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President Trump declared a national energy crisis as part of a series of executive actions executed on Monday. However, this declaration does not pertain to all energy types; it primarily favors the development of domestic fossil fuels.
“We will drill, baby, drill,” Trump stated during his inaugural address, subsequently signing the emergency proclamation and remarking that it “indicates you can do whatever necessary to resolve that issue.” This statement is misleading and many specifics regarding its implementation are absent from the order.
Trump invoked executive authority under the National Emergencies Act, which he likewise used in 2019 to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. This grants the President additional power to bypass bureaucratic procedures and public communications. A Brennan Center analysis “identified 137 statutory powers that may be accessible to the president upon declaring a national emergency.”
In this situation, those powers include waiving certain environmental regulations associated with landmark legislation such as the Endangered Species Act and expediting energy project approvals.
Trump’s proclamation does not specifically delineate his intentions. Rather, he “directs executive departments and agencies to identify and utilize any lawful emergency authorities available to them,” remarks Amy Stein, a law professor at the University of Florida, who responded to NPR’s inquiries via email.
Reducing bureaucracy, primarily for fossil fuels
In making the move for the emergency declaration, Trump claimed, “The United States’ inadequate energy production, transport, refining, and generation poses a unique and extraordinary threat to our Nation’s economy, national security, and foreign policy.” He attributed this to “the detrimental and shortsighted policies of the prior administration.”
However, in specifying what “energy” includes, Trump overlooked two renewable sources – wind and solar energy – which were a significant component of the Biden administration’s bold climate initiatives. Collectively, they account for over 14% of the nation’s electricity production.
“It’s remarkable that the crisis he appears to be declaring is one of insufficient fossil fuel production,” notes Sam Sankar, an attorney and senior figure with Earthjustice. He finds this perplexing because “the U.S. is currently generating more oil and gas than any nation has ever in the history of humanity.”
Trump’s order does not address the climate-warming impact of utilizing fossil fuels. Instead, it claims that Americans are enduring high energy costs. It also anticipates a rise in electricity demand from technologies such as artificial intelligence and indicates that insufficient energy supplies “pose an imminent and increasing threat to the prosperity and national security of the United States.”
To remedy this, Trump aims to eliminate regulations and accelerate approval processes to deploy more oil drilling equipment, construct additional pipelines, and integrate more power stations into the grid.
Stein points out that significant elements of the emergency declaration involve instructing departments and agencies to consider utilizing federal land or exercise eminent domain, which allows the government to acquire private property for public purposes with compensation. The objective, as stated in Trump’s order, is “to facilitate the identification, leasing, placement, production, transport, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources.”
Stein further states that the emergency declaration also authorizes special measures to expedite approvals for energy projects under various existing laws, including the Clean Water Act and the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act. It also authorizes emergency consultation processes under the Endangered Species Act and construction powers for the Army Corps of Engineers.
Environmental organizations may contest this legally
One of the rare checks on President Trump’s emergency powers is likely to emerge in the form of legal action. However, that won’t materialize until agencies ascertain what options are available.
“You can’t contest presidential proclamations or orders any more than you can question presidential speeches,” Sankar states, “So what really matters is when actions are taken on the ground that directly impact people.”
An example could arise if the Trump administration ceases payments that were obligated under the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by Biden in 2022. This legislation allocated hundreds of billions of dollars in incentives aimed at advancing technologies that mitigate or eliminate the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change.
Challenges stemming from this emergency declaration may potentially reach the U.S. Supreme Court. This could provide clarity on questions surrounding the National Emergencies Act, such as what constitutes an emergency.
“Currently, there is no legal precedent in the United States regarding what defines an emergency and when it is appropriate to declare one,” remarks Soren Dayton, the governance director at the Niskanen Center, a think tank based in Washington D.C. He anticipates that either Trump’s energy crisis or his latest southern border emergency declaration will encounter legal scrutiny.
Dayton welcomes such challenges as he believes that intricate issues like energy production, climate change, or immigration should not be resolved through presidential emergency declarations.
“These are complex matters, and I believe politics should address them – not to empower the presidency with a magic wand allowing unilateral action without any discourse,” Dayton asserts.
NPR correspondent Camila Domonoske contributed reporting to this story.
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