The Trump administration’s energy plan and statements on the campaign trail indicate that they will likely focus on the following policies:
Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement is in deep trouble. President-elect Trump has promised to cancel the agreement and stop spending taxpayer dollars on wasteful U.N. climate programs. Even if the Trump administration does nothing, this means there will be massive defections from the agreement. Any prior commitments to emissions reductions or taxpayer funding for the Green Climate Fund should be seen as null at this point.
Increasing federal oil and natural gas leasing. Less than 3 percent of federal offshore areas are currently leased for energy development. In particular, this will increase in the Chukchi and Beaufort Sea and the mid and south Atlantic. Onshore, there will be more leasing, especially in places like the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and on federal lands in the west.
Lifting the coal lease moratorium. The Obama administration’s coal leasing moratorium on federal lands—a part of their “keep it in the ground” strategy—will likely be terminated and royalty rates will likely be kept at current levels.
Giving the states greater say on energy leases on federal lands within their borders. Here’s what the Trump campaign wrote in response to the American Energy Alliance’s Presidential candidate questionnaire:
“The federal government does have stewardship of millions of acres of land. Rather than selling the land to states and private enterprises, the first step should be establishing a shared governance structure with the states. This first step would allow for maintaining the aesthetics of the land while finding ways to gain revenue that would benefit both the federal and state governments.”
Expediting approvals of LNG export terminals. The Obama administration has slow-walked the review of LNG export terminals. Under the Trump administration, approvals will be expedited.
Hitting reset on the Clean Power Plan. This regulatory rule is currently before the D.C. Circuit Court. Even if the regulation is upheld, the Trump administration will issue a new regulation withdrawing the Clean Power Plan. Also, the seldom-talked about regulation of carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants will also be withdrawn.
Reconsidering the “endangerment finding.” In response to Massachusetts v. EPA, the Obama administration found that greenhouse gas emissions harmed human health and welfare. This is the regulatory predicate to the Obama administration’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) mandates and Clean Power Plan and greatly expanded EPA’s power. This finding will be reconsidered and possibly revoked, marking a major blow to underpinning for many climate regulations.
Moving forward with pipeline infrastructure. The Obama administration slow-walked the Keystone XL pipeline, making it a political issue, and has done the same with the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The Trump administration will likely work to streamline and expedite pipeline permitting.
Taking a closer look at the environmental impacts of wind energy. Trump has been concerned about the harms to wildlife from wind turbines such as bird and bat deaths. Unlike before, wind energy will rightfully face increasing scrutiny from the federal government.
Reducing energy subsidies. Here’s what the Trump campaign wrote in response to the Presidential candidate questionnaire from the American Energy Alliance:
“This is an issue for Congress and the people they represent. Subsidies distort markets and should be used only when national security is at stake. Eventually, all subsidies should end so that the demand for energy will set prices, allow consumers access to the best values and encourage all facets of the energy industry to do all they can to keep their particular source competitive.”
Amending the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Trump has expressed support of the RFS as a way to increase domestic energy production. The RFS will be amended to reduce EPA’s discretionary authority to set the biofuel levels, especially after 2022.
Hitting reset on the Obama administration’s unconstitutional definition of “Waters of the United States”. This rule is currently in the courts. The Trump administration could revise the regulation to work cooperatively with the states. An expansive definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act tramples on the prerogatives of the states to regulate water.
Relaxing the federal fuel economy standards. Under the Obama administration’s CAFE standards, light-duty vehicles must achieve 54.5 mpg by 2025. This regulation will be significantly relaxed. It will either be completely withdrawn or revised and phased out to be closer to the current levels of fuel economy.
Ending the use of the social cost of carbon in federal rulemakings. The Obama administration aggressively used the social cost of carbon (SCC) to help justify their regulations. During the Trump Administration the SCC will likely be reviewed and the latest science brought to bear. If the SCC were subjected to the latest science, it would certainly be much lower than what the Obama administration has been using.
I love how the only area where he's concerned about environmental impact is in wind energy. That's actually hilarious.
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It really says a lot about him that his little run in with that wind farm is enough for him to go after the industry. This man is a vindictive child who holds the most powerful seat in the world.
My guess, is that when he hired that anti Environment guy to head the Environmental Protection Agency, he is only doing it in hopes of creating jobs in the coal industry plus O & G etc, so people will worship him as the jobs creator he said he would be. He has absolutely no understanding of or concern for climate change.
Every single day, more and more comes out about the current state of politics in the US and I get more irate and simultaneously more depressed. This is atrocious.
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Every single day, more and more comes out about the current state of politics in the US and I get more irate and simultaneously more depressed. This is atrocious.
Yup, these next 4 years will very likely go down as one of the darkest periods in American political history. As a Canadian I've been watching this gong show unfold with complete horror and disgust. I can only imagine what it must be like for you and your fellow Americans to see what's currently happening to your country. It's incredibly troubling.
Yup, these next 4 years will very likely go down as one of the darkest periods in American political history. As a Canadian I've been watching this gong show unfold with complete horror and disgust. I can only imagine what it must be like for you and your fellow Americans to see what's currently happening to your country. It's incredibly troubling.
I'm curious to see what Kasich does with the "heartbeat bill" that Ohio passed yesterday--bans abortion at 6 weeks, no exceptions for rape/incest/birth defects/health of the mother. Just basically outlaws abortion entirely. Obviously if he signs it, there will be legal challenges to it--but with a Trump appointed conservative SCOTUS majority, I'm not too optimistic about the idea of said court deciding against it.
And this is why "identity politics" matter. Because he hasn't actually made it into office yet, and women in general are already on notice that they could be losing rights in the very near future.
Our environment is screwed, our status with regards to our allies is in question, our future re: education is a disaster, and we now have a Labor Secretary who wants to abolish the minimum wage and hates the concept of overtime pay.
Today, Portland, Oregon, became the first jurisdiction in the United States to use the tax code to address the phenomenon of outrageous CEO pay. The City Council passed an ordinance, sponsored by City Commissioner Steve Novick, that requires publicly traded corporations to pay a surtax if they pay their CEO more than 100 times their median worker.
At least there are some places attempting to move things forward.
Last edited by wittynickname; 12-08-2016 at 04:45 PM.
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Our environment is screwed, our status with regards to our allies is in question, our future re: education is a disaster, and we now have a Labor Secretary who wants to abolish the minimum wage and hates the concept of overtime pay.
WEEI laid out some reasons why it's not a totally crazy idea:
— Valentine and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are "friendly," and both went to USC.
— Valentine knows Masayoshi Son, who owns the SoftBank Hawks, another Japanese team. Son is the guy who Trump said is going to invest $50 billion in the U.S. tech sector.
— Japan wants baseball to be part of the 2020 Summer Olympics in ... Tokyo.
— Valentine works closely with Linda McMahon (wife of Vince), who is Trump's choice to run the Small Business Administration. McMahon is on the board of Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, where Valentine is the athletic director.
— One of Valentine's bosses with the Rangers, Tom Schieffer, was ambassador to Japan when Valentine managed there.
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Watching the Oilers defend is like watching fire engines frantically rushing to the wrong fire
Also great news for the rust belt and working class, Trump has added another Goldman Sachs executive to his cabinet. I hope those people like $4.25 an hour.
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"Think I'm gonna be the scapegoat for the whole damn machine? Sheeee......."
Also great news for the rust belt and working class, Trump has added another Goldman Sachs executive to his cabinet. I hope those people like $4.25 an hour.
$4.25? I'm think back to $2.13 and people having to beg for tips on everything they do. Make people earn the money they receive. You know, like Trump did.
