Trump Declared an Energy Emergency. Now He's Creating One
Earlier this month, 15 state attorneys general filed suit against the Trump administration for what they say is the president's unlawful declaration of a national energy emergency to fast-track the deployment of oil and gas projects. Emergency permitting of the projects, they allege, circumvents much-needed review processes that protect public health and safety. Because there is no emergency, they argue, the administration has no legal authority to grant any emergency permits and the order is invalid.
The attorneys general have a point. When President Donald Trump declared this "emergency" on the first day of his term, the United States was a net exporter of oil and gas, the cost of renewables was down, and while prices were on the rise after the pandemic, there was no shortage of supply. In fact, U.S. oil and gas production was at an all-time high.
Fast forward four months, and ironically, it now appears that Trump could be creating the very shortage he sought to avoid. Although renewable energy has accounted for the large majority of the nation's new electricity supply in recent years, Trump is doing everything he can to stifle its deployment, including denying federal permits for new wind turbines, closing federal lands to new wind and solar projects, and cancelling funding from the Inflation Reduction Act.
That leaves fossil fuels, which Trump is trying mightily to promote. He's declared a policy of energy dominance—that is, he wants U.S. fossil fuel producers to dominate world markets. In pursuit of this goal, he has run roughshod over permitting laws and environmental restrictions.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/trump-declared-an-energy-emergency-now-he-s-creating-one-opinion/ar-AA1FiPlN
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