January 20: “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential.” This order reverses many Biden-era restrictions on Alaska’s natural resources, including restoring leases in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), reversing a rule placing more than 40 percent of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) off limits for exploration or leasing, creating a path forward for the Ambler Road access project, and road building and logging in a small portion of the Tongass National Forest. These changes were implemented in the Interior Secretary’s orders on March 20.
• February 25: In accordance with executive orders, the Council on Environmental Quality removed its regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act. While there may be some confusion in the short run, agencies will have the opportunity to create their own NEPA rules and streamline permitting.
• March 12: Environmental Protection Agency announces 31 actions, including rolling back the Clean Power Plan 2.0 that American Experiment criticized in public comments on the draft rule. The rule would have required coal-fired plants, and new natural gas plants planning to operate beyond 2039, to capture 90% of their carbon emissions by 2032 or shut down, endangering the reliability of the electric grid. The EPA’s actions also include reassessing the 2009 Endangerment Finding, nixing carbon cost reporting mandates, revoking the de-facto electric vehicle mandate, and rewriting the flawed waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule.  
• March 20: “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production” executive order. This order requires agencies to deliver a list of priority mineral production projects for streamlined permitting, identify federal lands that may be suitable for mining projects, other actions to support domestic critical minerals development.
• April 8: “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order 14241” executive order. This order is designed to have agencies identify coal resources and reserves on federal lands and expedite leasing.
• April 8: A separate executive order, “Strengthening the Reliability and Security of the United States Electric Grid,” aims to bolster reliability and allow coal-fired plants that are otherwise scheduled for retirement to be allowed to keep running.

While promising, these major executive orders and their implementation in rulemaking are subject to reversal by a subsequent administration unless cemented by Congress. Some rules are subject to the Congressional Review Act, which can prevent agencies from proposing substantially similar rules again after Congress disapproves. An excellent resource for more energy actions may be found at the Institute for Energy Research’s website.