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One year ago President Donald Trump was sworn into office. Much of his campaign leading up to his election was focused on promises relating to energy.
From the advancement of ‘clean coal’, to energy independence -- how many of the ‘America First’ energy plan promises have been delivered?
It's unrealistic to expect the current administration to deliver on every promise within the first year, but here is a breakdown of four main items and what was/was not delivered during his first 12 months in office.
The first of the administration's priorities actually consists of three promises wrapped into one: energy independence, job creation, and clean air protections.
As of early January 2018, this part of the energy plan is close to fulfilled. The New York Times reported on Jan. 4 that the Department of the Interior would open nearly all federal offshore waters for auction to drill. While this announcement may face some legal and regulatory challenges, if it goes through, this would be a significant step towards President Trump’s promise of energy independence. .
On shore, similar efforts are underway. The Obama administration's moratorium on coal leasing has already been lifted, and the Department of the Interior has also reduced the size of national lands to allow for more drilling.
The goal was lofty: decrease emissions through increased natural gas usage, reducing the price of energy, but also increasing economic output. How close are we to this difficult promise, one year in?
The administration would certainly argue that a lift of regulations and drilling restrictions has led to the aforementioned increase in natural gas production. Gas prices, though, have not necessarily decreased alongside with it. In fact, they increased slightly in 2017, and are expected to remain steady without a decrease through 2019.
A similar roadblock has occurred in the goal to reduce emissions. While the EIA saw an almost 1% decrease in carbon emissions in 2017, it expects that trend to reverse and lead to a 1.72% increase in 2018.
Many of the actions mentioned above are direct reversals from the previous president, ranging from the Clean Power Act to the moratorium on offshore drilling in certain parts of federal waters.
In fact, experts argue that even beyond energy, reversing the policies of his predecessor has been President Trump's single biggest success. That can also be seen in the withdrawal from the global Paris Climate Agreement, which was seen as a major accomplishment by President Obama at the time of its signing.
What’s important to note, though, is that things that are executed or reversed by executive order can be similarly undone by future Presidents so many of these policies and actions are not permanent unless Congress passes them into law.
As expected, the energy promises by President Trump are in various levels of fulfillment. Some, like rescinding executive actions by his predecessor and allowing increased drilling, have already been successful or are close to complete. Others, such as making the United States truly energy-dominant and bringing millions of new jobs in the next few years, may be difficult to accomplish even through the rest of his term.
2018 might be the year we begin to see the first true impact of Trump's new energy policies and shifts. New agreements and incentives do not always immediately translate to action, but this could be the year we see whether the fossil fuel industry begins pushing back against the rising tide of renewables. It's a crucial time in terms of the present and future of energy, and monitoring its twists and turns will be crucial in the coming months.
For the whole story on recent Energy Policy Changes, as well as predictions for 2018, check out the Year in Review: Energy Industry News & Events from 2017.
Posted: January 26, 2018