Written by: Alexandra Brooks
On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump was sworn into office as the 47th President of the United States.[1] Within a day’s time, President Trump signed a series of executive actions revoking 78 of former President Joe Biden’s policies altering the landscape of environmental law and governance in the U.S. setting the tone for the next four years. [2] Among these actions, President Trump once again withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, a global emission-lowering agreement, an action he attempted to do unsuccessfully during his first term.[3]
The Paris Climate Agreement, hereinafter the Paris Agreement, is an international climate change agreement adopted in December 2015 by countries in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCCC”).[4] President Trump’s January 20 Executive Order on the United States’ Paris Agreement withdrawal entitled “Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements,” started the process of withdrawing the country from any agreement or commitment made under the UNFCCC, including financial commitments made in furtherance of mitigating climate change and adapting to it on a global scale.[5] The Executive Order directed the US Ambassador to the United Nations (“UN”) to immediately submit a formal withdrawal notification to the UN Secretary General that would take effect one year after the notification.[6]
In addition to the Paris Agreement withdrawal Executive Order, President Trump also declared an energy emergency, doubling down on oil and gas with the promise to “Drill Baby, Drill.”[7] This executive order urged U.S. oil and gas companies to ensure America’s energy security and economic prowess, and included an attempt to loosen the emissions regulations the Biden administration placed on the oil and gas industry.[8] In conjecture with the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the doubling down on oil and gas, it is likely that the Trump administration will revisit hydrocarbon exploration and onshore and offshore production of crude oil.[9] Currently, the United States is the world’s leading crude oil producer, outputting levels of approximately 13 million barrels per day.[10]
A section of the Executive Order declaring the energy emergency states that the Endangered Species Act cannot continue to be a hurdle for the development of fossil fuels in the U.S..[11] President Trump’s energy emergency executive order directs federal departments to treat energy production as an emergency, which can hinder the work that the act has done to protect and preserve endangered species.[12] The Endangered Species Act, which has existed for more than 50 years, has been widely credited by scientists and environmentalists in helping to save iconic American species like the bald eagle from extinction.[13]
President Trump’s energy emergency Executive Order also paused the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that “support the ‘Green New Deal” [14] and took steps to limit the growth of wind energy by withdrawing the entire Offshore Continental Shelf from wind energy leasing.[15] Separately from these Executive Orders, Trump revoked several climate-related executive orders from the Biden administration, including the ones that established the National Climate Task Force and the State Department’s Climate Change Support Office.[16]
It is unknown how quickly Trump’s orders will take effect.[17] However, it is clear that government agencies and environmental law throughout the United States will look different under the new administration.[18]
[1] Elise Hammond et al., Trump Signs Slew of Executive Actions After Being Sworn In, CNN (Jan. 21, 2025), https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-inauguration-01-2025/index.html.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Seth Kerschner, Taylor Pullins, & Suzanna Knijenburg, US Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement: Impact and Next Steps, White & Case (Jan. 21, 2025), https://www.whitecase.com/insight-alert/us-withdrawal-paris-agreement-impact-and-next-steps.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Gaurav Sharma, ‘Drill Baby, Drill’: Donald Trump Declares U.S. Energy Emergency, Forbes.com (Jan. 21, 2025), https://www.forbes.com/sites/gauravsharma/2025/01/20/drill-baby-drill-donald-trump-declares-us-energy-emergency/.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
[10] United States Produces More Crude Oil Than Any Country, Ever, EIA.GOV (Mar. 11, 2024), https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=61545#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20produced%20more,six%20years%20in%20a%20row..
[11] Melina Walling, What to Know About Trump’s First Executive Actions on Climate and Environment, APNews.com (Jan. 27, 2025), https://apnews.com/article/trump-executive-orders-climate-change-environmental-policy-e4fb2b2495c0bcf880fab46605936b09.
[12] Patrick Whittle, Environmentalists say Trump’s Energy Order Would Subvert the Endangered Species Act, APNews.com (Jan. 22, 2025), https://apnews.com/article/trump-climate-change-oil-whales-turtles-9d068d755e8ac4060fd7381178d87421.
[13] Id.
[14] Clare Zhang, Trump Reverses Climate Policies on First Day in Office, AIP.org (Jan. 23, 2025), https://ww2.aip.org/fyi/trump-reverses-climate-policies-on-first-day-in-office.
[15] Id.
[16] Id.
[17] Id.
[18] Pamela King, Niina H. Farah, & Lesley Clark, Legal Pitfalls Could Trouble Trump’s Executive Actions, E&ENews.net (Jan. 21, 2025), https://www.eenews.net/articles/legal-pitfalls-could-trouble-trumps-executive-actions/.