When President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20, he faces the daunting task of restoring common sense and sanity to federal energy policy. [emphasis, links added]
The past four years in this area can be more accurately described as a series of ill-conceived, irrational scams rather than any coherent, productive policy.
Four years of bad policy—based largely on the crude principles of crony capitalism—have done serious damage to America’s level of energy security.
There is no doubt that cleaning up the mess left by President Joe Biden and his appointees will take the full four years of Trump's second term. But the new president will be able to take some quick actions to jump-start the process as part of his first 100-day agenda.
With all due respect, here are 10 quick, common-sense actions Trump can take to start restoring America’s energy security:
1 — Repeal Biden’s ridiculous move to allow a “pause” on LNG export infrastructure. Of all Biden’s energy policy hoaxes, this is perhaps the most outrageous and unjustifiable. End it now and get this American growth industry back on track.
2 — End U.S. participation in the Paris Climate Agreement and any future annual conferences of the parties hosted by the United Nations. Stop spending federal funds on any and all goals and commitments associated with these wasteful processes.
3 — Termination of the position of Senior Advisor to the President on International Climate Policy (also known as “Climate Envoy”) Currently occupied by John Podesta and defunded.
4 – To level the playing field, Trump should “pause” permits and subsidies for offshore wind, Biden’s favorite. The rationale for the moratorium is the need for a truly thorough study of the potential impacts of these large-scale developments on marine mammals, seabirds and the commercial fishing industry. Citing the “precautionary principle” that Biden regulators have ignored in connection with these expensive and potentially deadly projects.
5 – Orders the Department of the Interior to immediately and aggressively restart stalled oil and gas leasing programs on federal lands and waters. Directs the Interior Department’s inspector general to investigate Biden-era manipulation of these programs for potential criminal conduct.
6 — Form an interagency working group to recommend actions by the executive branch of government to streamline the permitting process for energy projects that do not require congressional action. Congress has repeatedly demonstrated its inability to pass legislation in this area.
7 — Immediately suspend all green energy subsidies pending a full compliance review. This should include all subsidy schemes that are part of the IRA or the Infrastructure Act 2021. This review should also include recommendations for reform of the eligibility requirements for these subsidy schemes, given the high rates of insolvency filings by unsustainable companies that benefit from these subsidies.
8— In light of the Supreme Court's recent strike down the Chevron Deference, ordering the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review the rationale for regulating atmospheric carbon dioxidealso known as “plant-based foods,” are considered pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
9 — Orders an interagency review of the U.S. power grid and transmission infrastructure as they relate to national security concerns. Particular attention is paid to the current growing trend of large technology companies locking generation assets for their own specific needs (artificial intelligence, data centers, etc.), which may deprive the public grid of generation capacity originally dedicated to the public grid.
10 — In light of recent reports that Biden regulators are diverting billions of dollars in IRA and other green energy funds to NGOs to fund anti-fossil fuel propaganda, laws and other abuses of the legal systemordered an immediate freeze on all such spending pending a formal review.
In fact, the list likely contains hundreds of high-priority projects for the new administration to undertake. This is how much damage the outgoing administration has done to U.S. energy security.
But executing these ten projects early in his second term would be a good start and put the country on the road to recovery. We wish Trump and his appointees all the best in restoring America’s energy security.
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