Washington, D.C. — As Donald Trump continues to double down on his fossil fuel-only agenda and attack programs that prioritize clean energy investment, create thousands of good-paying jobs, and facilitate responsible investing, experts are warning that his executive orders are a threat to consumers, businesses, and the economy at large.
These wide-ranging executive orders show that Trump has already broken his promise to the American people by building an administration that works for billionaires and Big Oil—not working people. Yet, as Unlocking America’s Future Spokesperson Kyle Herrig said on Inauguration Day, “Americans deserve better than self-serving politicians like Donald Trump who would rather risk the financial security of millions of Americans than say no to Big Oil or his wealthy donors.”
Here’s what you need to know about how Trump’s executive orders will leave American consumers, businesses, and the economy paying the price:
- Inside Climate News: Executive Orders on Energy and Climate Have Advocates Across the Nation on Edge
- “While expected, his actions are still difficult to take for businesses and organizations that enjoyed some progress during the Biden administration.”
- “Trump declared a national energy emergency to help increase production of fossil fuels on the same day that he withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement and ordered a halt to new permits for offshore wind projects. He said he was stopping the release of any unspent federal money for EV charging and canceling an “EV mandate,” even though no such mandate exists. He also reversed a series of Biden orders that sought to make environmental justice a key factor in federal policymaking.”
- Canary Media: Trump freezes Inflation Reduction Act and infrastructure-law funding
- “The order is likely to cause significant confusion for the many government entities and private-sector companies that have been awarded funds.”
- “Still, the spending freeze could impact several crucial clean energy and decarbonization programs. ‘Donald Trump wants to slam the door on the lifeline that has created hundreds of thousands of jobs, is upgrading the country’s infrastructure, and brought about the rebirth of American manufacturing,’ Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous said in a Tuesday statement.”
- Financial Times: The contradictions of Trump’s ‘national energy emergency’
- “Donald Trump’s flurry of executive orders on Monday, in which he announced a ‘national energy emergency’ while imposing an indefinite ban on new approvals for wind farms, looks incoherent if one assumes that his main concern is truly energy security and affordability.”
- “The bulk of the green investments stimulated by the [Inflation Reduction Act] have been in Republican-voting congressional districts — notably in Texas, now a hub for renewable energy. Last August, 18 US House Republicans wrote to speaker Mike Johnson pleading for the law to be kept in place, given its positive impact on local employment.”
