Energy Emergency Declaration Won’t Fix Cost or Reliability Concerns

(WASHINGTON, D.C. – January 21, 2025) On his first day in office, President Trump issued a flurry of executive orders that, among other things, declared a national energy emergency, suspended implementation of essential health and safety protections and directed federal agencies to ignore costs to communities and the nation. 

“There is no U.S. energy emergency, full stop. We are the world’s largest oil and gas producer, and a major energy exporter. America’s export capacity is already set to double. What we need today is to make sure this booming industry does not pollute the air and water in the communities where it operates, and that the emissions from burning fossil fuels do not disrupt our economy by further destabilizing the Earth’s climate.  

“The first-day wave of executive orders does nothing to lower energy costs or improve reliability. Instead of rolling back cost-effective, commonsense safeguards that have broad public support, a forward-looking administration would be focused on modernizing our aging electricity grid to meet the growing demand from AI data centers and an increasingly digital economy, prioritizing efficiency and clean electricity."

• Mark Brownstein, Senior Vice President, Energy Transition at Environmental Defense Fund