Nick Snow
Washington Editor
US President Donald J. Trump signed a much-anticipated
executive order that was directed more at energy than environmental regulation. While it calls for a reevaluation of former President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which was
designed to aggressively reduce carbon emissions, Trump
said his Mar. 28 order also will lift the federal coal leasing
ban Obama’s administration imposed; “lift the job-killing
restrictions on the production of coal, oil, and gas”; and return regulatory power to states.
“With today’s executive action, I’m taking steps to lift the
restrictions on American energy, to reverse government intrusion, and to cancel job-killing regulations—not only in
this industry, but in every industry,” Trump declared in an
address at the US Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters before the signing ceremony.
“We’re doing them by the thousands. And we’re going
to have safety. We’re going to have clean water. We’re going
to have clean air,” Trump said. “But so many [regulations]
are unnecessary, and so many are job-killing. We’re getting
rid of as many of those as we can. One after another, we
are keeping our promises and putting power back into the
hands of the people.”
At the US Department of the Interior, the executive or-
der calls on Secretary Ryan Zinke to review three final rules
DOI issued regarding oil and gas production on both federal
and private land and the US Outer Continental Shelf as well
as the US Bureau of Land Management’s 2016 federal coal-
leasing moratorium. BLM’s final rules on methane emissions
and hydraulic fracturing on onshore federal and American
Indian lands also will be under review.
“Our nation can’t run on pixie dust and hope. The last
8 years showed that. The hallmark of a great president is
one who takes decisive action. That’s exactly what our president has done,” Zinke said in remarks before the signing
ceremony. “Energy independence is necessary for a better
environment because it’s better to produce it here under regulation than in other countries where there’s none. It’s better
for American jobs. And it’s better for security, not just for
ourselves but for our allies.”
Actions at EPA
The order also requires EPA to review, and if appropriate
suspend, revise, or rescind its final rule on methane emissions from new or modified oil and gas sources as well as
final rules on carbon emissions from new or modified power
plants and from existing power plants.
“By his signature today, the president is rejecting the
narrative that this country cannot be both pro-energy and
pro-environment,” EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said at
the signing event. “We have done that throughout our his-
tory. We can actually achieve good jobs, good growth, and
pro-energy policies at the same time we protect our environ-
ment.”
Pruitt said Trump’s order “also sets a pathway forward
on a journey to say we’re no longer going to have regulatory
assault on any given sector of our economy.” He said, “That’s
going to end by the signing of this executive order. We’re not
going to allow regulations here at EPA to pick winners and
losers.”
Pruitt added, “Finally, we’re going to play within the
rules. EPA should pass rules that are in the framework that
Congress established.”
Also at the signing, Sec. of Energy Rick Perry said, “This
executive order is a rejection of the belief that the path for-
ward on energy is through additional federal regulations. Mr.
President, you understand that the path forward is through
American ingenuity and entrepreneurship.”
Focus on innovation
Perry said in his first few weeks in charge of the US Department of Energy, he has met with a wide variety of energy
stakeholders who have shown him a tremendous focus on
increased innovation and exploring new opportunities.
“But I’ve also seen the down-side of poorly designed government policies that have resulted in distorted markets and
a weakening of the American energy portfolio,” Perry said.
“We’ve seen our power grid reliability tested because our
fuel diversity has been diminished in order to benefit one
technology over another. We’ve seen where the regulatory
review process has been gummed up to the point that investors look everywhere else for opportunities.”
Perry added, “How we use our resources for our benefit
and for the world’s benefit is the decision and opportunity
before us. The executive order will begin the process that
begins to unravel the red tape that’s keeping investment on
the sidelines and innovation stymied.”
Also on hand, Vice-President Michael R. Pence said, “Ev-
eryone here knows the truth: Affordable, reliable energy
powers the American economy. President Trump is commit-
ted to an all-of-the-above energy policy that gives the Ameri-
can people and American businesses the power to innovate
and to thrive.”
Trump’s executive order emphasizes
energy more than environment
