On March 28, 2017 President Trump signed an executive order redirecting the nation’s policy on energy. The executive order titled Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth, includes 8 sections defining the policy; requiring review of all agency actions that potentially burden the safe, efficient development of domestic energy resources; rescinding 4 Presidential actions, 2 Office of the President reports, and one guidance document from The Council on Environmental Quality; requiring review of EPA’s “Clean Power Plan” and related rules and agency actions; requiring review of estimates of the social cost of carbon, nitrous oxide, and methane for regulatory impact analysis; directing the Department of the Interior to withdrawing the Federal Land Coal Leasing Moratorium; and reviewing regulations related to United States oil and gas development.
The new policy is defined as:
(a) It is in the national interest to promote clean and safe development of our Nation’s vast energy resources, while at the same time avoiding regulatory burdens that unnecessarily encumber energy production, constrain economic growth, and prevent job creation. Moreover, the prudent development of these natural resources is essential to ensuring the Nation’s geopolitical security.
(b) It is further in the national interest to ensure that the Nation’s electricity is affordable, reliable, safe, secure, and clean, and that it can be produced from coal, natural gas, nuclear material, flowing water, and other domestic sources, including renewable sources.
(c) Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that executive departments and agencies (agencies) immediately review existing regulations that potentially burden the development or use of domestically produced energy resources and appropriately suspend, revise, or rescind those that unduly burden the development of domestic energy resources beyond the degree necessary to protect the public interest or otherwise comply with the law.
(d) It further is the policy of the United States that, to the extent permitted by law, all agencies should take appropriate actions to promote clean air and clean water for the American people, while also respecting the proper roles of the Congress and the States concerning these matters in our constitutional republic.
(e) It is also the policy of the United States that necessary and appropriate environmental regulations comply with the law, are of greater benefit than cost, when permissible, achieve environmental improvements for the American people, and are developed through transparent processes that employ the best available peer-reviewed science and economics.