On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed a sweeping suite of executive orders (EOs), several of which will significantly impact the nation’s energy and natural resources. Executive orders carry the force of law and are commonly used by presidents, particularly on Day One, as they require no action from Congress.
President Trump declared a “national energy emergency,” something that was long promised on the campaign trail. The EO directs federal agencies to increase domestic energy production, including through lawful emergency and other authorities to expedite project development. This emergency declaration applies to specific energy sources: oil, natural gas, nuclear energy (uranium), biofuels, geothermal energy, hydropower, and critical minerals.
The EO comes at a time when U.S. oil production hit a record high of 12.9 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2023, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that oil production will set another record at 13.2 million b/d in 2024 and will continue to reach record highs through 2025 and 2026. Meanwhile, gas prices have fallen to their lowest per-gallon average since 2021.
The “Declaring a National Energy Emergency” EO also directs federal agencies to consider issuing emergency fuel waivers to allow year-round sales of E15—a fuel blend of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline. Ethanol receives federal support through grant programs, tax credits, and an annual consumption mandate under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). E15 waivers have been controversial as they raise air quality concerns during the summer months, creating public health and environmental liabilities for taxpayers. E15 is also incompatible with older vehicles, small engines, and off-road equipment, leaving consumers to bear the cost of replacing or repairing damaged engines. Allowing the year-round sale of E15 would constitute yet another ethanol subsidy that further distorts energy markets at taxpayers’ expense.
The EO titled “Unleashing American Energy” eliminates a non-binding goal set by the previous administration to have EVs make up 50% of new cars sold by 2030. It also revokes 12 of President Biden’s climate-related EOs, orders federal agencies to revise or repeal any rules deemed burdensome to energy production, expedites federal permitting processes, and pauses all disbursement of funds under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The EO also calls for the restart of liquified natural gas (LNG) export projects, which have been on hold since January of last year. A recent Department of Energy (DOE) study on the economic and environmental impacts of LNG exports recommended a cautious approach to approving new permits.
The “Unleash Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential” EO calls for increased oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), America’s largest wildlife refuge. To date, the Department of the Interior has held two congressionally mandated oil and gas lease sales in the Arctic Refuge. Both saw little industry interest, attracted few bidders, and yielded minimal returns for federal and state taxpayers, as half of all leasing revenue is shared with Alaska. Leases from the first sale were rescinded due to serious flaws and legal deficiencies in the underlying analysis for the sale and the second sale garnered zero bidders. President Trump’s EO seeks to re-instate the rescinded leases—365,755 acres leased by a public corporation authorized by the State of Alaska—and initiate new leasing in the area. The EO will also allow more of the area to be leased with fewer restrictions on oil and gas development. Given the lack of industry interest, any new leasing in the Arctic Refuge could lead to more future liabilities than any potential revenues.
The EO also repeals roadless rule protections in the Tongass National Forest, exempting its nearly 17 million acres from restrictions on logging. Historically, timber sales in the Tongass have cost taxpayers far more to administer than they generate in revenue. Since 1980, taxpayers have lost $1.7 billion on these sales—an average annual loss of $44 million. The Forest Service’s maintenance backlog already averages around $5 billion, and expanding road construction into remote and sensitive regions will further increase taxpayer liabilities. Meanwhile, declining revenue from timber sales in recent years underscores waning industry interest, making it unlikely that an expanded timber program will yield any meaningful returns to taxpayers.
Below is a summary of key EOs affecting federal lands, publicly owned resources, taxpayers, and consumers:
Declaring a National Energy Emergency
- Declares a “national energy emergency” under the National Emergencies Act. The definition of “energy” or “energy resources” includes “crude oil, natural gas, lease condensates, natural gas liquids, refined petroleum products, uranium, coal, biofuels, geothermal heat, the kinetic movement of flowing water, and critical minerals.”
- Directs federal agencies to use all “lawful emergency authorities… to facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources, including, but not limited to, on Federal lands.”
- Instructs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and DOE to consider issuing emergency fuel waivers to allow year-round sales of E15 fuel.
- Orders federal agencies to “expedite” the development and deployment of energy infrastructure.
- Encourages the use of expedited or emergency procedures under the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act (ESA) to facilitate energy supply.
- Directs the Secretary of the Interior to convene an ESA committee to identify obstacles to domestic energy infrastructure caused by the ESA and to pursue related regulatory efforts.
- Calls for increased energy exploration and production on federal lands and waters.
- Ends the Biden Administration’s non-binding goal to have EVs make up 50% of new cars sold by 2030, halts state emissions waivers aimed at phasing out gas-powered cars, and other vehicle-related measures.
- Directs agencies to review existing rules, policies, and other actions to identify those that relate to energy production. Agencies must submit action plans by February 19.
- Revokes 12 of the Biden Administration’s climate-related EOs.
- Expedites the federal permitting process.
- Directs EPA to evaluate eliminating “social cost of carbon” calculations from federal permitting and regulatory decisions.
- Orders an immediate pause on disbursement of all funds under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Agencies must report within 90 days whether funding processes and programs align with the policies set forth in this EO.
- Instructs agencies to assess their “discretionary enforcement” authorities, including for regulations, to advance the EO’s goals and report to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) within 30 days on strategies for exercising these authorities.
- Directs the Secretary of Energy to restart reviews of applications for approvals of LNG export projects.
- Directs the Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Administrator of the EPA, and Chairman of CEQ to identify all agency actions that impose “undue burdens” on the domestic mining and processing of non-fuel minerals and undertake steps to revise or rescind such actions.
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- Directs the Interior and Agriculture Departments to assess public land withdrawals for potential revision, opening up more federal land for resource extraction.
- Instructs the Interior Department and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to consider updating the USGS list of critical minerals.
Unleash Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential
- Establishes a policy to maximize the development and production of natural resources in Alaska and prioritize the development of Alaska’s LNG potential.
- Directs the heads of all executive departments and agencies to rescind, revoke, revise, amend, defer, or grant exemptions from any regulations or policies inconsistent with the policies established in this EO.
- Promotes Arctic drilling:
- Rescinds the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) leasing moratorium and the cancellation of leases, returning 365,755 acres to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), a public corporation authorized by the State of Alaska.
- Repeals the final supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for the ANWR leasing program and reinstates the previous EIS, allowing more of the Arctic Refuge to be leased with fewer restrictions on development.
- Rescinds the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) final rule titled “Management and Protection of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.”
- Nullifies any BLM guidance related to the protection of subsistence resource values in the existing special areas and proposed new and modified special areas in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.
- Directs the Interior Department to reinstate five public land orders issued during President Trump’s first term, lifting a decades-old mining and drilling ban on 28 million acres across the state.
- Reverses the Biden Administration’s decision to revoke federal permits for the Ambler Road project, a 211-mile road that would link the Ambler Mining District to Alaska’s highway system and run through the Arctic National Wildlife Park and Preserve.
- Supports the development of the 11-mile Izembek Road connecting King Cove to the Cold Bay airport through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The Biden Administration also supported this project.
- Repeals roadless rule protections in the Tongass National Forest, exempting the nearly 17-million-acre Tongass National Forest from restrictions on logging.
- Withdraws all areas of the Offshore Continental Shelf (OCS) from wind energy leasing.
- Halts the issuing or renewing of approvals, permits, or leases for wind energy projects until the Interior Department completes a review of federal wind leasing and permitting practices.
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