Five Things to Know About Trump’s Energy Orders

 President Trump signed a salvo of executive actions this week aimed at unleashing America’s energy resources and fulfilling his campaign promise to make oil and gas a pillar of U.S. prosperity and global dominance.

Trump directed agencies to support the development and transportation of fossil fuels, the build-out of electricity-transmission infrastructure, and the advancement of uranium production and geothermal energy.

Whether the moves accomplish his goals remains to be seen, but corporate lawyers from Washington to Houston are trying to figure out what the changes mean for their clients.

Here are five things to know about Trump’s energy agenda.

Climate change out, national security in

Some of Trump’s executive actions reversed previous orders by former President Joe Biden, including measures the Democrat took to address climate change. On his first day in office, Biden issued an order directing agencies to confront what the then-president described as the climate crisis. A few days later, another order by Biden put climate change at the center of U.S. foreign policy and national security. That is all gone. 

Trump declared a national energy emergency that installs national security as the prime concern in energy matters, saying high energy prices are an active threat to the American people and the nation. He paired it with an order that may lay the groundwork for eliminating the Environmental Protection Agency’s findings that a concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere threatens public health. Trump also once again withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate accord.

“The cancellation of Biden’s executive orders is an action—and a meaningful one,” said Kevin Book, an analyst at research firm ClearView Energy Partners.

Expedited permits, less regulation

Trump is moving to rescind regulations that some energy developers have long said are a major stumbling block to getting shovels in the ground. The president signed an order that, among other objectives, seeks to blunt the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act by federal agencies. 

The 1970 law imposes federal reviews of the environmental impact of projects. Green groups have invoked it in a number of challenges to energy projects, saying a careful review is in the public interest. 

Trump’s order could make it easier for companies to obtain permits for everything from pipelines to transmission lines, analysts said, but is no substitute for passing a legislative reform to the process through Congress.

A blow to wind power

Trump temporarily halted wind-energy leasing and permits for federal lands and waters, a move that could have near-term consequences.

Offshore projects already under construction are unlikely to be affected, according to most analysts, though not everyone agrees. The order includes a review of existing leases. Future projects have bigger question marks.

Offshore wind was an expected early target, given Trump’s frequent complaints about those projects, but the inclusion of land-based projects surprised the industry. The impact could be significant. Projects on private land sometimes require federal environmental approvals, too.

Around 25 gigawatts of offshore projects are in an early stage of development and are “unlikely to see any progress” during the Trump administration, according to Rystad Energy analysts. 

Litigation on the horizon

Lawyers said Trump’s avalanche of executive actions is all but certain to be litigated by opponents in the court—and that it will take some time before their true impact is clear. The Natural Resources Defense Council immediately vowed to fight the administration’s efforts to roll back environmental protections.

Orders by Trump to open up federal land to oil-and-gas or mineral mining, give companies access to Alaska for mineral development, or rescind EPA rules on greenhouse gases are all likely to be disputed, said Steve O’Day, a partner at law firm Smith, Gambrell & Russell. 

“It appears that the only certainty achieved by this raft of Executive Orders is that it will cause years of litigation before there will be any results on the ground,” O’Day said. 

Oil-and-gas companies to stay put—for now

Trump wants oil-and-gas producers to “drill, baby drill,” but they have adopted a cautious approach to how they spend their money. Frackers are more focused on returning cash to shareholders via buybacks and dividends rather than reinvesting it in the oil patch. 

Shale operators also drill for oil overwhelmingly on private land, and opening up more federal land for development is unlikely to unleash a drilling frenzy. Meanwhile pipeline firms, which have run into strident opposition from environmental groups in recent years, still have to navigate a complex regulatory environment and make sure long-term economics make sense before they greenlight multibillion-dollar projects, energy lawyers said. 

“Every company is going to have to analyze the regulatory risk and cost profile for what they’re going to want to do,” said Marcella Burke, the founder of law firm Burke Law Group, and a former deputy general counsel at the EPA during Trump’s first term.